Yep,gecko far better than airfix...sometime in 2022 oxford diecast are releasing the k2 in 1/76 with the death of her majesty the gecko boxed special with figure of her majesty is rapidly selling out. With unbuilt boxed examples becoming collector pieces in the future
"Khaki Green" when I was younger I had a bottle of Pastra :Sun Tan" I wondered How is this a Skin color? I knew little about Brit equipment and did not know it was a Blanco color.
Great review Peter. You had me very worried for 10 minutes there. I pre-ordered my Katy from Airfix to get my beer glass and I was starting to think, as you went through the Gekko kit, that I had made a big mistake. But then I thought “No, I don’t want 62 build stages and a load of photo-etch”. I was looking for something straight forward as a diversion from my normal stuff. The Gekko is the better kit but the Airfix will do me nicely. You mentioned this in your closing summary and I think it’s important. A lot of people will produce some masterpieces from the Gekko kit but the Airfix has it’s place.
Agree Ian, but the Airfix is too expensive for what it is (once the beer glass offer finishes) and should have been priced more competitvely, especially when they didn't even mould it themselves, instead getting it from Academy.
I just stumbled across your channel yesterday and this was the first of your videos I watched. I really liked what I saw in this video and so I subbed. You made me spend 34 quid plus p&p because I ordered the kit today! Happy new year from the other side of the Channel!
Hi Peter, Great review. I got mine today and opened the box straight away to have a look and thought it fair to maybe post a comment regarding the included figure. Yours, as you said had a fair but of flash on it. Mine is very clean, the only bit of flash present was a little on the equipment pouches. Very strange how yours was badly flashed and mine was relatively clean. Luck of the draw I guess. Best wishes, Mark
Good review. I have seen reviews of other Gecko kits, they seem to all be like this. With lots of details and parts, and because of that not for everyone.
It was June 1942...the Brigadier in the bath said that 'Jerry' had broken through the 'Gazala line and the allies (us) had pulled back the tanks. How do I know ? My Dad was there. As for the film and 'Katy' ...well, Katy (the good old cow) was 4 wheel drive. Having watched Ice Cold in Alex...again ! I counted at least 3 Katys being used in this film. Subtle differences such as a busted left side radiator grille on the first Katy. Then there's the badge on the top of the radiator grille. Finally, just to pour on the agony....Katy arrived in Alexandria without her bullet holes. You recall that 'Jerry gave her a Squirt with the old MG42 and wounded the nurse. The left side bodywork had a line of bullet holes up the side. Also....Katy had her 'Cab Doors rolled forward and wrapped away on the forward 'A pillar. There were also several windscreen versions in the film. Phew ! I could do with a drink. Ah....Carlsburg worth waiting for. Hope this was helpful.
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab You would've thought that to feature this kit as representative of the 'Katy in Ice cold in Alex the makers of this kit would included a 4 wheel drive train with the front axle, drive shafts and Transfer box. It's a major omission which I would've thought OBVIOUS to anybody whose seen the film. Those modellers with a view to accuracy are being mislead by the makers of this kit. However, not a bad offering as being representative of the ordinary 'run of the mill K2Y Austin Ambulance. Just my opinion.. Whose sleeping with Ariadny tonight ?
Totally agree about the F1/licensing issue. 10% of nothing is nothing. So why not settle for say a pound per model. Times by however many thousand kits they sell is surely better than nothing.
Having seen reviews of both kits, the geko wins and has so much more detail and double the parts for £9.00 more. I would be tempted to go gecko all the way.
Just another Fun Fact.. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 2nd is not only the longest serving Monarch on the planet... Her Majesty is also the ONLY LIVING MONARCH who actually served in World War 2. In the service of the King
Your comments re doing the final bit of research is clearly an Airfix foible, (but not exclusive to them by any means). The temptation of using some Frankenstein museum exhibit is as old as kits. One prime recent example from Airfix is the Chipmunk, where the shape and scanned detail is nice enough, and they did at least provide both the civilian cushioned seats and the original bucket seats (even if the crew figures are awful), they did create an aircraft that has the incorrect old style exhaust and lower cowling, that was replaced on service aircraft by a larger cabin heater tube version, that rotruded from a single small hole at the rear of the cowling, while still using the front cowling that has provision for the cabin heat tube. A tiny amount of reserch would have showed this, and 2 tiny optional parts would have made this complete. There is also the little matter of the 1/35 Crowell Tank kit Wheel nuts and Turret port detail too, but that's another story.
