This isn’t exactly a poll! I have no experience with AIRFIX (?) models. But I saw one at the hobby store and it seems reasonably priced. Fifty (?) dollars isn’t too bad for a 1/25 scale P-51 is it? As I said I have never built one by this company. Any opinions? Thank you for your time folks.[:)]
The airfix kit has many drawbacks, including low detail levels, bad fit, innacurate sizing, and many others. As a general rule, I stay away from their kits, unless I really want a challenge. Just my opinion.
demono69[}:)]
Not just your’s Demono. I think that they’re some of the worst kits on the market. I bought a bunch from Model Expo a few years ago and they were all terrible. I started working on a Catalina, got disgusted and threw it back in the box. A kit that big (1/25) - lose the filler putty, go to AutoZone and get a gallon of Bondo! But again, just MY opinion.
-fish
Yup… I agree…
They do suck big time… Still having their B25 (1/72)… Lifted the sprue and parts started falling off… The fit horrible too… Putty Putty all the waY!!. Just my opinion…
Cheers,
Nandakumar
Stoopidfish,
Better get the 5gallon size for a 1/25th kit from Airfix, use the smaller gallon size on the 1/72 kits.
I’m in the process of removing the rivet detail from a 1/72 scale P38 Airfix kit, ( I know I shoulda known better. . .) rivet detail with rivets the size of 7/8 inch bolt heads! But if you put it out about twenty feet away and squint really hard, it looks good!
Don
the 1:24 Airfix P51D kit was first released in 1972, the P-38 in 1958, the B25 in 1965 so bear this in mind while you ’ take the p**s ’ ! before most of us were born Airfix were were making kids happy and helping them learn about Aircraft. They have 1000’s of kits in their history. I’d sooner sit down with an Airfix kit than any other, especially any of their 1:24 A/C - try an early issue if the kit is old and you will find the fit is generally fine.
giving an opinion based on pieces falling off sprues is ridiculous, what are you going to do, assemble it with the sprue frames still attached ?
They are only kits you know…[:(!]
it’s the only 1/24th scale Mustang going (or is it?) so if you want one you’re stuck with that one. I built one a couple of years ago as a Reno racer. It took months of work but the end result (with a fully detailed two seat cockpit, no guns and fully detailed wheel wells is, though I say it myself, quite impressive)
I started out thirty odd years ago with Airfix models, and bearing in mind the age (now) of some of their kits you’ll still hit the same problems with other kit manufacturers. Scale size/rivets/panel lines etc etc.
Just think of the price and the challenge, if you can make a good model out of something so old then it sharpens your skills for the expensive ones.
Pete
Comparing the likes of Airfix with Monogram and Revell , Airfix come out on top in the accuracy department.
Most of their line has been out since the 60’s and should be replaced but when you look at the variety of kits available - bombers in particular -they were the only game in town.
Their latest releases have been great and thee subjects have been only touched by vac form manufacturers previously.
I recently finished the Sunderland and didnt use any filler at all , considering the age of the kit and the fact that the tooling didnt have the benefit of computer aided laser cutting ,ok the rivet detail looks a little heavy but the kit looks right , unlike the Monogram / Revell offerings I have seen from the same period.
Hasegawa and Tamiya kits from the same period were no oil paintings either!
That was’nt my intention…
The other point I mentioned was the main cause for the dislike… Join two pieces together and they dont fit… even if they do there’s a gorge in between… that’ll drain out your putty… figures have flash all over and look like fairies!
Anyway its true that some kits are old and all… yet to try out the newer ones… but they’re hell expensive in Singapore!!!
To sum it up… They aint for amateurs like me…
Cheers,
Nandakumar
Airfix is still using the old molds for some of their current releases,which could account for some of the things you described (flash, gaps). Just for the sake of comparison, you might try to locate an older release of the same kit to see the difference. I’ve noticed this with some of the Airfix kits I’ve built in the past-newer releases had little flash and a decent fit.
