@phil2015 been considering their Gustav too
I have to be honest, I do find the details a bit soft. Panel lines and some of the interior details is not as sharp as Revell say. Can be a bit mushy, but that does seem to be common with all of their new releases over the last few years. Lines are also a bit too wide and deep for my liking. I think they must’ve hired Matchbox’s trench digger!
But then they can surprise you with the odd part. Like the wing tips and rudder. In fact I would argue the rudder is too sharply moulded, as now it’s glued on, it looks thinner than the fin!
The gaps on the wingroots are also a big let down. You could perhaps widen the fuselage with a shim of plastic and close that gap, but then the cockpit tub would be loose inside! If you pulled the tips up the dihedral would end up being too steep. Mr Surfacer really did help out here.
Nothing that’s a huge problem and I still think it’s worth the low cost compared to other new releases. Certainly not put me off planning on buying a couple more. I’m still waiting for my LHS to reopen to get another and the Beaufort.
I agree Stephen🙂
Sometimes Airfix can be so hit and miss.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m a huge fan of Airfix and I’ll definitely be getting the VC and the Tempest when it comes out; my stash is mainly one of Red Boxes; but… Sometimes what is a great product in design is let down by either poor moulding or poor quality control.
For example, their Gloster Gladiator and Spitfire Mk22 kits are delightful, yet their Bf109 has me scratching my head as to how such as important plane slipped through the net… Ah well
Yes, they’re very inconsistent. Looking again at the Spitfire and a couple of others, I think the problem with the panel engraving iis the slightly rounded edges. It gives the impression of greater depth, width and softness. If that makes sense.
Comparing with Revells Halifax, it’s engraving is more square and sharp.
I’m also not a fan of how they engineer some kits. Some just seem overly complicated with an unnecessary number of parts. I remember when building the Whitley, the fuselage and center wing section, being made up of half a dozen parts, all joining on panel lines. Very tricky to put together without gumming up those lines with excess glue! Worked out in the end, but I do wonder how less experienced modellers would have coped. Still a cracking kit and very grateful that they did it.
I’m still hopeful that they’ll do a new series of B-24’s. A good new tooled, and importantly affordable, model is desperately needed I feel. I’d buy a few of those!
Totally agree on the panel lines: not sure if it’s a moulding issue or cost cutting on the tool making side of things
Lately I find myself shopping from the Czech manufacturers more often than not because of their quality.
I’ve been thinking the B-24 will be Airfix’s next new tooling, big 4 engined heavy, for a few years now: maybe this year
There’s some really good stuff coming from that part of the world. Usually the sort of subjects the mainstream western manufacturers won’t touch as well.
It would make sense for them to follow up the Lancaster’s and B-17’s with a Liberator. A D and J/H for sure. But then again, they might surprise us and do a Stirling. Which I wouldn’t say no to either.
Hmmm, not sure about the Stirling given Italeris offering is fairly recent… I’d say a Hampden may well be on the cards to fill out the Whitley, Wellington, Hampden Trio, especially given the RAF museums current restoration
Wasn’t there a lot of issues with their Stirling?
Haven’t had hands on contact with the kit but from the reviews I’ve seen with a bit of TLC and careful construction it turns out ok.
Personally I don’t believe Airfix will try to compete with Italeris offering unless a decent set of engineering drawings is found or some kind of surviving airframe turns up that they can successfully scan.
Either way, plenty of other topics for Airfix to focus on in the meantime
Yeah I’ve never come across one in the wild either. For sale or built.
I don’t even know if it’s still in their catalogue thinking about it.
I do remember some criticism regarding the complicated fit, surgery to build the bomber (apparently they did the glider tug version first and the bomber needing parts and windows cut out) and some problems with the panel lines. One magazine review I read, compared it to looking like a Lego model.
But not having seen, I can’t really say if any of it is true or just nit-picking.
Not seeing one could be proof it’s not selling, so you’re probably right. Just wishful thinking on my part. Didn’t stop them doing a B-17 right after Revells.
I would like them to do a Merlin engined Halifax, especially Revell cocked up theirs. They dropped that one very quickly once everyone saw how oversized the engine nacelles were! Despite that it still fetches silly money on evilbay!
The Hercules engine kit though is pretty good despite the misshapen H2S radome.
Hm, yes I’ve heard similar rumblings about Revell’s Halifax, which is a shame really, as it would be nice to have all 3, 4 engined RAF heavies done well in 1/72… But for now I guess we’ll have to wait until at least after Airfix have a new B-24 and Hampden out
A Hampden would be very welcome.
To be honest I have a whole of new kits I’d like to see from them, but I think that’s for a whole other thread!