Return of the Airfix Club! Does it still have that modelling MAGIC?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- I was once a member of the Airfix Club back in the early 00's. It seemed to have an element of magic to it - sending off tokens and getting new kits, getting a mystery kit sent to you when you joined up. It helped to connect you to the community of modellers in an age before the prevalence of the internet.
In 2018 they closed the club to renew and refresh it, but following delay after delay it eventually re-launched in mid 2020 (a whole year late). Join me in this video as I take a look at the latest version of the Airfix club and see if it's still worth it and if it still has that modelling magic?
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#Airfix #Model #Club #scalemodel
I remember as a kid back in the 1970s joining the Airfix Club. Boy did I feel proud to wear my badge. Nowadays, and I'm 53 now, I look back and just remember the pride I felt in being part of what is, let's face it, an institution. The sense of belonging shouldn't be underestimated. 40+ years, I still do model making and without Airfix and their pocket money blister pack kits, I wouldn't have had the joy of a lifelong hobby. So yes, the value of the Airfix club needs to be judged long term - not short term. Airfix forever 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Good point
While I agree I definitely think Airfix should have put more effort into the club box
Wow, this brings back memories, back in the late 70's I was a member, had a certificate & an enamel badge, Dick Emery was the president.
Nice!
The same time as me! I remember there were weekly announcements in Action comic. The only thing I ever won in my life was the black widow kit in the weekly draw
Yes I remember, I won a calendar, the pictures were enlarged box covers, I still have it somewhere
Seems ages ago dunnit
@@rickohara1721 a lifetime old son
I was a member in the 70's,still remember my membership number - 37110. Still have the badge ,certificate and welcome letter from Dick Emery. I seem to remember you also got money off vouchers too, something like 1p off series 1, 2p of series 2 etc. I once made a 'mixed up model' (a centurion tank base with Short Stirling canopy that had a rack of missiles behind it from an RAF fighter) that was published in 'Valiant' comic, i still have it somewhere. Happy days...
That sounds like a pretty cool kitbash!
You could build em without glasses too
People call that Kitbashing, and yeah some people output amazing things doing it.
I was a 'lifelong' Member back in the 70's too. Membership number 7698. The comic became Vaiant & TV 21 if I remember correctly when the 2 amalgamated. Dick Emery was President, hence the welcome letter.
@@pogglebox6860 I was 3375. Funny how we can remember these things. TV21 printed a group of membership numbers each week and if your came up you won something.
Airfix don't seem to understand the market they are in. The majority of modellers are middle aged blokes with credit cards, so these are the people they should target with the club. What these people want is a way to access genuinely valuable extras like limited edition plastic/resin/etch, not just extra decals. Airfix ought to look at the Eduard model: you buy a special product to qualify -none of this annual membership fee stuff - and the special product is actually wortwhile (though I wouldn't be seen dead in the t-shirt!). Eduard encourage you to buy direct from them and the discount mitigates the additional shipping costs from the Czech Republic. As it stands, the discount Airfix offer isn't any different to the online shops and the postage charge is higher.
Airfix need to refocus the club as an online shop, rather than a old fashioned loyalty scheme. Seriously, cutting out and posting in pieces of card? Cheques? Like going back to the 1970s!
Well said - there is a lot of improvement that could be made here
I wholly agree with your assessment on how much this Airfix club misses the mark and I'd add that if they really wanted to stand out from the rest of the budget model kit brands (while making some extra sales), they could provide an option to order custom print decals for their lineup (ie, you order you base Phantom FG1 kit with a second sheet of decals so you have the XV474 in Duxford). Hell, if they were particularly smart about it, they could provide a couple of sheets of blank papers for water decals in the 'club welcome packs' (which is like 10€ at Amazon for a 10/20 sheet pack) and just e-mail an auto-generated printable PDF.
Honestly, at this point Airfix should realize that they're doing absolutely nothing to separate themselves from the other budget kit makers (in fact, at least in my personal case they appear to be markedly inferior to Revell, Italeri and Zvezda both in price and details at this point) and are only coasting on name recognition.
These days I just keep my eyes open in the large super stores. Every so often i spot some reduced Airfix kits. At half price or cheaper i will still buy them.
