Before I even start this diatribe, and before the criticism starts rolling in, can I firmly say I'm a great Fan of Wingnutwings, in my humble opinion they have turned the entire plastic moulding industry on it's head. Here is a relatively new company, with apparently little experience, who have proved to the entire modelling world that an entire range of highly specialized kits can be researched, released and marketed in a new, exciting and innovative way, with great success.. They are often referred to as the best kits available... I'm a great fan, I simply love everything they do, and I hope it will continue for many, many years... if I have only one regret, it is that I haven't purchased every kit they have ever produced, and due to some kits OOP already, I wouldn't be able to even rectify that when I win the lottery, (buy a ticket, Marc! For Heaven Sake!) but I won't stop lusting after them, and wishing for more...
There is no doubt Sir Peter Jackson plays the pivotal role in this whole story, but his amazing team headed by Richard Alexander deserves great credit. Here I want to add the life work of Ray Rimmel of Windsock fame too, his name appears far too often to be merely a splendid help, I think he plays a leading role. There is also a vast army of production engineers, artists, computer experts and warehouse personnel that make any dealing with this company such a pleasure. I can only visit the website with wonder and appreciation every time, which other company gives you so much research and additional information so freely?
But the point of this post is to comment a little (if I may - you can censor this anytime Des!) with the eternal speculation on the WNW releases. I just love those threads! So much passion and anticipation involved, and WNW never disappoint! Their Christmas release program gets the entire modelling world into a frenzy, and makes life interesting and wonderfully splendid....
So just who is Sir Peter Jackson and where does his amazing passion for WW! aviation come from? (Full size and model...). Well, even a Google search doesn't help much. His film making history and genius is well documented, but is little related to WW1 aviation (Some to general WW! history though) and I can find little info on his life as a modeller (just like us) but I am convinced he is... in fact Richard Alexander has confirmed he builds the WNW kits himself. More interesting is the often quoted information that no subject is produced without his express approval, and maybe he chooses the subjects! So this is easy, get into his mind and find out what's coming next! Not as easy as all that...
But there is some help out there. Some modeller was wondering if WNW would run out of subjects to model, when someone else pointed out there are more that 150 Windsock Datafiles on appropriate and desired subjects, so this will take a few years yet! In fact, on finishing every possible subject Sir Peter can go back to re-releases and make me deliriously happy! Conversely, I don't think the team will tackle a subject unless it's adequately covered by Windsock...
There is also the well known statement By Richard that they will steer clear of subjects moulded already in 1/32, but I think this is wearing a little thin with an SE5A and Pfalz already and a Camel on the way... do I think WNW pay attention to modellers' requests, desires and protestations?? Absolutely! That's why we're getting a Camel! So add your vote to all those online "What should WNW release next?" threads!
But to return to the thought processes of Sir Peter's mind (and I hope he will forgive me if he ever comes across this), he grew up in the colonies (NZ, I grew up in SA) and I'm pretty sure his passion for WW! aviation was fired up then. I'm pretty sure he had exposure to the available kits of his youth (he's a few years younger than I, but I started very early and never stopped) and I'm pretty sure he had exposure to UK, European and American influences, as we all did. I think Airfaix and their 1/72 range played a large part in his early dabblings, and we only have to look at the "Dogfight Doubles" to get some idea... The only subjects not redone by WNW so far are the Avro 504, Fokker Triplane, the Handley-Page 0/400 and the Spad VII... I won't bet on them never appearing. The better kits in 1/72 were the Revell kits, a limited range but great in their way and only the Albatross DIII, Morane Saulnier, Nieuport 28 and once again the Fokker triplane don't appear... don't give up on these either... A very interesting American range of kits were the Aurora 1/48th scale kits, clunky and with poor detail and some dubious outlines but buildable for the day; They had a Gotha, an Albatross CIII, a DVII, a Camel, a Albatross DIII a Nieuport 28, a Pfalz DIII a Breguet 14 and a Halberstadt CLII in their range... some familiar, some are more than possibilities... I don't think Sir Peter would have ignored the growing Vac-Form and Limited run injection moulding companies springing up in his youth, the first and most iconic was Rareplanes, a one-man show, so sorry that Gordon Stevens has passed away, his WWI aircraft were the Snipe, Junkers D1 Gotha, Pflaz and Thomas Morse Scout, I think we'll get the American one... There was a company called Falcon that did a Vac-form Fokker DVIII, I hope Sir Peter got one of those! Also very influential in those days was Aeroclub, a company that initially did white - metal engines, props and wheels for the struggling Vac-form and Scratchbuilder crowd, but did their own Vacform and limited run kits too... just look at some of the subjects: Bristol F2B, FE2b, RE8, Sopwith Pup, DH5, DH9, BE2C, BE2E, BE12, BE12D... Once again many options and a few done already! In those heady early days the only large scale kits were the Revell 1/28th Dr1, Camel and Spad 13, I'm sure Sir Peter built them and wanted kits as good... 1/32 was not common, Hobbycraft/Academy took a while to arrive with their Nieuport 17, Camel (Close scale down from Revell at first) then Dr1 and lovely Spad XIII... maybe a push towards 1/32 for Sir Peter... But I think Richard Alexander had a great say in the constant 1/32 scale... I find the great emphasis on Seaplanes in the WNW line-up hard to explain (Very welcome and I hope it continues!) but the many great Windsock Publications may help here... The DFV was a great and welcome surprise too... As was the Junkers...
Well, after my really fun walk down Sir Peter's memory lane (and my own) what great prognostications (without factual basis) can I make? I'm pretty sure we will see a Pfalz DIII (Bit obvious - it says so on the sprue of the DIIIa) the Camel is on it's way, the DH9 will come out in Post-war colours (Toooo many nice schemes to miss out on! I hope we get the 4-colour South African roundels - an article in Windsock shows these) and some SE5A variants- post-war is appealing again!
My personal wishlist includes the Avro 504, the Spads, The Breguet 14 (I'll put money on this - not much though!) the Fokker DVIII, the Junkers D1, the Sopwith One-and-a half Strutter, the Sopwith Dolphin, the Halberstadt DII (A real wobbly.. Merlin models did do one - but they stole my money) and the Albatross DIII (Nothing wrong with the Roden kit, just lazy...) and of course the Fokker Triplane....
But most of all I hope the company flourishes and anything they produce is OK by me actually...
Regards,
Marc
