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1/144 - Lockheed C-5B & M (Super) Galaxy by Roden - C-5B & C-5M released - upgrade sets by Metallic Details


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2 hours ago, SeaVenom said:

How big will the wingspan be on this?

Wingspan 47 cm, length 52 cm. Roughly comparable to a 747-400 in size.

 

Allan

Edited by Albeback52
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So happy to see this beast released, I'll certainly get 2 of each versions, I have a soft spot for any large (in 1/144 scale) planes.

 

Not that much shocked about the absence of cargo bay, I much more expect accurate landing gears and engines (these two from Otaki were jokes). Their recent VC-10 left me with such a good feeling, I hope they will have used the same almost-A-Team when developing this monster.

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35 minutes ago, UpperDeck said:

So happy to see this beast released, I'll certainly get 2 of each versions, I have a soft spot for any large (in 1/144 scale) planes.

monster.

 

You better speak to the bank manager and remortgage your home first.

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2 hours ago, snapper_city said:

 

You better speak to the bank manager and remortgage your home first.

lol, I will let people with 50'000£ leased cars, 200'000£ house credit and 2'000£+ cigarette yearly allowance speak with the bank manager.

 

I have none of these, which explains I'm open to spending the more or less 100£ price tag asked for this kit. I will probably spare a little by ordering direct from Russia or Ukraine.

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13 hours ago, UpperDeck said:

lol, I will let people with 50'000£ leased cars, 200'000£ house credit and 2'000£+ cigarette yearly allowance speak with the bank manager.

 

I have none of these, which explains I'm open to spending the more or less 100£ price tag asked for this kit. I will probably spare a little by ordering direct from Russia or Ukraine.

Or, you could wait a few months until retailers desperate to offload their expensive and non moving dust gatherers knock 50% off the price just to get rid of them!!:lol:

 

Allan

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44 minutes ago, Albeback52 said:

Or, you could wait a few months until retailers desperate to offload their expensive and non moving dust gatherers knock 50% off the price just to get rid of them!!:lol:

 

Allan

 

I can't see a lot of that happening. I doubt many places will even bother stocking them or at a decent volume.

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5 hours ago, snapper_city said:

 

I can't see a lot of that happening. I doubt many places will even bother stocking them or at a decent volume.

:lol:You're probably right at that! Much as I would love this kit, it won't be appearing in a stash near me!:nah:. Full marks to Roden on choice of subject but, I think they are going to get burned on this one. 

 

Allan

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11 minutes ago, Albeback52 said:

:lol:You're probably right at that! Much as I would love this kit, it won't be appearing in a stash near me!:nah:. Full marks to Roden on choice of subject but, I think they are going to get burned on this one. 

 

Allan

 

Me too. I would like one of these to go with my Starlifter but not at that price. If I was spending that sort of money on a kit I would get a Zoukei-Mura 1/32 Horten ho 229.

I don't really know how detailed Roden are making this kit to justify the price. If it is complicated then someone along the line should have reined it in to bring it into a price that more people will be willing to pay for it. 

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19 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

Or, you could wait a few months until retailers desperate to offload their expensive and non moving dust gatherers knock 50% off the price just to get rid of them!!:lol:

 

Allan

I am the impatient type, I would rather order it from Russia/Ukraine around GBP80 when it is released than get it 6 months later with a 50% discount.

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13 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

:lol:You're probably right at that! Much as I would love this kit, it won't be appearing in a stash near me!:nah:. Full marks to Roden on choice of subject but, I think they are going to get burned on this one. 

 

Allan

I agree it is more than what I would have wanted to pay (I was imagining something in the GBP55-60 range) but currently I have 3 choices : the Otaki brittle and often warped kit, the Anigrand inaccurate "M" kit and Roden's which I hope as great as their C-123 and VC-10 kits. I know where my money is going.

 

The good thing here is that if Roden ever gets burned with this one (not recovering its development cost because too few sales), it may drive them to be less greedy on the next subject.