@@beendoneagain I'd also suggest that while looking up a plane you can also check out Scalemates as well, because you may see cheaper IDENTICAL models (ie the Revell Tu-144D is like half the price of the Hasegawa and they're both rebadged ICM's :D ) . You may also want to keep an eye out on ebay as there can be really fun deals to be founds as well (as my recently arrived 1/144th Tu-134/-154 and IL-76 for 30 euros can attest to :D )
@@bk109 Thanks for the tips. Ebay used to be good for me but it's harder to get a real bargain these days sadly.
I still have all my original membership items in the envelope; Letter from Dick Emery, Badge, Satchel Sticker, a glossy Card Certificate, a Voucher Booklet and I think something else. I would sometimes have a number come into my head but not know what it was. One day, there it was, it was my membership number. Never forgot it. I won't give it here of course, what with identity theft and all. Lol. Back in 1981 I thought it would last forever. Lifetime memberships are never lifetime, at least not anymore.
Sadly not :(
Sounds like a massive dissapointment.
Airfix should do a monthly subrscirption, like a loot crate thing. Having in there kits, posters, magazine and some tat. I would happily sign up for that and fork out money to get surprised now and then.
This just sounds a bit of a rippoff. No flying hours on the exclusive kit and the only exclusivity is some extra decals, which you could always buy separate. No photo etch, no resin parts.
Nah, doesn't seem to be worth it.
I would totally sign up for a "loot crate" style box every month - chuck in some paints, brushes, weathering powders, along with a random kit, got yourself an amazing deal!
Yeah Rogue......A loot crate for example with a kit, some exclusive decals, a few pots of paint, a quality brush, a decent magazine with pictures, quality metal key ring, posters, vouchers....you know what i mean
@@anjkovo2138 how can we make this happen?
@@ModelMinutes Well, for starters, we need to start a business around this.
Then we have to get some deals with manufacturers, maybe some investment as well.
And then we need a base of operations. A smaller warehouse would sufice, where we can store and pack the stuff.
So how much can we throw together to get this working?
Rogue Plastic : I agree completely. The loot crate is a great idea. 👍👍
Given I've just started to build plastic kits for fun I've got to say thank you for showing this and saving me money.
The club in this form has zero interest and I'll put the money towards a couple of other kits rather than gamble an interesting limited edition kit comes out.
Sorry Airfix - total miss for me.
Thanks for watching Andrew! I'm glad that you found this video helpful. I was also a little underwhelmed by the club this time - it's not quite as exciting as I remember it back in the early 00's
i was a member of this back in the 1970,s i remember Dick Emery was the chairman
:)
The Eduard bunny club thing seems so much better value
I'll have to investigate!
@@ModelMinutes www.eduard.com/bfc/ flat 15% discount on almost all their products, t-shirt. All you have to do is buy one of the special kits
Is that is that still a thing
I remember joining the airfix club in the late 1970's when you got a letter signed by Dick Emery 😁
Nice!
@@ModelMinutes Still got my letter, unfortunately the signature is a facsimile
Dick Emery (now there's a reference!) would be spinning in his grave over this underwhelming issue by Aifix! I was a member of the Airfix Modelers club in the 70's.
Yes, it seems that this new version is not particularly popular
I was also a member in the 70's. I don't think I will be returning to it
I agree with you there mate; I was a keen modeler until I left home to join HM Armed Forces. Dick Emery...what a legend (and some of us show our age here if we know of him). Nevertheless, the latest kits they have don't really have my enthusiasm any more.
Thanks Matt, sorry you were unimpressed with what you got. Lately i find a lot of online stores are not what they claim to be, but there you go. You take care please.
It was a little underwhelming - perhaps i'm just getting older
£25.00 for that?! I think I'll give it a wide berth!
Oh, and by the way the 'headers' on the old kits were not cardboard.........they were (folded) glossy paper.
Thanks for the info
Correct they were originally glossy paper headers with the kit in plastic bag. Later though they did move on to card headers, before progressing to boxes, which were the right size for the kit, Unlike today where the same scale kit is in a box three times too big !
@@GrahamWalters Yes, from 1973-76 they put out those 'Blister Packs' while 'FROG' had cardboard headers with their bagged kits.
You're right about the current size of the boxes too, a lot of them are way too big!
correct ,, they were paper because they were also your instruction sheet ,, but not in the sense of todays instructions ,, very little info was in the minimal pictorial instruction because about 50% were written instructions but even that was minimal as they relied on them being educational and teaching you to work things out for yourself
Disclaimer. The airfix club is only UK/Europe. Not available in N America or asia.
