Author Topic: Inside Wingnut Wings - what went wrong within the dream model company?  (Read 65416 times)

Offline gedmundson

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Thanks for taking the time to put this together Dave.
Cheers,
Gary

Offline mgunns

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Thanks Dave W for taking the time to sift through the chaff of speculation and rumor and provide an article based on fact.   Duly appreciated.
Mark

We few, we happy few.....

Offline Madbox

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I would like to just say thanks to Dave for the informative and delicate way in which he has written this article. The last thing on anybodies minds is to compromise any of the feelings of the guys who worked at WNW, they gave us many, many hours of pleasure, in the form of their expertise and I thank them for that, I for one can only wish them well, whatever life throws at them from now on.

Dave

Offline bobs_buckles

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Don't worry, Dave, the naysayers will still persist, but thanks for the update.

von B



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Dekenba1

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Excellent article, Dave, thank you for explaining it all so clearly.
One thing unmentioned though is the allegation that they had mis-used government subsidies intended for the film industries on model and aircraft companies, causing much embarrassment to PJ's group.
Do you think this maybe helps explain the "why" as opposed to "what" happened re the sudden closure?
Thanks again.

I'll explain what that was all about.

Every year, the NZ Government gives grants to small film making organisations, as most governments do, to encourage them to work and relocate to NZ.

None of that money is paid to PJ, or any of his companies.

However, the organisations that do receive grant funding then spend the money on staff, rent, equipment, services, etc. Some chose to purchase from Wingnut, PJ's company. So those companies are customers to PJ. He provides a service, they pay him.

So PJ's company ends up with money that was granted, BUT only because of normal business trading. They don't receive any grant, they earn revenue from other companies that happened to be a grant.

So, it's a big stretch - but there is a sizeable movement in NZ that doesn't like PJ & thinks him too big for his boots.

Dekenba1

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The WNW assets - moulds, IP, modelling, WIP, stock, etc - are worth some monetary amount. As it's a very, very small market, we don't really know the value

Reading Dave's article, I can't see a lot of financial or managerial logic in the company which leads to the question in what you say in the bit I quoted

How many more buyers are there for two-seater Axis planes? Or for large four engine bombers?

The kits with legs are going to be the single seaters, the expensive moulds are those big bombers. If you had to buy the lot in one go, I'd suggest the value of the moulds for the big kits would kill the deal

And that's assuming WNW own the moulds - if they are sitting in a factory in China that may not be guaranteed. It wouldn't be unusual to go into a joint venture with a moulding company over the costs of the moulds

As usual, more questions than answers

Richard

If you had quoted the whole of my post, you would see that I distinctly pointed out that the twin-engined kits, and some two seaters, may not see the light of day again because sales figures are too low.

Financially, that wouldn't make a difference to the value of WNW. If the sales figures are so low as to preclude that mould making a profit, then that mould has a value of $0 as a mould, and maybe a few bucks as scrap metal. The heavy investment in producing them is sunk, worth not a penny now.

The moulds are very probably in China & Korea, but I'd be shocked if they were anything other than 100% WNW owned. After all, WNW didn't need partners, it wasn't run as a business, so why look to spread risk by creating JV's?

I remain convinced that most of the kits will be seen in the wild again before too long. The Gotha G.I, G.IV and UWD, the unreleased HP's, the pair of AEG's & the two Felixstowe's future looks far less rosey, but as they constitute a relatively small part of the WNW portfolio & not too many people could afford them - or display them - it should not make much difference to the majority of WNW fans.

Offline Captain Slower

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First Dave, thanks for the article.  It was labour of love and provided some needed explanation for us.  It also proved a friend in the WWI replica field correct in that the Gene DeMarco affair at TVAL had been one of the causes to this.

