discussion Airfix Gone Bust?

[Guest]

I'm glad I have my twp TSR2's then and from what you are saying Barry the price wasn't too bad.

The second one cost me 26.00 quid but at least I have them now, one for posterity and one for the shelf.

I hope that Airfix continues to exist in name and product line as I would be so sad to see it go. It has played such a major part of my earlier years I couldn't imagine it not being there.

I think I am giving up on the idea of collecting bagged kits though, the prices on Ebay are just getting silly now!!!

 

[Guest]

Yep,

I can confirm what Barry says above, is also on BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/bb_wm_fs.stm?news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=5303876

What a very sad day for Model Making, I still have a boxed Lancaster Kit which I was given in 1978 too, opened but not yet built. It does feature in the newsclip too in the pic of the guy holding all various the model kits

Regards.....Mark

 

[wonwinglo]

***And the prices will continue to rise Richard,saw an Airfix Aerial Arrow in original box today for £25 ! most of the TSR.2's noted so far on Fleecebay have been around the £40 mark,so even £26 was a very good buy in view of the demand,it is a really first class kit as well.

I wonder whether we will ever see the promised 1=48th scale Canberra now under the present circumstances ?

I'm glad I have my twp TSR2's then and from what you are saying Barry the price wasn't too bad.The second one cost me 26.00 quid but at least I have them now, one for posterity and one for the shelf.

I hope that Airfix continues to exist in name and product line as I would be so sad to see it go. It has played such a major part of my earlier years I couldn't imagine it not being there.

I think I am giving up on the idea of collecting bagged kits though, the prices on Ebay are just getting silly now!!!

 

[wonwinglo]

Treasure that kit Mark,I think this really is the end of an era for Airfix.

 

[Guest]

Well that's it. If it has been on the news prices will go through the roof.

I consider myself to be very lucky to have got my hands on an original bagged P1127 only a couple of weeks ago for 20.00 pounds. I don't think I'll ever see that again.

 

[Guest]

i wonder how true this is?

View attachment 14735

View attachment 127261

 

[Guest]

Good point Richard,

They have probably done that whilst the administrators have been called in, It does say on the news article that Airfix did indeed go bust 25 Years ago before Humbrol bought them out. Hopefully there will be another company who can do the same and Keep the name and the Models alive....as well as the paints !!!

Airfix & Humbrol have been around too long now to just die out overnight.

A World without Humbrol paints and Airfix kits is indeed a very sad one, the two go hand in hand with each other.

Regards......Mark.

 

[wonwinglo]

What has really happened with Airfix.

***Richard,there has been a shortage of tinlets now for about 18 months,apparently the paint mix standards sheets were lost when they uprooted the Marfleet,Hull factory to Japan ( the land at Marfleet, was sold off I am reliably informed with only a portakabin handling requests for Airfix spares etc ) and on top of this the original colourman had passed away,so combined with the move and loss of documents Revell had the chance to move in with their paint range,this must have done untold damage to sales,on top of this there was never really a satisfactory explanation as to the status of Airfix/Humbrol at that time and with spare parts from the kits taking months to come there were a few disgruntled people unable to complete the kits.

The poorly fitting Concorde kit,and the too short 'limited run' of the TSR.2 added further flustrations.

So this is a chain of events notwithstanding the decline in sales for the younger generation which has been the bread and butter for them since they first started.

Good point Richard,They have probably done that whilst the administrators have been called in, It does say on the news article that Airfix did indeed go bust 25 Years ago before Humbrol bought them out. Hopefully there will be another company who can do the same and Keep the name and the Models alive....as well as the paints !!!

Airfix & Humbrol have been around too long now to just die out overnight.

A World without Humbrol paints and Airfix kits is indeed a very sad one, the two go hand in hand with each other.

Regards......Mark.

 

[Guest]

This reminds me of an incident that occurred only a few months ago and only goes to demonstrate the confusion within the business at the time.

