IPMS NATS NEWS Eduard Leaving WWI plastic for a while
 

Hello All,

Looks like Eduard has decided to leave WWI aircraft modeling for a while & concentrate on WWII & Jet aircraft.:huh:
The explanation I heard was that: "All the major types have been produced" :blink:

RODEN I HOPE YOUR LISTENING? :unsure:


"In addition, during 2008 Eduard will release perhaps their final all-new 1/48 scale WWI kits for the time being. These three kits will be a SPAD XIII, Fokker Dr.I and a Fokker Eindekker. These kits are due around Spring/Summer 2008"

I am looking forward to the Dr.I, Spad, & E.III, But what about the DFWs, Hannovers, Halberstadts, not to mention the Re8s, & Breguets?
And the list goes on & on!
I guess the $$$$$ just isn't in WWI aircraft kits?

Ken

What about the Siemens fighters?
 

I always thought a new release of the SSW D.III or a totally new D.IV would be nice. Yes, Roden--there may be an opportunity here!

Another Dr.I?? Oh well.

Thats Crazy!:huh: There are so many planes they have not brought out. Even if they reissued some of the Flashback planes, or even a 4/8th scale DR.1. I hope Roden is paying attention. Even if they do go with WWII for a while is it going to be more Mustangs,Spits....etc?:rolleyes:

It isn't hard to figure that the return on $ invested for kits like Eduards BF11@ or Hellca&s will be far larger than say an AWFK8. That being said there are still plenty of MAJOR and minor aircraft from the great war left unkitted, or only made by limited production manufacturers. My short list for 1/48th:

Sopwith Snipe
Sopwith Dolphin
SPAD VII ( Special Hobbies Kit is a fair improvement over Blue Max but no Roden or Eduard)
All FE types
RE8
All of the 2 seaters Eduard did in their original Low Pressure Molds! My humble opinion, Eduard should not leave the market that made them who they are. The reality, they have to go where the money is!
RAGIII
P.S. Also the AWFK8

ragiii
you are right, because of lower return on investment, we will always be upstaged by ww2. but we persist!
CC

I don't usually enter into these sorts of discussions, and I know this is a ww1 forum, but there is just one thing that bugs me on here whenever this sort of discussion comes up on the boards - we all need to remember that ww1 modeling is still very much a niche market.

Out of the vast majority of modellers I have met in the last few years of competing, I have only met two or three who are even interested in ww1 aircraft let alone buy and build kits of ww1 subjects or even biplanes in general. Most modellers don't like the hassle of multi-winged wooden rigged aircraft.

Now that they are well established, of course Eduard is going to go where the money is - it's smart business - and the money sure as heck isn't with ww1 kits as much as I hate to say it. Are they going to manufacture an obscure multi-seat multi-winged multi-strutted ww1 aircraft? Are they even going to manufacture even a moderately well known ww1 type? It's highly unlikely given their current business strategy. Will they abandon ww1 for good? Probably not, it has done well for them, but would I blame them if they did? Not really.

Roden to a degree are filling the niche that Eduard has moved on from, but are taking a very different approach from the early Eduard by not including photo-etch (just look at the beautiful etched frets of an early Eduard kit), and despite their mould technology, are happy to release kits that fit together essentially like limited run kits - I think this approach will continue to be a major detractor in their kits and ultimately their sales. Lets also not forget where Roden started - it wasn't completely ww1 aircraft - Roden isn't stupid, they have seen how Eduard did it and are trying to emulate, and why not! Don't think that Roden won't move to ww2 / jet aircraft once their sales become lucrative. And this small group will begin screaming blue murder again because some random ww1 aircraft has missed the cut again.

I hold out hope as much as anyone that an Eduard quality kit of an RE8 or a Halb CLIV will be made and that I will be able to shake the box and it is built, but I also understand that it is very unlikely, and I think we all need to accept this. I for one enjoy being a modeller and not a kit-builder - we are truly at a high point in the range of kits of popular and obscure ww1 aircraft available for us to build. So c'mon guys, lets be thankful for what we have, stop complaining that your favourite ww1 aircraft isn't being kitted, and keep it real here.

Rant over and flame suit on!

BC

dear brad
thx for your comments, which are very fair. you needn't feel bugged by the attitude of the ww1 crowd. we do this as a hobby and therefore corporate criteria don't apply. we recognize this is a niche. actually your point that we are "truly at a high point in kits of popular and obscure ww1 a/c..." is a good one and a useful reminder for me to get my hands on a siemens schuckert kit before it regularly gets bid up over 100 bucks.

so, cut us ww1 underdogs a little slack if we growl, whine and sniff (as long as it's not glue).
CC

We can do something but just whine! We can buy a lot of Eduard ww1 kits and convince them, that there is some money there too. If they are not convinced at least we will have something to build in the future! :p

Roden is actually putting out ww1 two-seaters in 1/48. Let's buy a lot of their BE2c and maybe there will be others in the future. It is a cool kit anyway!

Karaya has put out a brilliant resin kit of DFW C.V. It is a resin kit of brand new standarts, a resin kit for us ww1 kit assemblers spoiled by Eduard :D
Let's buy piles of that, too, and maybe we'll get more kits of these elegant German 2 seaters!

Mikko

No Flaming from this side of the border Brad!
I have suspected for ages that Eduard were tending away from WWI Stuff. Remember years ago their promise of the definitive 1/48 SE5a? I actually emailed them a couple of years after that announcement and asked whether it WAS actually being kitted. The response was that they had actually done the masters and the molds... and then found that they had been based on eronious (spelling) drawings...
Obviously, the work put into their Brisfit, FW190, ME110, Etc. has been assumed and then proved to be better business sense than reworking the masters and molds for the 1/48 SE5a.

Now, I aint gunna criticise Eduard. Built heaps of there early stuff and loved the experience. Have heaps of their later stuff in my stash.
In fact I would never criticise any manufacturer who feeds our need for the obscure and the arcane.

My take on releases (and my wish list) is... If I really love a particular aircraft, and realy want to see it on my shelf... and if a kit of it (of even the meanest quality) is not available,... Then I'll (one day) scratch build the bugger!

I look however, with great hope towards Roden. They have already fulfilled some of my wishes and dreams with recent releases... And I know that as soon as I have the Hull of my scratch built Felixstowe F2a built, they will release a kit of one.

Cheers,

Hugh

I understand the attraction of WWII models, but if there are a hundred companies producing the usual batch of Mustangs, Spitfires, and Focke-Wulfs, why would Eduard think they'd sell more of those than something unique? I understand WWI modeling is a "niche" market, but putting out something unique has got to be more lucrative than generating something a thousand companies already have sitting on a shelf. Whenever I go to a hobby shop I am amazed at how many diffferent kits there are of the same old tired WWII iron and I can't believe those kits provide a decent return on investment for the manufacturer. Personally, I'm always on the lookout for odd and unique aircraft and quickly bypass the seemingly endless hordes of Corsairs, Bf-109's, and Zeroes.