I built the PR version of this kit and I am very pleased. Yes, I did have some real challenges. The fuselage hood issue I found very easy to deal with. The real challenge was that the right wing half was trying to warp. Using some trials, tests and patience and my 1/2 inch quik grip clamp it completely straightened out. Long story short I am over the Moon with the final result. I may have a MK-XII in my future!
I started building Airfix kits in 1961. Fiat G91, Hunter, Seahawk, Wellington. They fitted where they touched. About 1966 I bought and built a Revell Phantom F-4B. I couldn't believe how well everything fitted. Airfix kits nowadays are excellent.
I started a few years after you with the Airfix Spitfire in the bag. It was my first plastic kit, I’d built wood aircraft and ships up until then, but I loved it. This Spitty is coming together nicely, and boy so much more cockpit detail than even 25 years ago.
Wow - you're even older than me! My first kit was the Typhoon, in about 1968 from my local Woolworths. I've introduced kit-building to my son, who's now eleven. His first kit was a current-generation jet Typhoon. Sad to see how expensive kits are these days.
Miniart are the same with the dredded one bag idea! My mate owns the hobby shop here and I get to rummage through a box everytime a new kit comes in haha! But this stops alot to be seen so its take a chance time! This kit came in and was sold same day all 5! Amazing how they just fly off the shelf! The new Dambusters Lancaster bomber is in too mk2 that's not even been looked at! Maybe try it myself for on the display shelf up there as a few of my models are in the shop in display! I'm just finishing off Rie feild models new Sherman with interior just now, what a stunning build that was! Everything really to a T with accuracy what's a big challenge in itself for kit makers very impressed!
I've recently completed a B17, Lanc BIII and Sea King, all 1/72, and they are brilliant, so much so I stopped dry fitting half way through the kits because I knew everything would slot together perfectly.
Yeah, I built this when it was first released (had the pre-release kitkat special) and it certainly did have those fit issues - around the wing roots and such. The civilian scheme looks really cool though
I don’t see as bad a fit on the top cowl piece for my dry fit... however I am told once you put the interior cradle into the fuselage it helps fatten it out, so the wing roots are less gappy. Maybe then the cowl will be too narrow?
Good to hear... I think those poorly reboxed kits from the late 90’s and early naughties gave Airfix a bad name. Their new CAD kits are state of the art, even if the Indian manufacturers let slip now and then.
@@HarryHoudiniModels I was pleasantly surprised at the fit and finish of the new mold P-40. The wing fillets were separate parts and fit like a glove. The cockpit was made up of numerous parts more accurately representing the real thing.
Good video as always Harry. One comment I've built the new mk1 and a couple of the Vbs. The problem I've had with them is the rear frame (step 13) its quite fragile and prone to breaking as the fuselage comes together I suggest cutting it in half and use only the top portion.which is what Eduard do I believe.
Hi there Harry from across the ditch...typically wing tips are removed in order to lower the total co-efficient of Drag (lower peak suction at the tips lower form and induced drag buckets). In areas of lower atmospheric pressure (altitude) such mitagatory measures are not required. I have had significant production issues with the Airfix product, namely their 24 scale Typhoon. I do have the 48 scale mk. 16 Spitfire despite unsolicited product reviews (one from a fellow Engineer) who have pointed out Production problems inherent in many of the later Airfix products. I would suggest Airfix return Production facilities back to the UK and stop penny pinching for the sake of the Hornby shareholders. I would venture to suggest this would result in a product on par with what is currently coming our of the Eduard Production facilities... All the best Harry, stay safe. Dennis.
Im currently building the new XIV kit converting it to a high back version. The wing routes can be made to fit almost perfectly by gluing about .25mm plastic card shim to the mating face of the wing , sanding it level with the top surface of the wing, and then fettling the fit, all before assembly. This avoids obliterating the detail with the usual fill the trench and sand method.
Seems like people are awfully hard on Airfix. Criticizing them for things they'd let slide on a Tamiya, or Meng kit. Currently building their Hawker Hurricane and couldn't be happier.
Got to say I think the Spitfire mk22, Seafire mk47 and the Lightning in 1/48th are the best kits old airfix ever produced. Not on a level Tamiya but still very acceptable detail and fun kits to build. I almost prefer these kits to newer ones because they have good detail but old school engineering.
