eduard news

[Rob Hart]

I agree with rhinocrat. I'll always be grateful for the WWI kits Eduard and Roden produced regardless of what they do in the future. Who knows, maybe when Trumpeter/Hobby Boss run out of WWII/Jets stuff, they'll turn to WWI. I wonder if Special Hobby plans to expand their WWI line.

[Zabu]

I'm a 1/72 modeler. Someone said in the WnW thread that if for some reason they halted their production, one would be thankful in the same for the products they have released so far... well it's the way i feel about Eduard or Roden. IMHO they gave us some very nice models, specially Eduard and their Stripdown models and profipacks. Some manufactures go away but others will come. For now i'm quite happy with Chroroszy models. If i'm allowed to say they are the WnW of 1/72 models.

Cheers

[Chris Johnson]

if theres no money to be made why are all these cottage companies like hgw,taurus,aviattic,wood and wire,old propeller,etc.etc.etc.etc. doing it.

You just can't compare cottage industries to manufacturing entities. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

Cheers,

Chris

[ALBATROS1234]

i'll say it again..... i dont expect eduard to exclusively produce ww1 models. i do expect them to  give us one new kit every year or so. not much to ask imho . what upsets me is how they basically said " ww1 who?, nah we aint makin your crap anymore buddy, doesnt matter if you personally have spent literally thousands on our products....we dont care!" . its like if a politician gets elected on a platform then completely ignores the promises made to the people who elected him.....oh wait....that happens constantly.....i guess eduard is just like a politician with no integrity.

[Des]

In June of 2012 I was communicating with Vladimir Chumak, President of Roden Ltd regarding future WW1 aircraft releases, this is what he said - Roden Ltd does not intend to release model kits devoted to WWI in the nearest period of time.

This puts Rodens stance on WW1 aircraft models in a nut shell.

Des.

[Whiteknuckles]

It's interesting that Eduard and Roden went down this path right on the cusp of the WW1 Centenary. One would have thought that it would boost sales of WW1 aviation models, WNW or not.....

Andrew

[Dave W]

Boycotting companies that have stopped producing WW1 kits won't encourage them to produce more kits for us, it will just reaffirm in their minds that there's no money in WW1, because WNW now owns the marketplace.

I feel especially sorry for the 1/48th and 1/72 scale guys  who are the main victims of Eduard & Roden abandoning the WW1 market especially as smaller scale modellers upsize to 1/32 scale now.

Maybe some lobbying via company websites, emails and social media would get a message through to them? Or if we all started buying up from the companies' back catalogues it would show them WW1 modellers are still out there and a valuable revenue source.

A boycott achieves nothing because in their eyes our niche of the hobby is simply not valuable enough to them now. We have to change that mindset or encourage a new player to get into WW1 subjects. Forums such as this one are an excellent way to tell anyone who's listening that WW1 aircraft modelling is still a vibrant, exciting and potentially profitable business for manufacturers.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[Berman]

 The future of 1/48th scale WWI aircraft models will be in the hands of small manufacturers, who have a passion for Great War planes, such as Gaspatch for injection molded kits but mainly by resin kit makers. I have been working with a fantastic patternmaker from Eastern Europe. Mike West, of Lone Star Models, is currently producing the molds for early and late versions of a 1/48th scale Felixstowe F.2a from master patterns that I have supplied. Modesty aside, this will be a wonderfully detailed accurate resin kit.
 As Mike West is currently too busy to take on further projects, I am seeking a skilled moldmaker and resin caster for three other 1/48th scale aircraft patterns that are ready now for the molding process. These are a Siemens Schuckert experimental glider bomb, 1910 Coanda "jet" biplane, and a Handley Page 0-100/0-400 bomber. These will equal or exceed the finest resin kits that you have ever seen. Other subjects in the planning stages.
     Please contact me if you are a skilled resin caster with the proper vacuum equipment and pressure chamber for casting. A resident of the USA would simplify matters.
                                                    Barry    [email protected]

[coyotemagic]

Boycotting companies that have stopped producing WW1 kits won't encourage them to produce more kits for us, it will just reaffirm in their minds that there's no money in WW1, because WNW now owns the marketplace.

I feel especially sorry for the 1/48th and 1/72 scale guys  who are the main victims of Eduard & Roden abandoning the WW1 market especially as smaller scale modellers upsize to 1/32 scale now.

Maybe some lobbying via company websites, emails and social media would get a message through to them? Or if we all started buying up from the companies' back catalogues it would show them WW1 modellers are still out there and a valuable revenue source.

A boycott achieves nothing because in their eyes our niche of the hobby is simply not valuable enough to them now. We have to change that mindset or encourage a new player to get into WW1 subjects. Forums such as this one are an excellent way to tell anyone who's listening that WW1 aircraft modelling is still a vibrant, exciting and potentially profitable business for manufacturers.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

We tried the lobbying approach a while back and it apparently fell on deaf ears.
http://helpdesk.eduard.com/entries/20586336
Okay, Dave.  You're probably right about a boycott.  Maybe we should renew our efforts with Eduard.
We also did the same thing with Roden with the same results.
http://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=1025.msg15178#msg15178
Cheers,
Bud

[Des]

Early last year we all tried very hard to lobby Roden, we made up a list of kits most wanted by modelers and many of us wrote to Roden urging them to produce more WW1 aircraft kits, but it all fell on deaf ears with a very negative reply from the Roden boss - Roden Ltd does not intend to release model kits devoted to WWI in the nearest period of time.

