Any thought,s on Revell?

[stevej60]

Hi folk,s with a lot of attention going Airfix's way over the last few month's with their new tool releases and announcement's

what,s anyone,s thought,s on Revell? their new kit output seem,s to have slowed to Tamiya pace(superb as they have been),

I wondered whether the Buy out by the American,s has stifled the creativity that seemed to be pouring out of Germany a few

year's ago,I,m sure the guy,s would have seen the potential to mark the Battle of Britain anniversary but as far as I know not

one kit was released even from their back catalogue or any Hasegawa re-pop's,It feel's like they are letting Airfix walk all

over them at the moment which is a shame.

[Geoff_B]

It was mentioned that they had focused efforts on the Star Wars VII The Force Awakens stuff, but as these are mostly odd scale toy kits it does appear rather wasteful. They have produced some decent kits this year, but the do appear to be late and few and far between with most of the range being re-pops. so yes thanks to the US re-integration the German element does feel somewhat restricted since then and does remind me of the dark years of Airfix where kits were few and gimmicks took too much resorces - Footballers, Walace & Gromit, Dr Who

[cmatthewbacon]

thanks to the US re-integration the German element does feel somewhat restricted since then

...well, maybe on the aircraft side, but I can hardly complain about excellent new-tool kits of the Golf GTi, LaFerrari, BMW i8 and Porsche 918 in recent months. And while Revell in the US struggles to release kits of cars less than ten years old, that latter pair of Germans we're getting more or less at the same time as customers for the real things! Roll on the AMG GT.

bestest,

M.

Edited September 11, 2015 by cmatthewbacon

[trickydicky210]

My guess would be that the buy out has meant that things are being restructured and assessed and no doubt they will be looking at the finances to see what is affordable and sensible, this would no doubt hit the output of new kits. It may take a whiule for them to reveal their strategies. I would say Airfix are being quite innovative at the moment and most of the other bigger names are in their shadow. Time will tell, but no doubt Hobbico saw Revell as a good investment, so give it t ime and I am sure we will see an improvement.

[hacker]

How about hurrying up and do that 1/32 Spitfire Mk V and while you at it do us a 1/32 Me 410 too

[tangerine_sedge]

I model primarily 1/72 aircraft, and there's little of interest for me in their recent offerings. They seem to be focussing their efforts on large scale aircraft, and it's just not my cup of tea. I'm also not a fan of the plastic they use, it seems brittle and seems to be "layered" and "flakey".

I do like their re-pops of old Matchbox moulds, although I'd prefer multi-coloured plastic.

[SeaVenom]

I wonder if the US buyout affected the Halifax too. An otherwise great kit ruined by ridiculous inaccuracies.

[Knight_Flyer]

I would like to see them start releasing a line of decent new aircraft moulds after things have settled down. Their Ju 88 was the last "new" one I bought and was quite happy with the Twin Otter as I didn't want to pay the silly ebay prices for the Matchbox one.

Edited September 11, 2015 by Knight_Flyer

[Graham Boak]

Still waiting for the Hercules Halifax, which will remove the majority of the "ridiculous inaccuracies", although sadly not all. Obviously there is a fear that it may introduce some of its own.

[fightersweep]

Still wanting a 1/32 Dornier 17Z so I can complete my trio of Luftwaffe Battle of Britain models.

I'm not holding my breath though.

Regards;

Steve

[JohnT]

Still wanting a 1/32 Dornier 17Z so I can complete my trio of Luftwaffe Battle of Britain models.

I'm not holding my breath though.

Regards;

Steve

You and me both Steve, you and me both

You would think it an obvious one and I can't quite figure why there was such a hole on the modelling world for th Do 17 in both 1/48 and 1/32 for such a long time when far more obscure type get kitted

[Julien]

The pace was always going to slow with the company combining again. The American heads seem to want to issue more remoulds of old tools and invest less I think. Saying that the new 1.72 and 1.35 modern armour kits are great. The new C-54 was not expected and is a great kit.

I hope these are not just kits that were coming through anyway and revell keep giving us these new kits which are affordable.

Julien

[Tiger331]

I would have thought Revell would be odds on favourite to produce a new-tool 1:72 scale C-130, given their penchant for large transport aircraft. If they produced something to the same standard as their C-160 Transall or the more recent C-54 Skymaster, I would be very happy. I suspect, though, all of their 'international' efforts are going towards the Avro Shackleton this year….still, we can live in hope.