Agree. Love making those kits. Frankly not enjoyed making most of the new stuff . moldings can be poor and plastic too soft for good detail. Decals are a lot better now though
I remember G-FIRE from airshows in the 80s at Newtownards. She was red and white because she was sponsored by Coke. At the 85 show he clipped the prop on takeoff and it took £20,000 to ultrasound check the engine and fix the prop!!
Spencer Flack flew a number of aircraft apart from this Spitfire, including a Sea Fury and Hawker Hunter all painted red with a blue and white stripe. Not sure if it ever had anything to do with Coke.
i remember yrs ago when i was a teenager i bought an airfix spitfire. i built the model ,painted it, and i was pleased with the result. that is untill i looked at the wings and discovered to my horror, that i had glued both the wings on the bloody wrong way. that put me off the hobby for yrs. lol
spitfire wing tips were clipped to make the plane faster in a roll and more manouverable, this improved roll rate came at a climb loss and was reversed generally from mark IX onward a mark XIX with clips would be a special
@@leerogers6423 Don't forget the engine (supercharger rated for higher performance at low-medium alt). Wingtips were field-modded, takes 15 minutes adding or removing them. Taking off the tips is a trade off. As noted, climb rate suffers, but also higher take-off and stall speeds. Which is why many 2TAF spits had them - those advanced landing strips weren't great, and many Mk.IX were used as fighter-bombers carrying 500 to 1000lb bomb loads. You want the lift. you NEED the lift ;)
You can see the gap around your dry fitted fuel tank panel right there. I built this earlier in the year. Maybe it'll stand out a bit more once you've glued everything together? It's not a massive deal, just a bit of filler and rescribe, but I think the main complaint is... why did they do that?! On a real Spit it's a very subtle raised panel, but if you fit this without any effort to fill you get a heavy panel line. I also had a huge (relatively) gap around the carb intake - really horrible, far worse than the fuel tank panel. I also have the older 90s kit, from the 90s, and much prefer the more subtle details and harder plastic.
I got this kit too. Couldn’t resist. Just started the build. Which sceme did you go for, red or silver? I’m going silver as I loved the decals on the silver.
I know what you mean about the old Airfix instructions reading like a Haynes manual. I learned a lot of names of parts of aircraft and tanks etc from those instructions when I was a nipper. In fact I bought a couple of those old bagged Series 1 Airfix kits off eBay recently just to have a gander at the instructions as a trip down memory lane. Much better than the pictograms in my opinion. 😁
I started off with Airfix many yrs ago but Sadly they got left behind by the likes of Tamiya. So it's so good to see that they appear to be back in the game. Having built a couple of late
This kit has been out for years, and the red one is just a rebox with new decals. As for the colour scheme it was for a display aircraft, but don’t think it had anything to do with the red arrows.
I built the older kit when it first came out, and the only problem I had was that the sliding part of the canopy did not sit properly on the fuselage ...Whether they have fixed it for the reissue, I don't know..
@@HarryHoudiniModels I even had the LEM moon lander and Eagle 1 from Space 1999, oh and the aircraft from UFO. Loved the Lancaster, spit and P51 They started in the USA making kits for tractor sales men to show farmers so I'm told
No they are a British company started in 1939 to produce inflatable rubber toys. In 1947 they moved to injection moulding and made combs. In 1949 Ferguson asked them to produce a plastic model of their tractor for salesmen. To lower costs for that project they struck a deal with Woolworths UK to also sell the model to the public. Then in 1954 Woolworths asked them to make a model of Sir Francis Drakes Golden Hind to sell in their stores. It sold very well so in 1955 Airfix made the Spitfire model and the whole plastic model making craze kicked off.
Airfix is a good basic kit but won't stand up to the scrutiny of a "serious" modeller. Whether you enjoy them or not depends on where you are in your modelling journey I suppose. The inclusion of a Canadian decal set is a bonus point for me as a Canuck saving me a few bucks buying decals. I just build for the enjoyment of building and don't worry too much about the details.