No amount of talk from modelers is going to force a company to make new kits, they are not going to outlay a six figure sum to produce just one WW1 aeroplane kit with no guarantee that they will recoup their outlay. Roden has been scared off by Wingnuts, they can't compete with their quality and price and Roden are not stupid, they can see that a lot of modelers are moving towards the WnW 1:32 scale. The last I heard from Vladimir at Roden was that they are concentrating their efforts on civilian airliners. Apart from Wingnuts the future for WW1 aircraft modelers looks bleak, there will be a few kits pop up from cottage industry every now and then but due to high production cost, limited run and low sales their prices are usually very high.

I really don't know what the answer is, the large scale builders are lucky to have Wingnuts producing kits, and they promise at least another 50 kits in development, but for the smaller scale builders it appears that the release of new kits will be limited. I doubt very much if a mainstream kit producer will all of a sudden start producing WW1 aircraft kits, they would have no reason to.

Des.

[ALBATROS1234]

as bud and des say we have been trying, we have sent emails posted our wishs when they asked our hopes we told them in every way imaginable.... they dont care. they are only interested in funding projects that have the greatest potential for massive profits, anything that could be deemed a bit of a risk is simple not worth it to them. i'm sorry but i dont think buying a pile of nieuports 17s and albatros dvs with new decals will make them get it. its just going to get harder and harder to obtain a decent injected ww1 kit. resin is o.k. but it is not the best media for a kit. i cast resin, resin is good for some things but the kits are expensive as hell. i was looking into a few recently and i would hate to spend as much or more than a wnw kit for something which is smaller and not to that standard. i think this is further going to influence me into scratchbuilding. a few years back when wnw hit guys were saying it is our "golden age" well age is over, noone is in our corner barely and w the 100 th anniversary next year no new 1/48 kits are coming to look forward to. there are so many ww1 fighters that have no kit or only old out of production hard to find kits. me personally i dont care for bombers, most guys dont, so resin companies that produce oddball kits of these big white elephants or one off experimental things arent of interest either. we need viable 1/48 injection kits of fighters and 2 seaters that saw action and were made in substantial numbers. the stuff of aces.

[ALBATROS1234]

roden is making a mistake too. with eduard out of the running the market is prime for new kits. even 1/32 if they made stuff that wnw arent going to make they will sell.

what is this 6 figures thing des? does it really cost that much to make a mold for 3-4 small sprues ? if so i dont see how anyone is doing it. i have a friend that works at interlox which makes injection molds and manufactures parts for anyone for anything. i want to see how much it would cost to get a mold made i can see it being expensive, too expensive for me but 6 figures seems high. not that i claim to have a clue and i could be totally wrong.

[Whiteknuckles]

I admire your passion over this A1234

...even 1/32 if they made stuff that wnw arent going to make they will sell....

Yes but do you know what WNW isn't going to make?
I'm pretty sure Roden, as competitors, do not.

...i want to see how much it would cost to get a mold made i can see it being expensive, too expensive for me but 6 figures seems high. not that i claim to have a clue and i could be totally wrong.

That would be interesting to find out if you can - don't forget that the WNW molds are finely detailed.....

Andrew

[Dave W]

Regarding the research and development costs of WW1 kits, I understand it can cost a six figure sum to produce a 1/32 WW1 kit to WNW standards. You have to factor in the time/ cost of those working on the design, the actual mould-making costs plus the costs of actually moulding the kits, then there's the cost of decals, art work, box art, instructions, any aftermarket with the kit and so on.Add to that the wages/ overheads of the business and the people who pack and despatch the orders. We overlook the fact that the physical injecting of plastic into moulds is only one cost in the chain and if the investment does not return a profit, the manufacturer would be reluctant to repeat that process many times.

I accept readily that Roden and Eduard have ignored our encouragement, and shame on them for doing so.

What we need is an adventurous model company with the vision and the willingness to invest/ gamble on a new string of kits. Ignore the Japanese companies- with the exception  of Hasegawa's oddball 1/8th and 1/16th oddities, the Japanese companies don't relate to WW1 subjects.

Revell maybe? They re=pop Eduard kits  now. Some originals in 48th and 1/72 scale would be applauded.

I would also suggest some lobbying of Hornby who own Airfix. If Airfix could be persuaded to re-start its WW1 line or even add to it and especially to do some `1/48th WW1 subjects, it would fill some great voids.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[DaveM]

Indeed,very disappointing that Eduard and Roden are not considering future releases of WW1 subjects,and I must agree that with the centenary of the Great War approaching,they will be missing out on a marketing opportunity!
In the early 1970's,Airfix brought out a 1:12th scale Bentley,a truely state of the art kit at the time,with a couple of hundred parts,and the talk of the modelling press,and it wasn't cheap to buy.Tooling and production costs at that time were in the region of £240,000!!!
But that kit was the extreme as to the quality and quantity of parts at that time.In this day and age,depending on the metals used for the tool,costs can vary.Just recently,a Japanese company,Model Hiro Factory, better known for their racing cars,which cost in the region of £600-£800 apiece, have just released an injection moulded Tiger tank in 1:35th,retailing at £400+!I googled tooling costs and it didn't turn up much for my limited knowledge(make that zilch in fact!) of this area,but one companys web page showed a simple menu type holder coming in at £3,300.Then you have to factor in the design of the mould,how many components it will have,longevity of the mould and tools,what material its made from,man hours to construct mould,production costs,salaries,artwork for instructions and boxtops,marketing and shipping.So,all in all,quite an expensive outlay before any possible sales,yeah,I think you are looking at possible 6 figure numbers.
An interesting fact I did find,was that several companies who outsourced their tooling to the far east,have now reconsidered and took their production back to their home countries.

Dave.(patiently waiting and saving up for the WNW's 32nd Handley Page 0/400!)
Aah,some new posts whist typing this,so I may be repeating what others have written.