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Don't Look now.... a new 1/24 scale Fokker Dr.I


Gazzas

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I think 1/24 is very smart for WWI kits I have always thought that was the perfect scale since the aircraft are small.  I will buy one of these in a heartbeat.  The Meng kit itself is much more detailed than the Merit offering which I have and the Meng kit comes with a very nice Oberursel engine and very detailed interior.  Not a Clerget engine like the Merit kit offers which makes no sense......

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2 hours ago, Tissue and Dope said:

Hopefully they will have improved the Q.C. issues that plagued their 1/32 version.

 

Given they have done nothing whatsoever regarding the well publicised issues with their 1/32 kit, I don't have much faith TBH and I would never buy another new Meng release kit again unless I looked in the box first. This Dr1 saga has done their reputation no good whatsoever as it was clearly avoidable given the high standard of their AFV kits; so they can't even claim the defence that it was their first ever foray into and experience with IM.

 

Gary

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25 minutes ago, Derek B said:

 

Sensible scale for models of this size.

 

Derek

Agreed on both . 

 

It's a smart marketing move in my opinion  .....gap in the WW1 market and the 1/24 scale , fill both with a bunch of new kits before the others cotton on . Be really interested to see what they price it at , tell us who they think they are competing against, Airfix or Trumpeter ?  Similar path to Border pushing into the "wrong thirty" scale aircraft market .  Interesting times for the LSP world . 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Gary Needham said:

 

Given they have done nothing whatsoever regarding the well publicised issues with their 1/32 kit, I don't have much faith TBH and I would never buy another new Meng release kit again unless I looked in the box first. This Dr1 saga has done their reputation no good whatsoever as it was clearly avoidable given the high standard of their AFV kits; so they can't even claim the defence that it was their first ever foray into and experience with IM.

 

 

Am I missing some other issue (s) besides the ones in my kit, which are a mildly warped upper wing (fixed in about 10 min with hot water) and a single broken cockpit combing transition piece?

 

To me personally those are not only not reasons to "never buy another new Meng release again" but not even really that big of a deal overall.  Am I missing something?

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WW I aircraft certainly do have a charm all of their own, and WnW has definitely done its fair share (among other short run manufacturers) to bring the era into popularity once more. However, only certain types hold any interest for me, and the single exception to all of the popular versions offered (like the Dr.I/F.I), and the aircraft I like most, is the Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - I would love one of these in 1/24 scale, however, this is almost certainly never going to happen, so I guess that I will have to scratch build one! :)

 

Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard

 

Derek

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2 minutes ago, Derek B said:

WW I aircraft certainly do have a charm all of their own, and WnW has definitely done its fair share (among other short run manufacturers) to bring the era into popularity once more. However, only certain types hold any interest for me, and the single exception to all of the popular versions offered (like the Dr.I/F.I), and the aircraft I like most, is the Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - I would love one of these in 1/24 scale, however, this is almost certainly never going to happen, so I guess that I will have to scratch build one! :)

 

Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard

 

Derek

Sorry but to me that's kinda fugly . ......although compared to all of Blackburns output in the piston aviation world... postively handsome ... I mean, as below , when they wheeled it out for first flight did they not think something looked wrong :rofl:

 

Blackburn-Blackburn-II-in-Flight.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, Panzerwomble said:

Sorry but to me that's kinda fugly . ......although compared to all of Blackburns output in the piston aviation world... postively handsome ... I mean, as below , when they wheeled it out for first flight did they not think something looked wrong :rofl:

 

Blackburn-Blackburn-II-in-Flight.jpg

 

 

:wub: :wub: :wub:

 

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2 hours ago, Panzerwomble said:

Sorry but to me that's kinda fugly . ......although compared to all of Blackburns output in the piston aviation world... postively handsome ... I mean, as below , when they wheeled it out for first flight did they not think something looked wrong :rofl:

 

Blackburn-Blackburn-II-in-Flight.jpg

 

 

I know what you mean PW - this is one of those wonderful between wars Naval types, which of course, for want of a better word, had a unique 'style' all of their own! (BTW, I work at the aircraft factory that was Blackburn Aircraft).

The Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard was just too late to see action during WW I, but it had outstanding performance and may have made a decisive difference had it entered service in time (sort of a single-seat Brisfit on steroids! lol :) ).

 

Derek

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2 hours ago, Panzerwomble said:

 Be really interested to see what they price it at , tell us who they think they are competing against, 

 

 

I hope that they will release it at a sensible price both for the sake of my own bank balance and their level of sales.

 

Meng have just released their 1/12 scale Ford GT40 Mk Ii and it’s priced at about £260 here in the UK.

The 1/12 Trumpeter version can still be had for about £120 and the Magnifier version which is a rebox of the Trumpet kit but without any Ford branding, sells for a little over £60.

At this early stage there doesn’t appear to be too much difference between the Meng and the Magnifier,

so how many people are going to opt for the Meng at a price that doesn’t appear to justify the huge difference in cost?
 

iirc I paid about £65 for my Merit Fokker; I will want a newer ‘better’ version but at what cost?

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3 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

 

 

Am I missing some other issue (s) besides the ones in my kit, which are a mildly warped upper wing (fixed in about 10 min with hot water) and a single broken cockpit combing transition piece?

 

To me personally those are not only not reasons to "never buy another new Meng release again" but not even really that big of a deal overall.  Am I missing something?

 

1. I (thought) I had straightened the wings using a steel rule and plastic bands and very hot water and they were dead straight after the process. Since then, the top wing has 'popped' twice where the middle and upper strut fit and seems to have a memory of returning to the warp position. A 'replacement' wing from Meng was even worst and discarded. It has been re-glued since but already looks like it is still straining against staying straight. I have little faith of long term structural integrity of the wing but if you have been lucky then that's a result for you. This shouldn't be necessary straightening major kit parts for a £70 .00 ($95) kit ...but hey-ho!

 

2. I said I wouldn't buy another new release kit of their without looking in the box first not 'never again'.

 

Ultimately, if people are happy to put up with poor QC on such a high-priced kit then that is for the individual to determine and where is the incentive for Meng to rectify the issue which seems totally avoidable if they just stopped ripping the sprues out of the mould whilst they are still too hot. The other 2 Dr1's I bought I have offloaded both on eBay at a loss rather than repeat the exercise.

 

A shame as I had such high hopes for this kit and wings aside, the rest of it is fine.

 

 

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31 minutes ago, Tissue and Dope said:

I hope that they will release it at a sensible price both for the sake of my own bank balance and their level of sales.

 

Meng have just released their 1/12 scale Ford GT40 Mk Ii and it’s priced at about £260 here in the UK.

The 1/12 Trumpeter version can still be had for about £120 and the Magnifier version which is a rebox of the Trumpet kit but without any Ford branding, sells for a little over £60.

At this early stage there doesn’t appear to be too much difference between the Meng and the Magnifier,

so how many people are going to opt for the Meng at a price that doesn’t appear to justify the huge difference in cost?
 

iirc I paid about £65 for my Merit Fokker; I will want a newer ‘better’ version but at what cost?

 

I know them more from armour antics. Pricewise it seems to me the importers tend to try to pitch them against Dragon prices when first launched , so Tamiya price + 20/30% however they seem to fall back to Tamiya / Revell/ Italeri  prices shortly thereafter . Their King Tigers came out around £50 but I've picked them up for a low as £30 . That said though every month somebody seems to launch a new 1/35 King Tiger because , well... we can never have too many repeats of the same subject :mental:. My gut feel is these will be moderately priced , below Airfix and Tamiya if they are smart. 

 

@Gary Needham

 

You must have bought this early on  as they are around £32 on ebay now for the basic DR1 . As a WNW kit it was touted for 3 times that amount I beleive . 

I take it you are aware it is second hand tooling designed for "some one else's" injection set up with all the problems that can bring. No garuntees as to how it was treated , tested  maintained or handed over .

Oh and why not post some pics of your DR1 ?

 

 

 

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