- The Airfix Tribute Forum -

feanor · Posted: Wed 25 Feb 2009 22:16 pm Post subject:

Ayup Paul...

Thanks for that Comprehensive list.

Still, if i find i desire another Floaty thing to go with my Frog Repulse, i shall consult you...

Cheers.
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tempestfan · Posted: Thu 26 Feb 2009 09:20 am Post subject:

tempestfan · Posted: Tue 10 Mar 2009 07:27 am Post subject:

As there are a number of kits in the Airfix ship range with sisters, how about the possibilities of doing extra parts to depict them ? E.g., could KGV be transformed into PoW, DoY or even the two great unknowns, Anson and Howe (had they built a HMS Bruford and Wakeman, they could've formed "Force Yes"...almost) with reasonable effort ? Or Rodney, Renown, Hipper, Lützow, Scheer...?
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Steven Pietrobon · Posted: Wed 11 Mar 2009 07:30 am Post subject:

Airfix has done that for Aircraft and Tank kits, but not yet for any ship kits. The closest was getting a Tirpitz from the Bismarck kit. I think its a good idea.
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tempestfan · Posted: Wed 11 Mar 2009 08:04 am Post subject:

Steven Pietrobon · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 05:34 am Post subject:

A Ukraine model company Master Box Ltd has announced a new line of 1/700 WWI battleships, including HMS Dreadnought. This will be the first plastic model kit of this famous battleship. Up to this time, this company has only made 1/35 figures and vehicles. Their kits seem to be high quality, considering the awards they have won. Their line will be based on ships that fought in the Battle of Jutland, but HMS Dreadnought did not take part in that battle. The other ships announced in the line include all four of the German König class ships, SMS König, Grosser Kurfust, Markgraf, and Kronprinz Wilhelm.

Well, unless Airfix already have a 1/700 HMS Dreadnought in the pipeline, I think this scuttles any plan for Airfix to make a 1/700 HMS Dreadnought. At 1/700 the Dreadnought and König are only 229 and 251 mm long, respectively. To give you an idea of how small that is, the Airfix 1/600 HMS Ajax is 282 mm long!

I think we still can petition for a HMS Dreadnought at the more sensible 1/600 scale. This will give a length of 268 mm, still smaller than HMS Ajax, but 39 mm (1.5") longer than the 1/700 model. SMS König would come out at 292 mm at 1/600 which would be 10 mm longer than HMS Ajax.
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Brews · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 12:42 pm Post subject:

I would say, Steven, that if Airfix released a 1:600 HMS Dreadnought, that it would have a wider appeal than anything MB releases. I'm not a fan of 1:700 models, but size isn't a factor - I've seen people making 1:700 destroyers quite nicely. However, there are precedents for having multiple manufacturers modelling the same subject in the same scale, even simultaneously - off the top of my head, I can think of Roden, Eduard and Revell making the Fokker Dr1, and Trumpeter and Dragon both making 1:35 Brueckenleger Pz IVs.

This year will be the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate, and we don't have HMS Exeter in 1:600. What a pity.
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Paddy O'Irishman · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 13:34 pm Post subject:

I am surprised Airfix haven't released a 1/600 Exeter, especially as they did release Graff Spee and Ajax. Airfix seem to release incomplete groups of models, eg, they have done all the main German WW2 ship types, except the light cruisers, a Koln or Konisberg in 1/600 would be a very welcome addition. Same with the British ships, a flush deck "County" class such as Norfolk would go very well with the cut down County's, ie Suffolk. And I'm surprised that Victorious was released in it's modified angled deck version. I would have thought that a 1941 version would have been more appropriate, bearing in mind Victorious played a major part in the Bismarck episode and is remembered mainly for that episode. I would also love to see a '41 version of Renoun to go with Repulse, as well as a "Royal Soveriegn" class, preferably Ramilles, which also took part in the Bismarck episode. I am surprised at the total lack of WW2 US and IJN heavy ships. They would make great subjects in 1/600. I too dont like 1/700, it's a bit small but mainly because most 1/700 are waterline only, I much prefer full hull. So come on Airfix, there is a market out there for you.
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Beaufighter · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 14:50 pm Post subject:

There's a shortage of IJN and USN subjects in 1/600 only. In 1/700 literally every IJN ship from WW2 has been kitted, down to the minelayers and the laundry ships.

