Airfix 2021 car releases (1/32)...

[Matt Bacon]

Excellent news: two of the  hardest to find and most expensive at auction Airfix automotive “classic kits” are back: the Beach Buggy and Jaguar 420:

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2021/beach-buggy.html

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-  2021/jaguar-420.html

£12 rather than £120 for the Jag is a good deal...

best,

M.

 

[dbostream]

I am not very familiar with these kits, part count seems high for 1/32. Are there engines included? I see someone wants 300 GBP for the Jag on Ebay.

Also I wonder if the 1/12 Bentley will hit the shelves any time soon.

Edited January 7, 2021 by dbostream

[Matt Bacon]

The Jag has full engine detail. It’s probably the best kit of all of the “modern car” 1/32’s. Not quite up to the 70s vintage MG K3 Magnette, Vauxhall Prince Henry or Monty’s Humber, but very good all the same.

best,

M.

[Richard Bartrop]

The Jaguar puts most 1/24 kits to shame. I've wanted one for years, but are all but unattainable on eBay, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

[Earl Marischal]

Good news indeed. Can we expect the Bond Bug, Austin Maxi and Vauxhall Victor Estate next???

steve

[Erik Smith]

4 minutes ago, Earl Marischal said:

Vauxhall Victor Estate next?

Would love to see that one again. I sold mine years ago and, of course, regret that. 
It’s a very detailed kit, looks like it would be a little finicky, but it’s a cool wagon. 

[64Comet404]

The Victor estate was modified, along with the Ford Capri and Ford Zodiac, into 1970s style street machines. Don't know if there's enough left to bring it back.

The Beach buggy and Jag are really nice kits with full detail. It took me a long time to find the Buggy, recently began to start building mine (you're welcome, ,by the way).

[Tom Geiger]

When I was a kid living in Germany, the Airfix 1/32s were nearly the only game in town!  As said, these look like you took a nicely detailed 1/24 scale kit and shrunk it!  

The only Airfix kits that survived for me are a built Capri, Mercedes SL convertible and an unbuilt Ford Model T.  

When I got back to the hobby as an adult around 1990, you could find them at shows in the $5/10 range since Americans didn’t understand them, so I grabbed some. Once eBay came about, American dealers figured out that Europeans would pay a good amount for them. 
 

[Earl Marischal]

I had (thankfully) forgotten about those awful street machine kits. It's a shame the original models were ruined like that.

The Jag engine makes an interesting substitution in other 1/32.vehicles. I put one in an Aurora Turtledeck T once from their 1/32 range...which I wish someone would reissue. The Herald would also be a candidate, as it has been done in real life.

Wouldn't mind the MG1100, Viva, Rapier and even the Dauphine coming back either.

steve

[dbostream]

Wish they would tool new vinyl tires. Or does anyone know if I can buy something that fits elsewhere?

Edited January 8, 2021 by dbostream

[Earl Marischal]

1 hour ago, dbostream said:

Which they would tool new vinyl tires. Or does anyone know if I can buy something that fits elsewhere?

You try looking at slot car tyres.

steve

[64Comet404]

3 hours ago, Earl Marischal said:

I had (thankfully) forgotten about those awful street machine kits. It's a shame the original models were ruined like that.

The Jag engine makes an interesting substitution in other 1/32.vehicles. I put one in an Aurora Turtledeck T once from their 1/32 range...which I wish someone would reissue. The Herald would also be a candidate, as it has been done in real life.

Wouldn't mind the MG1100, Viva, Rapier and even the Dauphine coming back either.

steve

The Viva came back in a three-car set back about 15 years ago, but the others haven't been seen in decades. I know I had heard reports about some of the car tooling being left outside to decay back in the Heller/Airfix days, so who knows what is available.

[Matt Bacon]

The main issue seems to be brand licensing. The Maserati Indy was promised a few years back, then got kiboshed by Ferrari (which controlled the brand license at the time) and then got reissued this year now Ferrari is out of the picture. In the case of the BMC/BL/Rover Group brands the licensing is just hugely complicated with joint ownership split between BMW, British Motor Heritage, Tata and SAIC. The Triumph Herald’s been around relatively recently, so maybe the TR4 could be on the cards. Both the Escort and 3ltr GT have been released in new boxes, so Ford’s OK. Vauxhall became PSA which is now joining FIAT Chrysler to become Stellantis, so I suspect heritage brand licenses aren’t top of the corporate agenda!

Looking at what Scalextric makes doesn’t help because they are a different toy category, but the Airfix Quickbuilds (which aren’t) suggest that the company has good relations with Ford, Mclaren, and the VW Group (which seems to be very amenable to toy company licenses, since the big Lego Technic flagships are a Porsche, a Bugatti, a Lamborghini and a Ducati...)

Back on topic, we just need Airfix to shift so many of the reissues that they consider a proper new-tool 1/32 car!

best,

M.

[Richard Bartrop]

In that case, I hope Mercedes-Benz will be nice enough to let Airfix bring back their very nice 280 SL kit.

[Earl Marischal]

18 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

In that case, I hope Mercedes-Benz will be nice enough to let Airfix bring back their very nice 280 SL kit.

Good point.

steve

[OldNYJim]

On 1/7/2021 at 3:41 PM, Tom Geiger said:

When I was a kid living in Germany, the Airfix 1/32s were nearly the only game in town!  As said, these look like you took a nicely detailed 1/24 scale kit and shrunk it!  

The only Airfix kits that survived for me are a built Capri, Mercedes SL convertible and an unbuilt Ford Model T.  

When I got back to the hobby as an adult around 1990, you could find them at shows in the $5/10 range since Americans didn’t understand them, so I grabbed some.

Interesting - I’m convinced that as a kid I received a birthday gift of a 1/32 Airfix MGB kit, but I have no idea from whom or where they got an English kit from…I guess it’s SLIGHTLY more feasible that my memory is correct if they were indeed available here at one point…

[64Comet404]

18 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Interesting - I’m convinced that as a kid I received a birthday gift of a 1/32 Airfix MGB kit, but I have no idea from whom or where they got an English kit from…I guess it’s SLIGHTLY more feasible that my memory is correct if they were indeed available here at one point…

They were imported by Craft-Master, which also distributed MPC kits back in the 1960s. MPC also had a few Airfix kits in their boxes, but I don't know if the MGB was one of those kits.

[Edsel-Dan]

I would like to see some of these too.

I had 2 each of the Capri, VW Beetle & Porsche 917 Back in the 70;s in MPC boxes.

I still have the TR4 UNBUILT.

[Bugatti Fan]

I have a couple of the Airfix Bugztti 35B kits in 1/32nd scale.

Actually quite nice kits from back in the day.

Airfix did a weird thing though with that particular kit. It has a beautifully detailed firewall but no engine. It is as if they intended to make the kit with an engine but stopped short when developing the kit. At first I thought it was a sprue  missing but the second kit was the same. With an engine it could really be a nice model.