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1/72- Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" family & Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" by Eduard


gioca

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Mr Sulc , Eduard chef, answering about the possibilities to see the TORA TORA TORA Project declinated also in 72 scale, has declared: "My si určitě uděláme svoje Zero v 1/72. " (source: modelforum.cz) Translated: a family of Zero in 72scale by Eduard is in Eduard's plans of the next future.

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Perhaps the one WW2 fighter for which top-rate kits exist for all variants already.  ( OK, maybe not the trainer(s), but trainers aren't best-sellers anyway.)  None of which bring money to Eduard, of course, and what's a range of models without a Zero?  However, I wouldn't have thought it likely to sell as many as a top-rate kit of some other leading WW2 fighters not in the Eduard range already.  It's not my money, of course, and I don't doubt it will sell - but it isn't going to blow the modelling world away.

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1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

Perhaps the one WW2 fighter for which top-rate kits exist for all variants already.  ( OK, maybe not the trainer(s), but trainers aren't best-sellers anyway.)  None of which bring money to Eduard, of course, and what's a range of models without a Zero?  However, I wouldn't have thought it likely to sell as many as a top-rate kit of some other leading WW2 fighters not in the Eduard range already.  It's not my money, of course, and I don't doubt it will sell - but it isn't going to blow the modelling world away.

 

That explains why the reaction to Eduard's announcement of a new 1/72 Zero series has been tepid, to say the least, while in 1/48, the excitement almost "broke the Internet". I was quite surprised at the lack of interest in the 1/72 release, but then I don't pay much attention to non-VVS subjects, so I'm really not aware of what's available. I understand the whole "a Tamiya Zero makes no money for Eduard" argument, but, once again, the pie is only so big. Is it better to have a small slice of the Zero pie, or all of, oh, I don't know - just a crazy example off the top of my head - the 1/72 Yak-9 pie? Sorry... :wicked:

 

John

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Tamiya covers only some versions while in the Eduard's intention the complete family is covered, probably with all the differences in the wing installations and panels and so on. So for all Zeroalcoolik the answer is: Tamiya is not enough !

  

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32 minutes ago, John Thompson said:

That explains why the reaction to Eduard's announcement of a new 1/72 Zero series has been tepid

 

Because this is not an announcement.

  

32 minutes ago, John Thompson said:

I was quite surprised at the lack of interest in the 1/72 release

 

This is not a release. It is merely a statement that they will make this Zero at some point. Without giving details, without giving a date, without giving anything about the design process.

 

I don't really know what there is to get excited about here. We have dozens of announced 1/72 scale models, including their catalogue numbers, which have not been released to date.

 

Meanwhile, in 1/48 scale, renders are shown, the layout of parts on the frames is shown, there is information about the versions, there is information about the first boxes, their contents and the date when sales start.

 

I see a "slight" difference between these information.

 

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Whatever. I really think you've taken my comments more seriously than they were intended. Most people just roll their eyes and ignore me, knowing I'll try anything to bend the topic towards Yak-9's (Ha! Did it again!), and I'm okay with that. My day will come. :D

 

John

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1 hour ago, MiG-Mech said:

Was a new Zero really necessary in 1/72 with exisiting Tamiya ?

It might be price.

From Hannants, the older Hasegawa is £15 and the newer Tamiya £19.

We don't know what the Eduard selling price will be, but their basic F6F is around £10.  Or they may add Photo Etch and Masks and sell for around the same price as Hasegawa \ Tamiya without them.  But then they could sell Overtrees at a far lower price.

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46 minutes ago, John Thompson said:

Whatever. I really think you've taken my comments more seriously than they were intended. Most people just roll their eyes and ignore me, knowing I'll try anything to bend the topic towards Yak-9's (Ha! Did it again!), and I'm okay with that. My day will come. :D

 

John

 

Our day will come, John. Back to the Zero, I'm not a big fan, but I might be interested in an early version (A6M3 Model 32) or the Rufe floatplane.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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1 hour ago, Denford said:

It might be price.

From Hannants, the older Hasegawa is £15 and the newer Tamiya £19.

We don't know what the Eduard selling price will be, but their basic F6F is around £10.  Or they may add Photo Etch and Masks and sell for around the same price as Hasegawa \ Tamiya without them.  But then they could sell Overtrees at a far lower price.

Coz of the price we need an additional kit, of that is an up to date kit already awailable instead of a new kit, of that are only old kit with less details, ship rivets and terrible fits available ?

To save few bucks while buying 353255534 kits a year and additional aftermarket stuff ?

I guess the kits will be nice and I buy one, but there was no need. 

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Need for whom?  Need for you or me, no, but for Eduard to keep making money they need to produce new kits of subjects that will sell well, and the Zero is one of those subjects.

 

Now if they produce an A6M8 (more accurate than the Hasegawa one, and who knows how to do that?) and an A6M5-K, then I'll seriously consider buying them.  Though in truth there's little to no chance of either, and if I could get a long canopy I could do the latter anyway.

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4 hours ago, Denford said:

It might be price.

From Hannants, the older Hasegawa is £15 and the newer Tamiya £19.

We don't know what the Eduard selling price will be, but their basic F6F is around £10.  Or they may add Photo Etch and Masks and sell for around the same price as Hasegawa \ Tamiya without them.  But then they could sell Overtrees at a far lower price.

 

I get my Tamiya A6Ms from Japan for 11 US dollars. Yes, I know, shipping and all, but I have to pay shipping for any kit, so not a problem. I love 1/72 kits of Japanese WWII aircraft and I am not even mildly excited about this (well, perhaps a bit by the perspective of new, state-of-the-art A6M2-N and -K to add to my Hasegawa and AML kits).

