2006 Airfix Releases

We've discussed this on here before, but it is always good to see the official catalog. Other highlights:

Sea King upgraded to HAS.5 - about time too.

Bloodhound re-released

More D-Day "funnies" - Sherman Calliope, Matilda Hedgehog and a Churchill bridgelayer.

The Nimrod is MR.1/MR.2 outline, so my odd-scale resin MR.4 will still be unique :-)

It is interesting that the TSR.2 is *not* in the catalog, giving rise to speculation that it is completely sold out and will not be re-issued. Local model-shop rumour is that the test shots have finally been accepted and that production is under way, for a late February release date.

a high altitude canny with the extended wings should be really cool looking in 1/48. maybe my skills are good enough to bash the wings....i hope.

wasn;t there a calliope out there already? i have vague memories of seeing one.

There have been two "funnies" based on existing Airfix kits already - Sherman Crab (flail tank) and Churchill Crocodile (flamethrower tank). All good uses of the existing moulds by adding an extra sprue with the add-ons that were attached in real life.

ESCI had one.

Meanwhile... what exactly IS a Matilda Hedgehog?

Wulf

Wulf Corbett wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

According to the catalogue a Matilda with 7 naval mortar spigots strapped on to use for bunker busting.

I haven't bought an Airfix kit in a decades. How is their quality now? I ask because I noticed a 1/400 Hood on the list.

RLM

better.

FWIW That 1/400 Hood is most probably the old Heller molds. Airfix original ship model molds were mostly done in 1/600.

Bill Shuey

IMO they are making the same mistake they made in the 1960's. That is trying to cover all subjects in all scales and not making a specially good job of any of them. Most of their present range consists of rereleases and the quality falls between two stools. They are not quite quite good enough to command a premium price nor are they cheap enough to attract bulk buyers. Old stuff like the "half-Tiger" and eight-wheel armoured car are just laughable by present day standards.

(kim)

Maybe not such a great job by current standards, but compared to other ranges of that time, they were among the best.

The same holds for most other brands.

Again, I could say that about the re-releases of many other brands. Some of the stuff that, for example, Tamiya and Hasegawa still dare sell is best disolved in glue and used as filler. And don't even get me started on Revell.

Rob

But even back then some of their products were hopelessly outdated - ie:

1/72 Spitfire Vb with one-piece wing, at least we didn't have to worry about setting the dihedral - but rather than update these kits they chose to introduce entirely new ranges they had little experience of. And it wasn't just kits, Airfix produced everything from slot cars to model railways and even kitchen appliances. Eventually the company collapsed under the weight of its own product range as also did Triang, Hornby, Marx, Chad Valley, Lesney, etc. The landscape of British model manufacturers is littered with the corpses of companies who thought they could please everyone and ended up pleasing no-one. Airfix became big by "thinking small". Then it became small by thinking big. I'm hoping they don't make the same mistake again.

(kim)

An Australian modification of the Matilda, as noted it was fitted with spigot mortars, intended to be used in the Pacific against Japanese bunkers, but I believe the war ended before any actually saw active service.

The Airfix blurb about them being used to clear minefields is, er, interesting, but not (as far as I know) accurate. I'm at work and don't have any of my usual reference books handy, though, or I could be a bit more definitive.

Bruce Probst