Why no new Tonka decals in 32nd??????

[Graham]

Just a throw back from the shiney two thread why won't the manufacturers make the new Tornado decals in 32nd??? The Gr1 kit is still available and with a little work can be converted into the GR4 or using decals for the side scanners as in the OP TELIC sheet a GR4A. Maybe if there were decals available to do a GR4 then maybe someone else other than Flightpath may make a conversion. I have asked Revell. de to convert their existing kit to make the GR4/GR4A and also how about an F3, here is the link and who knows if enough people beg we may get both

http://www.revell.de/en/company/contact/index.html?&L=1

Graham.

[ColinR (aka ARC Scotsman)]

Simple - its a modern jet in 1/32 - 3 strikes against it from the start ..

believe me , building modern aircraft in 32nd can be a Very frustrating experience - its not just RAF subjects that suffer , superscale dropped 32nd scale subjects some time last year due to falling sales , here's hardly a massive selection of decals in 32nd modern subjects of any kind, I think the biggest selection is for F/A-18's - and apart from 2bob's the selection for these is drying up pretty quickly too...

[AnonymousER99]

Simple - its a modern jet in 1/32 - 3 strikes against it from the start ..

believe me , building modern aircraft in 32nd can be a Very frustrating experience - its not just RAF subjects that suffer , superscale dropped 32nd scale subjects some time last year due to falling sales , here's hardly a massive selection of decals in 32nd modern subjects of any kind, I think the biggest selection is for F/A-18's - and apart from 2bob's the selection for these is drying up pretty quickly too...

What Colin says is absolutely true! When I started Afterburner Decals with Scott we decided to have a go at 1/32 immediately. The NEW Tamiya 1/32 Viper had just arrived and we felt we had a gold mine at our feet!! Boy were we wrong!! 1000 1/32 decal sheets later and slow sales precluded us (and now Scott and Geoff) from producing more. I think I am the only person on earth who has used our 55th FS markings. In fact I am sure Scott has wallpapered his workshop in them along with the Black Widows sheets!!

1/32 simply does not sell no matter what the subject (unless it is WWII fighter stuff). It was a very costly mistake by a fledgling decal company. Very costly indeed.

Mike

Edited October 29, 2007 by MikeR

[Col.]

I'm sorry (and a little surprised) to hear that Mike. Although not an F-16 fan myself I too would have thought decals for this kit would have been a sure-fire hit.

[ColinR (aka ARC Scotsman)]

Well Mike , I bought , and indeed used your Black widows sheet, and a wonderful product it is .

The big problem is that most modelers , if they venture out into 32nd only ever do one or two models , its really a small minority , like me, and the others over on Large Scale Planes, who work consistently in this scale . Why - Well cost is certainly a reason - post build storage space is also a reason , (a growing problem in my case), and the sheer intimidation factor in taking what seems to be a an overwhelming project .

Now we LSP'ers are a minority , I accept that , and I acknowledge that our purchasing power will never match those who regularly buy half a dozen 48th F-16's at a time , and since it costs the same I guess to produce a 48th scale sheet vs a 32nd scale one - its pretty obvious what's going to sell more .

So what's to be done - well until 32nd achieves some kind of breakthrough to the mainstream , and bless Trumpeter for at least trying to do that , I guess we LSP'ers will just have to get used to disappointment....

However , trying to go out on an optimistic note Mike - what would be economies of producing generic USAF alphabets/serial no's in 32nd - the way Daco used to do in their sheets - that al least would be a start in giving us a toe in door - hopefully without bankrupting you guys!

[AnonymousER99]

Colin

You make great points!! Sadly Scott and I (when I was still an Afterburner owner) really thought that the 1/32 sheets would simply fly!! We were the first with decals for the 1/32 Tamiya kit after all. That being said, your assessment of 1/32 is absolutely spot on. I can buy 4 of the Tamiya 1/48 F-16s for the price of one of the 1/32 T Birds kits. Economics just dictates that there are far fewer 1/32 builders for that matter alone. Had our pockets been a bit shallower when we started you might not even see any other decals from Afterburner because the 1/32 sales nearly killed us! I would gather thats why the only other 1/32 offering from Scott since is the Aggressor Eagle sheet which is coupled with an updated 1/48 sheet of the same subject.

I will pose your numbers question to Scott next time I talk to him.

Thanks for your input!!

Cheers

Mike

[Graham]

Thanks guys for the feedback, bummer Anyway as an upshot here is the reply from Revell:

thank you very much for your e-mail and your interest in our products.

Your product proposals and comments are collected in our new-items-proposal-list. Due to the large number of comments and letters we receive, it is not possible to include all the products proposed.

We do our best to offer a comprehensive range covering various themes.

Nevertheless we thank you very much for your suggestions and we will include them into our proposal list for the coming years.

Regards,

S. Haller

So how about a campain for the F3 as it maybe the only way we will get one.

Graham.