Introducing boys and girls to the scale modeling hobby remains a constant goal of most model manufacturers, and, indeed, many hobbyists. Snap-together kits of popular subjects have been a mainstay for decades. However, these have been mainly targeted at the 8-and-older crowd. With its new Quick Build system, Airfix aims to lower the bar for novices as young as 5 years.
Lucky for me, I have a 5-year-old son who enjoys sitting at the workbench. He was the perfect test subject for two of Airfix’s new kits: the F-22 Raptor and the Apache helicopter gunship. Both are molded in durable, smooth, glossy plastic — primarily gray for the Raptor, dark green for the Apache; wheels, canopies, and rotors are molded in black.
Upon opening the Raptor’s box, the first thing we noticed was the parts don’t come on sprues but rather in plastic bags, looking, feeling, and building very much like Lego or Mega Bloks.
The parts are the right size for small, inexperienced fingers to grasp and push together and would definitely be easier for older children.
We built the Raptor first. As enthusiastic as my son was, I realized right away that this was going to be a team effort. The instruction sheet, while simple for an experienced builder, can be confusing for youngsters. The illustrations are small and the parts tend to look the same, making placement for kiddos a bit tough. One or two parts going together in a single step would have been better than the three or four most often shown.
So, with me interpreting and guiding and he building, the two of us assembled the fighter and stand. It took all of 10 minutes. No sooner was it finished than my son immediately wanted to build the Apache. Fifteen minutes later, he added a helicopter to his collection. Markings for both models come as a simple but nice set of stickers that adhere well.
The finished models look great — they have smooth finishes, some panel lines, and, in the Apache’s case, a rotating main rotor. All of the connection dots are hidden and the parts fit securely and require no cleanup.
What’s more, they have incredible playability. Once we were finished, my son flew them around the house for nearly an hour. Then he proudly displayed them on his mother’s computer desk, regaling her with stories of how we built them together.
Age 5 is at the very outside range for these kits, with the sweet spot being 7-10. The kits accomplish three specific goals: a low bar for entry into the hobby; plenty of play value after they’re built; and promoting quality time between older modelers and novices.
After he had put the Apache and Raptor on his shelf, my son asked me, “Please, can you keep getting me more models?” I think that says it all.
A version of this review appeared in the February 2014 FineScale Modeler.