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Why Doesn't Eduard Make LSPs?


Thunnus

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Just curious... why doesn't Eduard produce any new 1/32 scale aircraft models in house?  I'm aware of their occasional reboxes of other manufacturers moldings and that they didn't do so well with their 109E  LSP a decade ago.  But since then, they have established a well respected line-up of 1/48 scale aircraft kits that are considered state-of-the-art. They also produce a lot of aftermarket for 1/32 scale kits so they must be at least familiar with the demand in the LSP market.  With Tamiya, Hasegawa and Revell stepping back from new LSP products, it would seem a good opportunity for a company like Eduard to make another foray into 1/32, especially if they already make excellent 1/48 scale kits.

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If I were to take a stab at it, 1/32 is a very risky field. Most kits are large, higher parts count, more complex assembly, and many are biased toward them as being too big. I would say that the vast majority of kits sold worldwide are 1/48 and 1/72. And for most builders, finding shelf space for a Tamiya P-38 in 1/48 is easier than 1/32. So in a nutshell, it’s less risky for a company to make stuff for the masses, rather than a few. Money is the main factor.

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Their 109 turns out really well in the end. I don't enjoy the seam in the lower nose, but the rest of the kit is nice. Also, I like their instruction books the best, very clear images. It's a shame they don't do more 1/32. They still get my money for their photo etch though.

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I think it's a simple matter of them not wanting to take the financial risk, given how successful they're 1/48 kit line is. I have it on good authority that the average 1/32 kit costs roughly 4x the average 1/48 kit in tooling. That's a lot of extra money to recoup, especially when overall sales are likely to be smaller. They had plans for a 1/32 scale Spitfire at the time their 109 came out, but these were cancelled shortly after.

 

Kev

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Eduard's 1/48 MiG-21s are exquisite and the research deserves to be scaled-up, but they've stated they're not going down that road.

 

As for Airfix, just imagine a 1/32 Sea Vixen. Ain't gonna happen either, but they are announcing new tools at 15:00GMT on Monday 6th January.

 

Tony 

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Why?

 

because they massively snowflaked when people dared to criticise their previous 1/32 efforts (same with their foray into 1/35 armour btw), and they are too scared to come back and play in manscale.

 

commercially, I can understand why they just want to continue printing money in PE...

 

But it’s disappointing that they don’t have the balls to come back and say ‘yes we can do this and prove you all wrong’, and instead make models in 1/48 where the standards of critique are significantly lower.

Edited by nmayhew
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1 hour ago, nmayhew said:

Why?

 

because they massively snowflaked when people dared to criticise their previous 1/32 efforts (same with their foray into 1/35 armour btw), and they are too scared to come back and play in manscale.

 

commercially, I can understand why they just want to continue printing money in PE...

 

But it’s disappointing that they don’t have the balls to come back and say ‘yes we can do this and prove you all wrong’, and instead make models in 1/48 where the standards of critique are significantly lower.

 

Completely agree, they did however make a fantastic slightly out of scale 109 which they withdrew and then made a proper 48th scale version. 

 

A real shame they dont do more in 32nd scale though.

 

Regards. Andy 

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Just take their 1/48 Hellcat and scale it up to 1/32....and start the $$$ making machine. 

 

I understand and it’s a little (or a lot) more involved than that, but if they just scaled up those fantastic 48th scale kits already on the shelves...that would change the LSP landscape in their favor (as we have seen in 48th scale). 

 

Cheers

Collin

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I really like the molding on their 1/48 scale kits and wonder how well that would translate to 1/32 scale subjects.  I also like how they put out many versions of the same aircraft without too much delay.

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20 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

Personally, I'd like to see Dragon pop off a few more. Their Bf 110 and Bf 109E kits are outstanding.

Every modeler at this forum is greatly disadvantaged by Dragon's decision to basically not make airplane model kits.

 

Their work in the German WWII armor field is exquisite, much better than Tamiya, and they seem to have the resources to launch newly tooled kits all the time.

 

If they woke up tomorrow and decided to go through all the famous aircraft of WWII in 1/32 scale, the landscape of 1/32 aircraft modeling would be changed--and massively improved--forever!

 

And it wouldn't take forever either!  Probably a couple of years.  

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4 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Let's hope they don't do that.  It would take $400 worth of resin to fix all the errors it has.

....then they can make double the money.  I truly enjoyed building their 1/48 Hellcat OOB, and would love to do the same in 1/32. 

 

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