@@HarryHoudiniModels Hence why I put the word "serious" in quotes. It's all relative. Ultimately we have to do what we enjoy and how we enjoy it. As a guy who is badly colourblind I can make some wacky looking concoctions but it's all just good fun to me!
Looks like a nice model. The wing fillet joins are a bit of a disappointment. The old Airfix Heinkel 111 was a great model. Their plastic bagged series of 1/72 WW1 planes gave me hours of enjoyment. The kids these days just have too many distractions to really take up this hobby.
I expect there’s too much delayed gratification. And to be fair, they have a lot of choices too. And we grew up listening to people that flew these things for real whereas WW2 is ancient and unimportant history to the kids now. BTW: the rivet counters have it wrong. The photos of Spencer Flack’s Spitfire show just the two cannon.
Wow G-FIRE ex Spencer Flack had the spit sea fury and a hawker hunter all in the red livery the flack collection had a crash and so his display treo stopped the sea fury reg was G-FURY the hunter was G-HUNT
The short answer, for me - maybe, but not enough. They're definitely better than where they were, but Airfix is just nowhere near the quality of what's coming out of Asia. Same true of other European makers like Revell and Italeri. I built the 1/24 Airfix Hellcat this year. Supposedly their premium kit, the same price as my Zoukei-Mura Horten 229. But the difference in quality isn't a small gap, it's a chasm.
I feel their main problems are the poor soft plastic and bad quality control at the Indian manufacturers, which is very unacceptable in light of what we see out of China, Korea and Japan nowadays. Yet I will always have a fondness for Airfix, despite their problems, and would still keep building their kits.
The moulds were pressed at Hellers facility in Turn France back then when the 1996 Mk.XX kit was new just after Humbrol bought the company, but the design was Airfix. The 2018 rerelease is manufactured in India, using the same plastic as the new Mk.XIV. I did a whole video on the changes in Airfix from 1932 to now, explaining how and why they changed moulding operations as they changed owners, and how many kits are simply released old moulds. Yes some kits in the 90’s were just rebranded Heller. The Mk.XX was not. It is Airfix.
@@HarryHoudiniModels you can' t deny though that the subjects are less interesting than the older models , i also think the older boxes looked better , now it looks like a gamer targeted market
Built many of them too. They were excellent! Then I got the Tamiya Mitsubishi Zero in 1/32 and was completely amazed by the quality. Even the fabric control surfaces were duplicated. This around 1970.
If they tight packed the parts, as they have started doing recently along the lines of ICM, then you would not have so many broken loose parts which snapped off the sprues. Just poor packaging and a long, 50 year, gripe with Airfix.
Two questions 1, why are you collecting inbuilt plastic kits very few will accrue value investment wise (One exception in th He Kitmaster Beyer Garrett ) 2 if you keep complaining about Airfix why buy them THERE are many more Spitfires on the market
1. I am not a collector I am a builder. Some, like this kit, I will build now. Others I save for my retirement. I never buy kits as an investment. I buy them for my use in my hobby. 2. I am honest about Airfix, but I have a nostalgic soft spot for them. I also have Eduard Spitfire kits, which are superior in detail but they don’t recall the fun I had in my youth when I first started the hobby. I am not complaining, I am just truthful about Airfix.
@@jamessteale805 Some do some don't. I've been building models from kits since I was given a Monogram Gruman Wild Cat at Christmas time 1959. From memory and experience it seems that for a long time plastic kits were either partially built, abandoned from disinterest or built and hung from a kids bedroom ceiling on a a length of thin guage fishing line. Often unbuilt kits were biffed into the garbage from a general clean out because there was no longer any interest in them. The kid who had been given these, often as a birthday or Christmas gift had grown out of them and moved on to building relationships with girls, parties and booze while also pursuing an education. Later, when life became more domestic again, there became time once more and the hobby of kit building was resurrected. Interestingly enough and as you point out, older and presumably unbuilt kits, as opposed to partially started, will have a collectors value and so a separate interest in the hobby is created.
I built the PR version of this kit and I am very pleased. Yes, I did have some real challenges. The fuselage hood issue I found very easy to deal with. The real challenge was that the right wing half was trying to warp. Using some trials, tests and patience and my 1/2 inch quik grip clamp it completely straightened out. Long story short I am over the Moon with the final result. I may have a MK-XII in my future!