Really? On their website they have a "rest of the world" package for £40 - does the USA/Asia not count as the rest of the world?
@@ModelMinutes you can join via website/emails but no redemption of points for kits. They dont ship overseas. I tried.
@@AreeyaKKC such a shame
@@AreeyaKKC :(🇨🇦
Excellent review....still remember the old one, back in the 70's and 80's (I think) and still living in Sweden!
Really tempted to get their new Tiger Moth, one in Swedish Air Force colours and one for RAF....
I'm sure that many more Airfix will follow me home in the future! 😉😆😂
Haha maybe it will!
I used to be apart of the AIRFIX club over 40 years ago. I think Dick Emery had something to do with the club. Nice to see it back.
:)
October 16th 2020...no matter what , your reviews are very good... no I won’t be joining the AIRFIX club...BUT I do like AIRFIX kits...have a few of them...because of one of your reviews I recently acquired a 1/72 STORCH...I think it’s a nice little kit...it’s a plastic bag issue, but it’s still nice...also purchased a ZVESDA 1/72 luftwaffa ground crew to go along with it... the plan is a diorama... NORTH AFRICA theme...again I enjoy your reviews... they can help a modeler decide on what kit to build... thanks CHRIS from the USA... be free and safe 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸🇬🇧
Sounds like an interesting project! Thanks for watching
I joined up as I had an abundance of flying hours to use up and I figured that the £15 plus the extra fiver would pretty much balance out with buying the kit, so in effect a years free membership. I was interested to see what possible limited edition / club only offers would be made available through the year to members as this was talked about. So far a third of the way through my membership and I've not seen one special offer for members. Magazine arrived a couple of days ago and It's not that bad I guess, but at this point unless the members special offers become available I don't see myself renewing.
yeah, i noticed a lack of special stuff too . . .
Not only was I member of the Airfix Modellers Club in the late 70s, but I won a Waterloo Assault Set in a competition in Battle comic!
Sounds pretty cool!
Looks like Airfix are still living in the past. Is their market targeting 8yr olds? Never been impressed by the quality of their kits and they have never caught up with Japanese manufacturers.
Think I would spend £15 on something else.
If you compare it to e.g. Bandai (though the Gundams will be a hit or miss at times according to builders) or even more so Kotobukiya, definitely not.
Agreed.
I know what you mean
£15 on something else😉When I started building them in the 60's, they would cost me 2 shillings or 10p from Woolworth and came in a polythene bag. Big stuff, like the Lancaster, in a box, was a jaw dropping 7s 6d or 37.5p! I wish I had kept a few in their packaging. A couple of years later, I discovered girls, who came in different packaging😊
@@CHIL2903 haha!
I was a member back when Dick Emery was the Patron. Glad it is still going even though it has lost its way.
Oh well lets hope the management sort it out.
Yes, maybe when the world finds a bit more "normality" the club might improve
If you have 60 flying hours you should build a 1/24 typhoon to one up the lancaster
Sadly that's not in the right series to be redeemed by flying hours
Wow £15 for a few bits of paper, then an extra £7 for basically a printed Excel listing of all their kits. Fantastic marketing by Airfix there...
mmmmhmmmm
I was a member back in the 1970s, you got a very nice metal enamel badge. The flying points reminds me of when Action Man Palitoy use to have stars on the purchases, you would then stick them on a card and exchange them for various Action Man gifts.
That sounds pretty cool
Ah yes, the Action Man board game was the primary source of my stars; so easy to filch them in the shop haha
I quite recently got given quite a few models from a friend, and nearly all of the, are old club exclusives, and nearly all of them are really cool like Soviet varieties of other allied planes and things like that.
Sounds awesome!
Soviet P-40 was cool.
Great unboxing video Matt. Seems like you got more advertisements in the box than anything else. You at least expect a few prints of the classic box art work in the package.............not an advert for one! At least Airfix are promoting club members to help support Models for Heroes, in some small way. Plus the Nakajima Kate kit looks nice with the extra captured decals......... hope to see your build on it sometime in the near future.
Very true! Thanks for watching
Matt,
Wow, that was an excellent review!
