Kit review: Airfix Ferret Scout Car Mk. 2 in 1/35 scale
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Please activate the English subtitles if you do not understand German.
One has to wonder sometimes, how long it can take till a highly significant vehicle is released as a plastic injection molded kit on the market! The Ferret armored car was a common sight during the Cold War era and even after 70+ years since it was introduced it is still in service in a good number of countries. At least a few garage kit companies had resin kits of this vehicle to offer, but it took many long years and the old brand Airfix to finally bring an affordable plastic model kit on the market. Finally we are there now!
Whether you like it or not, the kit shows that Airfix remains true to itself in many ways. As it is appropriate for a beginner friendly kit the design and layout is simple, but this also applies to many details, which are often very chunky. Here the advanced modeller has to face the task of improving some of the details himself. This includes most importantly the weld seams, which are totally absent of the kit, but can be added without much hassle. I like the fact that almost all hatches and ports can be built opened up and the kit comes with a rudimentary interior for the fighting compartment. The instructions and decals make a good first impression, there are markings for three British vehicles included.
The price tag of 25€ can be considered to be a fair one. Due to the simplicity and the low price the kit will be attractive for beginners. The advanced modeller might find enjoyment in improving the model here and there, which should be doable with relatively simple means.
I am just happy for the simple fact that there is finally a plastic model kit of the Ferret at all, even though it comes with a few deficits. Maybe Airfix feels like creating more variants, that would be more than welcomed!
Thank you very much for your support on Patreon:
/ hamilkarbarkas
I used music from the RUclips audio library for this video.
Music:
"Community" by "TrackTribe"
"Up above" by "Letter Box"
I think this kit will prove to be very popular with modellers. It is many years since I built an airfix kit so I'm intrigued to see how you find the build
Indeed!
I already started building it and plan to do a short series, where i go over the building process in more detail.
Interesting kit and great review Michael) Like wheeled vehicles, I will follow this build. Greetings Mike
Cheers Mike! Armored cars are such a cool subject, they came in many shapes and saw service eveywhere. I think one could build nothing but armored cars for a year or two and it would not become boring at all :)
@@HamilkarBarkasScaleModelling Yes, I currently have three armored cars under build at different stages of readiness)
Danke für die Bausatzbesprechung. Immer ein Genuss. Schöne Feiertage
Bitteschön!
Such a lovely kit! It would be great fun to bulild. Im looking forward when it will be done. Thanks for the presentation !
Cheers Roland!
Nice review Michael. Actually, I've been concernig with this kit, so it's nice to see. So far, themost of their 1/35 kits will be reboxed, but this kit seems to be newly designed by Airfix. First of all, I'd like to rejoice in the first kit version. Best wishes, NOB
Thank you very much my dear friend. It is nice to see Airfix branching out a bit and if a Ferret kit is the result, then i am a happy man :) The kit is certainly not perfect, but a good basis for some improvements here and there. On top of that, beginners need something to build, too, this kit is ideal for this purpose.
It's me again.... My parents-in-law gave me some money in advance for Christmas, so I invested some of it in the Airfix Ferret kit a couple of days ago. I didn't expect it to turn up until after Christmas, but it arrived today. I had a quick look in the box to make sure it was all there and as far as I could see, there were no warped parts, so you must have been unlucky in that aspect.. :( I'm looking forward to building it, it will be my first build for 2024.. :) PS: I also followed your recommendation and ordered a metal gun barrel for the Browning machine gun.. :)
Now that sounds good! I just completed building the ting and it is as i had suspected. It builds up if you have sanding paper and filler at hand.
The brass machine gun barrel i installed looks really neat, a huge improvement for the model. I will do a short video about the built up Ferret sometime in January.
Sounds good to me. I may enter my Ferret for the 'Wheeled' group build, as mine will be the one based in Berlin, so different from your Rhodesian version, which I belive is for that group build as well? I looked at kit backdrop sets of the Berlin Wall in 1/35 and they don't come cheap, so I will scratchbuild my own, from plastic card and tubing. It should be an interesting project.. @@HamilkarBarkasScaleModelling
The paint colour call outs at the end will refer to the Humbrol range, they always do now. It is a much smaller vehicle in real life than you realise, having seen one at Bovington tank museum. I think it is a good choice of subject by Airfix, having always seen them as a kid on tv especially in Northern Ireland, and the standard doesn't seem too bad. Thanks for the review. I think you should make a diorama like the box art with the Reichstag building in the background and a section of the Berlin wall!
Thank you for the info! Airfix brought a real Ferret to the Telford show in the UK, so i got to see one up close again there. It is a lovely little vehicle, i wonder why it took so long till we get a plastic kit of one?
My Ferret will be a Rhodesian one for sure, but i am also interested in doing a build related to Northern Ireland. I plan to use a Saladin armored car for that purpose one day.
