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The WNW Camel is coming!


Admiral Puff

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It has taken years for most WNW kits to sell out, despite all the hype and seeming popularity. The figures, diorama sets and special editions never materialized.

 

Those two points, plus other observations made elsewhere on this thread, indicate to me that 1) there is a rather low demand for these kits; 2) though it may have started out as a vanity project, there is now a realization within the WNW organization that they need to start making money. That could be a very difficult thing to do, given the high costs of producing such remarkable kits and the low demand for them.

 

I used to chat regularly with Barry Stettler, the man behind the now defunct WWI focused Roseplane kits and accessories (circa 1980s-1990s). Barry once told me that WWI modeling was a very small niche segment of our hobby. He estimated there were perhaps no more than 10,000 hardcore WWI modelers worldwide. That really isn't much of a market to begin with, and then when you consider many of those people only model in 1/72 or 1/48, that leaves a much smaller market for WNW. Sure, the excitement generated by their debut enticed many non-WWI modelers to give WNW a try, but how many of those jet and WWII modelers bought more than 1 or 2 WNW kits?

 

Other indications of the very small market for WWI modeling: Roden hasn't issued any WWI kits in years, and Eduard, despite having roots in WWI, abandoned the genre years ago when they announced that in order to continue to grow and remain profitable they had to move on to more lucrative subjects. Yes, back in 2013(?) they did announce a temporary return to their roots to commemorate the 100th anniversary of WWI. They were to release one new kit for each year of the war, but so far only 2014's SSW D.III has been released, and it looks like the only other announced kit, the SE5a, won't appear before 2017. If the SSW had sold well, it is entirely reasonable to expect Eduard would have held to their original announcement and we would have seen new kits appearing in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. As it is, I will be amazed if we ever see another new WWI kit from Eduard after the SE5a. Then there is Gaspatch and their beautiful Salmson. Yes, I realize being in Greece they have bigger challenges than just the limited market for WWI kits, but given the worldwide market for their product, if the Salmsom had sold well enough couldn't it have funded any follow on releases? (did their announced Hs-123 ever appear?)

 

Other than WNW's imminent(?) release of the Camel, the only bright spot I see on the WWI scene is Copper State. They followed their Dolphin release with the superb Caudron, and it looks like their FK.8 is due any minute. I can only hope they sell well enough to fund other new releases.

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I really don't understand the approach of doing one release and no reissues, especially with popular models like the D.VII and Albatross.

All the hard work of producing the model has been done and there's certainly demand for another run.

I'd be very surprised if any of the tooling was end of life after the limited runs we've seen from WNW.

 

If the goal is to make top quality models available to enthusiasts then why refuse to do so? :huh:

 

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I suspect that the aim is to create the 'ultimate kit' of each model and marque that will never end up in the bargain bins or devalue and will be held up as a sacred article in the modelling world in the future. That is why, when I enquired of Richard Alexander as to whether they would be considering producing a 'budget' version of kits (similar I guess to Eduard Weekend editions) he said that that would never happen as the format they are in is asA kit as it really should be.

 

One thing can be said is that, if buying kits for the stash in the knowledge that some may be sold again in the future due to change of direction or need to free up some cash then Wingnut Wings are probably the safest investment. They will sell second hand at the moment for pretty close to the retail price and, as they sell out, they will only increase in value (Last week an RE8 sold for £255 plus postage on fleabay). I don't believe I know of many other available kits that sell for pretty much their retail price on the second hand market and I have rarely seen an OOP kit of any other make that can go for multiples of the original purchase price.

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Some very interesting points made here, like Howlindawg I am disappointed with the 'no reissue' rule. However, it does have 1 significant effect, at least on me. Becuase I know these kits are limited, and I really want a 'insert kit name here ', I often make it no. 1 priority on my spend list.

It's that prospect of it becoming unobtainable that pushes me to buy, when otherwise I might dither and put if off for another day. Also, I agree that the lack of new releases this year is a bit disapponting, but perhaps WNW were more than occupied with the move/change over to Weta. Again, from a personal point of view, the move to Weta had several consequnecs for me. The kit prices went up, VAT was added,  postage was charged, and worst of all the pound plummeted against the dollar. All these combined to make them somewhat more expensive. On the flip side though, delivery was very quick and direct to my door without the Parcelforce ransom note and trip to my local depot. I still love these kits though, and get more modelling satisfaction from them than anything else, so will continue to buy them. It's just that where I  might have got 3 for my money, I might only get 2 now. But I'll still get them.

 

The final point I would make about the Camel, is that WNW simply do not rush kits out to meet a deadline. Christmas or no Christmas. When it is ready it will be released, not before.

 

Interesting discussion guys, keep it going!

 

John

 

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I agree Viking. I find myself, when I have money to spend, looking at the Weta website and trying to figure out which is most likely to sell out next among the ones I still have to obtain copies of. I figure that it makes perfect sense to buy one kit for £100 that I really want to build than ten kits at £10 each that I am not too fussed about but make the stash mountain look more impressive and ultimately will end up being sold on.

 

I reckon there must be kits on ebay and even on Britmodellers sales pages that have been around the world changing hands every year or so and never being built where I plan to build every single one of my Wingnut Kits and have sworn that they are not going to be sold except in some dire circumstance where survival requires it.

 

Wingnut Wings is unlike any other company producing models in my view and so they defy business based logic. They seem to be truly interested in producing the best kits in the best package and profit is very much a secondary consideration if it is considered at all. Unfortunately it leaves us customers frustrated waiting for the next gem to appear.

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1 hour ago, Beardie said:

I reckon there must be kits on ebay and even on Britmodellers sales pages that have been around the world changing hands every year or so and never being built ...

Precisely why swap 'n' sell meetings are known in this part of the world as "The Circulating Stash" ...

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Getting back to the Camel, there is the possibility that there will be 2 or more boxings released at the same time and this has added to the timescale

Edited by Phil Evans
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I did wonder that myself, given that the shots up on the Wingnut site are of the Donner Wetter RNAS machine so I thought, following on from the Pup we might see an RNAS and RFC versions. A 'coming soon' or 'pre-order now' message would be nice from them or even some shots of the Box art and instructions. Oh well I guess time will tell.

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Model features

Still expected in late 2016, very late 2016.
 
That little quote is taken directly from the WnW website... It's coming! :lol:
 
Oops, sorry Beard! I've just read the whole thread and see that you've already mentioned what I posted. But it's still coming, so that's good. As for the Handley Page 0/400? Any news? ;)
 
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6 hours ago, Mark said:

I've just had it on very good authority that the Camel will be available to order soon :wub:

 

Wonderful! I am no natural born Camel-addict, but will buy one for sure, simply because there will FINALLY be a new Wingnut Wings kit!

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On 09 December 2016 at 0:04 AM, Phil Evans said:

Getting back to the Camel, there is the possibility that there will be 2 or more boxings released at the same time and this has added to the timescale

 

The WNW site is only showing one product code for the camel (32070 from memory) so doesn't look like there will be multiple boxings.

I've been keeping an eye on unused product codes and currently they are:

 

32032, 32033, 32039, 32043, 32044, 32045, 32049, 32051, 32052, 32053, 32055, 32056, 32058, 32062, 32063, 32064, 32065, 32067, 32068, 32069.

The announcement of the Camel as 32070 has added three more blank spaces.  If they were not intending to issue more kits would they not have used 32067 for example?  I suppose they may have had a list of 70 planes/variations they wanted to do straight from the start and assigned numbers at that point.

Edited by Folkbox1
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Folkbox 1 - I would not read too much into the numbering system as they do not follow any consecutive release pattern; for example the Alb DVa (32015) was released in March 2010 whereas the Fok DVII (Fok) (32011) was not released until November 2012 -i.e. some 32 months later despite having a lower sequential kit number. I rather suspect that when the WNW project and vision was in its infancy, all those they intended or aspired to release were planned and numbered well in advance.

 

As for many of the blanks, well, whether they are 'in progress' works or were projects originally allocated numbers and subsequently abandoned, I suspect only time will tell.

 

Gary

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Well folks it looks like it is getting closer. Tonight I notice it is now at the top of the list on the wingnut wings website. Perhaps the predictions of 22nd December are on the money. I guess we will know in ten days.

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Good to see it is about to get released.

 

Get one quick when it's finally out! Weta have just announced that they have been subsidising the VAT charge for EU Customers and this no longer sustainable so we are likely to see a price increase at the beginning of February.

 

Regards,

 

Mark

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WOW! 5 boxings of the Camel plus a 'Duellists' set with the LVG; didn't see that coming. Just wish there had been something else like a SPAD or Nieuport rather than 5 variations on a theme.

 

Still, all good stuff!

Gary

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I've got to say that I'm just a teeny bit envious of the guys who got to do the builds for the "model images" section.  Great skills on show; I can see why they are so lucky to be able to get first dibs on the kits.

 

BTW......I still don't have one yet, any WNW kit I mean. Although there is a box under the tree that has promising size, weight and rattle properties.  Cautiously optimistic. I'm resisting the urge to take it to work and X-Ray it.  Must re-sist !

Cheers

Gaz

Edited by kiwitrogg
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On 12/4/2016 at 4:09 AM, Dave Batt said:

(What exactly is WetaWorkshop anyway, I haven't placed an order since before they appeared?)

If you have heard of a little movie called "Lord of the Rings" then this is the film company that made it/them.

Edited by hairystick
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