I was a member when I first moved to the UK back in 2015. I let it lapse but I am thinking about joining again. From what I understand, as a current member, you also get access to member's only offers (usually a regular kit with special markings), a free calendar, and three issues of the club magazine. Those are nice benefits in addition to the Flying Hours and the exclusive Kate kit. I am also a subscriber to Airfix Model World magazine, which is absolutely fantastic. Being an American I have subscribed to Fine Scale Modeler since the late 1980s. Another excellent magazine, but Airfix Model World is much better.
I'm glad you liked the video! Thanks for the info! I used to read FSM in my younger days and had a SAMI subscription until recently
I looked at the new 'Airfix Club' off the back of an email from them a couple of weeks ago. I was underwhelmed at the offer. Great content as always Matt, plus extra kudos for getting 'kerfuffle' into the video.
Haha! Thanks!
Hello Matt, hello from France. Thanks you for sharing. In watching your video i decided to subscribe to the Airfix Club. I paid £ 33.33 for the Air Fix Club Row 2020 : for this moment i not yet received my box but today i have just received the official magazine issue N°1. I do not know if it 's worth it but at least i improve my english in reading this 1 st magazine...smile. I am a rookie in this hobby and i am happy to subscribe to this club because Airfix must to be the only one current scale models firm to do it. All the Best and Happy Modelling.
Thanks! I'm glad you found this video helpful and it assisted in making the choice for you :D
@@ModelMinutes Ago my last message i received my box and today i just received my 2021 calendar. I am quite happy to have subscrived to the club. Happy Modelling.
@@undraftedplayer awesome!
Those Airfix tins that include the mints and biscuits are nice by themselves, but you can use the empty tins to store spare/unused parts and decals, your passport, flying hours, club card, etc. Pretty handy.
If you're into that kind of thing I suppose
I have ANZAC cookie tins from the local supermarket for that. A lot more than I can actually use.
@@thoughtengine Yeah, cookie/biscuit tins are great to store things if you don't have those pre-made hobby organizers. If you build a lot of models and use detail sets you will end up collecting a bunch of extra parts and decals that may be quite useful later on. Every modeler needs something to store and organize such things.
I've still got my certificate from the 70s. I'm sure The Victor used to publish membership numbers and you could win a prize/model? Pretty sure they are still using the same dies as they did back then. Even in the 80s the lack of detail was obvious.
Airfix have retooled a lot of kits recently
The Kate markings options are cool. I would build the captured test version.
I'm undecided at the moment
@@ModelMinutes yeah, all of the options are interesting.
Gotta love Airfix for trying, but yep I agree that this really only makes sense for diehard fans or someone who has a ton of flying hours they could swap for one of Airfix's more expensive offerings. Thanks for the overview as maybe you're the only person to make such a video.
Thanks for watching - i'm pretty sure MOS6510 also made a video on this
A cheque? HSBC were very keen on me giving up my cheque book so i haven't had one for the past 5 years.
Yes, it's a little dated now
yeah don't see why they couldn't have done via online pre-paid postage would have been more convenient and faster
Am I 'odd', because I enjoy the old mold kits? They have a nostalgic quality to them. I'm 60, an army veteran, but I love the old airfix kits.
I'm also if your vintage. I loved the kits when I was growing up. Airfix seemed to change the quality of the plastic at some point. Which turned me off them. I've never gone back.
I enjoy the old ones too!
I like their older AFV kits as they are good for gaming.
Hi, I joined the Airfix club and I sent 60 "flying hours" for a 1/48 Blenheim. I've also bought a fair few kits from them using my 10% discount (20% in November) so it's worked out well for me.
Sounds great!
If you have a normal b5n2 Kate you can make both of the special markings
true, sadly I don't
hi, its a con !airfix is not what it used to be, if you like planes thats ok, if like me tall ships are on the menu then forget it. very few are made now , in the early 60s when i was a child we had loads to choose from, cars, trains boats planes figuers. i cant be bothered to join just to save a few quid.i have to go to revell for my ships now
Makes sense
Its awful.............AIRFIX don't understand & respect its loyal customers if that's all you get. Thanks for the review👍😊👍❤
Thanks for watching
cant wait! Ive also just got my battle of britain memorial flight gift set; the perfect combination!
Awesome!
