I think it would be fair to say Roden are being cautious in their return to new WW1 kit production but they are very conscious of our most wanted poll - we sent the detailed results to them and they have been closely watching the Forum posts too I believe.
Our enthusiasm has been a major motivator to encourage Roden to return and if the initial new releases are successful I am sure the other front runners on our poll will eventually appear. The mystery kit in development at Wingnuts, whose engine was posted as a teaser, was in fact a Hanriot. Roden and Copper State are now aware of this.
In response to Frank's post earlier, there is no formal Roden announcement on their website or Facebook page- the Forum post is the announcement.
My sincere thanks to everyone on the Forum who took part in the poll and has posted encouragement to Roden on this board.
As yet Roden have made no decisions on which kits will appear first but the Avro and Sopwith are definites and the Spad XIII appears to have nudged its way into the front runners too thanks to our poll. Final release sequencing will be decided during the design process.
I understand Roden will continue to keep its full catalogue of WW1 kits in production, something which deserves further support .
Whether Roden resumes production of new WW1 kits in 1/48 and 1/72 scale is a decision I suspect will be part based on market support for the new 1/32 kits.
Personally I think a 1/32 scale Avro 504K is a genius decision. It had so many uses, bomber, trainer, night fighter and huge postwar service ( including my personal interest with the New Zealand Permanent Air Force). Multi boxings galore!
Wingnuts re-defined the landscape of large scale WW1 modelling, but Roden led the way for them and thankfully is still with us and planning new kits to keep us all happily building for years to come.
Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia
