My concern is this- if model companies perceive their market to be disinterested in their products- which are produced for a very niche customer base- there's a real risk they will just say okay, we'll do a Spitfire or 109 or Mustang instead and make a mint from them.
Just because Wingnut Wings is gone does not mean the whole hobby has to shut down now.
Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia
+1 from me. I for one want to encourage any and all manufacturers into the hobby. Remember, we're only a small niche of the market.
Yes we have been
very spoilt by WNW, but some of us have been around long enough to know that sometimes you have to actually do some modelling in this hobby, not just kit assembling. There will be folks who have their views on all manner of things. Even WNW came in for some ridiculous criticisms, i.e. their kits fit
too well...! At the end of the day folks, this is a hobby. Buy what you want to buy and build what you want to build as you want to build it. But I would encourage everyone to be open minded.
I have built quite a number of Roden kits in all scales in the last 15 years or so - their 1/72 Pfalz, 1/72 Fokker D.VII, 1/72 Albatros D.III, two of their 1/48 Fokker D.VII offerings, their 1/48 SE5a, their 1/48 Nieuport 28 (which is a real gem), their 1/48 DH-9, their 1/48 Junkers D.I (another gem), their 1/32 Albatros D.III and their 1/32 Fokker Dr1. If you want to see how they build up, click on the link in my sig and see my builds of these kits on my web page. Now, I am not the best modeller in the world but in my view each and every one of their kits was quite nice. Was there some work to do on some of them? Sure. Was any single one of their kits a 'turd'?
Absolutely not!.
I really would encourage everyone that we don't rule out a manufacturer based on their moulding technology from 20 years ago. Imagine if we approached Eduard kits now based on our views from their early 1990s offerings and mould technology - we'd be fools.
Cheers,
BC