I got it for Christmas looking forward to building it
Приветствую Вас ,Мэтт !!! Долго не было новых обзоров, на конец я дождался 😃
Успеха в сборке желаю !!! 😅
Thanks!
2:30 - very nice! Very nice indeed! Welldone Airfix
they always used to do something like that
I would pass on this, as there's not enough to attract me to it.
To repeat others, the passport which you have to attach the air miles to, then you have to mail away, with a check dose seem last century.
For an extra tenner a exclusive kit, which really is exclusive decals doesn't grab my interest.
The trolley key is something that would be a waste to me, regardless of what it's made from.
The booklet with the history etc would be better illustrated.
A better idea would be joining online, The passport be online, with the air miles being a code with the instructions of each kit. (The instructions sealed in a bag).
Have kits with exclusive decals, but also having said decals separate, so those who already have the kit don't have to get a duplicate if the don't want to.
If they don't they should have club exclusive kit(s) - the whole kit, not just the decals. Or each year a new kit available only with the club for that year, before going on general release.
Also be able to pay for club issues online.
Maybe also have a junior club and an adult club.
Some great suggestions right there
I was thinking of joining for the same reason as you. I have quite a few flying hours to use up. The whole thing looks disappointing and I think £15 and £25 is a lot of money for what you actually get. Bad enough for an adult such as myself, but for a youngster, it’s ridiculous.
yeah, it's more of a cost exercise than anything
Just checked their homepage, they say they're asking to send in advice and fixing it to make it more exciting, available (cheaper) etc., so hopefully they pull it together. I like the idea of being in a club, but this looked underwhelming. Why it's even in a box, it could be an envelope..? And sending a cheque with the passport, that's really vintage, same with glueing the hours on a page and sending in mail, that should all be in an app, where you could easily see what kits you can get with the amount of hours you have
yes, they've had a lot of feedback regarding the poor quality of their club and are looking at changing it now - perhaps they saw this video
I can’t wait to join the club I have so many flight tokens lying around
me too!
I sell my tokens on ebay. The club isn't worth paying for. I sold 60 tokens for £20. By the time I join and then pay postage its not worth it
@@nevillegoodchild3680 thanks for the advice
I’m feeling completely underwhelmed by that whole thing. I’m definitely going to pass on this. I’m still very much jaded by airfix kits, on the whole.
:(
I like Airfix kits but this is just a letdown
I was in the Airfix modellers club when i was a kid and never received nothing,I can even remember going into the shop with my Card and Badge expecting a Discount as they had the sticker on the door and they would not even give me that .
that's a shame :(
A great review, but that is actually a pretty poor effort by Airfix. Even as a kid, I wouldn't have seen the value in that.
I know what you mean!
what a waste of £15 , you would be better of spending the £15 on a kit.
Indeed
That list book being "limited edition" seems ridiculous, too. How much more would it cost them to just throw it in every one?
A total and complete rip off in my opinion!
I joined not long after it went live, and like yourself I wasn't sure I'd get the book. I did and oh boy was it underwhelming. I opted for the premium version with the kit, and I found the kit somewhat disappointing. Not so much the quality of it, but the design of both planes calls for additions that aren't included in the box (I believe one of the planes has a different prop, the other has various things on the wings, etc.), so unless you are skilled or have the additional parts, you can't actually "properly" make either of the planes that it shows.
And I'm not likely to use the flying hours scheme either, so I think I largely wasted my money, only mitigated by the fact I got a kit out of it.
I've just checked my kit and it is 100% complete. Sounds to me like you're missing parts - email airfix and get them to sort that out
@@ModelMinutes Oh, no, you misunderstand! If you look at the additional sheet with the schemes on, Scheme D (TacIntel), the plane is shown with aerials on the wings and along the rear fuselage and there is a not saying photographs exist of it with a different prop. The set does not come with the aerials nor the prop.
@@Dwagginz Ah, i see what you mean now - the "yagi" aerials and the possibility the original spinner was replaced with one from a zero. I imagine that the aerials could be made from stretched sprue. Yes, it is slightly annoying that airfix annotated these details on the instructions without including them. I'll try to remember to mention this in my unboxing when I make it
If I have a token with 3 flying hours on it does that mean it’s worth 3 tokens?
yes
we have to pay £15 for a loyalty card? hang on theyve got it backwards
Hmmmmmm
£20 for a 1/72nd scale KATE ?????? Sounds like a real bargain. 🤦♂️ let's be honest, AIRFIX kits are most peoples introduction to modelling, but they are beginner's kits IMO. (Ioved them as a kid) For £14.99 you could buy a HASEGOWA kit which would be far superior. I don't think joining the club is worth it really.