I did a quick look up of Clare Olssen.  She is a 40-ish film producer now in corporate management.  So, I do not think that the sensibilities of a bunch old boomers were at the top of her needs.  I suspect she did not have a passion for airplanes, models, model airplanes or military stuff.  However, if her goal was to get a good price on WNW assets, she would have been wiser if she waited until after the Dr.I was released.  It would have brought in some additional cash flow and made the range and its intellectual property that much more attractive.  Further, if she sold it as an on-going enterprise, the designers would have been more likely available to continue to develop new product.   An acquiring company would want the people talent in addition to the assets.   I have been watching some of the Max' Models videos on model company histories and if a company was still active which acquired, it was usually kept that way for awhile.  For a Meng/Hornby type of company the WNW design staff would not be a major bit of overhead and they easily could work by telecommuting. 



« Last Edit: May 17, 2020, 09:00:18 AM by Captain Slower »

Online Chuckt5

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Thanks Dave for a peek behind the scenes of what was WNW. I continue to hope for the best for the former employees and the kits.

Stay safe everyone and keep on building, Chuck.

Offline Dave W

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New Zealand's leading online news website Stuff.co has published an article today on the Wingnuts closure and referenced the article from the Forum:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121537116/sir-peter-jacksons-wingnut-wings-model-company-shuts?fbclid=IwAR3O7bpKwdzwNplfBLcl4n4X1HNZPs2XeQlXD8jdy0fFqe6EbkEKcgv72_M

Dave Wilson
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Australia
Owner and Administrator of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

Offline dr 1 ace

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I can't help thinking, though, of what might have happened if they had listened to their customers and brought out kits of the Dr.1, Spad, and Camel in the early days. How much mileage has Revell got out of those old 1/28 scale molds?
/quote]

Yes, those kits are still in production since 1957 , just check the Revell of Germany catalog  plus many of the older re-pops are available on ebay.  Revell didn't listen to their customers either; there was a swell of support for a: DVII, Se5/5a, Alb DIII/DV/DVa, Nie 17, Hanriot, Nie. 28, Fok E-III, Dh-2 that was  ignored for far too long.  They would have had all the best known single seaters with multiple options for various re-pops with different color plastic/countries and markings. Revell would have had a nice line and the large scale WWI market to themselves. When they finally did the Fok D VII, the bean counters farmed it out, when the test shots came back and the in-house mold makers said corrections were needed to the wing and fuselage, all they got was a more or less-- no more money on the project.

It is sad tale repeated over and over, truly worse in the case of WNW by the apparently shabby treatment of the employees. Our heartfelt concerns for them and their families.  The saga is not over and thanks to Dave for this update, we will just have to wait to see what the future brings
Life is short, enjoy it, nobody gets out alive.

Offline aliluke

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Hi Dave
Great article by you. I was just about to copy in the Stuff pick up but you bet me to it! I wonder if it will get legs in the press here in NZ - we will see but it is out there now and Peter Jackson may feel compelled to comment - but I doubt he will...

Cheers
A

It ain't a hobby if you have to hurry.

Offline bobs_buckles

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Quote
So, it's a big stretch - but there is a sizeable movement in NZ that doesn't like PJ & thinks him too big for his boots.

I bet they liked the size of his boots when he was bringing in hundreds of millions through tourism and putting New Zealand on the map. It's funny how they come after him now that his film output has decreased and the money isn't flowing in anymore. Funny that.

 >:( >:( >:(



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Dekenba1

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May I just say that I appreciate this forum allowing discussions like this to be posted & actually encouraging discussion, in stark contrast to some forum.

It's what forums are all about, gossip!


Offline kensar

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Thanks for publishing the article, Dave.  Gives us more insight into what happened.  Hopefully, the molds will be take up by someone to be used again.

Offline Syd Solo

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Dave,

Thank you for this well written and balanced description of what happened at WNW. By just sticking to the known facts and not submitting to speculation and interpretations of the situation you have enabled all on this forum a much better understanding of the matter.

My best wishes are with all involved at WNW, especially the former-employees. This team of peerless crafts-people gave us 11 happy years of superlative quality kit releases beyond our wildest dreams. At some point we wake up from dreams.

Cheers

Syd