Hornby announcement 8th May

[phil gollin]

.

 

I noticed on the Britmodeller site that Airfix have announced a "classics" range (some of the very, very old favourites) contrary to what had been previously announced ;

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/airfix-vintage-classics.html?

 

Odd, but such are the ways of Hornby at the moment.

 

.

[Legend]

.

 

I noticed on the Britmodeller site that Airfix have announced a "classics" range (some of the very, very old favourites) contrary to what had been previously announced ;

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/airfix-vintage-classics.html?

 

Odd, but such are the ways of Hornby at the moment.

 

.

I think using a similar method , though, capitalising on old tooling. Some interesting items in there . The good old HMS Victory and Cutty Sark . And of course some other classics Hood, Ark Royal and Bismark. Happy days constructing them nearly 50 years ago!

[luckymucklebackit]

.

 

I noticed on the Britmodeller site that Airfix have announced a "classics" range (some of the very, very old favourites) contrary to what had been previously announced ;

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/airfix-vintage-classics.html?

 

Odd, but such are the ways of Hornby at the moment.

 

.

 

Pity the RAF Recovery Set is not among this range, these are good vehicles that can be adapted for a layout

[Dunsignalling]

Pity the RAF Recovery Set is not among this range, these are good vehicles that can be adapted for a layout

It doesn't need to come back, it hasn't gone away. *

 

www.1001modelkits.co.uk

 

In stock. £17.09

 

John

 

EDIT: * yet (see post 1141)

Edited May 14, 2018 by Dunsignalling

[Tarnish1]

That old Bismarck kit was so terribly inaccurate but was the first larger kit available of her after WW2. There was a 1/1200 kit from Eagle - more accurate but terribly "fiddly" to make!

[Widnes Model Centre]

It doesn't need to come back, it hasn't gone away. 

 

www.1001modelkits.co.uk

 

In stock. £17.09

 

John

 

Sadly John, it might be in stock at that retailer, but once it's gone it's gone. No longer being produced by Airfix.

 

I believe this is Hornby "thinking on their feet". All the kits announced today have in the past sold well. The return certainly of the "ships" in all categories is just what we needed. The Airfix range was missing this category.

 

Big Thumbs Up on this announcement. I had my Airfix order in before I had even drunk my coffee. Now that is a first.

[Dunsignalling]

Sadly John, it might be in stock at that retailer, but once it's gone it's gone. No longer being produced by Airfix.

 

I believe this is Hornby "thinking on their feet". All the kits announced today have in the past sold well. The return certainly of the "ships" in all categories is just what we needed. The Airfix range was missing this category.

 

Big Thumbs Up on this announcement. I had my Airfix order in before I had even drunk my coffee. Now that is a first.

Thanks, I have one laid by for future use that I acquired from your "neighbours" before they moved to Widnes, but I might pick up another and/or the refuelling set while I still can.

 

John

Edited May 14, 2018 by Dunsignalling

[jjb1970]

I think using a similar method , though, capitalising on old tooling. Some interesting items in there . The good old HMS Victory and Cutty Sark . And of course some other classics Hood, Ark Royal and Bismark. Happy days constructing them nearly 50 years ago!

Those old WW1 figure sets bring back a lot of happy memories! I loved playing with them as a nipper growing up in the 70's,it's a testament to what a good job Airfix did over 50 years ago that they still stand up to comparison with much more modern tooling. I bought a few sets a few years ago on a trip down memory lane and still loved them.

[The Johnster]

I’ve just noticed that all of the new Pecketts that have been announced have delivery dates in 2019, so why announce them in 2018 when they are still a year away from delivery? Much better to have announced them as part of the 2019 range.

They have even delayed one of the previously announced 2018 Pecketts to Feb 2019.

It makes the mid year announcement even more of a damp squib.

 

Bachmann seem to be doing better financially; perhaps H are copying their methods..

