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Kitty Hawk models is going out of business


Dave Roof

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Love or hate them, they make subjects that no one else was ever going to do it seems. They also IMHO, were getting much better in regards to fit and finish with their later releases.

They still had plenty of R&D, QC and other issues, but to me they had quite a few kits that I would definitely build again.

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1 hour ago, Out2gtcha said:

Love or hate them, they make subjects that no one else was ever going to do it seems. They also IMHO, were getting much better in regards to fit and finish with their later releases.

They still had plenty of R&D, QC and other issues, but to me they had quite a few kits that I would definitely build again.

As a member of the R&D team under Floyd, we (former crew chiefs/pilots) made EVERY effort to make the H-60 as accurate as possible. Hours were poured into our research and proofing of the CAD's before they got it right.

In the end, KH still ignored some of what we told them to change. 

I personally hope that these molds are picked up by someone and rereleased. 

Speaking for myself, I invested alot of time helping R&Ding hopefully not for naught. The H-60 kits were accurate.

If the molds aren't picked up, then we as a modeling community have to revert back to building the crappy Academy H-60 kits.

 

Tim

Edited by Hawkwrench
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I'm sorry to hear it. I haven't built one yet, but I have 5 in the stash, and I just ordered another Black Hawk and a Bronco. I already have one Black Hawk, two Little Birds, a P-39Q and an F-5E. I've seen some great builds from Kitty Hawk kits on here and elsewhere. Hopefully the molds will live on and the kits will still be available in the future.

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2 hours ago, Hawkwrench said:

As a member of the R&D team under Floyd, we (former crew chiefs/pilots) made EVERY effort to make the H-60 as accurate as possible. Hours were poured into our research and proofing of the CAD's before they got it right.

In the end, KH still ignored some of what we told them to change. 

I personally hope that these molds are picked up by someone and rereleased. 

Speaking for myself, I invested alot of time helping R&Ding hopefully not for naught. The H-60 kits were accurate.

If the molds aren't picked up, then we as a modeling community have to revert back to building the crappy Academy H-60 kits.

 

Tim


I am curious how well the H-60 kits sold, especially the naval versions, although the first kits (Seahawk/Oceanhawk) only came out less than a year ago in the midst of the pandemic, so it’s probably not a fair metric.  Still, I wonder if the kits would have been popular enough to support 5 naval versions in the long run.  Most of the chatter about the naval versions was which one can I use to make a USCG Jayhawk, and not that much about the versions in the box.

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I really enjoyed the Mirage 2000C, and like how it’s turned out for me. Maybe not hugely accurate, a head scratcher at times with its instructions, but looks mighty fine among the rest of my build collection. 
I’ve got a Blackhawk, with a bunch of Live Resin figures, and some Reskit rotor mechanicals sat at the back of my stash. Looking forward to getting into it. Sad to see any manufacturer disappear. Now I’m off to try and find me an F-5 to put in the pile. 

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20 hours ago, quang said:

Those who couldn’t build their kits called them crap.

Their RF-101 Voodoo was one of my most enjoyable builds. Goodbye  Kitty Hawk. You will be sorely missed.

IIRC there was a large bru-ha ha here about the rough build ability of these kits on this site.  The Kingfisher kit was at the center of the controversy. It was hard to build for some people.   Fur was flying.  People left this site for this and other head scratcher reasons (I do not understand).  I will miss this company even after cursing their Kingfisher kit.  Most “crappy” kits can be built. They take more time and are more challenging. 

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2 hours ago, Dave Williams said:


I am curious how well the H-60 kits sold, especially the naval versions, although the first kits (Seahawk/Oceanhawk) only came out less than a year ago in the midst of the pandemic, so it’s probably not a fair metric.  Still, I wonder if the kits would have been popular enough to support 5 naval versions in the long run.  Most of the chatter about the naval versions was which one can I use to make a USCG Jayhawk, and not that much about the versions in the box.

I don't know how well they sold either and frankly, I was kinda surprised that they released that many Navy birds back to back. 

I thought maybe they would mix it up, but it wasn't the case.

At least our team got a free model of every H-60 for helping out before they decided to pull the plug.

I've got every Navy helo laying beside me in a box. Can you say collectable stash???

 

Tim

Edited by Hawkwrench
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Just hit Sprue Brothers to purchase an MH-60S.   Plan on building it into an OIF UH-60L.   Bummed that I had to spend that much money on a kit that I won’t build for a long time but once it’s OOS, I’ll be paying twice as much on Ebay

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this is kinda sad, really like their approach to making kits that we really wanted. The F-101 to replace the revell kit the cougar the f-35 ,T-28. 

My biggest deception was when the decided to make their Huey 1/48, in 1/35 that would have sold like hotcakes! 

 

Just looked at luckymodels they have only 2 kits listed left, all others are gone. i know they had the new blackhawks not too long ago

 

Time to get stocked up 

  • 1/48 F-101B
  • 1/32 Saber dog
  • 1/32 Bronco
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This must be gut-wrenching for the people involved with Kitty Hawk and I feel for them.

 

I always assumed there were enough modellers in the world who could manage to build great models from their kits (I am not one of those) but apparently not. A real shame as I think their helicopter kits look fantastic.

 

Sad news, I wish them well for the future.

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