Verlinden has closed down!

[oyoy5]

I just spoke to the owners wife and they have destroyed all of the stock they had left so no one bought them out.  They are no more.

[red Dog]

Back when I started Verlinden was about the only aftermarket you could get.

That said, VP was in Belgium back then and the hobby shops were pretty good stocked

The quality was also pretty good as I remember

 

After VP moved to the US, internet came, local hobby shop closed and most of us get our stuff worldwide from the web.

VP probably had difficulties to adapt to this. New companies with modern tools came up, better details, better fit, less work for us plastic gluers and I confess it certainly has been 10-15 years since I last bought a VP set.

As every market modelism and its techniques kept on evolving.

 

Still, we shouldn't forget where VP comes from. If the Aftermarket is what it is today, it's probably because of these guys.

We should thank them and I'm sorry to see them go in such a way.

 

Thank you Francois and all the team that made verlinden productions. It's probably because of your aftermarket sets that I sticked to modelism

Edited September 16, 2016 by red Dog

[alaninaustria]

That's sad but that is life... adapt, change and re-invent yourself or go extinct!

Verlinden's products are what started my interest in scratchbuilding aftermarket parts...

Cheers

Alan

[Tony T]

I have some of their USN deck gear which was quite nice but always arrived partly broken.

 

The specialist AM today is a notch or three better in quality and accuracy but, like Model Technologies, PP Aeroparts, Flightpath and Reheat Verlinden set us all truly on the path of detail insanity twenty years ago.

 

Tony

[Big Texan]

Yes, sad indeed. I marveled at Verlinden's stuff in the late 80's. Sad to see them go as they paved the way for resin detail sets. I still have some of their sets for planes I have. Thank you Verlinden!

[The Dude]

What a bummer. I wonder what prompted the sudden closing?

[Dave Williams]

Probably should merge threads.

 

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=64476&hl=

[LSP_K2]

Just remember this simple fact: nobody (except Shep Paine) ever had the idea of weathering a model plane until François V. came along with his 'The Verlinday Way' books.

 

Cheers,

Quang

 

I couldn't disagree more. Weathering of aircraft and armor, had been taking place for ages before he came onto the scene.

[LSP_K2]

Probably should merge threads.

 

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=64476&hl=

 

I just did. Sometimes folks get so passionate about reporting news, that they don't notice it's already being discussed. It happens from time to time.

[Out2gtcha]

I couldn't disagree more. Weathering of aircraft and armor, had been taking place for ages before he came onto the scene.

 

 

Agreed. Weathering such as Shep displayed in his "How to make a Diorama" 1st edition, had been around for quite a while before either him or Verlinden displayed those techniques. Im a BIG fan of Shep and his stuff is still modeling bible to me, but there were others doing similar stuff prior to both.

[quang]

Of course, Verlinden did not invent weathering BUT he took it to the general public with his series of books. Same as Shep Paine.

[Out2gtcha]

Of course, Verlinden did not invent weathering BUT he took it to the general public with his series of books. Same as Shep Paine.

 

 

Agreed. Both series were instrumental in shaping the modeling landscape at the time. 

[DeanKB]

Verlinden were great - in the same way that my first Mini that I bought 30 years ago was great. The new Mini we recently bought made my realise that the original Mini was not, in fact, the utterly fantastic car I thought it was. It was a glorified rollerskate. The heating controls had 2 settings - on & off. The only thing electrically powered was the cigarette lighter. The chances of surviving a collision were akin to free fall parachuting without the parachute. There was no 5th gear, so motorway driving was completely deafening. 

 

British Leyland - for it was they who made the likes of the Mini, Maestro, Montego & other absolutely crap cars, at least during the rare times they were not on strike -  had to be shut down, as the paying public deserved far better. Competition leaves only the fittest to survive.

 

Verlinden have gone the same way. Equally, not many tears will be shed.

[Wouter]

Wow, that's sad news. Although I passed Verlinden aftermarket because I was to young in his hay days and when getting back to modelling there are better offerings on the market, I really was inspired by the diorama's he build. If I recall correctly he was one of the first guys to introduce accessories to build a life like diorama.

But not all is lost, some of his stuff in 1/32 is now produced by Zoukei Mura, like the Luftwaffe oilcart, Kettenkrat and fuel cart. the same goes for some of the figures. For all I know it could be that ZM acquired the masters...

[Dave Roof]

Sorry, but it isn't really a loss. Hundreds, if not thousands of companies have gone under, and not just in the scale modeling industry, and life continues to go on.

 

I would bet money that everyone posting about how "sad" this is, can count on one hand how many Verlinden products they have bought in the past several years.