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| Hammer House of Airfix Horror; - 1/72 Mk22 Spitfire | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 29 2013, 08:27 AM (2,796 Views) | |
| Mentalguru | May 29 2013, 08:27 AM Post #1 |
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Owned by Jen
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Ok- they say you should never return to a lit firework- or in this case a new Airfix 1/72 Mk22 Spit. Jeeeassus Airfix- what the hell- I mean- IF I had bought this for anyone as a "pocket money market" consideration- I would be returning it for a full refund as "unfit for purpose." Last night I managed to get the fuselage halves together- good thing I have been doing this lark a long long time, and I have a good compliment of experience, modelling skills, alternative thinking and patience. Seriously unimpressed It WILL look good in the end- as I imagine it would if many on here were to build it- and get over it's utter mediochrity and booby trapped fit and finish. -BUT- this is so far removed from the ethos of these kits- it's shameful. I doubt ANY member of the Airfix board has even attempted to construct this 2012/13 era kit, and if they did- and were questioned re it's quality, with lie detector trigger on the thumb- connected to a taser pointed at their testicles- could honestly say it was ok to market this utter shite. Rant off. Edited by Mentalguru, May 29 2013, 08:30 AM.
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| Walrus | May 29 2013, 08:38 AM Post #2 |
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A bristle short of a full brush
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Surprised. My experience with the new Airfix releases has been that the engineering is good overall |
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| Mentalguru | May 29 2013, 08:52 AM Post #3 |
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Owned by Jen
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Well on first glance- I thought "WOW- Airfix have upped their game." Preparing the cockpit parts- painting them, then trying to assemble them, gave me no pleasure at all, I had to build it in a differt sequence to that supplied by Airfix, eventually getting things to fit through judicious carving of bulkheads etc. It's the basic stuff that really annoys me- the terrible sprue gates in the most ridiculous places for a start- the lack of though going into just how to do simple things like attach the pilot's seat- assuming kids have got this far they won't be able to fit the pilot's armour plate- as it won't actually fit- unless of course you take out the scalpel and start carving it up- until it does- then you eventually go to fit the fuselage halves together- and find the fit of the locating pins is so tight- you can't really do it- so you have to drill out the holes- and even then, you need vast reserves of modelling technique just to get them to go together- and stay together. I could go on about stuff like getting the prop and spinner actually off the sprues in the first place- and then to get them assembled- OK- this morning I am looking at something that is starting to resemble a Mk22 Spit- but the thing is- -how many kids and even teenagers- would just have given up by now- or broken too many bits- so have gone back to something that involves buttons and a screen? Edited by Mentalguru, May 29 2013, 08:53 AM.
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| Harriet | May 29 2013, 08:57 AM Post #4 |
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Advanced Member
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I wonder whether that is one of the reasons they switched the manufacture of the kits to India? |
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| desmojen | May 29 2013, 08:57 AM Post #5 |
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Iwata Goddess
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I have to agree Mental, I didn't enjoy mine at all. It looks good on the sprue but there are just too many grockles, little moulding flaws, inconsistencies etc. To me, it's a product that has been let down in production as it is clearly well researched, accurate and quite well detailed for the scale. Just not made properly. It does come out nice in the end, but it is a lot of effort. I certainly won't be rushing to build any more ![]() Jen. |
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| desmojen | May 29 2013, 09:08 AM Post #6 |
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Iwata Goddess
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Actually, that reads a little harsh. There is a caveat to all this, and it's only my opinion, but I am being very critical. I don't actually have OCD, but I do think attention to detail is the thing that makes me good at what I do. I believe that the vast majority of modellers will never even see a lot of the flaws that annoyed me so much, and are not so critical of fit and finish to have the enjoyment of the build sucked out of them by this kit like mine was. And I'm not being elitist, I say this with some justification I think, because not one of the built 22's I've seen so far has had the mould seams around the nose fully eliminated. Jen. |
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| peebeep | May 29 2013, 09:11 AM Post #7 |
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Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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I've seen a mixture of responses to this kit in different places, from 'fits perfectly', to 'fits where it touches'. I don't think there's a problem with the way the kit has been designed, more likely it is an issue with QC at the factory where they're making the kits, as this problem is associated with other kits. If, as I suspect, the people operating the injection moulding plant are on piece work, there is an inevitable temptation to speed things up a bit by ejecting the mouldings prematurely before they've cooled sufficiently to remain stable. Shrinkage or warping may be minimal and the parts look OK on the sprue, but it is enough to end up with a poor fitting kit. Mouldings in this state should be rejected for packing, but it's probably impossible to detect from a visual inspection unless any of the components are grossly warped. I've not personally had any of these duffers on my bench - yet - but if I did I'd be firing off an e-mail to customer services. If we don't tell them there's a problem, they won't fix it. http://www.airfix.com/contact-us/ peebeep |
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| peebeep | May 29 2013, 09:17 AM Post #8 |
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Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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The reason they switched to India was almost certainly to reduce production costs, but see my post above! I've heard rumours - rumours, mind - that production might return to the UK. It's my understanding that Humbrol paint was brought back to the UK for brewing on account of the stuff coming from China being complete crap. http://www.humbrol.com/manufacturing/ peebeep |
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| desmojen | May 29 2013, 09:30 AM Post #9 |
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Iwata Goddess