In part 2 of this build I show how easy it was to fix the apparent fit issues. I must get around to painting mine and put out a part 3.
That's useful to know and now I want to get my hands on the kit. Cheers for the review.
Glad to help
Soooooooooo looking forward to these racing spitfires!!! Thanks for the review!
My pleasure... glad you liked it.
I started building Airfix kits in 1961. Fiat G91, Hunter, Seahawk, Wellington. They fitted where they touched. About 1966 I bought and built a Revell Phantom F-4B. I couldn't believe how well everything fitted. Airfix kits nowadays are excellent.
I started a few years after you with the Airfix Spitfire in the bag. It was my first plastic kit, I’d built wood aircraft and ships up until then, but I loved it. This Spitty is coming together nicely, and boy so much more cockpit detail than even 25 years ago.
Wow - you're even older than me! My first kit was the Typhoon, in about 1968 from my local Woolworths. I've introduced kit-building to my son, who's now eleven. His first kit was a current-generation jet Typhoon.
Sad to see how expensive kits are these days.
Miniart are the same with the dredded one bag idea! My mate owns the hobby shop here and I get to rummage through a box everytime a new kit comes in haha! But this stops alot to be seen so its take a chance time! This kit came in and was sold same day all 5! Amazing how they just fly off the shelf! The new Dambusters Lancaster bomber is in too mk2 that's not even been looked at! Maybe try it myself for on the display shelf up there as a few of my models are in the shop in display! I'm just finishing off Rie feild models new Sherman with interior just now, what a stunning build that was! Everything really to a T with accuracy what's a big challenge in itself for kit makers very impressed!
It has been a popular version.
I've recently completed a B17, Lanc BIII and Sea King, all 1/72, and they are brilliant, so much so I stopped dry fitting half way through the kits because I knew everything would slot together perfectly.
The fit so far on my build has been very positive. Typical of most modern CAD designed models.
Yeah, I built this when it was first released (had the pre-release kitkat special) and it certainly did have those fit issues - around the wing roots and such. The civilian scheme looks really cool though
I don’t see as bad a fit on the top cowl piece for my dry fit... however I am told once you put the interior cradle into the fuselage it helps fatten it out, so the wing roots are less gappy. Maybe then the cowl will be too narrow?
Yes, Airfix's newer releases have gotten much better... I did the Airfix P-40B and was pleasantly surprised... The fit and finish was amazing.
Good to hear... I think those poorly reboxed kits from the late 90’s and early naughties gave Airfix a bad name. Their new CAD kits are state of the art, even if the Indian manufacturers let slip now and then.
@@HarryHoudiniModels I was pleasantly surprised at the fit and finish of the new mold P-40. The wing fillets were separate parts and fit like a glove. The cockpit was made up of numerous parts more accurately representing the real thing.
The thing is Airfix kits build up well, are fun to build and now they have the detail they lacked decades ago. What’s not to like?
Good video as always Harry. One comment I've built the new mk1 and a couple of the Vbs. The problem I've had with them is the rear frame (step 13) its quite fragile and prone to breaking as the fuselage comes together I suggest cutting it in half and use only the top portion.which is what Eduard do I believe.
Good tip! I will watch out for that.
Nice video mate! Wish the written detail had more about my grandads plane haha!
Thanks… best take that up with Airfix.
Hi there Harry from across the ditch...typically wing tips are removed in order to lower the total co-efficient of Drag (lower peak suction at the tips lower form and induced drag buckets). In areas of lower atmospheric pressure (altitude) such mitagatory measures are not required. I have had significant production issues with the Airfix product, namely their 24 scale Typhoon. I do have the 48 scale mk. 16 Spitfire despite unsolicited product reviews (one from a fellow Engineer) who have pointed out Production problems inherent in many of the later Airfix products. I would suggest Airfix return Production facilities back to the UK and stop penny pinching for the sake of the Hornby shareholders. I would venture to suggest this would result in a product on par with what is currently coming our of the Eduard Production facilities... All the best Harry, stay safe. Dennis.
Bring back the old plastic, even if they had to press it in France!