 

A new 1/72 Yak-9 family, though... Now, that would be something to be excited about!

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6 hours ago, John Thompson said:

I really think you've taken my comments more seriously than they were intended.

 

Well, this may be the place for rumours, but I still try to make sure that these rumours have some backing in facts. Especially since this forum is read by a lot of people from all over the world who don't necessarily speak English well.

 

7 hours ago, MiG-Mech said:

Was a new Zero really necessary in 1/72 with exisiting Tamiya ?

 

Does it make sense to make a new Zero? Of course.

 

unknown-1.png

 

  • Red - prototypes and less important variants with small numbers of a/c manufactured
  • Green - released for standard sale
  • Yellow - released for sale only as part of a modelling magazine

 

Assuming Eduard releases the Zero family in 1/72 developed exactly the same as the family in 1/48, they will cover more versions, have better detail than FineMolds and Tamiya, be similarly priced and be much easier to buy.

 

On top of that, someone who wants different versions will have them all at the same high standard. Considering that a great many in 1/72 are version collectors, that's a pretty significant sales booster.

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5 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

 

[...] Assuming Eduard releases the Zero family in 1/72 developed exactly the same as the family in 1/48, they will cover more versions, have better detail than FineMolds and Tamiya, be similarly priced and be much easier to buy. [...]

 

I always wonder what makes people saying that Eduard models have/will have better details than x or y or z? They are very good kits indeed but are they better than Japanese kits? I'm not sure.

Fine Molds Zeros have very good deatil and I don't think Eduard will be much better. For me, the only issue with Fine Molds Zero is lack of two small parts used to close small undercarriage covers. Otherwise, it's a very nice, little kit.

Tamiya made a bit simplified kits, but the detail is great and I haven't found any issues with them (and I have built 7 of them). 

I think we should wait to see the final product and then make any satements. 

I have already noticed people writing that ne 48th scale Zeros will be better than Tamiya's and Hasegawa's. If we talk about old Tamiya's toolings I can't agree more. However, I'll compare the quality to Tamiya's latest Zero kits (made in 2010 IIRC) and will be able to give my opinion. Before that, I won't say anything, unless I see some issues after Eduard show first renders. So far, I have only seen one thing on the red renders. But it can only be their quality, so don't want to say anything, yet.

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43 minutes ago, DominikS said:

Tamiya made a bit simplified kits, but the detail is great and I haven't found any issues with them (and I have built 7 of them). 

 

And they aren't over-engineered and go together effortlessly. No-one comes close in my estimation, and that's a huge draw for this lazy modeller.

 

But price is definitely a factor. I quite like the idea of a 1/72 Eduard Zero, especially as the detail and decals will be better, presumably, and some versions will include a canopy mask, which I nearly always need these days. And if all this comes for about the same price as the Tamiya, wonderful though it is, then I'd probably buy at least one. (Don't all faint at once... 😄)

 

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10 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

Assuming Eduard releases the Zero family in 1/72 developed exactly the same as the family in 1/48, they will cover more versions, have better detail than FineMolds and Tamiya, be similarly priced and be much easier to buy.

 

What's missing, in your opinion, on the Tamiya 1/72 kits? Not talking about different versions, but why we need a new A6M2, for example, when three (or four) fine kits already exists? Besides the "they don't make money for Eduard" argument, of course.

 

3 hours ago, DominikS said:

IanC, you are right. Tamiya's (and Fine Molds' too) kits are getting more and more expensive. And this is the field where Eduard have huge advantage. 

 

Depends where you are in the world. For me, is cheaper to source kits from Japan than from Europe. Of course, my situation is very particular, but I want to show that there are no universal truths in this hobby. 

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16 minutes ago, Fukuryu said:

What's missing, in your opinion, on the Tamiya 1/72 kits? Not talking about different versions, but why we need a new A6M2, for example, when three (or four) fine kits already exists? Besides the "they don't make money for Eduard" argument, of course.

 

I'm not the Eduard's owner, so this is not valid argument for me ;)

 

Since I am not "we", I cannot answer the question "do we need model X or Y". I can show how it looks from the industry side, and I can show whether there is room for a certain model in the market. However, you cannot discuss the model without discussing the versions, just as you cannot discuss a single version in isolation from the whole. Kits are not designed that way today.

 

That's why I made the table, to show how many versions are missing. And whether someone makes FineMolds or Tamiya kits, there is no complete Zero family. It's not even there if one makes models from both companies. On top of that, there are problems with the availability of individual kits.

 

If a company designs kits in a modern way, when considering a topic they make themselves such a list or table. After the analysis, either they don't take up such a project at all, or they make as many versions as Eduard did. And maybe even two more.

 

Where can Tamiya be improved, apart from making versions that are missing? On surface detail, which is very basic. The fabric surface on the ailerons could be done better, the full riveting is also missing.

 

Does a family of Zeros made this way have a place in the market? Yes. Will it sell? In large quantities. Will everyone buy a few Zeros from Eduard? No. Some have stock of a few older kits, others don't like riveting, yet others have trouble assembling anything a bit more complicated than the Tamiya kits.

 

Should Eduard just make up the missing versions and make a new model instead of repeating existing ones? No, because that's not how you design these days. The saving in investment is small and is far less than the profits from selling the full family, not just the late versions. And the time taken to design additional versions does not mean that another new model could be made in that time.

 

First of all, let me remind you - first Eduard needs to announce that they have actually started making this model and they need to announce some sort of timeline, and only then will there be any point in complaining that they are making something that is on the market.

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