The kits are “a little rough” by current standards, but i have to agree w/ migs, albertsponson & oggy. if you are looking for the 1/24, they nearly are the only game in town at that price point. the Bandai kit is OOP, the Hobbycraft is the Trumpeter 1/24, and the Trumpeter kit costs twice the Airfix price. (and i believe some accuracy problems have been pointed out w/ that as well).
www.greatmodels.com has the Airfix for < $40, but after shipping you are probably better off going to your local hobby shop.
so, if you ‘gotta have’ a 1/24 P-51, just make sure you listen to the guys here so you know what you are getting into. the Airfix big scale stuff does not assemble itself if you leave it in the same room as some glue. [:)]
on the other hand, i would fear to guess what a 1/24 Tamiya P-51 would cost! (it would probably be worth it, but OUCH!) [:D]
ed.
My first ever kit was an Airfix, kit and that was 27 years ago!
As with all ranges some are good, 1/72 FW19A & D P51, and some are just awful Dornier 217, but they are cheap(They should be!0, and certainly no worse than some others Revells 1/72 HS129, truely terrible!!!
Think of them as an easy intro to scratchbuilding!
GRRRRR!!!
I was nine or ten when the first Airfix kit got out to Australia back in about 1955/6 and other than a rather poor Lindburg Spitfire were the ONLY plastic kits available. Also at two shillings(20c) each they were afffordable. As other manufacturers came on the scene they were still regarded as the best. The Revel Box Scale kits were just 'orrible. I still like Airfix and some of the Frog kits. So there!
Dai.
Airfix is not the only 1/24 Mustang anymore. Trumpeter released a great kit less than a year ago. From everything I’ve seen, the kit is spectacular, and makes the old Airfix look like a snap-tite kit designed for 2 year olds.
Just my opinion, but I like Arfix kits. Yep, some of them leave a lot to be desired, and yet built the 1/24 scale Harrier and I think it’s great.
I have done two Airfix kits in a row the 1/48 Lightning and 1/48 scale SEPECAT Jaguar, again both have been very good.
Quality is a bit inconsistent, the latest Tornado GR4 leaves a bit to be desired such as raised pannel lines and flimsy plastic, however, but I’m sure that with a bit of work it will still make a fine model.
Have a look at my Jaguar GR3
I just finished their Halifax. Over all a good kit. I was really impresed with the wing fit but the undercarage was crude to say the least.
It was a good first attempt. I have 5 others in the closet I intend to build.
My Dad was an RCAF Air Gunner and flew with RAAF 462 Sqn during the war and I’d like to build the a/c in his log book. He had a confermed splash on a JU88 and a posible on a 109.
If anyone has some large code letters for the side, particularly Z and 5 I could use them.
I built the Tornado GR-1 in 1/48 scale. It wasn’t the best kit to put together but it turned out good. I have the Jaguar GR-3 unbuilt, but from what I have seen of it, it doesn’t look too bad. As said above, you can’t add glue to the box and shake it to produce a model. It does take some work, but isn’t that why we have this hobby? I like something that will give me a little challenge. Would I build an Airfix kit again? You bet I would.
Some Airfix stuff can be crude, but very little of it is trully hopeless. If you ever wanted the satisfying feeling of having turned the sow’s ear into a silk purse, Airfix kits can be some of the best to go with.
Despite the aformentioned drawbacks, Airfix kits do have generally accurate lines to them and, due to their often being very basic and spartan in detail, they are good for introductory scratchbuilding and detailing as you’re not wasting so much time removing details before puting new ones in.
Airfix’s 1/48 EE Lightning, Buccaneer, late model Spitfire and Seafire were all excellent kits worth the price I saw them at.
I think people are often too quick to judge a kit by its lack of detail, one of the real charms of earlier kits by Airfix, Heller, Italeri, Esci and a few others, is that as long as the outlines and shapes are generally right, the possibilities to you as a modeller are almost as endless as your imagination.
I gave up on Airfix’s 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant, later I saw one at a show where the modeller had gone all out with scratchbuilt detail and came within a hair’s breadth of taking a top award for it.
its also priced for 2 year olds compared with the new Trumpeter
kit - hope it was worth the 30 year wait…
thanks people, you have given some food for thought. I am just getting back into modelling after a long hiatus. Maybe this kit, at 1/24, is good experience for hands that are too big for 6 string guitars!