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Completely agree Paul, I've fallen foul of this with my Vampire kit which really does fit where it touches. It's a great kit which is again let down by poor QC. Jen. |
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| Harriet | May 29 2013, 09:34 AM Post #10 |
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Absolutely right - I got that from Humbrol themselves last year. They are being made in the same factory that used to manufacture the Games Workshop paint (until they decided to transfer to China!) in the UK - which I'm told by others is Windsor and Newton. |
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| Mentalguru | May 29 2013, 09:44 AM Post #11 |
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Owned by Jen
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^^ I'm sure there is a toolmaking company somewhere, that would just LOVE to have Airfixs' contract. China used to be cheap as chips- however- the main driver of Gross production cost is transport- so as all forms of freight increase markedly, along with Chinese wages going up rapidly (apparently half the Chinese drive SUVs- the other half do the sort of things we read about on the news yesterday) I imagine for the aggro involved, the margin of commercial satisfaction enjoyed by the production exporting companies must be withering onthe vine. |
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| Harriet | May 29 2013, 10:41 AM Post #12 |
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Couldn't agree with you more - I hope that before all our factories are demolished to make way for housing there is an upsurgance (?) of in "Made in Britain"! It is said, however that if the worst came to the worst, this country has so many 'backyard" workshops that they would come to the rescue of the country! |
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| Harriet | May 29 2013, 10:43 AM Post #13 |
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And the more we tell the manufacturers they are selling us rubbish, the more they'll have to do to stay in business If we don't tell them, they won't know
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| Mentalguru | May 30 2013, 10:26 AM Post #14 |
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Owned by Jen
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Does anyone have the recent Xtradecal sheet for this kit- and would be willing to part with an option? Thanks |
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| Floyd | May 30 2013, 02:21 PM Post #15 |
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I like to mottle things.
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I'm really glad this was bought to my attention, I had no clue that the spit was having as many troubles as it was, granted I know longer surf different forums these days, but I was under the impression all new tool airfix kits simply fell together. Cheers for the heads up everyone, will do some more research before picking up kits. |
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| peebeep | May 30 2013, 02:37 PM Post #16 |
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Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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That's missing the point, the issue is that with recent Airfix releases you can take two of the same kit, one might be perfectly fine, the other could be poor fitting. I've seen threads on other forums (no names, no pack drill) that have ended up in mud slinging because two people have such different experiences with the same kit. peebeep |
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| Floyd | May 30 2013, 03:07 PM Post #17 |
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I like to mottle things.
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Ah right, my mistake. hopefully, Q.C will sort it'self out. If i get a poor fitting kit, will fire an email off to airfix, had it with the A-4, and they sent me most of a new kit for free. Pretty decent of them. |
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| Mentalguru | May 30 2013, 06:45 PM Post #18 |
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Owned by Jen
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Taken as written- but- I just can't see this myself. Don't get me wrong- I approach a build of an Airfix 1/72 scale Spitfire as light relief- and hope I will have the same enjoyable experience as someone starting out would hope to have. Certain people are extremely "p.c," and will not say anything bad about anything- take Brett at HS for example- which sort of leads me in the direction that for some people, this hobby is not end user interface- it is bank balance interface. Therefore it is understandable they will not make any negative comments about anything. Unfortunately, they will also forget to put themselves in the shoes of the target market for the product being built, and if then taken to task, will turn around and besmirch the other's building talents. PB- stuff like large sprue attachmnent points on wafer thin trailing edges (in my case so thin I had a short shot) are NOT QC problems, they are engineering problems. As I said before- and will reiterate- I would dearly love to know more about the injection process - I know enough about metal and engineering- yet I know little about the "tricks of the trade" peculiar to injection moulding- stuff like mould sizes/type/pressures/plastic used/ etc etc I am completely unsure for example, if you could put Hasegawa quality plastic through the same set of moulds and machines as used by Airfix,but would love to see an Airfix Mk22 Spitfire moulded wit hthat plastic- wonder if it would be much different- maybe greatly improved- maybe not? |
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| desmojen | May 30 2013, 07:16 PM Post #19 |
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Iwata Goddess
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Harder Hasegawa type plastic might be a little more stable than the really very soft stuff most of these new kits are made of, but it wouldn't help with inconsistent surface details, or mould blemishes, or the surface finish of the parts. I DO agree with Paul on the QC as I've seen it first hand. Karl Robinson has built a Vampire which in his words 'clicked together' and has clearly had no filler used on it at all. Mine, on the other hand, fits where it touches. I have gaps along both wing roots of up to 1.5mm, and my booms and tails wouldn't fit either. The only explanation I can come up with is rushed production, since the moulds themselves won't be changing...... The point for me is whether this is a deliberate ploy on the part of Airfix to keep costs down, or whether it is the production company making their own mind up. Interestingly (for conspiracy theorists maybe) the two test shots I have built recently were both moulded from much harder plastic than production kits Jen. |
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| Mentalguru | May 30 2013, 07:18 PM Post #20 |
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Owned by Jen
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Interesting- have you got a test shot for the Gladioli? |
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If we don't tell them, they won't know


2:37 PM Jul 11





