Colin K

Gary....the latest I have heard lately in by Christmas of 2026, as there are no openings at the tooler until July. Tony Edmundson and myself have told Kinetic about the Snowbird announcement and how it is vitally important to get this kit out sooner than later, but we can only do so much. It's down to Kinetic. But yes, Kinetic has missed a couple of opportunities to get this kit out, which is sad and it has been frustrating for those of us involved in the project.

Things have been kind of hectic with Kinetic as of late. My last message from Kinetic stated that the tooling is in progress and is being done by a new vendor and is taking a bit longer than expected, but Kinetic is still aiming for a Dec 25/Jan 26 release. On top of this, the major news is they have moved out of the warehouse they have been in for the past 22 years and into a new facility, which has taken up a fair chunk of time.......not to mention dealing with things like the tariff situation, but things are starting to get back to normal after the move apparently. So read into this what you will, but it sounds like the company has had a full plate as of late.

In a subsequent release possibly. First boxing will be Canadian jets.

As Tony stated above, finances for tooling has been the main issue. Copyright stuff is being worked on, but in order to complete that process, we need physical parts and decals to submit to the Office of Intellectual Properties in Ottawa to get final approval. So the copyright stuff isn't the reason for the delay, but completing said copyright stuff is delayed until we get a physical kit and decals, so photos of the final product can be submitted for final approval. But now that finances are in place to cut the tooling, the whole process can start moving forward again.

I didn't ask, but I'm certain the pre-order price will be honored.

I'll just post this here. I talked with Raymond at Kinetic and the Tutor will be delayed again until at least Q4. The delay is due to low sales for this year, thus no funding available to move forward on finally cutting the tooling for the kit. He added that he hopes by Christmas or around there that they will have the funds secured to finally start producing the kit. It's disappointing, but I can understand where Kinetic is coming from. It's a business and has to make enough money to keep the lights on....so we'll have to wait a bit longer for the kit now.

The new panel will not be in the kit. However, Quinta had expressed interest in doing interior decals for the kit. Failing that, you'd have to scratch build the new panel.

Talking with Kinetic, distributors haven't been ordering as often, but the lack of new releases I think, play a factor in that. Everything has steadily gotten more expensive unfortunately, but Kinetic opening more distribution centers around the world can decrease shipping costs for most kits. As for the Tutor....I think a lot of Canadian modellers such as myself are waiting for the Tutor. To be so close to getting the kit out is becoming frustrating, but Kinetic has a business to run and they do what they think is best to recover and keep the doors open. I know they will have to sell a lot of Tutor kits worldwide to break even on the project and I think they also see the worth of putting the kit out, given the still high demand for the subject.

No problem. That was one thing the group assisting Kinetic has been walking them through. Having Snowbird markings in the kit has been very important to Kinetic, so as I said, they're working through the process. We just need the actual plastic and decals done so it can be sent to the folks looking after the copyright request so approval can be finalised.

That's not correct. The copyright process cannot be completed because there is no kit and decals. Until that happens, that cannot be completed. Not sure who said this, but it's not correct. Kinetic sales are down all over the place, so they have been waiting to see what 2024 sales are before committing to spend money and start cutting the tooling. Funding is the delay, not the copyright stuff.

The mark-up is ridiculous, but people were willing to shell out $150 for a sub par kit that was discontinued over 20 years ago, so who knows.

As of right now....October release and the model is available for pre-order at Luckymodel or your local hobby shop.

Actually, the kit comes with the standard analog instrument panel, without the current GPS upgrades. So you'd want to do the current panel with the GPS mods, in addition to the new glass cockpit. I have a diagram of the current Snowbird instrument panel if you need it

Belcher is a good bet, he could add the Raven to the sheet he already has. That, and someone has to put out the 50th Anniversary scheme, whether it be Mike or in another boxing of the Kinetic Tutor. If anything, aside from the Big 2 crest on the tails, I'd also like to see at most, CFS, FIS , and maybe even the Gimli "G" (1AFS?). In all honesty, I don't see anyone else putting aftermarket Tutor decals out, aside from Belcher.

Out of curiosity, how did you do the collar for your Freddy Flameout?