Christa Posted August 5 Posted August 5 A recent item on Traders Board pitched me into my unmade Wingnut Wings boxes. A deal was done. Then I learned that lovely website has disappered. WNW website was the most generous, attractive, informative and inspiring kit manufacturer's website I have known. I enjoyed hundreds of visits for a decade or so, all free. I honour its creators and sustainers, especially because it was available after 2020. WNW's website enticed me to 1:32, I think in 2011. I am still there. I am still a Wings Wingnutter. Not surprisingly, when WNW closed, employees were unforthcoming about the company's activities. Can anyone now tell the story of that superb website? Whose idea was it? Where did the photo archive come from? Where might it be today? Has any other kit manufacturer offered a comparable facility? When was it withdrawn? Could it became available again? What thoughts? Chris Iain, 2996 Victor and Archimedes 3
Kagemusha Posted August 5 Posted August 5 I noticed it had gone about a month ago, meant to post, but you've done such a better job than I would have. Christa 1
LSP_Kevin Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Well, the domain is still valid, and still resolves to the proper location. Upon arriving there, I'm greeted with an internal server error, with a status code of 500. This tells me that the Wingnut Wings server has had a conniption, and there's no one there to fix it. Which means that it's less likely a deliberate pulling of the website, and more likely just an error that no one has even noticed, let alone can fix. Which also means it isn't likely to come back, even if its disappearance was unintentional. Kev KiwiZac, D.B. Andrus, Martinnfb and 3 others 2 4
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 The repository of Instruction Sheets is still accessible - try Googling for 'Wingnut Wings SE5a instructions' (or any of the others) and you should get straight to a download link for the .pfd instructions file. Might be useful for someone - probably to disappear shortly. Backs up Kev's thoughts... Iain Christa and Kagemusha 2
mattlow Posted August 5 Posted August 5 I imagine the entire WNW site is available via archiving services such as the Wayback Machine... That said I've had a look and while it says it has archived the site several times, I cannot figure out how to access it.. Matt nmayhew and Christa 2
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Wayback Machine is useful - but in my experience it rarely has an entire site archived - and can be a bit 'crunchy' at times... Edit: just having a play now and not getting anywhere - so far one page found but no images archived that I can see just now. Iain KiwiZac and mattlow 2
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Closest to anything so far on Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20160204145438/http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/product?productid=3096 Not really much use. Doesn't help that it's hellishly slow for me this morning! Iain
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 I did just manage to get to some Brisfit thumbnail images from the last link I posted - but it times out at the moment trying to open - so I don't know yet if the full image has been archived. http://web.archive.org/web/20220625143713/http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/productdetail?productid=3096&cat=1 Iain
mattlow Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Hi Just found this on a quick trawl... Link to forum on WW1 aircraft. Chap has archived content, not website... so all photos. instructions etc. Just downloaded a 2Gig zip file... didn't take very long at all. https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=11163.msg207207#msg207207 Matt 2996 Victor, Iain, Christa and 1 other 1 3
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Great find Matt! Downloading some of that now... 😁 Iain mattlow 1
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Just downloaded the photos archive from that link Matt - took a while to zip before downloading - but appears to have worked well and I now have photos on my Mac... A lot faster than Wayback Machine - which appears to still be pondering on the meaning of life and the duality of defunct websites. Iain Christa and mattlow 1 1
mattlow Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Ido wonder if the site could return if the owners were made aware... It is kind of Peter J's memorial to the brand and I suspect the cost of maintaining it would be absolutely minimal... Could be hosted alongside the Vintage aviator site? Anyone know Peter's email address? Matt Christa 1
Christa Posted August 5 Author Posted August 5 I don't suppose one of you blokes has got Sir Peter Jackson's mobile number at all? Maybe a brief text could see the glitch fixed like. Archimedes, Shoggz, nmayhew and 1 other 4
Iain Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Well - the wingnutwings.com domain is due to expire on the 24th of August if nobody renews it... Iain
mgbooyv8 Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Then it will probably be gone... Matt, great find! I've just downloaded all the stuff, so now I'm sure i have everything from the WNW website Cheers, Peter mattlow and Iain 2
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now