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13 hours ago, snapper_city said:

I don't really know how detailed Roden are making this kit to justify the price. If it is complicated then someone along the line should have reined it in to bring it into a price that more people will be willing to pay for it. 

My feeling is that the number of modellers interested in a Galaxy is not very high and halving the prices we have seen from Hannants or other online sellers would not increase drastically the sales, but that is just my feeling.

 

Of course Revell released their An-124 kit with a very friendly price tag but it is to be remembered that Revell achieves an important number of sales also via supermarkets or "unspecialised" shops, so a lower price tag x more sales. Roden do not have access to this kind of sales, well at least I have never seen these kits sold in supermarkets or toy shops, IMHO they rely solely on modelling shops and online stores, which limits the sales potential and, therefore, forces them to raise the price. All of these are just assumptions of mine.

 

Neatly designed extended slats and flaps plus separate controls OOB is already enough to tempt me, and if they sprinkle this with nice gears (please please, wheels moulded in ONE part) and engines, just take my money ;-)

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26 minutes ago, Caerbannog said:

We will see what will happen  - another option is that Roden will be left will full stocks on this kit as no store wants to put them in their shelves with that price tag.

I think you are spot on. If you are going to set a retail price of £100+ it needs to be a subject that will tempt enough people, and I just don't think the Galaxy will. Not among the modelling fraternity, for which 1/144 military transports are still a niche interest. Most 1/144 large aircraft fans tend to be dyed-in-the-wall civvie airliner buffs, for which the C-5 will not quite fit in.

 

Outside of dedicated modellers the only people who will look to spend that sort of money are those wanting to build what I call a vanity project. They are the sort of person who probably hasn't built a kit since they were twelve, but suddenly feel the need to reproduce a subject they often have a connection with, or particularly like. They will buy the kit, which has to be the bigger the better, all the paints, tools, etc, and probably get as far as stage 2 on the instructions before losing enthusiasm. The kits they buy are things such as Tamiya Lancasters, 1/24 RAF fighters, 1/350 HMS Hood or KGV... you get the idea. Not, sadly, a C-5 Galaxy.

 

I think it is a kit that will struggle to find a market.

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24 minutes ago, T7 Models said:

I think you are spot on. If you are going to set a retail price of £100+ it needs to be a subject that will tempt enough people, and I just don't think the Galaxy will. Not among the modelling fraternity, for which 1/144 military transports are still a niche interest. Most 1/144 large aircraft fans tend to be dyed-in-the-wall civvie airliner buffs, for which the C-5 will not quite fit in.

 

Outside of dedicated modellers the only people who will look to spend that sort of money are those wanting to build what I call a vanity project. They are the sort of person who probably hasn't built a kit since they were twelve, but suddenly feel the need to reproduce a subject they often have a connection with, or particularly like. They will buy the kit, which has to be the bigger the better, all the paints, tools, etc, and probably get as far as stage 2 on the instructions before losing enthusiasm. The kits they buy are things such as Tamiya Lancasters, 1/24 RAF fighters, 1/350 HMS Hood or KGV... you get the idea. Not, sadly, a C-5 Galaxy.

 

I think it is a kit that will struggle to find a market.

I'm a bit of a fan of military transports myself although I do concur that it is maybe a bit of a niche market. Of course, "military transports" covers a large and varied range of subjects. I do not personally like 1/144 scale but, I'm realistic enough to accept that,given the huge size of the C-5, a kit in this scale is likely to be the only scale in which we get one. I would accept that situation. We already have decent kits of the IL-76 and Antonov AN-22 in 1/144 scale. I bought these because there is no likelihood of an affordable 1/72 (my preferred scale ) kit. I would personally love this new kit but, not at that price. I have little personal interest in the "vanity" projects you describe but, you do raise another interesting point there. I think there is a market for a C-5 galaxy inasmuch as there is a market for a C-141 Starlifter and, VC-10. However, I do raise my eyebrows a little when the C-5 is to be sold at 4 times the price of the aforementioned other kits!! It will be interesting to see how the forthcoming Kinetic 1/72 scale C-17 fares when (if?) it ever appears.

