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

[Dave W]

Just to follow Mgunns remarks, his notes on Roden's 1/32 Stearman illustrate an interesting point that too many Roden critics have missed.

As he says, Roden's Stearman is reported to be a nicely detailed kit. Critics of Roden's WW1 kits have criticised their detail level compared with Wingnuts.

The reality though is that Roden effectively withdrew from new WW1 kit production after Wingnuts landed on the scene 11 years ago. So it's become an apples vs oranges scenario. You can't measure Roden against Wingnuts because the Roden kits are as the technology was 11+ years ago.

Roden kits are way cheaper than Wingnuts ( now more than ever) and unlike Wingnuts which sold out of its popular lines, Roden have kept their whole WW1 catalogue in constant production.

Let's keep them in business folks!

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[smperry]

I suppose part of the legacy left behind by WnW is that henceforth any 1/32 scale WWI kit released will be compared to WnW. Unmercifully. There is a small niche of people who seem to thrive on picking apart new releases. I guess the more issues they claim to find, the greater their self perceived stature in Know-It-All Land. Good for them, they do seem to enjoy themselves. They will have a field day as soon as Roden or any other of the quality kit makers release a new 1/32 WWI kit. Roden is no doubt aware of them and generally tunes them out. We need to do the same. We all know who puts out quality kits and that alone is enough for me to buy as soon as a new release becomes available. Unfortunately you can't shut the nitpickers and naysayers up, but you can do the next best thing and ignore them. It is far more important to our little corner of the hobby to REWARD the manufacturer's hard work and investment and to encourage them to turn around and do it again. And so what if someone lets a sub standard cowl or rudder or prop get out. The after market producers need our support as well, so either model on and fix the problem yourself or let the kit warm the shelf a while and the AM boys will come through and fix it for you so you can assemble it. No reason at all to not buy a new release even if it isn't 110% perfect.

sp

[lcarroll]

I suppose part of the legacy left behind by WnW is that henceforth any 1/32 scale WWI kit released will be compared to WnW. Unmercifully. There is a small niche of people who seem to thrive on picking apart new releases. I guess the more issues they claim to find, the greater their self perceived stature in Know-It-All Land. Good for them, they do seem to enjoy themselves. They will have a field day as soon as Roden or any other of the quality kit makers release a new 1/32 WWI kit. Roden is no doubt aware of them and generally tunes them out. We need to do the same. We all know who puts out quality kits and that alone is enough for me to buy as soon as a new release becomes available. Unfortunately you can't shut the nitpickers and naysayers up, but you can do the next best thing and ignore them. It is far more important to our little corner of the hobby to REWARD the manufacturer's hard work and investment and to encourage them to turn around and do it again. And so what if someone lets a sub standard cowl or rudder or prop get out. The after market producers need our support as well, so either model on and fix the problem yourself or let the kit warm the shelf a while and the AM boys will come through and fix it for you so you can assemble it. No reason at all to not buy a new release even if it isn't 110% perfect.

sp

 

    Now that's a balanced and very objective perspective, good on you sp! Along with Brad's and Dave's comments I'd say the way ahead (in general terms) is very apparent. We will survive the demise of WNW, lets concentrate on support for those still supporting us and less on the "what ifs" of the past.For my part I intend to buy a Meng DR.1 just for old time's sake, build at least one more Roden Dr.1 in the very near future, and whip myself into a frenzy over what the next Roden, CSM, or SH WW.I subject might be! We've never had it so good, and I believe no one in the hobby could possibly build all the great WW.I kits of all scales available on the market presently in a lifetime, and I include the numerous WNW Kits in stashes and coming available as stocks are liquidated.
    Bottom line from my perspective is it's looking good for WW.I Aircraft Modelling, very VERY good!
Cheers,
Lance

[Jeff K]

what smperry said.

i also notice these harpies start tearing something apart when they see CAD renderings posted on Facebook! really? you can figure it all out from there? c'mon.

in particular they ripped into the Mengnut Mengs Dreidecker. clearly inferior to WNW... um guys? those ARE the WNW CAD renderings. c'mon

that said, agree the manufacturers tune out the attention seekers. they will respond to sales. people moaning about those who buy faster than they build... well, again, c'mon. manufacturers care about selling enough to stay in the business. they don't care if you have a fleet-in-being in your stash. if you want more kits released, buy what you can afford. go ahead and get ahead of yourself if you want 'em to keep doing this. (that said don't get ahead of your bank account).

when i can afford it, i'll be buying multiple Roden kits (i can afford it after i afford 9 more CSM Nieuports). all 1/32, not all WWI (Bird Dog, to be John Paul Vann's ride).

one thing i'd like to see that's not a WWI subject: a Yellow Peril to go with that Stearman.

