I recently bought my nephew the Airfix 1/24 scale Mustang for his birthday.
On checking the parts, he said told me that the canopy was missing.
In fact the entire clear sprue was missing.
Monday morning I e-mailed Airfix and told them the story.
Seven days later a very well boxed parcel arrived at my nephews house with the missing sprue enclosed.
Excellent service and all for free.
We are quick to condem manufacturers for their failings, and maybe not so quick to praise them.
Well done Airfix!
I agree...airfix is the best for parts replacement.I've gotten parts in under 2 weeks even here across the pond.
aside from replacement parts, a lot of young modelers would never have gotten started without relatively inexpensive airfix kits, which offered both selection and price.
Back in 1974, I bought an Airfix 747 kit that had a cracked windshield. I sent the Parts Replacement Request slip back to Airfix and 11 MONTHS later, I received a replacement windshield... that was also cracked!
About two years ago, I noticed that you could request parts through their website. Having acquired a fair number of Airfix kits, I had also found a few parts that were either broken or misssing. I thought it would be a good idea to give Airfix another chance at replacing some parts. I couldn't believe it, but in ONE WEEK, I had received all four parts I requested AND they were packaged such that breakage during shipping would have been impossible. I was VERY impressed and am now a Fiercely Loyal Airfix Fan.
BTW: I recently become interested in Airfix kits as a collector. About three years ago, I purchased a Scottish Aviation Bulldog trainer as an impulse buy just out of curiosity. I was very impressed with what $4.50 got you. From there I started buying more "cheap" Airfix kits, most fairly ancient and reflecting their age. Although a lot of these older kits were in no way up to today's standards, they "felt really comfortable". They took me back to my days as a kid in the '60s & '70s when you could pick up a kit for $.49 and have a whole afternoon of fun. Back then, Airfix kits were also sold under the CraftMaster and MPC brand names. I should also mention that most of the kits made in the '70s & '80s are still pretty good (e.g. S.A. Bulldog, F-84F Thunderstreak, Lockheed U-2).
I had pretty much ignored Airfix kits as a kid because I was more interested in jets than props. As an adult, I'm rediscovering my youth as I collect old Airfix kits packaged in the old boxes and bags. I'm glad that Airfix has continued to produce many of these old kits so that a whole new generation of model builders can experience the simple and inexpensive joys of modeling.
Martin
I'll just add my tuppence here and say that I too have always found their customer service to be execellent.
Now, if they could only improve their decals (in particular the translucent white)... :)
Cheers,
Dave
Martin, you heretic! Don't you know you're only supposed to worship Tamigawa kits? ;) This coming from another heretic, mind you. I think the bulk of the collection, built and unbuilt, is Airfix in one form or another. This discussion reminds me of someone we haven't heard from in a long time. Dave Garcia are you out there yet?
Bill Banaszak, MFE
Would the person that sent me an e-mail message titled "Airfix Models" (I assume in response to this posted message) please resend it. I accidentally deleted it before I got a chance to read it.
Apologies and Thanks!
Martin
Same thing with my Su-27 canopy/windshield. Both cracked in the box... Email to Academy Germany - new clear sprue within one week. though they enclosed a small printing saying next time they would need original instructions, bar code from model, receipt..and may be more...I ripped it to shreds.
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