Wow... WNW gone....

[MikeC]

On 4/23/2020 at 8:30 PM, vince14 said:

Hannants still have over 20 of the Goering D.VII's in stock.

 

Not any more they don't.  https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/WNW32605?result-token=pXs0o

 

1 hour ago, Fred Jack said:

Actually, I had read that some pilots could use the RE-8 as well as any other two seaters, even Btisfits. I guess the bad performance rumors came about because it was so ugly. I consider it like the rumors that canaries were put in the wings of longhorns and shorthorns. It the canaries escaped, that meant that a wire had come off.

 

Like the Camel: it could be tricky to fly (c/g and other issues iirc), but in the right hands it could be very effective.

[thierry laurent]

WnW kits are very good but paying such prices for plastic kits is totally stupid!!! Unless you absolutely NEED one specific topic to build it right now, it is far better to be patient as kits are finally reissued and a very large part of the non-assembled kits ends on the second-hand market. It took me four years to get the Gotha G. IV at a reasonable price but I finally found one for a little bit more than 200 euros. Patience pays! The molds exist and releasing kits from them is not that expensive and the only way to get money back after the initial investment. So they will still be produced as far as there is yet some demand. No today, possibly not tomorrow but the day after. Do not support speculators! 

[vince14]

4 hours ago, esarmstrong said:

^^Nothing is shipping out of Japan right now, so...

That must have changed very recently - I ordered a kit from HLJ and it arrived in the UK within five days of shipping.

[vince14]

Just now, thierry laurent said:

WnW kits are very good but paying such prices for plastic kits is totally stupid!!! Unless you absolutely NEED one specific topic to build it right now, it is far better to be patient as kits are finally reissued and a very large part of the non-assembled kits ends on the second-hand market. It took me four years to get the Gotha G. IV at a reasonable price but I finally found one for a little bit more than 200 euros. Patience pays! The molds exist and releasing kits from them is not that expensive and the only way to get money back after the initial investment. So they will still be produced as far as there is yet some demand. No today, possibly not tomorrow but the day after. Do not support speculators! 

That's assuming, though, that someone is willing and able to buy the molds. Firstly, it would need PJ to liquidate the company and sell the assets off - and that might not happen, for a couple of reasons. Secondly, it's clear that WNW was not paying for itself and relied on financial input from PJ/the NZ taxpayer (depending on who you believe). Anyone who takes those molds on faces the same problems.

 

If they are indeed sold off then we might see the popular single-seaters appear again in future (Fokker D.VII, Camel, Se.5a, maybe even the Dr.I). But I doubt that the multi-seaters are likely to surface again, the costs associated with producing them would probably be prohibative.

[vince14]

3 hours ago, Fred Jack said:

Actually, I had read that some pilots could use the RE-8 as well as any other two seaters, even Btisfits. I guess the bad performance rumors came about because it was so ugly. I consider it like the rumors that canaries were put in the wings of longhorns and shorthorns. It the canaries escaped, that meant that a wire had come off.

The R.E.8 did suffer from poor performance, though. It was as stable as the B.E.2 in flight which, although fine in uncontested skies, was a liability in the Spring and Summer of 1917. On 13th April 1917, for example, a flight of six R.E.8's from 59 Squadron were all shot down by Jasta 11 in less than five minutes. It simply wasn't good enough for the combat conditions it faced.

 

It was also heavier than the B.E.2 and yet had the same wing area. That meant the landing and stall speeds were higher - and the R.E.8 gave almost no stall warning at all, which caught out many pilots (in fact 52 Squadron, the first to receive the R.E.8, exchanged them with 34 Squadron and reverted back to the B.E.2e in January 1917). It was also a difficult aircraft to recover from a spin. The casualty rate only improved when the British regained air superiority over the Western Front and the quality of pilot training improved. The pilots who mastered the R.E.8 all said the key was to keep the aircraft well above stalling speed.

 

 

[Pup7309]

Yes the Bristol and others had it all over the Re8, but in good hands they could make a good account of themselves in co-operation with other machines.

 

Why the Halberstadt surrendered I still haven’t googled 

[Pup7309]

Wasn’t interested in Goreing kit but because nothing else going and future uncertain and want the plastic inside (don’t care if it’s and F, Y or Z) got it.

[Kagemusha]

50 minutes ago, vince14 said:

That must have changed very recently - I ordered a kit from HLJ and it arrived in the UK within five days of shipping.

 

Apparently they're only shipping to the UK currently. 

[thierry laurent]

1 hour ago, vince14 said:

That's assuming, though, that someone is willing and able to buy the molds. Firstly, it would need PJ to liquidate the company and sell the assets off - and that might not happen, for a couple of reasons. Secondly, it's clear that WNW was not paying for itself and relied on financial input from PJ/the NZ taxpayer (depending on who you believe). Anyone who takes those molds on faces the same problems.

 

If they are indeed sold off then we might see the popular single-seaters appear again in future (Fokker D.VII, Camel, Se.5a, maybe even the Dr.I). But I doubt that the multi-seaters are likely to surface again, the costs associated with producing them would probably be prohibative.

Give me one example of molds produced during the last decades that were not used anymore at one moment or another. As far as I know, this occured commonly in the toy market but not in the model kit industry. With regard to the prohibitive cost, I do not get the point. Why is it more expensive to produce them than others? The demand is obviously lower but the production costs are noy higher. Last, keep in mind molds generally do not move because of the size and weight. They stay in the factory (in China) . So, I seriously doubt they will collect dust for many years. Any other owner will pay less than the initial investment to get them. So they will not face the same issues. 

[SimonCornes]

I'm with you on that Thierry.

 

If we had the money to get a production run - and assuming Sir P was no longer involved so it was just the liquidators you were dealing through, if not the manufacturers in China directly. Logic says you'd want to make a profit so you'd go for something popular, like the Fokker D.VII or Albatros D.V/Va and you'd have maybe 1,000 kit sets produced and you'd also choose a decal set - maybe not a Wingnut sheet -  for each and then you'd see how well they sold, maybe with a simplified instruction sheet and box? And you'd take it from there on the basis that you had to make a profit. Maybe several manufacturers would get involved? Maybe CSM, Roden ? Obviously the liquidators would know which kits sold best and which kits had sold out so there might be demand for a re-issue. Interesting speculation but I wonder what will actually happen!

[Mark_C]

"Give me one example of molds produced during the last decades that were not used anymore at one moment or another. "

 

The Classic Airframes 1/48 Gannet.  Originally sold for around $60.

 

Last checked this morning and two examples sold on eBay for $160 and and $225 (with $55 shipping!).

[SimonCornes]

3 minutes ago, Mark_C said:

"Give me one example of molds produced during the last decades that were not used anymore at one moment or another. "

 

The Classic Airframes 1/48 Gannet.  Originally sold for around $60.

 

Last checked this morning and two examples sold on eBay for $160 and and $225 (with $55 shipping!).

Re-popped by Hannants a couple of years ago and sold at around £50 apiece I think it was. I assume Hannants sold out eventually?

[thierry laurent]

AFAIK Classic airframes did not use mainstream steel molds but short run ones. So, from day one, the number of kits that could be produced was limited. This is not the case for WnW molds. 

[Pup7309]

I guess we won’t see an Albatros BII again but plenty of D7s

[Pup7309]

10 pages. No known cure for WNW threads.