Just finished mine never done katy as not accurate enough to do one really so done the box art one but in the SCC2 brown woth the Tamiya Austin Tilly now I've to make my diorama of the 2 vehicle's being worked on like the photos at the ATS Centre in Surrey! It's certainly going to make a different diorama as everyone's doing Katy haha! Kate was built on the k9 4wd and the roof vents on the roof had an early k2y vent and a late Humber ambulance vent on the back so you need to scratch build them for doing Katy you'll see them in the film but gecko do have an early war version coming next and airfix has another version coming a late desert version what looks like a Katy it's an odd one as wouldn't have had a late in the desert campaign anyway
Hi Peter, Love the trips down memory Lane with regards to Matchbox kits, remember them with great fondness. One question. You seem to do a lot of reviews but do you actually build anything?
Oh Yes...indeed...ua-cam.com/video/x-9NuNn-zzQ/v-deo.html Or...ua-cam.com/video/zItkl8XTeW0/v-deo.html ...there are many, many of my built kits on the channel...also search IPMS Good bad ugly 😉
I agree with you Peter! The licensing is ridiculous especially with companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Russia and others. This is a new thing that is raising the cost of the models. Grr 😖
Seen a couple of reviews already of this and the Airfix; far more detail here... but I guess this is aimed at the more advanced, experienced modeller....thoough the Airfix still looks nice! 🙂 Odd about the naming of this kit; if they couldn't/wouldn't get the Austin license, where did they go for the Dunlop license? And....did they approach Buckingham Palace for the likeness of HRH Elizabeth? Nice as the figure looks looks, I doubt very much it has the royal approval...!! 😀 Might go to answer as to why the Airfix kit doesn't have these extra items/details though....?? ;-)
Wonder where you'd start trying to get a licence for using the Austin name given the company no longer exists. Suspect they took the easy option and decided not to use the name on the box just in case it excited any lawyers' interest. As for the Dunlop on the tyres, well... By the way, nice work as usual Peter.
@@johnkilkenny6753 You would search internet for the intellectual property office and search for the trade mark name. You find the owner and a contact. The Austin name is owned by a Chinese company, the same one that produces electric vehicles under the MG brand.
They have the Austin A on the steering wheel and the Austin badge on the front grill but no Austin name on engine block so they have done what they can and it looks amazing when built! I never bothered with that monstrosity airfix done there not an injection pin mark in the Gecko one really the airfix manager even he said in an interview he's not happy with the kit! That speaks volumes that statement!
Way too busy, photoetch overkill,nice model don't get me wrong. I don't want to end up in one after 62 stages I opted for Airfix and proud to say it not worried about brand names on tyres either.
Regards you rant surely you can't put a price on FREE advertising. Pure Greed. It's a huge pity that between the two they couldn't represent the RAF decals. Great vid, enjoy your break
In regards to F1 licence fees I don't accept the theory that they're "too expensive". If die-cast companies can afford and produce replica cars & helmets then why can't plastic model companies afford them. It surely can't be true that die-cast companies are so massive that they can afford the licensing fees but yet the likes of Revell, Tamiya & others are too small that it's too expensive. Revell can afford Disney licence fees and i'd imagine they wouldn't be cheap. My theory is that die-cast companies have bought the exculsive rights to all scale replicas, weather they are made in plastic or metal and plastic kit manufactures simply can't produce them. Also if every single sponor wants their cut then leave some of them off. Lego don't put every single sponsor on their sets and with the Mercedes F1 W12 set they don't even have INEOS on it which is one of the main sponsors. Let the after market deal with it (like they already do with tobacco sponsors)
Today: We climb K2! Is the new Gecko model REALLY good enough to compete with the latest Kit for AIRFIX???
I ain't saying nothing.
The Airfix model is actually made by Academy.
@@flitsertheo Yep...South Korea.
Yep,gecko far better than airfix...sometime in 2022 oxford diecast are releasing the k2 in 1/76 with the death of her majesty the gecko boxed special with figure of her majesty is rapidly selling out. With unbuilt boxed examples becoming collector pieces in the future
RIP our Queen !
"Khaki Green" when I was younger I had a bottle of Pastra :Sun Tan" I wondered How is this a Skin color? I knew little about Brit equipment and did not know it was a Blanco color.
Ten out of ten, I am very impressed. Very good review. Could not make the live chat. Thanks for the review.
Great review Peter. You had me very worried for 10 minutes there. I pre-ordered my Katy from Airfix to get my beer glass and I was starting to think, as you went through the Gekko kit, that I had made a big mistake. But then I thought “No, I don’t want 62 build stages and a load of photo-etch”. I was looking for something straight forward as a diversion from my normal stuff. The Gekko is the better kit but the Airfix will do me nicely. You mentioned this in your closing summary and I think it’s important. A lot of people will produce some masterpieces from the Gekko kit but the Airfix has it’s place.
Agree Ian, but the Airfix is too expensive for what it is (once the beer glass offer finishes) and should have been priced more competitvely, especially when they didn't even mould it themselves, instead getting it from Academy.