4 hours ago, UpperDeck said:

I agree it is more than what I would have wanted to pay (I was imagining something in the GBP55-60 range) but currently I have 3 choices : the Otaki brittle and often warped kit, the Anigrand inaccurate "M" kit and Roden's which I hope as great as their C-123 and VC-10 kits. I know where my money is going.

 

The good thing here is that if Roden ever gets burned with this one (not recovering its development cost because too few sales), it may drive them to be less greedy on the next subject.

I actually have one of the Otaki originals. It is currently languishing on my shelf of doom where I put on hearing of the Roden kit. It is actually being built as a R R Trent engine C-5K!:lol:. Maybe I need to dust it off again?.I wish you good luck with the Roden kit but, I have to say that I would not personally part with even £55 - £60 for any 1/144 aircraft kit. Maybe £35 - £40 tops. I don't actually think they are being greedy. I think their bean counters have projected likely sales and, that the retail prices is realistic (from their point of view) and sufficient to recover their costs and, return a profit based on those sales. Unfortunately however, said retail price is looking to be far in excess of what those prospective customers will pay. It would be ironic indeed if, referring to you earlier point, another company (e g Revell) produced a C-5 at about 1/3 of the price of the Roden kit. However, as you rightly say, the cicumstances for both companies are very different.

 

Allan

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Hmm - the video shows which looks like a nice kit but nothing more. Is it me or does it appear a bit hurried? It seems there is no interior in the cargo bay - something I would have expected at the price. Must say I am more puzzled than before now :-)

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Nice video, I just wished he paused a little more when shooting the sprues.

 

Anyway it shows a rather simple kit. Too bad for the split wheels (could it be an issue with sink marks on 1 part wheels ? I admit the split wheels on their VC-10 kits are the nicest I have ever seen in 1/144, featuring nice tire thread and beautiful rim details) but the landing gears and their bays look like a serious improvement over Otaki's, the engines look nothing special, but still better than Otaki's.

 

I will be honest, I was expecting a little more details, not necessarily a cargo bay but perhaps a bit more elaborate engines. Which, in turn, makes this kit appear even more expensive.

 

I will however stick to my 2 B and 2 M models as I really want C-5 Galaxies modern tooled kits.

 

Thank you for posting the video.

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2 hours ago, Caerbannog said:

Is it me or does it appear a bit hurried? Must say I am more puzzled than before now :-)

I had the same feeling with the C-141 Starlifter kits, nice and accurate shapes but blocked cockpit/simplistic engines and landing gears ?

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1 hour ago, UpperDeck said:

I will be honest, I was expecting a little more details, not necessarily a cargo bay but perhaps a bit more elaborate engines. Which, in turn, makes this kit appear even more expensive.

 

I will however stick to my 2 B and 2 M models as I really want C-5 Galaxies modern tooled kits.

 

Thank you for posting the video.

For that price,I would have expected a level of interior detail at least equal to or, better than Revell's Antonov AN 124 - along with the deployed flaps etc ! Still, I don't think you will be getting killed in the rush to buy them!:lol:

 

Allan

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2 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

Still, I don't think you will be getting killed in the rush to buy them!:lol:

 

Allan

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I had the choice between AMK's überdetailed F-14D Tomcat at a friendly price or this Galaxy at GBP80, I chose the safe way, a desert boulevard to go pick my C-5s :lol:.

 

Anyway, I will of course start with one, if I feel it is a ripoff, then "мої вибачення" Roden.

 

I am still not over-enthusiastic about the 1 part intake molded with the N1 fan but I am starting to appreciate the nacelle separate rear section : it is the reverse, cut along the very panel line. I may be possible to busy the area with grilles and actuators and pause the reverser sleeve back but then, the idea of opening the intake clamshell doors, yuk...

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Looks like someone has been listening to comments about the price. That's now just over £70 including postage. Any advance on £61.16? Bit more sensible but still excessive (at least for me) for a 1/144 kit. Wonder if the big H might be forced to drop its price?

 

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=ROD 330

 

Allan

Edited by Albeback52
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