Are you getting fed up with.....

[Lucky13]

...all them 1/48 '109's, 190's, Spits, '51's, '47's and so on? Don't get me wrong, I love them birds just as much as the next bloke, oh aye! But sometimes it would be nice to see something different (Heck! If Tamiya can make the V1 in 1/48! How much did that one cost btw?) than those safe 'bankers'...

Come to think of it, different scale though, when Revell can make and sell the 1/32 He 217A-7 for £49.99 at Hannants and ask £127.50 for Tamiya's Mk. IXc and £140.00 for their Mk. VIII and XVIe, something is seriously wrong, nobody can possibly tell me, that Revell's '219 is that much worse or Tamiya's Spitfires that much better kit, right?

I sometimes get the feeling that only WWI and WWII exist in the minds of certain gentlemen, especially when it comes to the 1/48 scale, and it was fought in previous birds...no Hampdens, no Defiants, no Do 24's etc., etc...

...and don't get me started on airbase accessories...

So, please do tell me, why there's no 1/48 Hampdens, Halifaxes, Do 18's and Do 24's etc., etc., out there and I don't mean advanced ones with resin etc., but good ol' standard plastic injection ones...?

Would love to see He 115 in 1/48!

This is quite funny, since it seems that 1/48 and 1/32 plus 1/24 is growing!

Ok, rant over....time for my mediaction!

 

[Airframes]

Yes, it does seem to be an endless parade of 'new' kits of 'popular' types, or worse still, re-issued kits of the same types, with a huge price increase.
I've mentioned it before, on a number of occasions, about the price discrepancy - Revell issuing extremely good kits, in 1/48th and 1/32nd scales, at very reasonable prices (by today's standards), and 'other' manufacturers seemingly trying to tell us that, by their high price, their kits must be good. And this from an area where production is traditionally less expensive!
Really annoying when a re-issued kit was priced at around £15 to £18 a year or so ago, and now, with new box art, and different decals, the same kit is £45 or more! Of course, it could be due to a huge increase in the cost of printing ink .....
As for those types not produced, a manufacturer only has to observe how an 'unusual' kit is snapped up as soon as it's released, to see that this type is wanted, and will sell - even at stupidly inflated prices. Just have to look at, for example, the Airfix Spit XII and Italeri Wessex, to see how fast they sell.
But, at least Special Hobby are doing something about it - presumably having 'cottoned on' to the fact that an endless stream of Spits, '109s etc has to end somewhere - and have announced some good stuff for future releases (a Heinkel 115 is one of them old boy, although a tad more expensive than some of their forthcoming releases, at £55 or so - see my latest list in the 'Future Releases' thread).
But even with such 'popular' subjects as the Spitfire, at least in 1/48th scale, their are some missing - MkXIV for instance. Only Hobbycraft and Academy have tried it, with the latter's offering a bit 'off the mark', and the former out of production.
But, this is the sort of complaint which has been around since plastic modelling really got going, and still we get the same stuff being churned out, so it's anyone's guess when a mainstream company will weigh the risks of introducing a lesser-known (read 'not a popular seller') kit, instead of another Mustang or Focke Wulf . Perhaps if they looked into it closely, they might find that their turnover, and therefore revenue, might be just as good, or perhaps better, by taking the risk, rather than have disappointing sales on yet another 'me too' kit?

 

[Lucky13]

I'd snap up a He 115 for that pricetag, as it just about get you a Tamigawa kit anyway and not even close on the blowmytoottoot 1/48 C-47, with all its toylike features.
Still wondering why on earth they added all those on that kit? Do they honestly think that those who buy (those who can afford to) them are interested, toylike extras went out the windows in the '70's and 80's!

Accuracy is the key word, not moving thingmajigs!

 

[Airframes]

I fully agree there old boy - and that particular company seem to have a thing about glaring inaccuracies and high price! How the h@ll they can justify the price they ask for the C-47, with or without gimmicks, is beyond me - £90 - get outta here!

 

[Lucky13]

Wonder what Revell would do and ask for it...? Hmmmm....

 

[rochie]

could not agree more chaps.

would love to see a whirlwind, hampden, halifax, battle and blenheim re done in 1/48 not to mention a few others.

just look how quick the Eduard re issue of the Tempest sold out when first put on sale !

just look how much the Hasegawa Tiffie is on sale for ????

 

[Lucky13]

Same price I think as the 1/32 Revell He 219!

....and 75 quid for the Sea Kings!!?? F*ck right off!