That’s a fair point. Airfix pricing does seem to have gone up a notch or two.
@@iannicholls7476 I bought it for the glass :beer:
I didn't know people took this so seriously. Great content.
I just stumbled across your channel yesterday and this was the first of your videos I watched. I really liked what I saw in this video and so I subbed. You made me spend 34 quid plus p&p because I ordered the kit today! Happy new year from the other side of the Channel!
Thank you! Sorry about the cost! 🤭 Happy New Year! 🎉🥳 Vive La France! 🇫🇷
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab No worries, my friend! It seems to be worth each and every penny. Oh, and it isn't France, it's Germany. 😀
@@polticalme1677 Ooops! 🤭 Deutchland Uber Alles! 🇩🇪🥳🎉
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab Ahem! 🤣
Hi Peter, Great review. I got mine today and opened the box straight away to have a look and thought it fair to maybe post a comment regarding the included figure.
Yours, as you said had a fair but of flash on it. Mine is very clean, the only bit of flash present was a little on the equipment pouches.
Very strange how yours was badly flashed and mine was relatively clean. Luck of the draw I guess.
Best wishes, Mark
Good review. I have seen reviews of other Gecko kits, they seem to all be like this. With lots of details and parts, and because of that not for everyone.
Nice review, I might have to get it. I hope you are doing the ZM 109 Hauptmann
Review coming late Sept...😉
It was June 1942...the Brigadier in the bath said that 'Jerry' had broken through the 'Gazala line and the allies (us) had pulled back the tanks.
How do I know ? My Dad was there.
As for the film and 'Katy' ...well, Katy (the good old cow) was 4 wheel drive. Having watched Ice Cold in Alex...again ! I counted at least 3 Katys being used in this film. Subtle differences such as a busted left side radiator grille on the first Katy. Then there's the badge on the top of the radiator grille. Finally, just to pour on the agony....Katy arrived in Alexandria without her bullet holes. You recall that 'Jerry gave her a Squirt with the old MG42 and wounded the nurse. The left side bodywork had a line of bullet holes up the side. Also....Katy had her 'Cab Doors rolled forward and wrapped away on the forward 'A pillar. There were also several windscreen versions in the film. Phew ! I could do with a drink. Ah....Carlsburg worth waiting for.
Hope this was helpful.
Brilliant contribution Fred, cheers! 🍺
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab
You would've thought that to feature this kit as representative of the 'Katy in Ice cold in Alex the makers of this kit would included a 4 wheel drive train with the front axle, drive shafts and Transfer box. It's a major omission which I would've thought OBVIOUS to anybody whose seen the film. Those modellers with a view to accuracy are being mislead by the makers of this kit. However, not a bad offering as being representative of the ordinary 'run of the mill K2Y Austin Ambulance.
Just my opinion..
Whose sleeping with Ariadny tonight ?
@@oldgitsknowstuff Yes I think it's representative of the version the Princess Elizabeth drove
Totally agree about the F1/licensing issue. 10% of nothing is nothing. So why not settle for say a pound per model. Times by however many thousand kits they sell is surely better than nothing.
The Zouki Mauri (ZM) has written instructions in English and Japanese! These instructions are great 👍🏼
Having seen reviews of both kits, the geko wins and has so much more detail and double the parts for £9.00 more.
I would be tempted to go gecko all the way.
Night and day kits made the right choice am sure the airfix one is from academy
Just another Fun Fact..
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 2nd is not only the longest serving Monarch on the planet...
Her Majesty is also the ONLY LIVING MONARCH who actually served in World War 2.
In the service of the King
Your comments re doing the final bit of research is clearly an Airfix foible, (but not exclusive to them by any means). The temptation of using some Frankenstein museum exhibit is as old as kits. One prime recent example from Airfix is the Chipmunk, where the shape and scanned detail is nice enough, and they did at least provide both the civilian cushioned seats and the original bucket seats (even if the crew figures are awful), they did create an aircraft that has the incorrect old style exhaust and lower cowling, that was replaced on service aircraft by a larger cabin heater tube version, that rotruded from a single small hole at the rear of the cowling, while still using the front cowling that has provision for the cabin heat tube. A tiny amount of reserch would have showed this, and 2 tiny optional parts would have made this complete. There is also the little matter of the 1/35 Crowell Tank kit Wheel nuts and Turret port detail too, but that's another story.
Just finished mine never done katy as not accurate enough to do one really so done the box art one but in the SCC2 brown woth the Tamiya Austin Tilly now I've to make my diorama of the 2 vehicle's being worked on like the photos at the ATS Centre in Surrey! It's certainly going to make a different diorama as everyone's doing Katy haha! Kate was built on the k9 4wd and the roof vents on the roof had an early k2y vent and a late Humber ambulance vent on the back so you need to scratch build them for doing Katy you'll see them in the film but gecko do have an early war version coming next and airfix has another version coming a late desert version what looks like a Katy it's an odd one as wouldn't have had a late in the desert campaign anyway
Hi Peter,
Love the trips down memory Lane with regards to Matchbox kits, remember them with great fondness.
