Tamiya P-38J non-release

[Out2gtcha]

24 minutes ago, BarryWilliams said:

And yet GWH have just started producing in 1/32 scale and we have a new company Kotare Models starting this year.  ICM have been producing some really good 1/32 kits as well, YAK 9 to come.  HKM and ZM are still there… Dare I mention Revell, releasing a much needed Hurricane in man-scale. 

 

No it’s a more mixed picture than you suggest. Interest rates are still at historical low levels incidentally and we are coming out of COVID during which there was an upsurge in demand for models generally.   Plenty of new aftermarket being produced as well. 
 

No need for such despondency.  There are also many great subjects left for our scale. 

 

 

Agreed 100%. There have been a LOT of upticks in the LSP market over the past year or so with more people doing indoor things. All that is mentioned is very welcome and appears to give a good sign for the hobby when the world recovers a bit.

[IvanVasili]

35 minutes ago, BarryWilliams said:

And yet GWH have just started producing in 1/32 scale and we have a new company Kotare Models starting this year.  ICM have been producing some really good 1/32 kits as well, YAK 9 to come.  HKM and ZM are still there… Dare I mention Revell, releasing a much needed Hurricane in man-scale. 

 

No it’s a more mixed picture than you suggest. Interest rates are still at historical low levels incidentally and we are coming out of COVID during which there was an upsurge in demand for models generally.   Plenty of new aftermarket being produced as well. 
 

No need for such despondency.  There are also many great subjects left for our scale. 

No, no despondency at all. There are also many great subjects left for our scale for sure, that is totally correct. 1/32 scale will always persist and survive but I am speaking of some neglected big aircraft here, like the Mig-25 and the F-111 and so on. Not every 1/32 aircraft requires big moulds naturally, such as the Yak-9, or the SAAB J-29 or the A-37 Dragonfly and these will probably keep coming, not even every so often. The part of the 1/32 world I am not so much expecting about in the near future is the "big size aircraft in our scale".

 

The thing is, if seasoned companies like Tamiya and Hasegawa (add Trumpeter too) are showing signs of turning their faces away from 1/32 market, then other manufacturers have reason to be cautious. There is ICM and GWH and HKM and ZN, but there was WNW and KH as well.

 

[D.B. Andrus]

1 hour ago, IvanVasili said:

The thing is, if seasoned companies like Tamiya and Hasegawa (add Trumpeter too) are showing signs of turning their faces away from 1/32 market, then other manufacturers have reason to be cautious. There is ICM and GWH and HKM and ZN, but there was WNW and KH as well.

 

The opposite can be true, as well.  If the big 3, so to speak, have moved on from 1/32 the market opens up, with exceptions, for projects without as much fear of duplication of offerings from a Leviathan.

 

Who would have thought we'd have two 1/32( discounting the old Revell offering) Mosquitoes? Or two Lancasters? Certainly, both manufacturers of the Mosquito were hurt in the marketplace by the duplication of effort, being different versions notwithstanding. HKM certainly dominated with the earlier release of multiple versions of the Lancaster, yet the later WNW/Border Models kit may draw off potential buyers with their highly detailed, yet much more expensive kit. This is great for us modelers, but can be discouraging for manufacturers.

 

Given the nature of the market and the importance of secrecy in choices of what to produce there will always be this "problem". Perhaps less, though, now that others are taking advantage of the absence(?) of T/H/T. Unfortunately, even the smaller manufacturers are not immune to this, i.e. the ICM and Roden Stearman kits. Both are excellent, but the market is once again split.

 

One aspect that could help alleviate this "problem" is to issue an announcement to produce a kit, say a P-51B/C, as a placeholder and actually produce the kit in a timely manner. The down side of this approach is not actually producing, but using the placeholder as a way to keep others away from exploring the possibilities of offering a kit themselves. Just how long has it been since Trumpter promised the TBD Devastator?

 

End of ramble.

 

Cheers,

Damian

[IvanVasili]

I hope those of you seeing a bright future in the 1/32 realm are all right. That only makes me happy as a modeller of this scale, I have not touched another scale in the last 20 years and I have either built or stashed almost any kit that has been released in the last 30 years. 

 

I see the point here, partly agree with them. On the other hand, I have some access to market sales figures worldwide via a close friend working at Zvezda and I have reasons to think otherwise. I cannot share the information here because it is sort of commercially confidential, but the cost of creating 1:32 kits is not decreasing contrary to general belief and the market is getting narrower. New generation youth is rather digitalized and prefers to do thing on screens instead of getting their hands dirty. The average large scalers are 45+ years old, with a reasonable income to spend money on the kits they were possibly unable to buy when they were young modellers, but their number is stable if not declining. 

 

Just don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that large scale is dead. On the contrary, it will live as long as modelling lives and hopefully in better days.

[Grizly]

While all this banter about the future of 1/32 scale and what others have on their wish list is interesting, the original suggestion that we indicate our support for a 1/32 Tamiya P-38 should be the focus here. Anything else should be addressed in another forum. Like I've said, put me down for a Tamiya 1/32 P-38J or L as a companion for my Tamiya Mosquito.

[Chek]

As Revell established back in the '60s, the 'natural' companion to the Mosquito is the Beaufighter.

[MikeMaben]

1 hour ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

If you're waiting for Tamiya to do a (insert name of your favorite 1/32 wish list kit here), you're probably going to be long dead by the time it comes out.

 

                 Eeny beeny chili beeny ...