I notice with the Master Box wheeze that once again they are kitting the blandest items in the range. Dreadnought is quirky but the German subjects are just the usual boring four or five turrets down the centreline configuration.
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Brews · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 15:23 pm Post subject:

peebeep · Guest

Brews · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 17:16 pm Post subject:

peebeep · Guest

Beaufighter · Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2009 19:08 pm Post subject:

It's not like Airfix are heavily invested in a range of recently-tooled 1/600 kits with lots of life in them. The newest 1/600 mould must be Prinz Eugen or Repulse and those are, what, 25 years old?

A lot of the others are clapped out, inaccurate, or both. I don't rule out a retool of Bismarck, on the basis that it still sells regardless of inaccuracy. While they're retooling it in 1/600, though, they might as well retool in 1/700.
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Steven Pietrobon · Posted: Thu 19 Mar 2009 04:09 am Post subject:

Paddy, there are some 1/600 US and IJN ships (including one French ship). The Rommel is a US ship and from other manufacturers we have

Kangnam USS Enterprise
Kangnam USS Iowa/New Jersey/Missouri/Wisconson (same as Arii?)
Arii USS Iowa/New Jersey/Missouri/Wisconson
Arii IJN Yamato/Musashi
Nichomo IJN Yamato/Musashi (same as Arii?)
Kitech/Zhengdefu Charles de Gaulle
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If you would like Airfix to release a 1/600 kit of HMS Dreadnought,
the world's first all-big-gun battleship, then please vote here!

sloop · Black Star Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 10

A teaser:

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Thu 19 Mar 2009 16:28 pm Post subject:

Nice work Sloop.....Why not make a post in the welcome section and introduce yourself (plus it will make the link work).

All the best
Sgt.S
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tempestfan · Posted: Thu 19 Mar 2009 16:53 pm Post subject:

Beaufighter · Posted: Thu 19 Mar 2009 18:08 pm Post subject:

The key question is whether the market size is there. Ships are a niche within a niche, and thus only the WW2 USN / IJN really sell because those are what the majority of buyers want.

People probably buy the Airfix Hood, Bismarck etc simply because they're there. It seems plausible to me that there's a market for 10,000 RN subjects a year (or whatever number), and if you make Ark, Hood, Iron Duke and Victorious you'll sell 2,500 a year of each. If you add Courageous and Dreadnought to the lineup you might simply end up selling 1,667 of each, for more tooling and production cost but the same total of 10,000-odd units.

Since nobody is making new 1/600 tools any more (was Repulse the last 1/600 ship kitted?), there is no automatic appeal about the scale. You wouldn't today embark on a collection of ships in 1/600 scale (unless a very small one) because you know from the outset you can't complete it.

In 1/700, OTOH, the average ship modeller knows there's a 1/700 model of any subject he wants. He knows this because the canonical "average ship modeller" is, statistically, either American or Japanese and not really interested in anyone else's navies. Every significant ship of the former's WW2 navy, and the entirety of the latter's, has been kitted.

If Airfix do decide to kit more ships, I think they'd be well advised to switch to 1/700 or 1/350, because in those scales, there is at least the possibility of a few sales outside the UK. There are only two WW2 aircraft carriers in 1/350, for example - the US Essex class and a (very expensive) IJN Akagi - so a well-executed Ark Royal or Victorious might actually interest a few builders in that scale who are bored of building the usual battleships. In fact, if they kitted an RN ship sunk by the Axis, they'd almost certainly pick up a few sales from Japanese modellers and Anglophobic Americans. Royal Oak, maybe; Glorious; Hermes - one of those would work.

The trouble then would be that Airfix's current and legacy ship range would be a complete dog's breakfast of scales: 1/1200, perhaps 1/700, 1/600, 1/400, maybe 1/350 and 1/72. I suspect they may want to flog the old Heller moulds thoroughly to death before going down that route.

Alternatively, more 1/72 subjects seem plausible; Kennedy's PT boat, maybe - there is little competition in this field and with the exception of the rather dodgy E-boat the kits offered so far have all landed rather well. There seem to be some fit issues with the Lifeboat but I've yet to hear it dismissed as an uninteresting subject or a silly scale.
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Paddy O'Irishman · Posted: Thu 19 Mar 2009 19:33 pm Post subject: