There’s a reson for that…I think its fair to say that 1:24 is by no means universal in terms of scale with regards to the mainstream (1/72 or 1/48).
Lets be honest, at 1:24 scale, any errors would be magnified.
I don’t doubt that more modern kits are of an acceptable standard. But, there are still lots of older kits out there and I think for me, its the memories that put me off.
Still wouldn’t go near one.
For planes: maybe not. For cars it is the de facto standard. Though there is a nice collection of planes out there, and this summer Airfix will expand it yet again with a newly tooled Spitfire…
You’ll have to separate the wheat from the chaff. But that is always the case. Even with brands like Tamiya. I find Scalemates a great tool for that, as it shows the pedigree of almost every kit.
These look excellent. I have three airfix kits in the stash. There newish (2021) Canadair Sabre, (2017) B-2 Stuka and 2016 P-40B.
All got rave reviews, came with loads of options like the full engines you show and look great in the box. I think airfix gets a bad rep for their period of mistakes but their new stuff is fantastic
Thanks my friend! I agree with you that there has been a time that the reputation was fouled (still is with some apparently) but they have risen from the flames and produce nice kits nowadays. At least with their new kits…
You need to look at their newer kits, they are really good! Their new 1/24th scale kits are stunning. Their 1/72 and 1/48 kits had me coming back to those scales, try their 1/48 BP Defiant if building that doesn’t change your mind then you are lost forever! 
See my Curtiss Hawk, posted earlier, I bought another after building this. And this is my Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk 1. 
Now that’s interesting. I definately remember being given a BP Defiant in one of those Airfix kits that used to come in little plastic bags and hang on racks, it would have been around… 1976 - 8 I would think (showing my age). I can’t remmeber if I built or not, probably did. But actually, the BP Defiant would be almost bottom of my list of aircraft to build. The real thing was ugly, dangerous for its crew in an emergency and out classed by opposition fighter aircraft even by 1939. It has just never interested me…
Like I said, i’m sure their newer offerings are very good, but its all about perception. I just don’t see how Airfix can do it any better than Tamiya, Eduard etc. (there’s a long list now) and in fact, they simply can’t. I certainly don’t want to get into 1/24 (its hard enough finding room for 1/48 collections).
I might, just might consider an Airfix offering if it was something that I really needed as part of a project and that literally nobody else produced. And even then i’d be reluctant.
Airfix BP Defiant 1/72 scale.
Airfix BP Defiant 1/48 scale.
You really are limiting yourself if you don’t include all manufacturers in what you build. And Tamiya is not the be all and end all of model kits, they are also guilty of selling early kits! 
OK try an Airfix 1/48 Hurricane:
Not really, because I might build two or three kits a year - maximum. Also, I switch between Armour and Aircraft on a ‘phase’ basis, so I might go one or two years in between aircraft (my last Panther took me over 18 months to build). I’m also a fan of Frank Dargies’s work, so tend to use his builds as a template for mine (in fact I might even hold back on my 1/48 Tamiya Uhu until he’s done the one he has in his stash). He’s as diverse as they come with regards to model manufacturers, and so, therefore, am I. He never did use Airfix, but if he did, i’d probably take that as the endorsement I needed to conince me they’re worthy.
I don’t limit myself, I just don’t buy Airfix
Your aircraft are very well done, but the subject matter isn’t really my thing (currently building a 1/48 Mosquito FB Mk VI and in my stash are the 1/48 Tamiya Uhu and the 1/48 Eduard Bf 110F Profipack to give you some idea) - although I do admit to having a 1/48 Tamiya MkI/II Spitfire on dispaly that I made years ago. I think all i did with that was add an AM cockpit - as regardless of the manufacturer, all 1/48 cockpits are far too superficial OOTB.
OK but I still think that slagging off any manufacturer, especially if you haven’t built or won’t build their kits is just wrong? It’s OK if you don’t make that public because doing so just may influence others who don’t know better.
In the end, it is each to their own. And as a Fellow Sapper, I greatly admire your stance, even if I don’t agree with you, which makes me think that you must be a P.O.M! 
It was a rather tongue in cheek observation that the Airfix fans have taken umbrage to… I can understand why however.
Ah… I said I might…
You say that like its a bad thing 
Is it that obvious?
Slagging off low quality products is a community service.
If praise was the only politically correct opinion then it would become
very difficult for customers to make informed decisions.
Four praises + one slagging = customer may get a hint that further checking
could be motivated.
I built Airfix 1/72 Catalina 25+ years ago (it was an old kit by then).
I managed to coax it together but it did involve casting a row of rivets to replace
the rivets in a large sinkmark on the topside of the left wing tip.
Surgery was successful, 10 year old nephew was happy, his mother got off the hook
regarding model building when nephew realised that model building could be so
different to what his mum could deliver.
It is that obvious!
There is nothing wrong with criticism on a bad quality product, but dismissing them on forehand based on the brand (I wouldn’t touch any Airfix kit with a barge pole?) is not. I am no fan boy, but I do have positive experiences with a couple of their kits.
Airfix did and still do (with reference to several written accounts) produce some poor quality kits…
Evidently, they also produce some good kits (also in your experience of a couple).
My experience is with lots of bad ones (which admitedly, were acceptable for their time).
My ‘criticism’ is based on opinion, a change of heart doesn’t have to be verified by purchasing Airfix’s range so that I can see for myself.
As for my ‘opinion’ influencing others. Caveat Emptor. And you’d have to be pretty stupid to purchase on blind faith wouldn’t you say? I mean, witness Exhibit A, the reason for this topic, an Airfix kit with parts missing.
Glad we got that sorted out.
Don’t judge a kits quality based on an employee forgetting or missing putting a sprue in the box. the new recent kits are a whole new company so to speak.
I’d certainly judge a comapny’s quality based on that rather fundamental requirement.
That can happen to the best? But it depends on that company’s response to the issue. But remember that they don’t keep every sprue for every kit and will only have sprues from any kit currently in production. Airfix is very good with its customer service.
Perhaps they get plenty of practice…
More seriously, do you think what sometimes happens is that they go into their stash to raid a kit (for a missing sprue for example) and then that kit somehow makes its way to retail?
No, they have spare sprues after a production run. They might raid a kit if necessary but they would then take all the sprues out of the kit and add them to the spare sprues. I’ve had Revell kits which tell you that there can’t be any parts missing because every kit is weighed but there has been a sprue missing just that there are 2 sprues of another set of components. That also happened more recently with my ICM Gladiator. It’s down to human error, someone getting distracted. It’s clearly a known thing that can happen so companies, sensibly, aim off for it.
Return it for exchange or store credit on another kit. No need to even consider going through the hassle of trying to get Airfix to send you a replacement.
The only time that trying to source replacement parts from the manufacturer is worthwhile is when you’ve purchased a kit on-line and returning to the vendor is just as much a PITA as contacting the kit maker to beg for a replacement (and even then returning the kit is usually the most productive option), OR the kit is OOP and you’ve got to go to the secondary market to find a replacement from another modeler (who might have an incomplete version of the kit or an old, built kit collecting dust that the part can be scavenged from).
The retailer will return it to the distributor, and the distributor will certainly communicate the problem to the manufacturer.
Sometimes the failure in QC is not actually on the manufacturer but rather on the distributor, anyways. At least in the US, sometimes kits are shipped as cartons of sprues and knocked down boxes that are packaged into complete kits by the distributor. (This can save some money on manufacturer shipping and / or import duties.) In these cases, the missing parts / sprue may be the fault of the distributor and not the manufacturer.
(BTW, in the US, this is a very common dodge by manufacturers that allows them to claim that such and thus product is “made in America” when the reality is that all they do is put together consumer packages of the product. The actual manufacture of the product and all of its components is done overseas with these “components” being imported in bulk to the US “manufacturer.” Any hoo…)
This all makes for a good reason to open and inspect a kit’s contents at the store before you buy it (if the store will allow that) or at the counter right after you pay for it (hobby shop) or in the parking lot before you drive away (big box stores). You can resolve any problems right then and there.
