If Roden resume production of new WW1 kits, what subjects would you buy?

[jeroen_R90S]

All 1/32: What crosses my mind first of all is a SPAD XIII to follow up their VII.
Then how about a little sprue (and some PE perhaps?) to give us an OOB Albatros D.II? And a D.III (OEF) would be fantastic!

In 1/72, which I don't build all that often any more, I would buy a Nieuport 28

Jeroen

[Black Max 72]

I decided to do a bit of a tally to see what kind of numbers we are getting on this wish list mostly out of curiosity than anything else. I’ve gone with the most popular mark when only the manufacturer is mentioned and these are the top 10 (give or take) for each scale. It’s pretty obvious that the SPAD XIII and the Hanriot HD.1 are leading the charge in 1/32 with the Oeffag Albatros coming in a close 3rd. I guess the Oeffag Albatros is a definite contender given that Roden has already gone down that path in 1/72 and that they already have a mold in the Albatros D.III that they could re-tool. I’m not that surprised in the SPAD given its use with pretty much every allied air service and the fact that we haven’t had a good 1/32 kit of the 13 since the Hobbycraft one and that is now becoming hard to find. The Hanriot was a bit of a surprise though given its limited use with only the Belgians and Italians but between the two of them they came up with some pretty wild paint schemes so that could account for its popularity and it is just a beautiful aesthetically pleasing aircraft. She kind of looks like the child of a Sopwith and a Nieuport coupling! An upscaling of the Sopwith 1.5 Strutter seems popular as well and of course the BE2 series a rather niggling omission that a lot of us want.
The Sopwith Pup leads the 1/48 brigade which isn’t a surprise. Even if Roden chose not to do a Pup my dream is Eduard will revisit their old molds like they did with both the SSW D.III and Hawker Tempest, we can always dream
It seems a lot of us are craving more from the Italian front. It’s kind of been ignored in 1/32 though we have gotten a little taste in 48 and 72 but definitely some more mainstream kits of A-H and Italian Flying boats would be welcomed.

1/32
SPAD XIII                      18
Hanriot HD.1/2      18
Oeffag Alb D.III      14
Sopwith Strutter           13
BE2(mostly C/E)      12
Avro 504                        8
Aviatik D.I/II                7
Halberstadt D series     7
Phonix D.I/II                5
Friedrichshafen FF.33     5
Voisin III                        5

1/48
Sopwith Pup                6
Avro 504                        4
RE8                           4
Voisin III                        3
Aviatik D.I/II                3
Halberstadt D series     3
Caproni bomber             3
FE2b                   2
Martinsyde Elephant     2
Hannover CL.II/III             2
DH9a                   2
Vickers Gunbus        2

1/72
Nieuport 28                6
Roland C.II                5
RE8                           5
Sopwith Pup                4
Hannover CL.II/III             4
Hanriot HD.1/2        3
Rumpler  C.IV                2
LVG                            2
Hansa Brandenburg C.I     2
Staaken R.VI R.30             2
AEG                           2


Dave Rickard
Rockhampton QLD

[jagdbaron]

Spot on Kent!
Of course it is good to have a kit containing everything but the kitchen sink, but – isn’t it more satisfying to gather together after-market products to add to an already perfectly adequate model. (or, better still, make them yourself)
I have built most of the Roden WW1 kits and have derived just as much satisfaction from them as Wingnut Wings. The Siemens Schuckert DIII is a real beauty for one.
My suggestions for 1/32 kits, taking-up Roden’s offer are as follows:-
Oeffag DIII – relatively easy to adapt the existing Albatros kit
Phonix DI –DIII – basically any Phonix (there’s one in Sweden if you want to create a model)
Aviatik DI – similarly there’s one in Vienna
Hansa Brandenburg CI – There was talk of one from Roden some years ago ( also the DI unless Copper State produce theirs)
Lohner Type TL47 – the Austrian flying boats are beautiful and this one is sufficiently ‘small’ to be manageable.
Finally The Hanriot HDI – there are some great Italian markings.
The Oeffag above is additionally a good bet as it was used by various air forces following the Great War, in eastern Europe.