One question. You seem to do a lot of reviews but do you actually build anything?
Oh Yes...indeed...ua-cam.com/video/x-9NuNn-zzQ/v-deo.html Or...ua-cam.com/video/zItkl8XTeW0/v-deo.html ...there are many, many of my built kits on the channel...also search IPMS Good bad ugly 😉
I agree with you Peter! The licensing is ridiculous especially with companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Russia and others. This is a new thing that is raising the cost of the models. Grr 😖
I think the cushions you reference are actually folded blankets.
Yes Possibly. 👍🏻
Seen a couple of reviews already of this and the Airfix; far more detail here... but I guess this is aimed at the more advanced, experienced modeller....thoough the Airfix still looks nice! 🙂
Odd about the naming of this kit; if they couldn't/wouldn't get the Austin license, where did they go for the Dunlop license? And....did they approach Buckingham Palace for the likeness of HRH Elizabeth? Nice as the figure looks looks, I doubt very much it has the royal approval...!! 😀
Might go to answer as to why the Airfix kit doesn't have these extra items/details though....?? ;-)
Wonder where you'd start trying to get a licence for using the Austin name given the company no longer exists. Suspect they took the easy option and decided not to use the name on the box just in case it excited any lawyers' interest. As for the Dunlop on the tyres, well... By the way, nice work as usual Peter.
@@johnkilkenny6753 You would search internet for the intellectual property office and search for the trade mark name. You find the owner and a contact. The Austin name is owned by a Chinese company, the same one that produces electric vehicles under the MG brand.
There is photo etch in the Airfix kit but it's nowhere near as comprehensive as in the Gecko kit
They missed out on a great chance to include figures as per Ice cold in Alex .Copyright I suppose but it would have been an astonishing Diana a.
who's Diana?
@@tonysurridge3033 read my next text
When you say the glass is distorted , are you sure there's not a protective film on it?
No protective film
No engine in the airfix kit Peter
@@mikehanson7328 True but you do get an (invisible) radiator for some reason! D'oh! 😖
They have the Austin A on the steering wheel and the Austin badge on the front grill but no Austin name on engine block so they have done what they can and it looks amazing when built! I never bothered with that monstrosity airfix done there not an injection pin mark in the Gecko one really the airfix manager even he said in an interview he's not happy with the kit! That speaks volumes that statement!
These ambulances were widely used by the US 8th Airforce in Britain in WW2, yet were hardly ever used by the RAF! How odd? 🤔
Licensing is the word. Who has the "licence" for the Austin motor brand these days? Is it BMW (who make the current Mini) or perhaps Chinese MG?
Put it in reverse take out the plugs and wind the starting handle to get up the sand dunes.
Halroight, handbrake orff.
Way too busy, photoetch overkill,nice model don't get me wrong. I don't want to end up in one after 62 stages I opted for Airfix and proud to say it not worried about brand names on tyres either.
Fair comment Neil, - but Airfix should have priced their product accordingly. It's too expensive for what it is.
Apparently the airfix model is lacking in comparison to the geko
Regards you rant surely you can't put a price on FREE advertising. Pure Greed. It's a huge pity that between the two they couldn't represent the RAF decals. Great vid, enjoy your break
RAF seldom used the K2 Peter, though the USAF did on UK airbases. Weird. Thanks a lot. 👍🏻
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab oh right interesting. I was hoping a upscale RAF Emergency sets could be in the pipeline
In regards to F1 licence fees I don't accept the theory that they're "too expensive". If die-cast companies can afford and produce replica cars & helmets then why can't plastic model companies afford them. It surely can't be true that die-cast companies are so massive that they can afford the licensing fees but yet the likes of Revell, Tamiya & others are too small that it's too expensive. Revell can afford Disney licence fees and i'd imagine they wouldn't be cheap.
My theory is that die-cast companies have bought the exculsive rights to all scale replicas, weather they are made in plastic or metal and plastic kit manufactures simply can't produce them.
Also if every single sponor wants their cut then leave some of them off. Lego don't put every single sponsor on their sets and with the Mercedes F1 W12 set they don't even have INEOS on it which is one of the main sponsors. Let the after market deal with it (like they already do with tobacco sponsors)
Also great vid as always.
I agree with you. 👍🏻
You cannot compare the 2 models tbh as the Gecko is obviously aimed at the more experienced modeller.
But...You can compare them when they are so closely priced: THAT is the problem Airfix gave themselves.