[The Johnster]

Those old WW1 figure sets bring back a lot of happy memories! I loved playing with them as a nipper growing up in the 70's,it's a testament to what a good job Airfix did over 50 years ago that they still stand up to comparison with much more modern tooling. I bought a few sets a few years ago on a trip down memory lane and still loved them.

I don't think there is anything inherently better about modern toolings for plastic mouldings, and the Airfix ones were always pretty good.  The advantage of modern moulds is that they can be CAD designed and used to make much more complex assemblies; the trend in locomotives is for more body parts than just the chassis and then everything else in one piece.  If you look at the Hatton's 14xx or Bachmann 009 Baldwin, they strip down for maintenance in ways that exploit this.

 

But the actual mouldings, very good though they are, are not superior in quality to those from the 50s or 60s.  I remember one of the very first Airfix kits I built, a small scale HMS Victory waterline model, when I was probably 9 or 10; even then I remember being impressed by the sharpness of the moulded open gun ports on the main hull sides.  Neither Triang nor Hornby Dublo were doing anything of that quality in those days, though some of the early diesel body mouldings weren't too shabby.

 

One accepted a bit of flash as par for the course in those days.  I also built a couple of Kitmaster mk1s shortly after this, and there is a reason they are still well regarded nowadays; superb mouldings and easy assembly, plus parts moulded in the correct colours.  They ran well, too.

[159220]

Wow....you cannot say there is not interest in Hornby!

 

46 pages, 1145 posts, 70,000 plus views....

 

If every poster actually buys a Hornby model, they would be having a roaring success. Staggering an announcement about an announcement has cause so much interest and comment on Hornby. 

[jjb1970]

Out of interest I wonder how much cross business unit collaboration and co-operation there is within the Hornby group of companies? I've been very impressed with the trajectory of Airfix under Hornby ownership, they've been producing some terrific kits and have really re-established themselves as a kit manufacturer after quite a few troubled years. Their resin diorama buildings would seem to share something in common with the Hornby railway scenic buildings although clearly the subjects are very different. I'd hope Corgi Aviation Archive and Airfix collaborate to share research etc.

[Hroth]

Wow....you cannot say there is not interest in Hornby!

 

46 pages, 1145 posts, 70,000 plus views....

 

If every poster actually buys a Hornby model, they would be having a roaring success. Staggering an announcement about an announcement has cause so much interest and comment on Hornby. 

We would, if they didn't keep putting them back or cancelling them! 

[Hroth]

.

 

I noticed on the Britmodeller site that Airfix have announced a "classics" range (some of the very, very old favourites) contrary to what had been previously announced ;

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/airfix-vintage-classics.html?

 

Odd, but such are the ways of Hornby at the moment.

 

.

Perhaps they've noticed that Dapol have a steady stream of sales for the ex-Airfix model railway kits?  Plus a "How to Do Up a Model Windmill" feature in this months Model Rail!

[luckymucklebackit]

Perhaps they've noticed that Dapol have a steady stream of sales for the ex-Airfix model railway kits?  Plus a "How to Do Up a Model Windmill" feature in this months Model Rail!

 

 

The condition of the moulds producing those kits must be very poor as well, I bought a Water Tank Kit recently and the amount of flash was awful (more plastic for the oceans) and more frustrating the amount of warping of the main tank components was terrible.

 

Jim

[HonestTom]

I don't think there is anything inherently better about modern toolings for plastic mouldings, and the Airfix ones were always pretty good.  The advantage of modern moulds is that they can be CAD designed and used to make much more complex assemblies; the trend in locomotives is for more body parts than just the chassis and then everything else in one piece.  If you look at the Hatton's 14xx or Bachmann 009 Baldwin, they strip down for maintenance in ways that exploit this.

 

But the actual mouldings, very good though they are, are not superior in quality to those from the 50s or 60s.  I remember one of the very first Airfix kits I built, a small scale HMS Victory waterline model, when I was probably 9 or 10; even then I remember being impressed by the sharpness of the moulded open gun ports on the main hull sides.  Neither Triang nor Hornby Dublo were doing anything of that quality in those days, though some of the early diesel body mouldings weren't too shabby.