Here's hoping,
Les

[Pup7309]

Thanks for the tally Dave
Yes definitely the SPAD is an obvious choice given how widely it was used by different nations
The Hanriot as you say has interesting schemes for a non British and German plane. It’s also relatively simple design for the modeller to make and manufacturer to produce. They don’t float my boat like the Adriatic flying boats but like an Albatros d111 would be popular.
I’ll take an interest in whatever comes out, and buy if it’s a good standard (which I’m sure it will be!) DC

[fruibal]

I decided to do a bit of a tally to see what kind of numbers we are getting on this wish list mostly out of curiosity than anything else. I’ve gone with the most popular mark when only the manufacturer is mentioned and these are the top 10 (give or take) for each scale. It’s pretty obvious that the SPAD XIII and the Hanriot HD.1 are leading the charge in 1/32 with the Oeffag Albatros coming in a close 3rd. I guess the Oeffag Albatros is a definite contender given that Roden has already gone down that path in 1/72 and that they already have a mold in the Albatros D.III that they could re-tool. I’m not that surprised in the SPAD given its use with pretty much every allied air service and the fact that we haven’t had a good 1/32 kit of the 13 since the Hobbycraft one and that is now becoming hard to find. The Hanriot was a bit of a surprise though given its limited use with only the Belgians and Italians but between the two of them they came up with some pretty wild paint schemes so that could account for its popularity and it is just a beautiful aesthetically pleasing aircraft. She kind of looks like the child of a Sopwith and a Nieuport coupling! An upscaling of the Sopwith 1.5 Strutter seems popular as well and of course the BE2 series a rather niggling omission that a lot of us want.
The Sopwith Pup leads the 1/48 brigade which isn’t a surprise. Even if Roden chose not to do a Pup my dream is Eduard will revisit their old molds like they did with both the SSW D.III and Hawker Tempest, we can always dream
It seems a lot of us are craving more from the Italian front. It’s kind of been ignored in 1/32 though we have gotten a little taste in 48 and 72 but definitely some more mainstream kits of A-H and Italian Flying boats would be welcomed.

1/32
SPAD XIII                      18
Hanriot HD.1/2      18
Oeffag Alb D.III      14
Sopwith Strutter           13
BE2(mostly C/E)      12
Avro 504                        8
Aviatik D.I/II                7
Halberstadt D series     7
Phonix D.I/II                5
Friedrichshafen FF.33     5
Voisin III                        5

1/48
Sopwith Pup                6
Avro 504                        4
RE8                           4
Voisin III                        3
Aviatik D.I/II                3
Halberstadt D series     3
Caproni bomber             3
FE2b                   2
Martinsyde Elephant     2
Hannover CL.II/III             2
DH9a                   2
Vickers Gunbus        2

1/72
Nieuport 28                6
Roland C.II                5
RE8                           5
Sopwith Pup                4
Hannover CL.II/III             4
Hanriot HD.1/2        3
Rumpler  C.IV                2
LVG                            2
Hansa Brandenburg C.I     2
Staaken R.VI R.30             2
AEG                           2


Dave Rickard
Rockhampton QLD

Good job, but your tally totally ignored Russian subjects, how come is that?

[Black Max 72]

I decided to do a bit of a tally to see what kind of numbers we are getting on this wish list mostly out of curiosity than anything else. I’ve gone with the most popular mark when only the manufacturer is mentioned and these are the top 10 (give or take) for each scale. It’s pretty obvious that the SPAD XIII and the Hanriot HD.1 are leading the charge in 1/32 with the Oeffag Albatros coming in a close 3rd. I guess the Oeffag Albatros is a definite contender given that Roden has already gone down that path in 1/72 and that they already have a mold in the Albatros D.III that they could re-tool. I’m not that surprised in the SPAD given its use with pretty much every allied air service and the fact that we haven’t had a good 1/32 kit of the 13 since the Hobbycraft one and that is now becoming hard to find. The Hanriot was a bit of a surprise though given its limited use with only the Belgians and Italians but between the two of them they came up with some pretty wild paint schemes so that could account for its popularity and it is just a beautiful aesthetically pleasing aircraft. She kind of looks like the child of a Sopwith and a Nieuport coupling! An upscaling of the Sopwith 1.5 Strutter seems popular as well and of course the BE2 series a rather niggling omission that a lot of us want.
The Sopwith Pup leads the 1/48 brigade which isn’t a surprise. Even if Roden chose not to do a Pup my dream is Eduard will revisit their old molds like they did with both the SSW D.III and Hawker Tempest, we can always dream
It seems a lot of us are craving more from the Italian front. It’s kind of been ignored in 1/32 though we have gotten a little taste in 48 and 72 but definitely some more mainstream kits of A-H and Italian Flying boats would be welcomed.

1/32
SPAD XIII                      18
Hanriot HD.1/2      18
Oeffag Alb D.III      14
Sopwith Strutter           13
BE2(mostly C/E)      12
Avro 504                        8
Aviatik D.I/II                7
Halberstadt D series     7
Phonix D.I/II                5
Friedrichshafen FF.33     5
Voisin III                        5

1/48
Sopwith Pup                6
Avro 504                        4
RE8                           4
Voisin III                        3
Aviatik D.I/II                3
Halberstadt D series     3
Caproni bomber             3
FE2b                   2
Martinsyde Elephant     2
Hannover CL.II/III             2
DH9a                   2
Vickers Gunbus        2

1/72
Nieuport 28                6
Roland C.II                5
RE8                           5
Sopwith Pup                4
Hannover CL.II/III             4
Hanriot HD.1/2        3
Rumpler  C.IV                2
LVG                            2
Hansa Brandenburg C.I     2
Staaken R.VI R.30             2
AEG                           2


Dave Rickard
Rockhampton QLD

Good job, but your tally totally ignored Russian subjects, how come is that?

Basically, I had a cut off for each of the scales otherwise the lists would've been as long as my arm! 1/32 was the scale that got the most hits so I kind of cut it off at a 'top 10' with the one extra as both the Friedrichshafen FF.33 and Voisin III had five votes each. Subsequent votes were below five. I did similar with 48 and 72 scales. The Russian aircraft (not counting the Nie 17/21/23 or SPAD 7) got the following:
1/32

Ilya Muromets       2
Sikorsky S.XVI       1
SPAD A.4               1
Anatra DS             1
Grigorovich M.9     1

Votes were 0 for the above in both 48 and 72. There were a lot of vague responses like 'more Russian/Italian/Austro-Hungarian aircraft' which are a lot harder to tally as I could either put down a vote for every conceivable type operated or voted for in the thread, which would be somewhat arbitrary, or limit myself to votes for specific marks and manufacturers so I chose the later. It's not a perfect list by any stretch and as I said it was done more out of my own curiosity as to what direction us forumites were leaning towards in terms of wants and desires. I was also curious as to see what kind of limitations and thoughts were going into people's choices and while 2 people voted for a 1/32 Ilya Muromets I think, with all due respect, that most saw something like that being brought into production by any manufacturer other than WNW as wishful thinking. As Dave Wilson has shown in his brilliant article on WNW's demise, it was probably those esoteric, particularly those large esoteric kits that got WNW into trouble among other things. Also the fact that Roden, a major manufacturer, has put the 'feelers' out to our niche community (a first perhaps?) is a most unexpected and welcome development and it seems from the votes that most of us are voting with one (pragmatic) eye on the bigger picture of what a company like Roden is more than likely going to commit to making. The lessons of WNW's rise and fall aren't going to forgotten anytime soon in the model industry I don't think.

