Airfix @ Scale Model World, Telford 2026

.. Everybody is talking about Airfix post-Telford - for all the wrong reasons. Well, the days of the 'Big Reveal' seem to be over. There were no announcements of any consequence whatsoever. The days of the big red boxes are apparently also on the way out. The Airfix stand was mostly black and blue manned by ladies dressed in pink! Even a cursory glance at the videos on line show that Telford was mostly (Heller) yellow. Well that was novel - Airfix make their marketing man redundant and he goes to Heller who make a big splash. But apparently 'red' is the colour of 'discount' and 'sales'.. From one well-known FB modeller; 

 "..the entire Airfix stand at Telford was a vibe-free branding catastrophe. Dark blue logo, pink shirts, zero knowledge. When you consider how intensely strong the branding and presentation has been, especially in the last decade, this felt like the soulless product of some doe-eyed clueless teenager's least literate AI prompt."

But as someone else put it, 'Heller may have 'stolen the show'- but how many truly great Heller kits has anyone ever made?' Airfix may or may not have taken a marketing step backwards - but maybe, just maybe, they are trying for a different 'younger' market. Airfix do need to address the youngsters. Starter sets with ancient mouldings and rubbish paints included are also not a great move probably - even when sold cheaply in Aldi/Lidl. At least the new Canberra looks nice - but no news on when it might be here..and it could be a while after this before we see anything new from Airfix.... 

East Kent Scale Modellers at Scale Model World, Telford, 2026

A few views of the East Kent Modellers at the biggest scale model show possibly in the world certainly in Europe, Scale Model World, 2026 held in Telford, England...