New Kotare kit for late 2024 announced

[Archimedes]

4 hours ago, Iain said:

Kotare have said that they've now sold out of all of their 'Mk.1a (mid)' Spitfire boxing - obviously there are still stocks flowing out through the supply chain - but this is good news and bodes well for them IMHO.

 

Iain

Good for them.  It is always good to see a kit run sell-out when the kits are this good! From what I have read of the Kotare management's statements online, they may be heading toward what Hasegawa does very well: Letting a run of a particular kit sell-out and then, at a later date do another run but with different markings rather than a reprise of the original kit. 

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[Dennis7423]

5 minutes ago, Archimedes said:

From what I have read of the Kotare management's statements online, they may be heading toward what Hasegawa does very well: Letting a run of a particular kit sell-out and then, at a later date do another run but with different markings rather than a reprise of the original kit. 

 

If someone could convince Hasegawa to do that again with their P-40N, that would be great :-p

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[Archimedes]

8 minutes ago, Dennis7423 said:

 

If someone could convince Hasegawa to do that again with their P-40N, that would be great :-p

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

@Dennis7423 I know a guy with 5 Warhawks stashed who is looking to move a couple on..... @Martinnfb

[Archimedes]

Just staying with any evidence of what Kotare will do that is ‘not a Spitfire’ I also noticed on Darryl Legg’s website this sketch of  a 56 Squadron Hurricane Mk1 flown by Edward Gracie. I can’t tell if this is old or new but it may be a pointer:

Mr Legg appears to have paid a fair amount of attention to early war Hurricanes…

 

That said, taking an entirely non-scientific look at rough numbers of Hurricanes built on this site, I don’t think a Hurricane would outsell a P51 (of any variety). A reason: because the simple truth is the American market for most goods and services is ten times the size of the British one. Whilst many ‘ooh and ahh’ over Spitfires in many places around the world, far fewer do so over a Hurricane.  Another reason may be because I don’t believe any manufacturer has yet produced an easy to build, accurate and definitive Hurricane Mk1 kit.

 

Well, be that as it may or not, in the interests of variety I mocked up a P-51D (sorry John1 that it was not a P-51K) 

 

It struck me how much Kotare’s ‘house’ artist’s style has become more controlled as time has gone on: there are a couple of his paintings like the Mustang below or his Bf109E4 where you can see and feel the energy bursting out of the canvas. Now he appears to be leaning more toward a more delicate style similar to Shigeo Koike’s (and that is meant as a compliment). 

 

Some may ask why bother doing this? Well, in the words of Giacomo Agostini when he was asked why he pulled a wheelie on his MV near Quarterbridge at the TT, ‘…because I like to’ 

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[mozart]

Good for you Paul, especially for highlighting Darryl Legg's artwork, the 56 Squadron Hurricane is an absolute peach and very reminiscent of some of Frank Wootton's work.  I really must branch out from landscapes into aviation art!

[Archimedes]

26 minutes ago, mozart said:

Good for you Paul, especially for highlighting Darryl Legg's artwork, the 56 Squadron Hurricane is an absolute peach and very reminiscent of some of Frank Wootton's work.  I really must branch out from landscapes into aviation art!

It’s just some fun while we wait for Kotare. Agreed on the 56 Squadron Hurricane.

 

And, on a related note: I’d love to see your work Max! 

[Pup7309]

No reason to think they won’t do a Hurricane, Mustang III, b, c and d and even a K! Or early 109 or p40e-n. Ki -? Anyone?

Kotare would know if it viable to release these considering any competition already out there. Unlike the Spitfire which was a great starting kit for them. 

A lot of aviation art is computer and maybe even AI based now, so it’s good to see fine artists getting commissions 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Pup7309

[Dpgsbody55]

I seem to recall, way back in the mists of time ( IE; the beginning of this subject ), that Kotare were likely to do five money earners for one left field type.  That could mean anything. 

 

If it were a P-51D (or K), I would not be buying.  I have a D model in the stash and it's not high on my list of priorities.  If it were a P-51B or C, I would be buying.  A late model 109?  Z-M have that covered and I'm building one at the moment.  Ditto an early 190A.  If it were a B to E model 109 or D model 190, I'm suddenly paying attention.  If it were a P-40E to N; likewise.  Ditto a Hurricane or Tempest.  Did an A6M Zero recently.