Im currently building the new XIV kit converting it to a high back version. The wing routes can be made to fit almost perfectly by gluing about .25mm plastic card shim to the mating face of the wing , sanding it level with the top surface of the wing, and then fettling the fit, all before assembly. This avoids obliterating the detail with the usual fill the trench and sand method.
Good tip... thanks
Recently built their 1;48 PR XIX, very good fit
Good to know.. I have that kit in the stash
That is a very nice kit, I have to concur.
Looks great in the box :)
Seems like people are awfully hard on Airfix. Criticizing them for things they'd let slide on a Tamiya, or Meng kit.
Currently building their Hawker Hurricane and couldn't be happier.
I agree. There are just Airfix haters out there who just don’t see the joy in their kits.
Got to say I think the Spitfire mk22, Seafire mk47 and the Lightning in 1/48th are the best kits old airfix ever produced. Not on a level Tamiya but still very acceptable detail and fun kits to build. I almost prefer these kits to newer ones because they have good detail but old school engineering.
I agree, and have all of them in my stash. Although there have been a few notable disaster kits, on the whole I still really enjoy building Airfix.
Agree. Love making those kits. Frankly not enjoyed making most of the new stuff . moldings can be poor and plastic too soft for good detail.
Decals are a lot better now though
I remember G-FIRE from airshows in the 80s at Newtownards. She was red and white because she was sponsored by Coke. At the 85 show he clipped the prop on takeoff and it took £20,000 to ultrasound check the engine and fix the prop!!
Spencer Flack flew a number of aircraft apart from this Spitfire, including a Sea Fury and Hawker Hunter all painted red with a blue and white stripe. Not sure if it ever had anything to do with Coke.
Excellent. When will the kit manufactures catch on to the Unlimited Air Racers? Especially in 1:48 upward.
Who knows... they make what sells... so they can stay in business.
Very interesting. Thank you for your review.
Glad you liked it!
i remember yrs ago when i was a teenager i bought an airfix spitfire. i built the model ,painted it, and i was pleased with the result. that is untill i looked at the wings and discovered to my horror, that i had glued both the wings on the bloody wrong way. that put me off the hobby for yrs. lol
So you failed to read the instructions, got it wrong, and that put you off the hobby?
@@HarryHoudiniModels yea it put me off for a long time. but recently started doing models again.
Excellent video mate. Great idea. Just subscribed.
Thanks for the sub!
spitfire wing tips were clipped to make the plane faster in a roll and more manouverable, this improved roll rate came at a climb loss and was reversed generally from mark IX onward a mark XIX with clips would be a special
Thanks for the clarification
The purpose of clipped wings was to create a low level Spitfire. The shorter wing was less stressed at low altitude.
@@leerogers6423 Don't forget the engine (supercharger rated for higher performance at low-medium alt).
Wingtips were field-modded, takes 15 minutes adding or removing them. Taking off the tips is a trade off. As noted, climb rate suffers, but also higher take-off and stall speeds. Which is why many 2TAF spits had them - those advanced landing strips weren't great, and many Mk.IX were used as fighter-bombers carrying 500 to 1000lb bomb loads. You want the lift. you NEED the lift ;)
V thourough and informative, just what I like
Awesome, thank you!
That sliver Canadian option is from my home town.
I hope that makes you feel very special.
Airfix kit British you an Aussie model builder my hometown so maybe just a little yeah.
You can see the gap around your dry fitted fuel tank panel right there. I built this earlier in the year. Maybe it'll stand out a bit more once you've glued everything together? It's not a massive deal, just a bit of filler and rescribe, but I think the main complaint is... why did they do that?! On a real Spit it's a very subtle raised panel, but if you fit this without any effort to fill you get a heavy panel line.
I also had a huge (relatively) gap around the carb intake - really horrible, far worse than the fuel tank panel.
I also have the older 90s kit, from the 90s, and much prefer the more subtle details and harder plastic.
I prefer the older harder plastic too. It doesn’t smell of curry.
@@HarryHoudiniModels this new stuff does have a weird smell doesn't it!
I got this kit too. Couldn’t resist. Just started the build. Which sceme did you go for, red or silver? I’m going silver as I loved the decals on the silver.
