Wingnut Wings Demise

[Gigant]

Sorry about being away for so long.

Honestly, with the COVID-19 compounding our personal health issues, as well as our family's basic supply problems, I have been very busy with domestic needs/decisions, etc., with little or no time for scale modeling.

But, having been introduced to scale modeling over 60 years, ago, I have seen a thing or two come and go. 

 

I remember when back in the '60's Adams, an excellent mold maker, fell out with Revell and decided to take the molds made for them, and market several top-quality scale U.S. armor kits under their own name.

Now that WnW has gone "ker-plunk", their Chinese mold-maker source has put out what was to be an excellent Fokker Triplane kit in 1/32, if not under their own label like Adams, someone they are already adjusted to dealing with in their own country.

Frankly, having built many of the kits in either 1/48th or a larger scale, I viewed WnW, being dedicated to a single large, and sometimes cumbersome scale ("Honey, where can I put my finished Gotha G IV?"), as a higher-priced anomaly.

 

Being an old Fokker Triplane fan, I decided to go ahead and buy the Meng Fokker Triplane, (along with a Special Hobby Nieuport 11) and I like it! 

 

I am aware of the spell that WnW cast on the large scale modelling community, but I still had trouble getting past the price tag. Now I understand, that unlike many others, when you bought a WnW kit, you had a very kit-builder friendly company behind the contents of the box.

 

So I took it, that the high price kept the people employed who would generously send me spare decal sheets, etc. The extra price meant excellent customer service!

But now that all you get is the kit as-is in the box, with no potential for replacement of messed-up decals or lost parts, it is interesting how individual kit hoarders are trying to gouge the unsuspecting on both ebay and Amazon. I see kits that have been opened being sold at new list prices, unopened kits being sold at prices inflated from their original MSRP list prices, all being sold from home-grown "cottage industry" sellers. Meanwhile they are failing to mention that there is not any sort of manufacturer "safety net", and when "push-comes to shove", will the individuals operating out of their houses selling through these virtual market places be willing to sacrifice a complete kit to resolve any customer service issues?

From my experience in buying stuff through these medias, I seriously doubt it.

 

This is like buying a Westinghouse washing machine kept in storage at its' MSRP, as though the company even existed anymore.

 

When you consider the exhaustive "witch-hunt" required for getting any basic customer service for OOP kits, like broken or lost parts or factory decals for these as they need replacement; to even pay half of the former list price barely makes sense.

 

With any luck, perhaps Meng, or better still, some European kit maker like Roden or Eduard will pick up the molds and re-issue them for us, adding a nice 1/32 scale line to their others.

 

Now I gotta decide whether to do the triplane or the Special Hobby Nieuport 11 first.

Edited August 26, 2020 by Gigant
Clarification

[LSP_Mike]

In my experience, the WNW customer/ modeler base has been the best source of parts and decals.

[MikeMaben]

Hey welcome back Tom  Good to see you're still kickin'.

What to build ?  Flip a coin !

[vince14]

7 hours ago, Gigant said:

Meanwhile they are failing to mention that there is not any sort of manufacturer "safety net", and when "push-comes to shove", will the individuals operating out of their houses selling through these virtual market places be willing to sacrifice a complete kit to resolve any customer service issues?

From my experience in buying stuff through these medias, I seriously doubt it.

I don't get it. Are you suggesting that someone with a highly valuable model kit in their stash, which they've already paid for, should sacrifice it because some other random modeller has cocked theirs up? Unless you're asking for spare parts/decals which they don't need for the version they're building, why on earth would anyone do that?   

[Pup7309]

Hi

Interesting thoughts. 
I think it’s very uncertain if another company will re-issue these kits hence the speculation. Some people are making a quick buck others have to sell during these times. Maybe they’re selling high and buying high, who knows. But these kits were always relatively expensive now they are in Tulip fever territory. You may see their likes again...or not. 
 

Enjoy whichever kit you start. The CSM Nieuport is very nice too.
 

[lawman56]

4 hours ago, vince14 said:

I don't get it. Are you suggesting that someone with a highly valuable model kit in their stash, which they've already paid for, should sacrifice it because some other random modeller has cocked theirs up? Unless you're asking for spare parts/decals which they don't need for the version they're building, why on earth would anyone do that?   

I gathered what he was saying, in regards to individual sellers online, is "caveat emptor". Buyer beware. I've seen similar things happen, (and currently are happening), in the model railroad community. When a company folds for whatever reason, the opportunists will sell what they have at inflated prices, "as is/no return" hoping for quick cash. The lack of a company behind those sales, is lack of any customer support. Of course this sort of situation happens all over online auction sites, not just to models. 

 

I took it as more of a "been there, done that" sort of post. 

 

That being said, one thing I've noticed and loved about my years on this site especially, is the willingness to help each other. Many times I've seen someone request for info on a missing item, just to have another member jump in willing to send an extra, or a kit part they hadn't used for whatever reason. 

 

Personally, I do have a WnW Albatross that I need to repair a strut I broke and am hoping to pick up a few more similar kits, but will be patient enough to wait and see. 

 

A good example of a similar situation on the model railroad side, is the current situation with MTH shutting down. 

 

 

 

 

[vince14]

Ah, that makes more sense!

[LSP_K2]

We've probably all been there. I recall that years ago I sold off a completely intact 1:32 Fw 190D-9 kit to a guy on feebay. He soon reported that it was "missing" several pieces, and asked that I make good on it. Despite my own stated policy of no returns unless item is not as described (which was perhaps poor phrasing), feebay made me refund him 100% + shipping. I received back a partial kit that was then utterly worthless to me or anyone else.

 

There's really no reason to expect parts and/or service from the individual seller. Assuming feebay policies still heavily favor the buyer, sellers are usually the ones left hanging in the wind, not the other way around.

[STWilliams]

When I sell kits on EBay, I photograph every individual sprue, the decals sheet, PE & the instruction manual front. I know some people try it on, but I have previously told them to go ahead & complain to EBay, and that I would send them photos of the contents as it was when it left my house. That shuts them up & they suddenly find the "missing" parts.

It's absolutely correct that EBay is biased towards the customer, that's one of the reasons I like using it to buy modelling supplies. BUT, as a seller, it's easy to get burned by unscrupulous, deceptive buyers, who say they never received a kit, or it had bits missing, or was damaged. Hence the photos & every single item being sent recorded delivery. Since doing that, I've never had an issue. 

[scvrobeson]

I did have issues with buying a kit off eBay once, it was advertised as new, but it came to me missing the clear sprue and the cockpit and engine had already been sloppily glued together.  The seller was super apologetic and gracious, he had bought the kit from a consignment sale being told everything was unstarted.

 

 

 

Matt