 

So that list contains not a lot at all.  I'd be very surprised if Kotare never did a P-40E to N or F4U Corsair as the RNZAF operated heaps of these.  I'm interested.  I'm aware that they also operated P-51D's, but please see paragraph two.

 

One thing is for sure.  I ain't a betting man here as I wouldn't have a clue what the next release is likely to be.  Hope the box art is good though.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

PS.  Only posting this to try and get the subject up to twenty pages before it's a month old. 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Dpgsbody55

[MikeC]

1 hour ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

If it were a P-51D (or K), I would not be buying.

I doubt it when Tamiya kits still seem reasonably obtainable, and Revell have one out too.

 

1 hour ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

If it were a P-51B or C, I would be buying.  [...]  If it were a P-40E to N; likewise. 

Now you're talking, although personally I'd expand the P-40 to "any variant" and add in the P-36 as well.

[thierry laurent]

Actually a lot of best selling single seat fighters are only covered by so-so kits, resin models or conversions. Just to name a few:

SPAD

Early Albatros

He-51

Hs-123

Early 109

Early 190

Early Stuka

Hawker biplanes 

Typhoon

Early Hurricane 

Beaufighter

P-38

Early P-51

Wildcat

Hellcat

Late Corsair 

Hayabusa

Hawker Fury RN

 

And I did not even consider jets for which the situation is far worse and you still have many reasonably early cold war small topics: e.g. Sabre or early MiG families.

 

Accordingly it is quite easy for them to select mainstream topics without being in competition with existing premium models. Without even considering more exotic or forgotten topics (e.g La-5/7, Twin Mustang, Firefly, Fulmar or Defiant fighters), the list here above could keep them busy for at least the next 20 years! So, no worries! Obviously some other actors such as ICM or GWH will surely not stay inactive in the meanwhile but the amount of possibilities is still quite large...

 

[mozart]

That’s a useful list Thierry providing much room for thought. I doubt the first two would be in contention but mention of the Hawker biplanes in the list immediately makes my pulse quicken! 

[thierry laurent]

2 minutes ago, mozart said:

That’s a useful list Thierry providing much room for thought. I doubt the first two would be in contention but mention of the Hawker biplanes in the list immediately makes my pulse quicken! 

Well as far as I know they never excluded releasing WW1 or thirties planes, so who knows...

[Jaro]

44 minutes ago, thierry laurent said:

Actually a lot of best selling single seat fighters are only covered by so-so kits, resin models or conversions. Just to name a few:

SPAD

Early Albatros

He-51

Hs-123

...

 

As far as I know ICM has already announced Hs-123 in our scale. I think He-51 suits well in their portfolio as well. Maybe one day...

[Pup7309]

52 minutes ago, thierry laurent said:

Well as far as I know they never excluded releasing WW1 or thirties planes, so who knows...

100% agree with your list except you forgot a Lysander   I absolutely agree a new SPAD and early Albatros would be a bit hit amongst WW1 and maybe other modellers (Albie does have an exposed engine but really engines aren’t that hard). ICM might have some of the ‘tweens’ covered, but yeh Kotare could kill a Hawker Biplane or Cr32

Edited November 18, 2023 by Pup7309

[CRAZY IVAN5]

1 hour ago, thierry laurent said:

Actually a lot of best selling single seat fighters are only covered by so-so kits, resin models or conversions. Just to name a few:

SPAD

Early Albatros

He-51

Hs-123

Early 109

Early 190

Early Stuka

Hawker biplanes 

Typhoon

Early Hurricane 

Beaufighter

P-38

Early P-51

Wildcat

Hellcat

Late Corsair 

Hayabusa

Hawker Fury RN

 

And I did not even consider jets for which the situation is far worse and you still have many reasonably early cold war small topics: e.g. Sabre or early MiG families.

 

Accordingly it is quite easy for them to select mainstream topics without being in competition with existing premium models. Without even considering more exotic or forgotten topics (e.g La-5/7, Twin Mustang, Firefly, Fulmar or Defiant fighters), the list here above could keep them busy for at least the next 20 years! So, no worries! Obviously some other actors such as ICM or GWH will surely not stay inactive in the meanwhile but the amount of possibilities is still quite large...

 

I agree with your list for the most part. Do you consider the -109E early? The Cyberhobby /Dragon -109E is very nice. If I were a betting man I'd be putting my money on a Hurricane [early]. Just a gut feeling I have though a Lysander would have me doing cartwheels around the block [I need another kit like a hole in the head]