Red ones go faster :) hehe
I know what you mean about the old Airfix instructions reading like a Haynes manual. I learned a lot of names of parts of aircraft and tanks etc from those instructions when I was a nipper. In fact I bought a couple of those old bagged Series 1 Airfix kits off eBay recently just to have a gander at the instructions as a trip down memory lane. Much better than the pictograms in my opinion. 😁
They are, but back then their markets all spoke Anglaise... now you need to speak Cantonese.
@@HarryHoudiniModels Very true Harry.
Are we going to get a build video of the red mk xiv?
I have almost finished the interior and hope to have that video out this weekend.
I started off with Airfix many yrs ago but Sadly they got left behind by the likes of Tamiya. So it's so good to see that they appear to be back in the game. Having built a couple of late
I think their new kits are enjoyable to build, but still require some modelling skills, not just shake and bake. I prefer that.
@@HarryHoudiniModels to my shame I’ve never built a Tamiya. I like some of the short run kits
Thank you Harry. We are modelers, not assemblers.
Good on you Marvin
Nice. Is that red scine precursor red arrows allso is it new
This kit has been out for years, and the red one is just a rebox with new decals. As for the colour scheme it was for a display aircraft, but don’t think it had anything to do with the red arrows.
@ Thank u
I built the older kit when it first came out, and the only problem I had was that the sliding part of the canopy did not sit properly on the fuselage ...Whether they have fixed it for the reissue, I don't know..
There are options to remove the ledge inside of the cockpit if you want the canopy open. Did you do that on your version?
@@HarryHoudiniModels I wasn't aware of the option at the time..so no, i didn't remove the ledge.....Ho hum :)
@@iangoldstraw6002 That's why you READ the instructions first and DRY FIT! ..
I am the grandson of the owner of the red g-fire
Good for you matey… I still need to paint mine.
Great video
Thanks!
Still got mine i made in 1975, lots of them
Good for you :)
@@HarryHoudiniModels I even had the LEM moon lander and Eagle 1 from Space 1999, oh and the aircraft from UFO.
Loved the Lancaster, spit and P51
They started in the USA making kits for tractor sales men to show farmers so I'm told
No they are a British company started in 1939 to produce inflatable rubber toys. In 1947 they moved to injection moulding and made combs. In 1949 Ferguson asked them to produce a plastic model of their tractor for salesmen. To lower costs for that project they struck a deal with Woolworths UK to also sell the model to the public. Then in 1954 Woolworths asked them to make a model of Sir Francis Drakes Golden Hind to sell in their stores. It sold very well so in 1955 Airfix made the Spitfire model and the whole plastic model making craze kicked off.
Gets up your coit! That is going to be so useful for me in future 😂
Get your laughing gear round that one matey.
Airfix is a good basic kit but won't stand up to the scrutiny of a "serious" modeller. Whether you enjoy them or not depends on where you are in your modelling journey I suppose. The inclusion of a Canadian decal set is a bonus point for me as a Canuck saving me a few bucks buying decals. I just build for the enjoyment of building and don't worry too much about the details.
Once they are all glued up and painted, who can tell if it was a serious model, or just one build for enjoyment?
@@HarryHoudiniModels Hence why I put the word "serious" in quotes. It's all relative. Ultimately we have to do what we enjoy and how we enjoy it. As a guy who is badly colourblind I can make some wacky looking concoctions but it's all just good fun to me!
Looks like a nice model. The wing fillet joins are a bit of a disappointment. The old Airfix Heinkel 111 was a great model. Their plastic bagged series of 1/72 WW1 planes gave me hours of enjoyment. The kids these days just have too many distractions to really take up this hobby.
I wonder if the hobby will dwindle away as the Baby Boomer generation disappears?
I expect there’s too much delayed gratification. And to be fair, they have a lot of choices too. And we grew up listening to people that flew these things for real whereas WW2 is ancient and unimportant history to the kids now. BTW: the rivet counters have it wrong. The photos of Spencer Flack’s Spitfire show just the two cannon.
Good to know. I was going to scratch the missing cannons. Now I won’t bother.
Very nice comparison. Subscribed. BTW, “fewer parts”, not “less”, with respect.