Hi Michael ... toll das Airfix dir zugehört hat👍ein sehr interessantes Fahrzeug ... freu mich auf dein Video über den Zusammenbau des Ferret ... wünsch dir ein entspanntes Wochenende 😎👍 Gruß Markus
Vielleicht war es auch einfach so offensichtlich, dass es keinen guten Rates gedurfte, um endlich einen Bausatz des Ferret zu entwickeln :)
Bin schon voll dabei beim Zusammenbau, das Teil macht schon einige Mühe an ein paar Stellen. Es wird!
Color call-outs definitely for Humbrol paint.
Thank you for the clearification!
Schön, wieder eine tolle Vorstellung. Bin zeitmässig gerade hinterher. Um so besser die wenige Zeit so sinnvoll zu nutzen und dein Video zu genießen.
Gruß, bis bald mal!
Danke dir Carsten! Mir geht es ähnlich, vor Weihnachten geht es immer zu wie im Irrenhaus. Bald wird es hoffentlich etwas ruhiger :)
Comment 2: I think Cartograph or TechMod prints the decals for Airfix these days (can't remember which)and personally I have never had any issues with the decals from any of their new or recently tooled kits and these should be fairly straight forward. So, to sum it up, you did a fair review and pointed out the good bits as well as the bad. I hope to get my hands on this kit after Christmas or in the new year. The kit options are great and as I live in a garrison town, where the Parachute Regiment is the biggest regiment, but the Cold War also being one of my favourite topics to build, I will with 99.99% certainty either build the box art verion, or the Cyprus variety..
Dang, it looks like I have to get two kits.. Oh well..
I suspect that most brands switched over to Cartograph decals now, it is a sign of quality :) I prefer that over crappy housemade decals of some kit manufacturers for sure.
I thought of getting two boxes as well, but i stay with one for now. It shall be the Rhodesian Ferret :)
Mit dem Ferret hast Du Dir sicher einen Bauwunsch erfüllt. Auch wenn der Airfix Kit in der Formgebung/Qualität nicht so ganz mit anderen Herstellern mithalten kann soll sich Airfix gegenüber früher doch deutlich verbessert haben. Die Dinge die nicht so doll sind, wie z.B. die Sandbleche und ähnliches wirst Du sicher tauschen können oder in Deinem Sinne verbessert bekommen. Am Ende ist es dann ein schönes Modell, was in dem Maßstab selten zu sehen sein dürfte!
Wünsche in jedem Fall Bastelspaß und gutes Gelingen. Gruß, Joachim
Ohja, auf einen Ferret habe nicht nur ich lange warten müssen! Zeit wurde es langsam :) Man hat heutzutage auch hohe Erwartungen, gerade im Maßstab 1/35 ist man anderes gewohnt. Ich denke mit ein paar kleinen Verbesserungen kann man das Modell auf ein hohes bis sehr hohes Niveau heben, daher ist das Ding von Airfix eine solide Unterlage. Ich bin gerade dran und baue den Ferret zusammen, es gestaltet sich bisher alles wie erwartet.
I saw that this kit is the first ever effort by a new designer. A decent job considering but I feel such an important subject should have had the top guy on it. Their recent aircraft kits are generally excellent but 1/35 is a new area for them in-house and hopefully they can improve. The kit is only £25 though so that is good value. Thanks for the video. 👍
Interesting insight, thank you for sharing that! It is certainly hard to expand into a new field, but i think they have chosen the right subject at least. It is doable, it is British and it wasn´t available before, so a good decission by Airfix afterall.
Hallo Michael, danke fuer deine Video. Auch ich hab mir eine Ferret besorgt in Telford. Tatsaechlich gibt es so einzige Sachen wo man sich gedanken machen kann, trotzdem freue ich mich dass Airfix mit ein plastic kit von der Ferret herauskommt. Ich denke der aftermarket werd bestimmt noch fuer verschiedene Sachen sorgen. Und...ja ich bin am ende deine Video zum Dachboden hoch gegangen won meine Ferret ins Lager steht, weil ich auch wissen moechte ob es ein verbogen Teil gibt vom Turmboden. Bei mir sehen alle Teilen gut aus, da hab ich dann keine Sorgen. Gruss Ferry.
Dankeschön Ferry und gerne doch! Der Ferret war ein Muss in Telford, der Preis war auch gut im Vergleich zu den deutschen Händlern. Ich habe den Ferret heute schon fertig gebaut, es ging, aber an einigen Stellen muss man sich schon wundern. Manche Passungen sind sehr schlecht und zwar ab Werk. Immerhin habe ich den Turm gut reparieren können und mit ein paar kleinen Verbesserungen sieht der Ferret prima aus. Dazu möchte ich auch ab Januar eine kleine Videoreihe machen, wo ich alles genau zeige und erkläre.