 

One accepted a bit of flash as par for the course in those days.  I also built a couple of Kitmaster mk1s shortly after this, and there is a reason they are still well regarded nowadays; superb mouldings and easy assembly, plus parts moulded in the correct colours.  They ran well, too.

 

I personally think that the ex-Airfix figures now in the Dapol range are some of the best model railway figures out there in terms of the sculpting.

[The Stationmaster]

The condition of the moulds producing those kits must be very poor as well, I bought a Water Tank Kit recently and the amount of flash was awful (more plastic for the oceans) and more frustrating the amount of warping of the main tank components was terrible.

 

Jim

 

Makes me happy that I bought up quite a number of various Airfix kits to squirrel away when the closure of the business was announced.  With some even in the brown paper bags which were used to pack multiples of some kits.

[The Johnster]

I bought a Dapol water tower last year; there was a little flash but removing it is no great problem, a few seconds with a craft knife, and the kit went together as well as the one I bought in 1964.  Nothing was warped; perhaps yours was old stock badly stored.  Very happy with price and quality, and I have absolute confidence in Dapol/Kitmaster plastic kits and my ability to make passable models out of them.

 

Bought at the same time was 'shop with flat above', which is being built as the half relief postwar front of my Remploy factory rather than to the kit instructions,, and which has also proved perfectly satisfactory.  Quality is much better than Ratio ever managed, though to be fair Ratio were pushing the envelope a bit with some of their mouldings.  Has anybody ever in the entire history of the space/time continuum managed to make up a full pack of their swan neck lamps?

I bought a Dapol water tower last year; there was a little flash but removing it is no great problem, a few seconds with a craft knife, and the kit went together as well as the one I bought in 1964.  Nothing was warped; perhaps yours was old stock badly stored.  Very happy with price and quality, and I have absolute confidence in Dapol/Kitmaster plastic kits and my ability to make passable models out of them.

 

Bought at the same time was 'shop with flat above', which is being built as the half relief postwar front of my Remploy factory rather than to the kit instructions,, and which has also proved perfectly satisfactory.  Quality is much better than Ratio ever managed, though to be fair Ratio were pushing the envelope a bit with some of their mouldings.  Has anybody ever in the entire history of the space/time continuum managed to make up a full pack of their swan neck lamps?

[Hroth]

Flash can be a problem, but thats to be expected from tooling thats probably pushing 50+ years old for some items.

 

The kits are reasonably priced and excellent either made up straight or as a basis for bodgery.

 

I'm going to get a mug made up:  "Railway Modellers do it with a craft knife" 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Hroth

[Steamport Southport]

The problem I have with the Dapol kits is the awful plastic they use rather than the flash. Not as bad as the Airfix figure plastic, but still not great if you want to build wagon kits.

 

The Airfix reissues are to be welcomed. Inexpensive kits for the nostalgia market. Just the thing for dad, uncle or granddads present. Or even an impulse buy for yourself. I just hope they manage to get them into normal High Street retailers such as WH Smiths.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[adb968008]

I bought a Dapol water tower last year; there was a little flash but removing it is no great problem, a few seconds with a craft knife, and the kit went together as well as the one I bought in 1964. Nothing was warped; perhaps yours was old stock badly stored. Very happy with price and quality, and I have absolute confidence in Dapol/Kitmaster plastic kits and my ability to make passable models out of them.

 

Bought at the same time was 'shop with flat above', which is being built as the half relief postwar front of my Remploy factory rather than to the kit instructions,, and which has also proved perfectly satisfactory. Quality is much better than Ratio ever managed, though to be fair Ratio were pushing the envelope a bit with some of their mouldings. Has anybody ever in the entire history of the space/time continuum managed to make up a full pack of their swan neck lamps?

I bought a Dapol water tower last year; there was a little flash but removing it is no great problem, a few seconds with a craft knife, and the kit went together as well as the one I bought in 1964. Nothing was warped; perhaps yours was old stock badly stored. Very happy with price and quality, and I have absolute confidence in Dapol/Kitmaster plastic kits and my ability to make passable models out of them.