I completely understand what you're saying
Really in US the price is ~$18 plus shipping for the Airfix Kate and ~$30 for Hasegawa.
I was a member of the Airfix club for many years and have amassed quite a collection of limited edition kits. Problem is you never get around to making them.
I know that feeling
Well I for one will not be joining the Airfix club after seeing this ! Airfix seem to have lost the plot and while on the subject their after sales spares service is now appalling,after several email/form requests I am still waiting for replacement decals for a faulty set,there is plenty of competition out there now and after years of loyalty to Airfix their kits no longer have the original appeal because if something goes wrong they do not respond any more,the old days of filling in the missing/faulty parts slip was far easier and you did get a response.
That's a shame, i'm sorry to hear you've had a bad experience
Reminder. Set.
Thanks!
I would rather have them put in maybe discontinued models or older kits inside of the package with the passport, token, and poster and have these packages with a new kit each month or so. Even if that happened it doesn't even work in the USA so rip
yeah :(
Thanks for the video excellent job I have been modelling for 50 + years this is a waste of time and money .
thanks for watching
Sadly some of the detail quality is worst off compare to those of the 70s. I have a box of 32nd scale figurines and recently I bought another box that they recently produce. The new box most of the details were lost compare to those of the 70s :(
Yeah, that is a shame :(
I'd be interested to know what the club exclusive kits are. If they're models I really want and can only get through the club it might be worth it. If it's the same kits with different decals then probably not.
so far they've not announced any more club exclusive kits - just the one shown in this video. I expect that they will be normal models with different decals though
I joined again this year - after a gap of a few yrs - because I'd gathered together a ton of flying hours.
Agreed, it's not what it used to be, but will be worth it for me by the time my year is up.
The trolley token is a bit... meh!.. but the new-tool Nakajima 'Kate' is quite nice, though my last membership club kit was a double (Operation Torch Swordfish and Hurricane), so it seems the club kit has also been downgraded a bit.
Like yourself, the big thing for me is the flying hours... Last week I received the new-tool Buccaneer - New passport already has 60 tokens stuck to it to send for the 48th scale Walrus this week - Then when that comes... I'll have 41 tokens left... and I'm hoping the new Beaufort will be available before my year's membership is up.
Ah yes, the Beaufort! Maybe i'll get one of those!
£5 for posted sometimes you can find these kits on sale in shops for less than that.Series 1/2
yup
Cool. I'm glad I'm not the only adult modeller out there. I don't tell many people though!! Do I qualify as a minority community?!
Haha! There are more of us than you think
..cheers for the video...what is the 'biggest' kit you can get with Flying hours?
A series 9 kit - so something like the 1/72 Lancaster or 1/48 Meteor
So does my 1970s Club Certificate No. 14185 still count?
I'm gonna say . . . . . . . no?
This looks like a big con if you ask me. Nothing in there but crap. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻👍🏻🙃🙃
No problem 👍
I think the first one flying hours is printed on the card . I suppose it might be wise to check with Airfix that this is the case .
Also assuming you want a Kate ; the £25 only adds up to an additional £5 . which is ok . at 42p a month . Also accessing the club part of the website is not straightforward . Initially you have to join the 2 together ; your online account ( the free bit where you just buy stuff etc. ). I must have done it without realising so I thought this was the way into the club . This is a once off action . Actually at the moment the club stuff is just those biscuits and sweets . To be fair it's hard for Airfix to run a full service with Covid 19 disrupting trade etc. I ordered a lot of humbrol acyrlics which is hard to obtain in normal model shops it all came nicely packaged in good time . . a good bit cheaper than emodels
I think it's only printed on to show you where they go
@@ModelMinutes I asked someone at Airfix but they misunderstood my question so I think you maybe correct. Or else I could try ringing. They keep very limited hours at the moment
You were right they thought people would not know where to put the tokens that's just as you said. So they don't want to get anyone started. Actually the Club Magazine came today was quite good. Next quarter a calendar. Which might be worth having. Just have to see how it pans out in the future. The Beaufort and Vulcan are worth getting and must have cost a lot to launch. Just got the Hunter and that also has some nice building features. Proof is in the making of course. I am sure older modellers like myself have an emotional connection with Airfix even there old kits weren't terrible. I just think they could improve their quality in terms of the packaging and plastic that doesn't break so easily. The kits have increased in price by about 25%.Some Tamiya kits are now cheaper. The all round quality is much better.
@@AnthonyBrown12324 Thanks for letting me know! I'm glad you managed to get hold of airfix to clarify on the flying hours :D
New videooo
Yaaayyyy!
:D
I was going to sign up to get some free kits as the majority of kits i've bought are airfix, but the Flying Hour conversion is way too expensive. You practically need to spend $100 + to get something as simple as a $11.99 CAD kit..... Like yeah they still need to make a profit but at that poinbt it's not worth it
I had an email the other day from airfix, apparently they are looking at changing the club soon, to something more value for money and modern
Dick Emery was once the president of the Airfix modelers club.
Apparently so
I've still got my badge from the 70s - do I get discounted membership? That box looks nowhere near as much fun considering all we had were newsletters in comics rather than the www and it's certainly not value for money. The points scheme doesn't look anywhere near as good value as the old Action Man star scheme.
Yeah . . . it doesn't sound as good
I recently joined the club, sent off my flying hours, the kit arrived after a week, not bad turn around time, only problem is that they didn't send me another flying hours passport. I sent them an email but they appear to be very busy.
That's a shame
@@ModelMinutes I'm sure another one will turn up eventually, however if you are just collecting Military Aircraft, like I am, there isn't really much to choose from as gift sets, quick builds & the like cannot be redeemed with flying hours.
My membership card turned up about 3 days after my welcome pack, although it really was stuck to the page it came with.
@@RaiderDave-xe1pn do vintage classics not count either?
@@ModelMinutes From how I understood the membership rules you can only pick kits that are in stock on the Airfix website and start with A01 to A09, as long as the code starts with that, you have the flying hours and the kit is in stock then it should be okay. I know some gift sets start with A55 and quick kits are AZ (I think). Hope this helps.
I have a vintage classic (A Northrop P-61 Black Widow, very nice kit) and its code A04006V end in a V, which I suspect means vintage.
Remember being a member in the 70s 80s . Dick Emery was president. You got a little badge
:D
I bought citadel castleen green in my local model shop by accident, would i still be able to use it on my nakajima b5n1 kate?
Its used for warhammer thats why im asking
As long as it's more or less the right problem then it should be fine
I use warhammer paints occasionally as they sometimes have good/interesting colours - they are the same as modelling paints (it's the same hobby really)
Thank you very much for replying
@@joshkearns7470 Glad I could be helpful
New vid yay
Premieres in 22 hours nay
Gotta give you all enough notice :D
Been waiting for mine since july
Oh no!
I remember the airfix club in the 70s
I was a member in the 00's
£15 for a few bits of paper?
What a con.
Hornby/Airfix have really gone down hill.
:(
Asa n addendum, There is no such thing as an "exclusive" Airfix kit, they just aren't producing that many tools, and making enough money to produce kits solely for their Airfix club, what they will do is offer kits with alternative decals. Decals which you can get from thrid party suppliers anyway !
I suppose that is the "exclusive" part. But yes, decals are usually available in other places
where are you getting airfix for £5-£7? Narnia?
Here . . . in the UK . . . in model shops or online . . like here www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055ANHBY/?ref=exp_modelminutes_dp_vv_d
Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier - does anyone have news of this kit?
No news as yet as far as I'm aware. Personally I think they'd be missing a trick if they weren't already working on it
@@ModelMinutes Agreed. I did ring airfix a year ago with this question and the telephonists has no idea of what I was talking about and after asking around cane back with stock answers that didn’t apply to the question.
I’m waiting to see if the Chinese get the kit out first. The airfix club appears to be an expensive way to buy glossy paper - reply appreciated and enjoy the weekend.
@@strontiumstargazer3124 Hmm . . .maybe they will . . .
Too much work. Just make it account based on the Airfix website, with UPC / QR code scanner to input via webcam or mobile. Bank points, select kit based on tier, pay shipping. No need to send a check via post or collect bit of paper than can be easily lost.
This sounds like a much better system
Hi Matt just getting back into modelling after 40 odd years from the last build, is the club worth it?
Probably not in its current state, they are revamping it again though, so maybe wait for the new new club to launch?
@@ModelMinutes thanks Matt for getting back to me
What? Airfix needs to fire their marketing department and start again. This doesn’t come close to modern commerce. If you were part of the first 1,000 and it still fell over then whoever designed it has little idea what they were doing.
Don't forget that you still get a club magazine every 3 months . . . I just got my first one and it's a whopping 24 pages long . . . . . I got through it in about 15 minutes
@@ModelMinutes - sheesh. That totally sucks but I can see where the £££ goes. Printing ‘stuff.’
@@dennishowlett7390 yep - it certainly was a very glossy and well printed magazine
@@ModelMinutes - so I get a few ‘glossies’ online via PocketMags. They just about work because I’ve got. Big screen on which to view but in essence they’re digital copies of the print mags. Titles need to rethink the format. Lots of room for innovation. (Hint: I’m in the media biz but not consumer.
@@dennishowlett7390 I used to use pocketmags but i just wasn't reading the magazines so cancelled it sadly. Things are definitely changing in the world of scale modelling media I feel
is this something that is available in the US? Where can I find information on this?
They do have a "rest of the world" package - full details on the airfix website www.airfix.com/uk-en/airfix_club_2020
Wait to all these Airfix tokens that I've saved up for ages don't do anything anymore. For ages I saved up thinking I'd get a good amount of limited edition kits. Doesn't do that anymore hey?
You can still get kits with them . . .
@@ModelMinutes yes but are they the same as the old ones. Limited edition special kits?
@@radiationking9875 They've yet to announce any
Can you still give them the hours if you aren’t a member and still get a kit?
nope
So, you pay £15 to be able to redeem the tokens plus a fiver a time, for each year? No badge? Well, no matter I still have mine from the '70's. No magazine? Just access to an online area with a small price reduction on some kits - which you could probably find elsewhere for free?
What fun! 8(
You do get a magazine every 3 months . . . . so . . . . there is that . . . .
@@ModelMinutes Any good? The old magazine was, from memory - my mum threw mine away!!! - quite good.
@@I_Don_t_want_a_handle It's ok, but i got through it in about 10 minutes
Do you think the plus version is better for value?
Yes
@@ModelMinutes I've just ordered my Airfix club plus!
@@mohidh1954 nice!
Interesting that you received the kit list book after "3week". I actually got my order in on the first day it went live before it crashed and never received one. Looks like I didn't miss much to be honest but just shows how incompetent Airfix still are to this day.
Hmmmm, bit strange really. I honestly didn't expect to get one . . . but it wouldn't have been a loss if I didn't
I wanna join the airfix club but I don’t think u can in Australia
they do have a "Rest of the world" option - best looking into it on their website
How do the flying hours work?
I explain it in the video
Doesn’t seem worth the money. Really not seeing any great benefits. I already have the “Kate”. Rouge plastic said it all. They should put him in charge.
Haha!
If they went back to making all the different soldiers that they used to, I'd sign up in a second. Sadly they only make a couple now. Sad.
sad times
Isn't it also only for British?
There’s a “rest of the world” package too
The club and catalogue are very underwhelming, sadly. Even the printer materials look like they were designed and printed 30 years ago. As is the concept of the printed flying hours and postal submission concept. I guess they may argue its due to their demographic, but shouldn't they be trying to appeal to a younger audience too?
yeah - you'd think there would be an "Airfix App" in this day and age to keep the kids interested
Approved
thanks
So... you paid £25 for two decal sheets and the chance to buy some stuff. Oh, and a 1-3% discount aggregated as long as you stick with the company.
You paid £25 for the chance to give away some cardboard to get a £5 model you didn't pick?
My god they took you for one! XD
Say, would you be at all interested in investing in the Forth Bridge Repurposing Commitee?
Haha! Love this comment - you hit it on the head here :P
I am looking at the club from two points as a parent and someone who is returning to models, my verdict what a waste of money. Not aware of the hero’s scheme, and a a veteran myself with mental health issues that’s great, otherwise wise would just throw the flying hours in the bin. Airfix really need to look at there marketing it’s 2021 and not 1980, I personally think they have got it very wrong.
Well said Paul