I went into my local model shop and purchased a couple of tinlets of Humbrol enamel and, as I was having a chat with the guy in the shop I mentioned the new style of tin. "Oh they are now made in China" says he and to be carefull as they cannot be mixed with the old style of paint. I found this very strange that a company would produce a range of paints not compatible with thier existing range so I tried a few experiments and it seemed to work OK.

I was so convinced that this could not possibly be the case that I phoned Humbrol in Hull. They informed me that the new paint mixed in China was perfectly compatible with the existing range, and the colours were "supposed" to be identical.

With this degree of confusion and misinformation coming from a vendor it is not surprising that sales are struggling!!

I still think that Humbrol paint is the best and I have tried all the others over the years. To be honest it is probably nothing more than what I am used to but i remember when I was making lots of models as a teenager that I used to know where all my paints were in the box and I could get a tinlet out of the right colour without needing to look in the box. That's how familiar I was with them.

 

[Guest]

Model making so far as i know has been undergoing a renaisance in the last few years. Mostly due to tumbling prices brought about by the internet. Birnging models within pocket money grasp once again. (Ok some are stil firmly in the big boys toys bracket). Some say the internet/computers were to blame for the decline in modelling as a hobby due to kids being more interested in computer games than building stuff.

I disagree with this to a certain extent as i can clearly remember a dividing line during the late eighties when after a break from model building i ventured into a model shop and found that all the prices had doubled it seemed..then add paint glue brushs etc, you get my drift.

I doubt seriously that the name airfix will disappear their recent efforts in quality control was setting them up for greater things. Someone will buy the name, manufacture in asia, add more gizmo's(motorization/bells/whistles), adn come back stronger than ever.

If there is a brand that could ever attain the height of the all conquering Tamiya its Airfix.

Someone will fix this dire situation.

 

[wonwinglo]

Richard,regarding the Humbrol tinlets,I think the retailer was confusing the original slow drying enamel as opposed to the newer quick drying paints,the formulae was the same just a bit more Terebin dryers in them,Humbrol always did suffer problems with the darker gloss colours taking a long while to cure,I remember writing to them and suggesting that they do something about it,which they did.

Certainly Revell enamel is a different formulae and is quicker curing,you can add thinners and it starts to cure while you are still weilding the brush.

By far the best gloss paints for models are artists oil colours mixed with alkyd resin and thinned with white spirit,you need to mix them fresh from the tubes but the coverage is superb,most of my models are painted with this type of paint.

 

[Guest]

speaking of which Barry what are you working on at the moment?

 

[wonwinglo]

***RJ,I am putting the finishing touches to several of those early Airfix rebuilds,will photograph them in due course so you can see the finished results,there is always something on the bench,they were shown in primer in the blog recently.

speaking of which Barry what are you working on at the moment?

 

[Guest]

oh right, all those ones you had out on your workbench you had stripped down to re-"master"?

 

[wonwinglo]

***Thats correct,there are several canopies to polish up with toothpaste and dunk in Johnsons,then frame up.

oh right' date=' all those ones you had out on your workbench you had stripped down to re-"master"?[/quote']

 

[Guest]

BBC business news yesterday said that Meccano may make a bid for Airfix. There is hope yet perhaps ?

 

[Guest]

That would be a positive outcome and would keep things at least based in the UK although I doubt whether they will be manufactured here any more.

 

[wonwinglo]

Not quite correct Richard,Meccano is now owned by 'Bandhai' a Japanease company who took it over from Meccano France,all tooling was shipped over there some years ago,Bandhai ruined the system with numerous plastic parts including those essential gears,even if Bandhai take on Airfix it will be made in Japan,what a sad state of affairs.

That would be a positive outcome and would keep things at least based in the UK although I doubt whether they will be manufactured here any more.

 

[Guest]

Kuso,shimatta !

 

[wonwinglo]

It is not just Airfix.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/31/rip_airfix/

Another source has stated that Heller also has been under administration as well,so the rot goes deeper than expected,what exactly was the connection betweenAirfix and Heller ? the two appear to have been linked for years,remember the old Heller/Airfix Bobcat kits ? it appears to be a complex situation.