[Geoff_B]

I would have thought Revell would be odds on favourite to produce a new-tool 1:72 scale C-130, given their penchant for large transport aircraft. If they produced something to the same standard as their C-160 Transall or the more recent C-54 Skymaster, I would be very happy. I suspect, though, all of their 'international' efforts are going towards the Avro Shackleton this year….still, we can live in hope.

They would probably re-box the Italeri C-130 kit instead

[Admiral Puff]

As long as whatever they turn out is to the same standard as the C-54, I'll be a very happy camper! Mind you, the bank account may look a bit second-hand ...

(Thinks: With the C-54 out, there's room for enterprising aftermarketeers to come out with a few mods - I've heard rumours of a Carvair already; would it be too much to ask for a DC-6 (to get around the niggling problems with the Heller kit) and a DC-7C?)

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Yeah.....They should send more of their money to MaCo.

https://www.facebook.com/MACO-Model-Kits-762644553804596/timeline/

[Richard B.]

I understand revell is going to release a 1/144 scale Flower Class Corvette. This is a welcome addition.

[alpine_modeller]

I'm in the middle of their Lancaster (dont care about the wing dihedral issue, dont see it, looks like a Lanc to me) in preparation for doing last years's new Airfix Lancasters (not used to doing 4 engined aircraft).

And I have to say in terms of engineering and fit, and seeing as I cant be bothered tracking down and paying a fortune for Tamiya / Hasegawa kits, its the best model I've done for a good while. But then my recent output has been old-tool Airfix kits.

[Wez]

Being an aircraft modeller I want Revell to produce new kits in both 1/72nd and 1/48th scales, I particularly want them to concentrate on those aircraft used post war such as the F-84F, RF-84F (in 1/72nd - the forthcoming Tan Model kit in 1/48th looks a treat), F-86 (especially the K but I don't understand why haven't they scaled their excellent D down to 1/72nd), T-33 etc. Many of these aircraft were used by other NATO forces as well as world wide so the marking options and potential sales are legion.

Their 1/72nd MiG-21F-13 is a beautiful kit - we want more like this!

Just my two penneth worth.

Wez

Edited September 12, 2015 by Wez

[SPerx]

Sadly, for me the phrase "US buyout" inevitably means asset stripping, layoffs and endless kits of P51s and F16s. I very much doubt that we will see new tooling a of esoteric subjects in the way that Revell Germany covered less mainstream subjects. It's all cyclical, I can remember when Airfix fell into the hands of Mattel back in the late 70s / early 80s. No creativity and models "marketed" like instant coffee. It was Humbrol's acquisition of Airfix which kept it in existence.

[Albeback52]

Sadly, for me the phrase "US buyout" inevitably means asset stripping, layoffs and endless kits of P51s and F16s. I very much doubt that we will see new tooling a of esoteric subjects in the way that Revell Germany covered less mainstream subjects. It's all cyclical, I can remember when Airfix fell into the hands of Mattel back in the late 70s / early 80s. No creativity and models "marketed" like instant coffee. It was Humbrol's acquisition of Airfix which kept it in existence.

Tend to agree with you here. There is little of interest to me in what brand new releases they have made although, I am delighted to see the BV-222 being reissued. I hope they can find time to reissue the superb Breguet Atlantic at some point.

Allan

[Geoff_B]

Sadly, for me the phrase "US buyout" inevitably means asset stripping, layoffs and endless kits of P51s and F16s. I very much doubt that we will see new tooling a of esoteric subjects in the way that Revell Germany covered less mainstream subjects. It's all cyclical, I can remember when Airfix fell into the hands of Mattel back in the late 70s / early 80s. No creativity and models "marketed" like instant coffee. It was Humbrol's acquisition of Airfix which kept it in existence.

No its not endless P-51s and F-16s, its Car Kits as thats king in the US and thet assume everybody else is the same !!!, thus we see numerous new Car kits and the odd aircraft

[Rob P]

I find it odd that there is nothing on their website about the forthcoming Shackleton, nor the new 1:72 Hawk. (do we know when they are due?)

Mind you, how you find ANYTHING on the new format website is beyond me.

[Dennis_C]

Twin-seat Gripen would make me happy. I'm thinking about a lineup of Flygvapnet jets and for some reason twin-stick Gripen looks more interesting to me. Hope we'll not have to wait for years.

BTW a Draken reissue would be great too, although in this case evilbay might help.

[cmatthewbacon]

No its not endless P-51s and F-16s, its Car Kits as thats king in the US and thet assume everybody else is the same !!!, thus we see numerous new Car kits and the odd aircraft

...you should spend some time on the Model Cars Magazine Forum listening to the guys complain that car modellers are at the bottom of the heap when it comes to new releases! ;-P

bestest,

M.