Dave Rickard
Rockhampton QLD

[Captain Slower]

If Roden would follow CSM's lead and go down the path blazed by WNW with computer prototyping et al,  I would suggest that they start with the SPAD XIII late and follow with an early round wing at the right time.  This would allow for USAS, French, RFC, Czech and Italian boxing or decal options.  The second would be a WNW/CSM approach to the Albatros D.III which can then be produced as the Austrian variants and the D.II.  Again, I would like to see them study the WNW D.V and rethink the approach to a D.III.  Then, an Italian Hanriot.  If they could do a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 fighters to observation type, I would like to see something like an Albatros C.III or Sopwith Strutter. 

[Jeff K]

'more aircraft from x, y, or z' *should* not count. too vague.

if you're that keen on say, Russian aircraft, think of which one you'd want if only one more were to be kitted. that's your first choice, then add a few more if you wish.

[Dave W]

An update on the Forum Roden poll and it's encouraging news.

The President of Roden Ltd, Vladimir Chumak, is following our new kits wish list poll with great interest. In an email to me he says he is pleased to see a lot of new good ideas. While he can't make any promises yet on whether Roden will resume its WW1 kit production, it's clear the response to our poll has impressed Roden and they are seriously considering the venture.

So let's keep this going and emphasise we are talking about new kits we would buy, as this is not just a theoretical exercise now. We have a chance to encourage a major manufacturer to return to our favourite era and hopefully provide new kits in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scales - something none of the other WW1 model companies have done.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[Pup7309]

If Roden would follow CSM's lead and go down the path blazed by WNW with computer prototyping et al,  I would suggest that they start with the SPAD XIII late and follow with an early round wing at the right time.  This would allow for USAS, French, RFC, Czech and Italian boxing or decal options.  The second would be a WNW/CSM approach to the Albatros D.III which can then be produced as the Austrian variants and the D.II.  Again, I would like to see them study the WNW D.V and rethink the approach to a D.III.  Then, an Italian Hanriot.  If they could do a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 fighters to observation type, I would like to see something like an Albatros C.III or Sopwith Strutter.

Hi,
Spot on Captain Slower.
Also like to acknowledge post about naming specific types to help the tallying.
And also more good news from Dave!

P.S Along with Macchi M5 and Brandenburg W18 and CC’s I’d like to second Grigorovich M.9 flying boat as suggested above but Adriatic boats first preference. Thanks!

[Brad Cancian]

Great news Dave, I am looking forward to the possibility of more attention being paid to the smaller scales

If people want to have an idea about Roden's current production quality, have a look at their recent releases, i.e. their 1/32 Stearman:

http://www.hyperscale.com/2020/reviews/kits/rodenrd631reviewjm_1.htm

The quality and details look very nice, indicative of a gradual but steady improvement in the production techniques from the releases of the early 2000's. I think a modern Roden release of a WW1 subject would also be of a similar high quality.

Cheers,

BC

[Jeff K]

tell Mr. Chumak i'll buy 7 SPAD XIII, 3 SPAD XII, 3 Hanriot HD.1, 3+ OEFFAG Albatri if Roden develop the kits.

[AROTH]

I just received the Stearman kit in the mail today and must say that the detailing and finesse of the parts is outstanding. There are many small and finely molded parts. The engine itself has well over 30 parts.

[RAGIII]

Excellent News Dave! I will buy anything 1/32nd like I said. The SPADXIII and Strutter being My favorite choices. Lets not forget the SE5 
RAGIII

[Pup7309]

Great news Dave, I am looking forward to the possibility of more attention being paid to the smaller scales

If people want to have an idea about Roden's current production quality, have a look at their recent releases, i.e. their 1/32 Stearman:

http://www.hyperscale.com/2020/reviews/kits/rodenrd631reviewjm_1.htm

The quality and details look very nice, indicative of a gradual but steady improvement in the production techniques from the releases of the early 2000's. I think a modern Roden release of a WW1 subject would also be of a similar high quality.

Cheers,

BC

There seems to be more interest in 20’s and 30’s subjects. The quality of the Stearman makes me look forward to the possibility of a new WW1 line