Classic British Flight Sim

...using the second of two Model Zone vouchers my daughters gave me on Father's Day. They know me so well.

And if anyone's wondering what the first voucher went on, it was BBMF's MkIIa P7350. The squadron code QJ-K was that of Geoffrey Wellum, author of First Light which the aircraft carried this past summer. THe BBMF has since changed it to EB-G, that of Flight Lieutenant Eric Lock who is credited with 26.5 victories during the Battle of Britain.

What I really liked about this particular model is that Corgi has the curve of the canopy just about right - not so some of their other Spitfires.

"My latest Corgi acquisition..."
And there was me thinking HM had joined the forum

The thing with Corgi is that they always seem to be able to manage to get some things right but others glaringly not. Rarely, if ever, have they put something out that's been on the button over an entire model which begs the question why?. If these models were cheap, it'd be far easier to swallow but the fact is, they're not

Still.. I've bought a few in my time and I'll probably continue to do so

ATB
DaveB

I think a lot of that is poor research

That way the accuracy is done to lick as to wether a detail has been covered or not.

DaveB wrote:

The thing with Corgi is that they always seem to be able to manage to get some things right but others glaringly not. Rarely, if ever, have they put something out that's been on the button over an entire model which begs the question why?. If these models were cheap, it'd be far easier to swallow but the fact is, they're not

Still.. I've bought a few in my time and I'll probably continue to do so

ATB
DaveB

Hi Dave,
I totally get your point on this one.

However I must say after almost 15 years of designing and manufacturing plastic and Die cast "toys" for both children and adult collectors I can say with almost 110% certainty and without knowing any individuals at Corgi (however if one is reading please PM me!) that there is a designer there literally shaking his head and cursing a Marketing person and or Chinese manufacturer that he could also not get these models 100% on point too (and this is without mentioning insane safety regulations...don't even get me started on that one! ).

Even with the high price point as you mentioned the quota's are so low for these items that the financials to make them dictate some painful compromises. So parting lines for the tooling make for some awkward panel lines, avoiding hot spots in the tools mean window frames are not as fine as desirable, and also to justify the tools across several variants means certain panel lines moulded in make sense for some models but not others, and that is before you even get to the deco on these things... With only a certain number of companies in China with the patent to print water labels and the minimum order quantity they require, and that's just on basic 4 colour printing, if you need spot colours for example of a Sqn insignia then the price goes up again... oh and this is before you consider that the Chinese Government is raising the minimum wage by 8% / annum for factory workers in Southern China where the bulk of this kind of manufacturing is done then these items will either only get more expensive, less accurate, or simply go away in these economically challenging times.

I am not either disagreeing with any comments on this thread or defending Corgi (well perhaps I am sticking up for the Industry!) But I just wanted to throw in a few thoughts as to why things were never up to the high CBFS gang approval level. In addition to other items I am currently heading up the design team for a range of die cast toys for very popular US Racing Circuit (not my cup of tea but hey it pays....and its my job) and only this week I had one of my designers in my office cringing at why we could not include a more detailed cockpit to the car and extra deco to the wheels, but I referred him to my Marketing counter part who is the gate keeper of how much the brand needs to bring in to make it commercially viable...

... But as you say Dave I also have purchased a few in my time... and the same designer pointed to my two 1:72 Wessex models and my 1:72 Mk2 Sea King on my shelf and said "I just wanna make cool sh*t like that Fras...." But I would be lying if I did not look daily at the cronic parting line below the cockpit on the Sea King and think ouch that does not look good, but I know to cure it would have been another tool and with that probably 25 quid on the selling price...

I just hope Corgi can keep the business going, there are some cracking manufacturers out there for similar things such as Century Wings, or Dragon, but the Corgi chaps have our backs when it comes to the aircraft we like, as I said Century Wings are great.... so long as you like F14's.. I cannot help but draw a parallel to the FS world with this.

Ok I'll shut my rant / justification now! Have a good one chaps!

Cheers,

Fras

Hi Fraser

Sorry for dragging this back up but I'm unfortunate enough to be using an old pc that happens to have a CMkVIII Halifax painting as the wallpaper

Points taken and understood from your post above

However.. the more I looked at the MkVIII picture on my desktop, the more infuriating it is that Corgi didn't go the extra few pence to get the Halifax/Halton right. Strictly speaking, it's not a Halton so this shouldn't be on the box. The Halton conversions were done specifically for BOAC and these were unique from all other Mk8 variants. That's by the by
Corgi originally released the Halifax B MkIII (I'm talking 1:72 here) in a couple of variations and I guess that is where the Mk8 came from. To achieve this, the upper fuse had to have the dorsal turret removed, the rear turret had to go, the nose machine gun had to go, round cabin windows had to be added (Halton windows were square!) and equally obvious, the under slung pannier had to be added. Corgi did all of these things. OK.. there's the odd AE difference but by and large, what you see from a side profile IS a Halifax Mk8. Pre-release shots showed they'd gone the extra penny and given it Mk8 wings too.. these differ from the B MkIII in that they have wing tip extensions with rounded wing tips. Look at the box on the Halifax Mk8 and it shows the correct wings. Open the box and it has B MkIII wings Basically, the fuse halves are completely new mouldings as are the nose and tail. Fins and tailplane come straight off the later Halifax bomber so are correct. The wings are straight off the bomber but moulded in red!

There was more than a little uproar when this much awaited model hit the shops. Look at the box, 98+% correct model.. open the box.. a Mk8 with BMkIII wings Still.. I bought it knowing the faux pas.. a level of how much I wanted this model

ATB
DaveB

This is all very interesting.

You make us all sound so boring Paul

No.. my point with the Halifax/(cough)Halton model is that Corgi had changed a good 50%+ of it to make it what it is. It's less complex than the Halifax from which it came (no nose gun or dorsal/tail turrets) so should be less expensive to manufacture and a good deal less expensive to assemble. I've just dug it out of the box and it sit's on my desk now. They put a lot of work into making it a Mk8. It's such a darned shame they didn't change the wing castings which, as far as I can see come as 4 individual parts.. an upper and lower for each side. Corgi could have achieved the desired result by changing the 2 upper castings and leaving the lowers as they are. Ah well, they didn't and that's that.

ATB
DaveB

Oh no no, I didn't mean to imply that this was in anyway boring, Dave - please forgive me if I gave that impression . It is genuinely very interesting and informative, reading all this.

I've seen various Corgi manifestations of the Halifax and have been tempted, but you are absolutely correct in your observations and its useful to read them. Corgi are about to release a 1:72 Stirling - beyond my price range, but I'd love to see it. I think my next model might be the Hobby Master F-105 in any paint scheme of the 355th TFW in Thailand, because I recently re-read a book called Thud Ridge by Colonel Jack Broughton who was their vice-wing commander. A superb book, and a man you just know you would like to buy a pint or two. One top bloke !