 

[GrauGeist]

When I was a kid, I used to go to the hobby shop, and stare in awe at all the different warbirds of WWII on the shelves...

There was Hawk, Lindburg, Revell, Monogram, Italiari, Airfix, Frog and so on.

They had aircraft of all types, rare, mainstream and prototypes represented in all scales...

What's happened to the mindset of the people behind these (existing) model companies today?

I know that some companies like MPM still manufacture rare and prototype aircraft of WWII these days...but it seems as though the model makers now are only interested in making money off of easily identifiable aircraft or perhaps all the knowledgable people are gone now and the current kitmakers aren't even aware that there were more than 8 types of aircraft that fought in the war?

 

[Crimea_River]

Would love to see more variety at more reasonable prices myself - in 1/48 of course.

 

[tigerdriver]

I fear the horrible truth is that a lot of kits are bought by casual modellers who want the " head line acts " ... many of them wont have heard of a fairey battle or a me410

Also as the " trick " with the limit the numbers and double the price keeps working , companies will keep doing it

I have been looking for a between the wars idea for the next GB and theres not a lot of choice of properly 20s or early 30s stuff even though it was a very interesting time

 

[A4K]

Interesting thread Jan.

Case in point for me is my 1:72 RNZAF collection. Of the approx. 136 types we've used in all marks, only about 65-70 are available in standard injected form.
Approx. 25 are unavailable in ANY form whatsoever (- to my knowledge -), and the remainder only available as extremely overpriced limited run multi media kits, or resin/ vac conversion sets.
The majority of available kits are military (surprise surprise), the majority of completely unavailable aircraft civil types operated by the RNZAF.

 

[GrauGeist]

...I have been looking for a between the wars idea for the next GB and theres not a lot of choice of properly 20s or early 30s stuff even though it was a very interesting time

Why not consider tri-motors or air-racers for a "between the wars" GB theme?

I used to see both types in hobby shops years ago, like the GeeBee racers and so on...surely some are still out there

 

[meatloaf109]

Testors has the old Hawk molds of the "Golden age" racers. I am doing the Curtiss R3C-2

 

[tigerdriver]

air racers appeal, i was thinking schneider trophy too but cant find anything in 1/48

 

[meatloaf109]

Try squadron.com, that's where I got mine. I know they will ship over to you, just not sure about the charges. The kit is really cheap, something like 6 bucks american, and they have a Gee-bee and the "Mystery ship" also. Lindberg has the old Curtiss Jenny, for a barnstormer type thing.

 

[Lucky13]

Will get the P-26 for a future GB, do that '13'...

 

[vikingBerserker]

I'd lvoe a B-10 in 1/48 Scale

 

[Rogi]

Do-17 Hobbycraft did, I found one a couple months ago and snaped it up in 1/48 for a Yugo. bird

I agree with you, there isn't much option in anything now a days and were left with finding older kits (which isn't bad) but I hate it when you buy an older kit, the canopy is beyond repair and your left with buying another one of the same kit because they don't make a bloody resin canopy for the kit thats what peaves me off the most and its there on the work bench in some sort of state calling you "to finnish building me"

another thing that ticks me off is when theres only 1 company that makes a kit of 1 aircraft and then charges up the nose for it. Like the recent An-2 I picked up, I couldn't find a decent kit of it for under 80 bucks in 1/48

Too many other things to list, but your right, they don't make a lot of kits like a super galeb, galeb, orao or stuff I'd want to build in commercial plastic, lots of resin options but I don't like resin that much for a full aircraft build, pieces here and there are ok, but don't really fancy the stuff for anything other than that.

Plus once Zoukei Mura (might of misspelled their name) gets through with a kit, do we need anything any more or less detailed out there ? (the He-219 there doing, p-51 etc)

 

[ccheese]

Good points.... Have any of you looked at the balsa/tissue models ? Other than a B-17, B-24, P-38 or a C-47, multi-engine aircraft balsa models do not exist. Guillows is by far the best of the American companies making "flying models", but they stay with single engine "popular" aircraft. Want a Bf-110, Mossie, Halifax or Japanese Betty ? Forget it.... in the U.S. they do not exist.

Charles

 

[ian lanc]

The Hampden and Halifax are forgotten bombers so main stream kit makers are not bothered because they
think there is no interest in them so they dare not spend money on an idea that may flop in their eyes.

Kit makers like Revell and Tamiya should look and see how much the shite FM Hampden and Halifax's fetch these days.