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Airfix to close?

sadly i think airfix had not really modernised for some time they were still producing 'nostalgia kits' which were still as incorrect and inaccurate as they were when their kit designers drew them from photographs etc.

The spitfires were always inaccurate the details were always lacking heller never bother to retool the kit's either or make them better so they were still as archic as they had been in the 50's and 60's sadly this meant companies like tamya and hasigawa produced better more detailed more accurate and cheaper (in terms of cash paid and to make) kits... this really did for the airfix market...
 
Kid_Eternity said:
Hardly the end of the world imo...airfix was never as much fun as building, painting minutures that you could fight battles with...
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Oh yes. How dull could it be? I mean, with Airfix kits kids had to use skill, patience and tons of their their imagination to creat something with their hands, but why bother with that when they can just plug in some throwaway electronic gizmo instead, eh?

:rolleyes:
 
editor said:
Oh yes. How dull could it be? I mean, with Airfix kits kids had to use skill, patience and tons of their their imagination to creat something with their hands, but why bother with that when they can just plug in some throwaway electronic gizmo instead, eh?

:rolleyes:
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don't worry they it ain't over and all that...
 
editor said:
Oh yes. How dull could it be? I mean, with Airfix kits kids had to use skill, patience and tons of their their imagination to creat something with their hands, but why bother with that when they can just plug in some throwaway electronic gizmo instead, eh?

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Eh?? Did you actually read my post?! I never mentioned anything about electronics! I just said as a kid I never found it interesting and always preffered things which allowed interaction (ie gaming based).

Building, modding or painting lead figures takes a ton of patience, imagination, steady hands etc as Airfix did (I've done both) but the outcome was, ime, better (you could play with them in games rather than 'admire' them as they steadly cluttered up your bedroom).

*hands Ed a new pair of glasses to read posts a little better*
 
Kid_Eternity said:
Hardly the end of the world imo...airfix was never as much fun as building, painting minutures that you could fight battles with...
Click to expand...
We had battles with airfix and matchbox stuff. We had thousands of little soldiers, loads of tanks, planes and a big train set with a little town. Scenarios like germans and astronauts vs french foreign legion.

I thought those people who could remodel figures into zulus and whatnot were great.
 
fishfingerer said:
We had battles with airfix and matchbox stuff. We had thousands of little soldiers, loads of tanks, planes and a big train set with a little town. Scenarios like germans and astronauts vs french foreign legion.
Click to expand...

Yeah we tried that but without a proper rule set it just got a bit boring or turned into stupid arguements...
 
I still have a couple of unmade Airfix models in their original boxes at my mother's place. They are railway trucks in the OO/HO scale. I checked with a shop and apparently they are worth more unmade in their boxes than if I made them up.

When I used to make up Airfix kits including the famous Spitfire model the instructions used to have words in them. The phrase "Locate and cement" is forever in my memory. You could not help but learn a bit of mechanical engineering vocabulary as you located and cemented the 'differential gear' on to the RAF landrover or whatever.

A few years ago I had a look at the Airfix kits on sale to a newer generation. The instructions contained no words, only very simple diagrams. They also came in plastic bags rather than the little cardboard boxes of my time.

H
 
Kid_Eternity said:
Eh?? Did you actually read my post?! I never mentioned anything about electronics! I just said as a kid I never found it interesting and always preffered things which allowed interaction (ie gaming based).

Building, modding or painting lead figures takes a ton of patience, imagination, steady hands etc as Airfix did (I've done both) but the outcome was, ime, better (you could play with them in games rather than 'admire' them as they steadly cluttered up your bedroom).

*hands Ed a new pair of glasses to read posts a little better*
Click to expand...


i completely agree. my cousin led a very strict childhood and was given many lego models which he built, put on the shelf, and never looked at again. i found that so odd as my lego liven in a huge box and was constantly being rebuilt.

however, my airfix models were put on a shelf, once you've built them what do you do? trash em or look at em.

orks etc have the appeal that once you've spent days painting them and getting them just right you can play with them. people do spend hours painting the damn things. i'd almost say it was more fiddly then airfix.

almost ;)
 
Kid_Eternity said:
Eh?? Did you actually read my post?!
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Sorry about that: it was a bit of an uncontrolled general rant about the growing use of electronics widgets/video games instead of giving kids things that make them use their imagination instead of staring at pixels all day long.
 
editor said:
Sorry about that: it was a bit of an uncontrolled general rant about the growing use of electronics widgets/video games instead of giving kids things that make them use their imagination instead of staring at pixels all day long.
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What imagination? How much imagination does it take to make a model plane out of a model plane kit?

Christ, talk about pointless nostalgia.
 
In Bloom said:
What imagination? How much imagination does it take to make a model plane out of a model plane kit?
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A lot more than playing a video game, I'd wager.

Here's a clue: when the kit is made there's lots of opportunities - for a kid with some imagination - to play with the thing. I certainly did.
 
RIP, Airfix

:(

Something else from my childhood bites the dust. No more spokie-dokies, snakebelts, or whambars... where will it end? Next it will be Breaktime Milkshakes :(

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1862203,00.html

AA18003.jpg
 
spanglechick said:
we've tried. he doesn't want to get rid of them. money no object.:rolleyes:
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even better
they'll increase in value as the years pass.

just remember to let him know how much you love unmade airfix kits so that he leaves them to you in his will and you can buy a solid gold house with the proceeds.
 
they have had the issue with the moulds and the other company going bust for a bit iirc, they were trying to sort it out last time I heard from the horses mouth ;) it's a shame they have gone under.
 
tribal_princess said:
they have had the issue with the moulds and the other company going bust for a bit iirc, they were trying to sort it out last time I heard from the horses mouth ;) it's a shame they have gone under.
Click to expand...

I think they have finally given up. Half the fun of airfix was painting the hamster with leaded paint :D

I didn't like the colour of it and it did look better in rust red. Pity it the hamster was solid in the morning and quite dead :(
 
I loved doing airfix kits when I was a kid.
Made all the WW2 stuff including a whole host of spitfires.

Made almost all the 1938-45 marks except the seaplane version.

Heard the news at work today - bad for all including a new generation of kids that will never know the joy of making these things.
 
In Bloom said:
How is the number of shareholders relevant?
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I happen to know them and i can tell you they all put their own money in and have been gutted today, not least becuase they have had to let the staff go...

but hey don't let the fact's of the matter stop you gloating over their demise as a business...
 
In Bloom said:
What imagination? How much imagination does it take to make a model plane out of a model plane kit?

Christ, talk about pointless nostalgia.
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well if you consider it's the creative base and that there's no real rules on which bit's to do when, how you decorate it, re build it, reform or reshape it, add it to other things to it to make something entirely different...

you really are some kind of miserabate aren't you ...
 
GarfieldLeChat said:
I happen to know them and i can tell you they all put their own money in and have been gutted today, not least becuase they have had to let the staff go...

but hey don't let the fact's of the matter stop you gloating over their demise as a business...
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Where the fuck have I gloated?

I'm sure they made plenty of money of the labour of their employees to last them for a little while anyway. It's the people they've sacked ("let go", my arse, what did they do, release them into the wild? :rolleyes: ) that I'm bothered about.
 
editor said:
A lot more than playing a video game, I'd wager.
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So games like Black and White, The Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc. etc. offer no opportunity for creativity or customisation then?

Things have moved on somewhat since Space Invaders.
 
snorbury said:
the glue was cool, so was the paint, airfix for you're first fix
Click to expand...

i still have a big stash of glue and paint. and a drawer full of planes that are either unfinished, unpainted, missing propellors or missing wings
 
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