[RichieW]

Well said SP, after reading lots of negative press regarding Roden kits I must say I was most impressed by the 1/32 SE5a kit. There are a few things that aren't perfect but having grown up on a diet of Airfix kits in polythene bags I have no concerns about that and can either correct or turn a blind eye to  them.

[Lyle]

one thing i'd like to see that's not a WWI subject: a Yellow Peril to go with that Stearman.

The Yellow Peril is sadly neglected! Very nice-looking plane.  Lots of them in Dive Bomber from 1941.

[Jeff K]

one thing i'd like to see that's not a WWI subject: a Yellow Peril to go with that Stearman.

The Yellow Peril is sadly neglected! Very nice-looking plane.  Lots of them in Dive Bomber from 1941.

tons of history on this ship too.

[dr 1 ace]

Dittos to LP and Lance- !

Ed

[Pup7309]

Just thought I’d bump this up. Does anyone want to do an ongoing tally? If not I’ll try to do one time permitting...

[Harold55]

I am a 1/48 builder and have built almost every such kit Roden has produced and really like them.  I don't want to reiterate all the kits that have been mentioned before but want to let Roden know that if it is a kit of something thing that does not exist or would only be available as a short-run examples (such as from BlueMax, CooperState resin kits, Hi-Tech, or even Aurora, etc.) then I will buy it.  But my one dream kit which I must note is the Ilya Muromets!  I realize this leaves Roden with quite a bit of room to pick a subject but there is actually a huge number of subjects that have never had a main line plastic 1/48 kit made of them. 

I am really looking forward to what we see!

[Dwaynewilly]

I would like to see Roden do an Albatros D.V in 1/48 and 1/32 scale. While the Wingnut Wings kit is hard to surpass, at $150+ a pop and climbing, I think Roden would sell a trainload of them at the normal prices. The Eduard 1/48 Albatros D.V is over 20 years old and is nowhere near as nice as their more recent Oeffag D.III's, but they don't seem inclined to cut new tooling for it. I know there are many aircraft that have never been tooled into kits before, aircraft that we all would like to see, but getting Roden lots of sales will generate the incentive to invest even further into our niche of the hobby. Don't get me wrong, I'll sign up for a couple Breguets 14's and a Strutter.

Dwayne

[Jeff K]

one easily filled spot on the Roden lineup: the Albatros D.II. modifications to the D.I would be minimal, and the Encore D.II boxing of the Roden kit is a bit scarce and pricey.

over the moon about the SPAD XIII and 1.5 Strutter, will get quite a few. i'll get at least one 504.

[Juan]

one easily filled spot on the Roden lineup: the Albatros D.II. modifications to the D.I would be minimal, and the Encore D.II boxing of the Roden kit is a bit scarce and pricey.

over the moon about the SPAD XIII and 1.5 Strutter, will get quite a few. i'll get at least one 504.

Not sure if they have some sort of agreement with Squadron.  They have those molds and are sold under "Squadron, Encore".

[Jeff K]

one easily filled spot on the Roden lineup: the Albatros D.II. modifications to the D.I would be minimal, and the Encore D.II boxing of the Roden kit is a bit scarce and pricey.

over the moon about the SPAD XIII and 1.5 Strutter, will get quite a few. i'll get at least one 504.

Not sure if they have some sort of agreement with Squadron.  They have those molds and are sold under "Squadron, Encore".

problem is, Squadron no longer seem to be doing anything with it.

[Juan]

one easily filled spot on the Roden lineup: the Albatros D.II. modifications to the D.I would be minimal, and the Encore D.II boxing of the Roden kit is a bit scarce and pricey.

over the moon about the SPAD XIII and 1.5 Strutter, will get quite a few. i'll get at least one 504.

Not sure if they have some sort of agreement with Squadron.  They have those molds and are sold under "Squadron, Encore".

problem is, Squadron no longer seem to be doing anything with it.

They rerelease them from time to time.  Last time they included a Blue Max with the Pfalz kit.