Point taken Rowan and I agree with everything you have said, except the bit about Roden being scared off by Wingnuts. I have had a lot of personal communications with Vladimir, the President of Roden, and he has assured me that they cannot compete with the quality and price of the Wingnut superb kits, so they will not be producing any new 1:32 scale WW1 aircraft kits in the foreseeable future. Yes, I have built all of Rodens 1:32 scale WW1 kits and found all of them to be quite buildable, they need some work but they do build up to be a very nice model. As far as comparing them to a Wingnuts kit, well, there is no comparison, it's like chalk and cheese, the Wingnuts DH.2 runs rings around the Roden DH.2, and the Wingnuts Hannover is such a remarkable kit that it just falls together, brilliant engineering.
I fully support Wingnuts 110% and really appreciate what they have done for the large scale WW1 aircraft modeler, yes, they will produce obscure types and they will sell, we have to remember that there is a die hard Wingnuts fan club out there who will buy anything Wingnuts produces. There are only two Wingnut kits that I have not purchased, but these will be added to my stash in short time, the quality and buildability of these kits is unequalled with each new release getting better and better.
I don't think this topic has turned to doom and gloom, all it is are members voicing their opinions, some are on a negative tone but the majority look at this as being a very interesting and enjoyable conversation thread. Most, in fact all, are backing Wingnuts, and rightfully so, they are giving us an excellent product with the promise of many more to come, the more obscure the better in my opinion.
All the wish lists that are floating around are great, and I can imagine in the years to come many of those aircraft will become fruition as kits by Wingnuts, we are in 1:32 scale modeling heaven at the moment and Wingnuts can be thanked for putting us there.
Making money, this is a bit of a sore point. Regardless of what people think a business is in business to make money, some don't make an enormous amount but they do have to cover costs, they don't go to all the trouble to produce and market a product just to give it away because they are nice guys. I don't know the business side of Wingnuts, they are extremely lucky to have the backing of Peter Jackson but even he would not be pumping enormous amounts of money into producing kits just for the fun of it, even if he only made one dollar per kit it is still not a loss.
Like you Rowan, I always look on the bright side of life, every day for me is a bonus and I take full advantage of each minute of each day. I love life, I love my wife and family, and I love modeling, I thoroughly enjoy running my website and forum and I love the interaction I have had with the forum members, life is good and Wingnuts have made it even better.
Des.
