Jump to content

1/48 - Grumman F-14A/B & D Tomcat by AvantGarde Model Kits (AMK) - F-14D released


Homebee

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, DannyB said:

Still waiting patiently for this one, and from what we've seen so far it certainly looks like it'll be worth the wait.

 

 

Sounds a little like they'll be doing a hasegawa and releasing it sans-ordinance though, which will be a huge shame, even the big-T backtracked on that idea with they're F-14 release. 

You get a full weapons set in the F-14D box. TARPS and other things too.:party:

 

AMK is releasing a Gulf War Weapons set that will be sold as a kit in and of itself. It's on their Facebook page

 

 

Edited by Masinissa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Bad news for UK modellers looking to pre order and get discount and the free extras.

Didnt get reply from Hannants but question via facebook to AMK received the following almost by return.

"UK did not preorder. You'll need to go through Robotines or wait for the Italians to announce where they are going to sell."

I do hope will be on sale here....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't believe AMK didn't accept pre-orders from the UK.. ..considering the expected huge demand that I anticipate from us in the UK - I  want at least 2!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AMK expects distributors/retailers to pre-order up front, as they're using these pre-orders to fund their production (or offset lost business from external customers while the factory works on AMK's internal project)  Remember, AMK is just a plastic factory that decided to get into the model business.  They are first and foremost a plastic factory, molding random stuff from paying customers, so unless they've got a gap in their schedule, they have to turn down work in order to do stuff for AMK.

 

Reading between the lines, that was the purpose of the pre-orders.  If they could guarantee sales of 5000 kits, they would guarantee a set return on their kit.  Presumably this would be more than they'd make from a paying customer over that period of time, so they would turn down customer work and focus on AMK.  If they *couldn't* guarantee 5000 kit sales, then they'd be more likely to make money by taking on customer contracts, so they planned to push the F-14 on to the back burner, for when they had a gap in customers and their factory would otherwise sit idle.

 

The problem now is (per Laurent's thread), they are expecting distributors and retailers to pay for their kits in advance.  Give us money today, to fund production of a kit that will come out... eventually.  The Italian importer doesn't want to do this - their business risk is in ordering kits in the hopes that they'll sell their inventory; they don't want the additional risk of funding the development of a kit that may or may not sell to expectations.

 

Hannants, along with several other outlets, seems to be in the same boat.  They'll happily take your pre-order today.  And when the kit is released, they'll happily order one for you, charge your credit card, then ship it out.  But they don't want to pay for a bunch of kits that aren't ready for sale, have no defined release date, and have already been delayed for more than a year.  And since Hannants isn't going to pay for kits that haven't even been tooled yet, apparently AMK doesn't consider their pre-orders 'valid'.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Plasto said:

Ah ok thanks for clarifying the Situation. 

 

Sort of ‘crowd funding’ meets plastic kit manufacture...

 

Did they do the same thing with the MiG 31??

 

Plasto...

 

Hi Plasto,

 

No they didn't, it was just a straight forward release, but after a few on-line builds (including our boss @Mike's) word spread rather rapidly on t'internet and elsewhere about the quality of and thoughtful design of the MiG-31 kit, and AMK got themselves a bit of a well deserved following, with people eagerly awaiting news of their next release.

 

When they then announced that a Tomcat was to follow and of course we know that the Tomcat itself is seen as iconic in many quarters, a whole lot of hype was generated, but to be fair to AMK they want to get it right so the gestation period of the kit has been drawn out, and as AMK has drip fed information to the on-line masses, the hype has increased to the point where it has taken on a life of its own and is snowballing.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps this is this just AMK's way of sending Tamiya a timely Christmas Card? 

Only joking, but honestly has any kit ever been drawn out this loooong?

I reckon I'll end up building a new tool Fairey Fruitbat before this kit ever hits the hobbyshop shelves. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Only joking, but honestly has any kit ever been drawn out this loooong?

Probably the vast majority. The difference is that other producers don't communicate publically a lot on their projects. It's likely that AMK will have a more low-key approach in future projects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Laurent said:

Probably the vast majority. The difference is that other producers don't communicate publically a lot on their projects. It's likely that AMK will have a more low-key approach in future projects.

Like they did with the retooled Kfir.

As much as I like to know things as soon as possible, design phase and production readiness is so full of uncertainties that I somehow totally can live with Tamiya's communication approach ;-)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

 

Hi Plasto,

 

No they didn't, it was just a straight forward release, 

 

 

Ok thanks for the overview. 

 

Social media can work both for you and against you. Tis a cruel mistress..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If noting else we always strive to be 100% customer focussed. Customer focussed and customer value driven.

 

I am UK based as most of you will now know. So we are learning the ropes still. OK, we don't get it right all the time but we will try to communicate it when we can.

The complication is that I have AOSD so my illness dictates my life and the business.

 

In good faith, here is my personal email so you can talk to me in hospital too..... [email protected] - if I am really ill then . it may take some days before I can reply so bear with me please.

 

Just send me a mail to say HI or ask me questions. All is cool. Happy to answer what I can.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Martin @ AMK Hobby said:

Hannnants have ordered the Tomcat and they have already got the newer Kfir kit, since November.

 

A quick look in the Hannants homepage/online shop:

 

- ref. 88001 - IAI C-2/C-7 Kfir - thus the "old" one is indeed announced as back in stock since 01/10/2017

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AMK88001

 

- ref. 88001-A - IAI C-2/C-7 Kfir - thus the new one is shown as a Future Release with a TBA price

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AMK88001-A

 

The dedicated thread for the AMK 1/48th IAI Kfir C.2/C.7 kits is here:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234925006-148-iai-kfir-c2c7-by-avantgarde-model-kits-amk-released-new-upgraded-tooling-kit-released/

 

 

V.P.

Edited by Homebee
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

On 12/1/2017 at 4:40 AM, Masinissa said:

You get a full weapons set in the F-14D box. TARPS and other things too.:party:

From what I have gathered from farcebook, there will only be 4 Phoenix missiles supplied, so no chance of a "John Wayne load-out".

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Martin @ AMK Hobby said:

If noting else we always strive to be 100% customer focussed. Customer focussed and customer value driven.

 

Hi Martin,

 

Great to hear from you again, I don't doubt AMK's passion and commitment, and yes AMK have sought advice from those that have information that will hopefully make this as near a perfect kit that we all strive for.

 

This seeking advice on modelling forums at an early stage of development has meant that knowledge of this project has been in the public domain a lot longer than what we get from most model companies, hence the process seems to have been long winded. Most of this process is usually kept hidden from us and we only find out about other manufacturers new releases in the months just prior to their release.

 

Having seen the quality of the MiG-31, I've had the Tomcat kit on pre-order at Hannants pretty much since they first listed it as a future item, as have others that I know of, did these pre-orders get taken into consideration during the earlier campaign?

 

I'm a patient person and I'm happy to wait for you guys to be satisfied with the kit before you release it, there are a small number that can't/won't wait, and they seem to make the most noise also.

 

In the meantime as an engineer and modeller, I'm delighted to see the pictures of the moulds that have been published it gives a wonderful insight into the process of bringing a kit like this to market.

 

Hope you are keeping well and look forward to more updates.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...