Thank you for this review.
You are welcome mate!
Apologies if this comment has been posted more than once, every time I check, it seems to be missing. Also, having read through them a couple of times, they may come across a bit aggressive, but that was not my intention at all.
Comment 1: Well, beggars can't be chosers, as they say.. This kit fills a gap in the market and any errors, chunky parts like the smoke dispensers, or parts not up to standard will soon be covered by the after market fairies, who are normally pretty quick to get their accessories out and available.
As for chunky parts, personally I rather have strong chunky parts that don't break as soon as you try and remove them from the sprue, however careful you are, compared to thin flimsy bits that snap and causes a lot of extra work. If you want small, tiny, filigree parts, I suggest you buy yourself a new (recent) tool Airfix Bf 109 in 1/72 scale. Snap, crackle and pop, magnifying glasses are extra!
As for the paint, Airfix always refer to Humbrol, as the brand is owned by the same company that owns Airfix. Personally I am a bit disappointed with Airfix, as they are limiting their enamel range in favour of their acrylic paints, which I personally think is a bis shame. Some of us old 'traditional' modellers (brush painters) prefer enamels and although Humbrol did have some quality issues a few years ago, their paints are now very good (in my opinion).
Cheers Rob, i don´t see any double posts coming from you, so it is all fine and i encourage you to keep commenting mate :)
I was suspecting they refer to their own Humbrol paint line, it is a classic and i wonder why their enamels are starting to disappear. Lacking demand maybe? I know some modellers who still use enamels, but there aren´t many for sure, the majority uses acrylics these days.
All Airfix decals are printed by Cartograph these days so shouldn`t be a problem
That is a huge bonus then! I built one of their 1/48 scale Bf109 Es and the decals were fine there. I have to stop thinking of the old garbage they used to produce.
Ich denke ich werde mir den anschaffen, obwohl es nicht wirklich mein Thema ist. Preis-Leistung ist OK, und ein paar Verbesserungen lassen sich ja auch machen...'ne Schaufel hab ich bestimmt auch noch irgendwo...
Das Fahrzeug ist jedenfalls eine schöne Abwechslung, auch nicht zu sperrig :) Ich finde Radpanzer ganz allgemein und unabhängig von der Epoche sehr spannend.
Hallo Michael,
Hab mir ein paar Filme vom Original angeschaut, wegen der Schweissnähte.
Der Ferret ist sehr dezent geschweißt, an den Originalen ist kaum eine Schweissnaht zu sehen.
Ich frag mich ob es den wohl in der Stadt Tarnung für die Berlin Brigade gab.
Gefällt mir gut das kleine Panzerchen, danke für die Vorstellung.
LG Meickel
Bittesehr, hier lohnt sich ein Blick auch, ist immerhin mal keine Wiederauflage :)
Ich finde schon, dass man die geschweissten Stellen gut sehen kann, habe mir ein paar Detailphotos verschiedener Fahrzeuge angeschaut. So wie es in dem Bausatz ist würde ich es nicht lassen, wie heftig man dann die Nähte nacharbeitet ist dann wieder eine andere Frage.
Hallo @emmes699 in das Buch von Tankograd "British Infantry Brigade Berlin" stehen fast am letzten Seiten einzige Farbbilder von einen Ferret in diese typische Berlin Tarnanstrich. Hoffentlich helft dich dass etwa.. Gruss, Ferry.
Danke, ich hab ein Bild bei Google gefunden. berlin brigade ferret @@FerryDierckxsens
Haha. Ich auch genau an altbacken gedacht, als ich den Karton gesehen hab. Mir fehlt der Kollege auch auch in die Sammlung, seit David Fletcher darüber auf dem Tank Museum Kanal darüber sprach. Ich hoffe du baust ihn in nicht allzu ferner Zukunft, bin echt gespannt. Nur sind Airfix Kits, zumindest Lokal sehr teuer geworden.
Dann wird es dich freuen zu hören, dass ich schon beim Zusammenbau bin :)
@@HamilkarBarkasScaleModelling ja supi. Da freu ich mich echt.
Gute Bausatzbesprechung. Es gibt, wie sollte es anders sein, einen Ätzteilsatz von Eduard. Darin enthalten sin u.a. die Sandbleche.
Dankesehr! Damit habe ich gar nicht gerechnet, dass der Zurüstmarkt so schnell reagiert. Gut so! Ich habe den Zusammenbau des Ferret vorhin vollendet, es ging auch so. Allerdings würde ich für das Sandblech auf jeden Fall ein PE Teil empfehlen.
Mmmmm... good but not as good as I expected. The price is correct.
I think we all expect a bit more in 2023, but it is Airfix and still a decent basis.