 

[Brock]

On 2/5/2022 at 8:45 AM, IvanVasili said:

1/32 future market for injection moulded kits is not promising for inverstors. That was different about 10 years ago, where capital for investment was abundant with very low (or even zero) interest rates. That was when companies like Trumpeter thrived with lots of investment and new models. But things have changed now, not only in terms of capital but also the pandemic had a major affect on the business everywhere... taxes, high freight cost... all leading to very long return of investment. This hits the weakest chain first in our modelling world: 1/32 scale.

All very popular kits are already made. Less popular ones seem not possible, at least for some time.

Yes I agree. I was one to think of investing in manufacturing of large scale plastic art kits and a sub division of 3-d and resin and photo etch aftermarket in the USA but must wait until leadership changes. upon the questions of why not 1/32 scale offer and hear of all pro's and con's why Tamiya offerings only in a small scale I had questioned there only 1/48 scale of the airfield japanese bulldozer which would have been a hit in the 1/35  and or 1/32 scale for dioramas but chose only to keep it only in the in 1/48, I was disappointed why not they didn't make in larger scale was it the cost and or power control of i didn't get it. 

    I'm keeping my eyes on things to change here in the USA and then people will invest as we did and where the best producers and still are but not in this political climate which hinders this form of entrainment hobby which is a multi million dollar business affair that gets it demands from those with pocket books the customers always listen to those who have monies.

[Tony T]

On 2/5/2022 at 5:25 PM, D.B. Andrus said:

 

One aspect that could help alleviate this "problem" is to issue an announcement to produce a kit.... ...as a placeholder and actually produce the kit in a timely manner. The down side of this approach is not actually producing, but using the placeholder as a way to keep others away from exploring the possibilities of offering a kit themselves...

 

End of ramble, Cheers, Damian

 

I wish a couple of place-holders would formally retract, namely HKM and the Spey Toom (and Zacto and his OOP Flanker B and LTV A-7 canopy sets), so we can get a conversion set from somebody who wants to make them. 

 

On 2/6/2022 at 12:19 AM, Chek said:

As Revell established back in the '60s, the 'natural' companion to the Mosquito is the Beaufighter.

 

We need to look at Infinity, not endless time but the plastic kit wing of HpH. But mine's a VI.f, not a TFX. 

 

On 2/6/2022 at 12:25 AM, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Yeah.  But what does Revell in the 1960s have to do with Tamiya in the 2020s?

 

Those Revell aircraft kits came out in the early 1970s long before Tamiya did anything in 1/32nd scale, Tamiya having already gone down the battery powered tank route which led to the creation of 1/35 scale, which is why, now, sixty years later, ICM are doing an underscale Tahre. So it comes as no surprise to me if Tamiya abandon 1/32 new tools altogether. 

I actually seriously wonder how long it will take Tamiya to do a 1/35 scale Bf 109 G, to get modellers of creepy crawly things more interested in planes. It's already beginning to happen with that Nazi icon the Stuka, and it's likely to grow bigger. But hell, yeah, I'd buy a 1/35 Tamiya Tomcat. 

 

Tony

[Dave Williams]

I seriously doubt the fact that HKM announced a Spey Tomb many, many years ago is stopping anyone else who wants to from making one.  Same with the Zactomodels canopies.  No one has to formally retract anything.

[Tony T]

10 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

I seriously doubt the fact that HKM announced a Spey Tomb many, many years ago is stopping anyone else who wants to from making one.  Same with the Zactomodels canopies.  No one has to formally retract anything.

 

The AM people tend to behave like gentlemen and sidestep projects others have invested in, or avoid subjects big manufacturers are place-holding. I very seriously believe the HKM Toom has created a wait-and-see approach with regards an affordable conversion set. Removing the Spey Phantom picture from HKM's facebook page would be a sufficient declaration — such things can be tacit and do not necessitate a fanfare of trumpets or bells supported by the town crier! Anyway I hope Aerocraft bite further and reap the rewards. 

 

I've bought a lot of Chris Wilson's Zacto gear and am fortunate in having two Unsquash Your SLUF sets, but would love resin replacement canopies. I missed out on the Flanker canopy set but suspect interest is insufficient in Idaho to team up with a clear resin caster or vacuform specialist. One can rest on one's laurels a little too long sometimes. 

 

Tony

[Pup7309]

10 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Based on what evidence?  I know for a fact that there are several very exciting, and as-yet unannounced 1/32 projects underway by several kit manufacturers.

Oh do tell Jennings 

[IvanVasili]

21 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Based on what evidence?  I know for a fact that there are several very exciting, and as-yet unannounced 1/32 projects underway by several kit manufacturers.

As I've said, I have had access to market sales figures worldwide via a close friend working at Zvezda. These are reliable, real numbers given by professional consultants... solid evidence enough that future 1/32 market is not on the rise. Which explains why major manufacturers think more than twice nowadays before investing in new projects and are not rushing to announce their projects underway, whatever they are.

 

Designing a kit on computer screen is rather cheap, less than counting for 10% of the kit's cost. Companies may even wish to keep their design teams engaged and maybe seriously consider to release the kit if they think it is the right time. But things are different when it comes to cutting the steel... especially for large size projects.

 

I'm not saying that there will be no more 1/32 kits per se, that would be ridiculous of course. There will be new announcements every now and then but we'll continue to make long wishlists, at least for some years to come.

[MikeMaben]

On 2/8/2022 at 1:51 AM, Pup7309 said:

Oh do tell Jennings 

 

Eeny beeny chili beeny ... the spirits are about to speak !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by MikeMaben