Discussion
Excellent news, and it covers Humbrol paints.
BBC Story here says the deal was for £6.5m
All a bit confusing The Times is reporting £2.6m.
All early day's yet.
It is also likely that Hornby will outsource the manufacture of Airfix kits to China, where its trains and cars are produced at a lower cost and to a higher level of detail than those of the Airfix models.
The model train maker is expected to reinvigorate Airfix’s marketing and distribution and extend the product range with models aimed at younger enthusiasts.
At least it sounds like they are going to put some effort into it.
BBC Story here says the deal was for £6.5m
All a bit confusing The Times is reporting £2.6m.
All early day's yet.
TheTimesOnline said:
It is also likely that Hornby will outsource the manufacture of Airfix kits to China, where its trains and cars are produced at a lower cost and to a higher level of detail than those of the Airfix models.
The model train maker is expected to reinvigorate Airfix’s marketing and distribution and extend the product range with models aimed at younger enthusiasts.
At least it sounds like they are going to put some effort into it.
Edited by gopher on Friday 10th November 08:17
I don't see what Airfix can do with some of their older moulds. It is easier and cheapier to design and build brand new moulds than to try and "tart up" moulds that are long past their best. Some Airfix moulds are approaching 50 years old.
Obviously there is no reason why new kits should not be up there with the best of the competition.
Regarding attracting youngsters into the hobby, I am very impressed with the products of a new company called Hobby Boss. Airfix should examine what these guys are up to - quality moulded kits, almost snap together assembly and costing £3.99 each. That is the level of competition today.
Obviously there is no reason why new kits should not be up there with the best of the competition.
Regarding attracting youngsters into the hobby, I am very impressed with the products of a new company called Hobby Boss. Airfix should examine what these guys are up to - quality moulded kits, almost snap together assembly and costing £3.99 each. That is the level of competition today.
I agree, especially if those moulds were to be built in China.
I wonder how far they got with the new Canberra and Nimrod moulds and how real the rumour that the TSR2 mould was damaged. They issued 10,000 of those kits, many now are fetching close to double their retail price on places like ebay.
The hobby boss kits are certainly the way to go to encourage younger people, I think the aircraft kits come in something like 5-6 pieces but still retain good detail and good fit.
Edited to add "Must Type Faster!"
I wonder how far they got with the new Canberra and Nimrod moulds and how real the rumour that the TSR2 mould was damaged. They issued 10,000 of those kits, many now are fetching close to double their retail price on places like ebay.
The hobby boss kits are certainly the way to go to encourage younger people, I think the aircraft kits come in something like 5-6 pieces but still retain good detail and good fit.
Edited to add "Must Type Faster!"
Edited by gopher on Friday 10th November 08:52
Airfix were sold by the original owner in 1981 to a company called General Mills Inc. GMI also owned the Palitoy brand which were tasked with managing the relaunched Airfix production. Palitoy never really got to grips with how they should market plastic kits - especially at that time as in the early 80s the bottom fell out of the plastic kits market as kids switched to electronic and computer games. They tried to recover the "child" market by releasing some of the kits as "Snap 'n Glue" in an attempt to give the impression that they were easier to construct. They weren't. The "Snap n' Glue" idea made them actually more difficult to make.
It was also in this era that the old exciting box art was dropped in favour of dull photos of assembled models. Another big mistake.
In 1986, Palitoy sold Airfix to the Humbrol paint company. Humbrol had also just bought the French model maker Heller and eventually, they merged production of Heller and Airfix kits by moving virtually all the Airfix moulds to France. Although the moulds were now in the one French factory, the Heller and Airfix ranges were boxed and marketed separately. There was, however, quite a bit of crossover in that some Airfix kits emerged in Heller boxes and vise versa. Humbrol also re-introduced box art.
Under Humbrol's guidance, Airfix recovered and, although not selling in the vast quantities of the 60s and 70s, found a niche in which they could operate profitably.
Although the media tended to blame this year's Airfix collapse on the notion that youngsters don't make kits anymore, that was not really the true reason for the cessation of trade. That phenomenon had already happened and Airfix (and the other kit manufacturers) had weathered that storm and amended their prodction capacity and model release strategies to match the more mature modern market.
Within the last few years, it became obvious to Humbrol that the Heller range of kits was not selling that well. Heller make some nice models but they have some very odd French aircraft in their line-up which wouldn't really appeal outside the French market. The more popular models from the Heller range were more likely to be appearing in Airfix boxes. Consequently, Humbrol sold the Heller company to the French management in the Summer of 2005. The Airfix moulds remained in the Heller factory and Heller continued to mould the Airfix kits as well as the Heller kits which were being released in Airfix packaging.
Unfortunately, the new arrangement didn't work out for Heller who went bust in May this year and the administrator ordered all moulding work to stop. This put unbearable cash flow pressure on the Airfix side of things so they ceased production in September.
The very latest Airfix kits (including the long awaited TSR2) were being moulded in China and all paint manufacture had been moved to China a few years ago.
It was also in this era that the old exciting box art was dropped in favour of dull photos of assembled models. Another big mistake.
In 1986, Palitoy sold Airfix to the Humbrol paint company. Humbrol had also just bought the French model maker Heller and eventually, they merged production of Heller and Airfix kits by moving virtually all the Airfix moulds to France. Although the moulds were now in the one French factory, the Heller and Airfix ranges were boxed and marketed separately. There was, however, quite a bit of crossover in that some Airfix kits emerged in Heller boxes and vise versa. Humbrol also re-introduced box art.
Under Humbrol's guidance, Airfix recovered and, although not selling in the vast quantities of the 60s and 70s, found a niche in which they could operate profitably.
Although the media tended to blame this year's Airfix collapse on the notion that youngsters don't make kits anymore, that was not really the true reason for the cessation of trade. That phenomenon had already happened and Airfix (and the other kit manufacturers) had weathered that storm and amended their prodction capacity and model release strategies to match the more mature modern market.
Within the last few years, it became obvious to Humbrol that the Heller range of kits was not selling that well. Heller make some nice models but they have some very odd French aircraft in their line-up which wouldn't really appeal outside the French market. The more popular models from the Heller range were more likely to be appearing in Airfix boxes. Consequently, Humbrol sold the Heller company to the French management in the Summer of 2005. The Airfix moulds remained in the Heller factory and Heller continued to mould the Airfix kits as well as the Heller kits which were being released in Airfix packaging.
Unfortunately, the new arrangement didn't work out for Heller who went bust in May this year and the administrator ordered all moulding work to stop. This put unbearable cash flow pressure on the Airfix side of things so they ceased production in September.
The very latest Airfix kits (including the long awaited TSR2) were being moulded in China and all paint manufacture had been moved to China a few years ago.
yertis said:
Very impressive. Can we come and watch it fly?
Dont hold your breath.....
Scratchbuilding can be a long process, especially when youre redesigning an existing model from a single i.c. engine ducted fan to twin electric ducted fan. And the retract mechanism looks like it is going to be a little complex.....
In any case I have just run out of wood and need to re-order. So far:
Gassing Station | Scale Models | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff