Airfix Re-releases Prinz Eugen & Repulse

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Panzerschiffe
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Airfix Re-releases Prinz Eugen & Repulse

Post by Panzerschiffe »

Airfix announced on their website that they plan to re-release the HMS Repulse and the KMS Prinz Eugen with the original tooling. Does anyone have experience in assembling these kits? Were they challenging to build??
Other Kits are also being re-released and I ask for your input
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RNfanDan
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Re: Airfix Re-releases Prinz Eugen & Repulse

Post by RNfanDan »

Both these OOP kits were among Airfix' best ever produced in their génre. Their King George V was right up there with them, too. As to whether or not these old friends will be re-tooled, I cannot say---but---the Prinz Eugen was a fine model, and went together reasonably well for an experienced builder.

Airfix' Repulse had some issues that required attention, especially after it went over to the MPC company in the US around 1983 but, unlike Prinz Eugen, the kit was getting pretty shakey by the time it hit its third market incarnation under the FROG label. Hull and deck warping was a significant problem, but if Airfix can get the plastic material quality back up to par, it should be a decent kit. I have their re-released Warspite kit and to be honest, it isn't too bad--in fact, better than I expected, with no major issues with lumpy parts or excessive flash (except around the sternwalk slot). My point is, if they can bring back THAT kit after so many lost years, there's hope for Repulse, too.

The worst problem with the Repulse kit, in my opinion, was its overall lack of authenticity in certain areas. The model is supposed to depict the ship as of its sinking in 1941, but its features aft of the catapult are incorrect. It mixes 1941 and 1937-ish features together with some details that never existed and/or are crudely represented. In these respects, even the most recent kits of Repulse, in both 1:700 and 1:350 scales, share the same faults to one degree or another. Additional work is required to correct these issues, but that is for another discussion.

Frankly, I am looking forward to their return, especially Prinz Eugen. :clap: It will be better than paying through the nose for an old original kit, which I have seen fetch as much as $80 here in the US. This may not answer your question, but I hope it helps. I'm sure someone else can add to it!

Dan :D
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paulcadogan
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Re: Airfix Re-releases Prinz Eugen & Repulse

Post by paulcadogan »

Panzershiffe,

Just so you know, the previous post is by a gentleman who I believe deserves acclaim as one of (if not THE!) the leading authorities on anything Repulse! Whatever he says you can take to the bank.

I have both kits - dating back to the 1980's. Repulse, though not a great challenge for building, is a beautiful kit - save for the errors mentioned by Dan. One thing he didn't mention is that correcting the errors - specifically the aft deck houses on which the single 4-inch guns sit - is a bit daunting because, unlike the 1/700 versions, the base of the aft superstructure is molded into the deck (not a separate part that you fit on). Therefore, to correct the error would require cutting into the deck which could turn into a nightmare!

So, for me, I've depicted my Repulse as 1937 rather than 1941.

As for Prinz Eugen - that's another good kit for its time and builds into a fair representation of the ship in a post-Rheinubung configuration. It's a far cry from Airfix's awfully mis-shapen and mal-proportioned Bismarck & Tirpitz. (How they got those so wrong still puzzles me!)

Based on my current experience with several of the new, incredibly detailed 1/700 kits from Dragon and Trumpeter, etc., I would not consider any of the Airfix kits particularly challenging to build!

Paul
Qui invidet minor est - He who envies is the lesser man
Panzerschiffe
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Re: Airfix Re-releases Prinz Eugen & Repulse

Post by Panzerschiffe »

Thanks much for your input. I look forward to purchasing and building both of them despite Repulse's shortcomings. I asked because I am building Airfix's Scharnhorst which I have found challenging. The upper gunnery director doesn't fit well at all into the tower. It is also depicted in it's prewar design, which I find less attractive that it's wartime configuration.
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