 

Bought at the same time was 'shop with flat above', which is being built as the half relief postwar front of my Remploy factory rather than to the kit instructions,, and which has also proved perfectly satisfactory. Quality is much better than Ratio ever managed, though to be fair Ratio were pushing the envelope a bit with some of their mouldings. Has anybody ever in the entire history of the space/time continuum managed to make up a full pack of their swan neck lamps?

So good they said it twice ;-)

 

Some of the older kits had a lot of flashing on them, indeed during a placement period in a summer decades ago I cut off flash before putting it into a bag and stapling it, flash was reused... this was in the days long before Llangollen.

Edited May 15, 2018 by adb968008

[tomparryharry]

I've got a few of the humble 16 ton mineral kit, from Kitmaster through to Dapol. The quality has pretty much stayed the same, and ideal for a relatively scale mineral wagon rake. The quality of fit is fairly constant, and it's capable of being worked up to a good running quality. I'm using Romford bearings,and amazingly, Dapol 3-hole wheelsets, which you can buy in bulk.

 

The only thing I'd like to see changed is the inclusion of a proper headstock slot to accept a hook. I'm currently using the Brassmasters model, which is just right for this.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[luckymucklebackit]

.......  Has anybody ever in the entire history of the space/time continuum managed to make up a full pack of their swan neck lamps?....

 

 

Yes I managed it - BUT - you need to make twice as many as you need as once in position the slightest brush with a sleeve during an uncoupling operation results in them breaking! 

 

Jim

[The Johnster]

The actual composition plastic may have been altered over the years, of course; my impression is that it has become softer, but I have no empirical evidence and it is only an impression.

 

The method of moulding plastic in half moulds will always lead to a degree of flash, be it 1960 or the present day.  Modern CAD methods have enabled more complex and convoluted shapes to be produced at realistic cost (it could always have been done if you were prepared to pay for it!), but there is no real difference in the quality of the moulding.  As for the tooling, I am no expert but I would imagine that the longevity of the mould will on the quality to which it is built in the first place.  Airfix, with a background in bowls and buckets for household use, were always good at it.  But the mould is the (very) expensive part of the operation, and it requires a foresightedness and farsightedness that not all firms necessarily possess or think they will need to invest in a high quality mould which will last for several decades when a cheaper alternative that will return your shareholders a dividend is available.

 

To take the Airfix standard kit, the Spitfire, one wonders if they thought in the early 60s that there still might be interest in or demand for such a model in the 2020s, or that people would have forgotten the Second World War and have other interests by then.  Airfix's crystal ball, if they had one, worked well!

 

Don't complain about flash, it is easily dealt with and inevitable.  Warping is another matter...

[tomparryharry]

You can take the warp out of polystyrene based plastic. You will need a bowl of hot water, and some kitchen tongs. I'm assuming you are referring to the Airfix model wagon.

 

Bring the water to the boil, but not boiling IE, very hot. Immerse the cast plastic polystyrene part for 15-so seconds, and remove with the tongs. Gently bend the affected part back to true, and allow to cool.

 

You will need to satisfy yourself that this treatment will not materially affect that part which you aim to modify. I will not, repeat not accept responsibility for posts on here, because their prize locomotive has disappeared down the plughole!

 

Experience will tell on how long you immerse the hot water, and to what extent you can bend the shape. Remember that the thicker section of material-any material- will take longer to accept bending. If you're trying to bend any material beyond its design parameters, it will snap. Remember also, that it might take several immersions before you reach the desired shape.

 

Sometimes with high-speed plastic injection, the operator will have a cooling block, to allow the impressed part to cool off whilst remaining the shape.

 

Remember:- Safety first! Despite what you've heard, steam will hurt! Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

 

Happy modelling!

 

Ian.

 

Edit: Thanks to Mr Hayter for pointing out my error, and a reminder to self to proof-read my own posts from time to time...

Edited May 16, 2018 by tomparryharry