Airfix Bashing; The New Hobby

[bromo]

Spending some time the other day surfing the internet forums it struck me that the new trend seems to be lets bash Airfix just for the sake of it.The new Airfix Mk XII Spit is too low,the wheels are wrong,stupid idea for the open cockpit,why are they doing a Valiant? when they could do a "no ones ever heard of beast" why say they are doing something then dont release for another year(other makers never do this do they)Lets look at what they have given us poor,poor modelers,1/48th Canberras,1/48th+1/72 TSR2,S,1/48th Sea Vixens,1/48th Spit Mk XII,1/72 Valint,s ,plus all the other new kits in 1/72nd oh and a 1/24th Mossie thats not much is it.Get of Airfix,s and Humbrols back all you whingiers, look at what your getting from the maker you were all crying about loosing a few years ago,they have come back from the grave,get behind them and show some support.If you dont like what they make dont buy the kits.

[Lyell72planes]

There was plenty of product bashing on the old Airfix website so I am not surprised it is
still prevalent at other websites. Personally I love Airfix kits and have been buying them
since I was kid. Guess everyone is entitled to their opinions? Lyell...

[AndrewR]

They are starting up again after decades of underinvestment. I think they are doing a good job. There is room for improvement, but the latest set of releases are pretty good and very competitive on price. They have to balance the portfolio of kits between the sure-fire earners (Spitfires, Bf109s etc) and the interesting niche kits.
The Hornby management did a good job pulling around Hornby (the brand) itself, and I think they're heading in the right direction. And I'll be buying more Airfix kits...

[SJPONeill]

...plus the Nimrod and the Concorde in 1/72 (even if the Concorde needed a lot of TLC)...plus buying up all distributing all the JB vehicles...plus the series of 1/76ish 'Funnies' e.g. Crab, Flail, etc...plus bringing back a bunch of old favourites...and the LCVP...

While I think Airfix's use of social media for marketing is still a bit clumsy, I can not fault them for solidly churning out new British-themed models and I hope they keep that up...plenty of gaps still to be filled and if every few years we can have another treat like the big Mossie and the Valiant then all the better...

I for one am not such a great modeller that I give a fat rats' that the levers on the throttle quadrant (not even sure what a throttle quadrant is but it sounds good) are a scale .5 mil too close...or that the Angel Interceptor, the Hawk and the Eagle are closer to 1/100 than the stated 1/72...(subject to OC Home Command remianing neutral on the subject) I'll keep buying Airfix - partly for old times sake but more because I like the bloody models!!!

People these days are too quick to complain and now have too many means by which to do so...in the 'good old days' one might have a bit of a spleen vent at the local and that's as far as it went...now, with this interweb thingy, tossers have a global reach...

Rock On, Airfix!!

[MerlinJones]

...Get of Airfix,s and Humbrols back all you whingiers, look at what your getting from the maker you were all crying about loosing a few years ago,they have come back from the grave,get behind them and show some support.If you dont like what they make dont buy the kits.

It isn't a new phenomenom and it isn't restricted to Airfix.
As Lyell says, everyone is entitled to their opinion and it isn't for anybody to call others "whingiers", or to tell such people to stop the criticism.
Airfix does generate passions and so you will get over the top responses from those who adore Airfix, regardless of what they produce, (or not), promises made and broken and prices charged. If you're a strong fan of Airfix, then you will be more 'switched on' to criticism levelled at them or their products.

Airfix, or indeed any company, will get my support every time they produce a quality product. What I won't do is admire the Emporers New Clothes and I'm long past believing that Airfix should have special dispensation for errors avoided by other companies.
It is also possible that, having seen Airfix nearly bite the bullet, time and time again, there are people who see Lessons Learned as more than just an academic exercise and will continue to shout those lessons from the rooftops.

An ex-Airfix employee once complained to me that it had been very unfair, receiving criticism and he likened it to inviting guests in for a party and then those guests trashing the place. What he failed completely to register was that we, the Airfix buying public, were more again to paying guests and being served orange juice as a starter every evening wore a bit thin, especially when all of the other places served prawn cocktail. He conceded the point.

This particular Forum will remain relatively objective towards all model kit manufacturers, including Airfix. There are other Forums on the internet where no such criticism will be tolerated and this allows all people to find somewhere they feel comfortable.

You'll also find that, whilst so-called "Joyless Modelling Nazis" are not welcome, we do have time for so-called "Rivet Counters". This latter group is responsible for ensuring that the kits we get do have some degree of accuracy. The first big tagline for Airfix, remember, used to be "Just Like The Real Thing". It may be upsetting for a Marketing Department to learn that, after all their hard work and in-house enthusiasm, people are not as happy as they are with their new model Hurricane, for example. In the past, such concerns were taken seriously by the company. Nowadays, such concerns are more likely to be shouted down as irrelevent and unnecessary.

As me Nan used to say...there's nowt so queer as folk and, no matter how different people may be to you, calling them names is NOT an option.

Confidence is growing, based upon the positive results of Hornby. That said, ignoring the bad stuff in the hope that it'll go away of its own accord is not going to do Airfix any favours in the long run. It's often frustration that drives me, especially as I've learned more and more about the industry and increased my awareness of, not only what is possible, but of what is actually made and when I see something really, really good in a kit, coupled with something really bad that should've been avoided, then it's a case of the Curate's Egg all over again.

Regards,
Bruce

[Chuck E]

I have always liked Airfix and most of my models are from them. My stash is decidedly red looking at the moment. Some of the models have niggled me a bit, but in general I always look forward to their new releases. I don't think any kit manufacturer ever gets away scot free. As long as people are fair over they're comments, that's Ok.

My only recent reservation has been the overstated panel lines on some releases. OK, so they've made a few boobs, but nothing that can't be fixed. Some panel lines are quite sharp. Spitfire Ia, Sabres, Harriers etc. Some are a little wide and deep. Hurricane II, Bf 110s. It's a shame that this has slipped into being a normal practice. I know they make the model attractive for non-modellers, but I would like to see Airfix tidy this up altogether and get the die-cast toy look removed.

[Chris]

Airfix's main problem is many modelers have a preception that ALL airfix kits are like the late 50s-early 60s era kits, undetailed, rivet filled, poor fitting with milk-bottle-like canopies and space alein pilots.

Its as if we judged tamiya for the gastly kits they made in the 60s with golbs for details on tanks and gaping holes for 'motorization'. Tamiya got better, so did Airfix, but Tamiya scrapped the old molds, Airfix reboxed and resold them.

Over and over again.

In time Airfix will have a good repuation if they keep doing what they are doing, but its hard to overcome a bad rep earned over 30 years.

[Dirkpitt289]

Hi, My name is Dirk Pitt and I am a former Airfix basher.

I admit when I first got back into the hobby 3 years ago Airfix was a target for bashing by me. They were awful with horrific detail and no interiors etc etc. Then again I didn't really know the history and how far back these kits i was building went. I had no clue that in 2009 the Airfix kit I bought was actually from the 50s and 60s. In my mind Airfix has been making strides with their new kits and I can't speak highly enough about them. I know there are a lot of people out there that still bash and nit pick the new kits to death but I happen to like them a lot.

Hanging out on forums like these have tough me what can be accomplished with these old kits.

[SJPONeill]

I have to go on record as saying that I like old models...maybe because they don't challenge as much as new one (perhaps) and because they have some cool subject as seen in the Rvell, as one example, SSP rereleases...

[Softscience]

I think most of us here appreciate Airfix like we would anything else in life.

Some Airfix kits, old and new alike, are splendid (e.g., Fiat G1Na, new and old Spitfire I, Mosquito, most of the 1/48 line), while others are horrid. I don't think its bashing to say that Airfix's new Hurricane IIc is a weak kit which shouldn't have passed quality control.

Just because I like Airfix doesn't mean I have to have a sycophantic adulation for everything they make

[Eric Mc]

Revell are every bit as guilty of rehashing their (and others) old stuff as Airfix. I have no problem with re-releasing old kits PROVIDED the company doing the re-releasing indicate in some way that the model is a re-release and some indicator of its age is acknowledged. Revell sometimes (but not always) place older mouldings in special "classic" boxings - which helps.
Airfix don't really make any attempt to differentiate betrween the old and the new. It's just that some of us are old enough to know the history of the company and the age of some of its products.

[mariow]

It may be upsetting for a Marketing Department to learn that, after all their hard work and in-house enthusiasm, people are not as happy as they are with their new model Hurricane, for example. In the past, such concerns were taken seriously by the company. Nowadays, such concerns are more likely to be shouted down as irrelevent and unnecessary.

Bruce,

that is not the impression I got at all when talking to the Airfix people at the very informative lectures they gave when Dutch IPMS celebrated its 40th anniversary last April. In fact, they take great pride in their research and take the input from the rivet counters seriously to get it better next time. What we should keep in mind is that the adult modeller (rivet counter or not) constitutes a minority market for Airfix. Though their concerns are taken seriously, they only are good for about 20% of Airfix's turnover apparently...

Mario

[JamesPerrin]

Due to the fact that Airfix have announced kits a year or even 2 years before they eventually become available has meant the anticipation and hype as grown to such a crescendo that nothing could live up to it (not to say there haven't been mistakes and disappointments). It has meant though that the lash back is therefore all the more vicious. I feel Hornby has been on a learning curve and they have been listening, but it has taken time (maybe too long) to build up an understanding of what it desired by out part of market and how to achieve it.

[peebeep]

I feel Hornby has been on a learning curve and they have been listening, but it has taken time (maybe too long)

As I understand it, it took over ten years to turn Hornby Model Railways into a market leader. They've been on the Airfix case for about five and in that time have produced some excellent products, some mediocre, some complete duffers. About the same as other manufacturers as I see it. For some reason there is an expectation that Airfix should be doing excellent every time and now. Whatever the state of Airfix products, you, the consumer, can exercise choice. Don't like, don't buy, there's plenty of other fish in the waters.

peebeep

[flakmonkey]

There are a lot of double standards about when it comes to Airfix and modelling in general. When the Sea Vixen came out, there were a few people who railed on with such insightful comments as "I can't believe how wrong they got that panel line!" and will then go on to tell the world how their wonderful and expensive new Trumpyboss kit is a thing of great beauty - despite glaringly obvious errors which are apparent to the most casual of observers. Sometimes criticism is warranted, the panel lines on some of the new tool 1/72 Airfix kits are very much on the heavy side to my eyes and they made a rod for their own backs with the 1/48 TSR-2 with enormous amounts of hype and numerous delays before giving us a very ordinary and pretty inaccurately shaped product. On the other hand, the Canberras ( a favourite target for the bashers) are perfectly reasonable kits and certainly no worse than the Classic Airframes product, the Sea Vixen and Spitfire XII are very good kits indeed and are keenly priced; both would cost significantly more were they wearing a different label on the box. Much of it is badge snobbery, and it's prevalent in many other areas. Do you buy a Porsche Boxster or a three year old BMW M3? The M3 is clearly superior in every real world respect but has that nasty common blue and white roundel instead of a lovely shield badge. I'll live with the roundel, trouser the change, and smile quietly to myself when the self appointed pundits hold forth.