Thanks for the sub!
Nice
Thanks
Looking forward to seeing you build this Harry. Here's something you might like too. th-cam.com/video/2SuPPsyck2M/w-d-xo.html
Thanks. I am subbed to Tom and enjoy his stop frame animations.
i got gifted a 1/24 mosqito (airfix) from a mate bloody big kit 2010 moulding just need a bigger work bench ha ha
You certainly will
Wow G-FIRE ex Spencer Flack had the spit sea fury and a hawker hunter all in the red livery the flack collection had a crash and so his display treo stopped the sea fury reg was G-FURY the hunter was G-HUNT
Good to know
The short answer, for me - maybe, but not enough. They're definitely better than where they were, but Airfix is just nowhere near the quality of what's coming out of Asia. Same true of other European makers like Revell and Italeri.
I built the 1/24 Airfix Hellcat this year. Supposedly their premium kit, the same price as my Zoukei-Mura Horten 229. But the difference in quality isn't a small gap, it's a chasm.
I feel their main problems are the poor soft plastic and bad quality control at the Indian manufacturers, which is very unacceptable in light of what we see out of China, Korea and Japan nowadays. Yet I will always have a fondness for Airfix, despite their problems, and would still keep building their kits.
Its a French kit if its 1996 , towards end of Heller , quality was pretty slap dash '
The moulds were pressed at Hellers facility in Turn France back then when the 1996 Mk.XX kit was new just after Humbrol bought the company, but the design was Airfix. The 2018 rerelease is manufactured in India, using the same plastic as the new Mk.XIV. I did a whole video on the changes in Airfix from 1932 to now, explaining how and why they changed moulding operations as they changed owners, and how many kits are simply released old moulds. Yes some kits in the 90’s were just rebranded Heller. The Mk.XX was not. It is Airfix.
Probably you are to young to know that Airfix during the 70s have excelent kits, very well made and unique.
Most of them desapear now !
Nice of you to think I am young. I built Airfix kits in the 60’s! And I look out now for white box kits all the time. Love them.
@@HarryHoudiniModels you can' t deny though that the subjects are less interesting than the older models , i also think the older boxes looked better , now it looks like a gamer targeted market
Built many of them too. They were excellent! Then I got the Tamiya Mitsubishi Zero in 1/32 and was completely amazed by the quality. Even the fabric control surfaces were duplicated. This around 1970.
I asked who owners Airfix today……..well I got off me lazy ass and found out. It’s Hornby.
Yep..
no disrespect. but who cares about how many bags the kit parts come packed in?
If they tight packed the parts, as they have started doing recently along the lines of ICM, then you would not have so many broken loose parts which snapped off the sprues. Just poor packaging and a long, 50 year, gripe with Airfix.
Two questions 1, why are you collecting inbuilt plastic kits very few will accrue value investment wise (One exception in th He Kitmaster Beyer Garrett ) 2 if you keep complaining about Airfix why buy them THERE are many more Spitfires on the market
1. I am not a collector I am a builder. Some, like this kit, I will build now. Others I save for my retirement. I never buy kits as an investment. I buy them for my use in my hobby.
2. I am honest about Airfix, but I have a nostalgic soft spot for them. I also have Eduard Spitfire kits, which are superior in detail but they don’t recall the fun I had in my youth when I first started the hobby. I am not complaining, I am just truthful about Airfix.
What are you talking about? Kits definitely do accrue value
Maybe not Smer!
@@jamessteale805 Some do some don't.
I've been building models from kits since I was given a Monogram Gruman Wild Cat at Christmas time 1959.
From memory and experience it seems that for a long time plastic kits were either partially built, abandoned from disinterest or built and hung from a kids bedroom ceiling on a a length of thin guage fishing line.
Often unbuilt kits were biffed into the garbage from a general clean out because there was no longer any interest in them. The kid who had been given these, often as a birthday or Christmas gift had grown out of them and moved on to building relationships with girls, parties and booze while also pursuing an education.
Later, when life became more domestic again, there became time once more and the hobby of kit building was resurrected.
Interestingly enough and as you point out, older and presumably unbuilt kits, as opposed to partially started, will have a collectors value and so a separate interest in the hobby is created.