November Update from Arma Hobby

[John Thompson]

An excerpt from today's message:

 

"Our latest model kit is a double set "Cactus Air Force" with kits of fighters that won the campaign over Guadalcanal. These are the F4F-4 Wildcat and the P-400/P-39D Airacobra. The models commemorate the 80th anniversary of the fighting for this island. Apart from plastic sprues, decals and masks, you will find rich 3D-printed accessories sets in this set.

Order in pre-order with a 10% discount!

Next Friday, November 25th, we start the Black Friday promotion, which will last until Cyber Monday (November 28th). You will find discounts on most products there. You will be able to buy selected model kits with a discount of up to 50%. Expect more information next week.

 

Our work on the following model kits continues in the privacy of the tooling workshop. Unfortunately, the pressure of inflation is getting worse. We have decided to postpone the release of the 1/72 scale P-51D to a later date. Now we focus on Hurricane Mk IIc in 1/48 scale. We anticipate that it will be ready in the first quarter of 2023. Let's hope that nothing will delay the release of this model anymore.

Sincerely Yours,
Wojtek Bułhak"

 

The P-51D text was bolded by me for emphasis.

 

John

[TheKinksFan]

That's a bit disappointing that the P-51D has been postponed, and they don't give an estimate when it will be released. I wonder when the F4F-3 will come, a couple of months ago I asked, the reply was that it will be released, but later. 

 

Maybe I should start building the AH P-51B's in my stash and stop complaining. 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good evening

 I am also disappointed that the P51 D is postponed but maybe Eduard will downscale its 1/48 kit to the 1/72 next year ?

Anyway I have a few Tamiya Mustangs kits in my stash in case I 'd feel the urgent need to build one ..

Best regards

Patrice

 

[drake122]

Arma Hobby produces excellent kits, I just wish they ventured into more modern subjects, jets, in 72nd scale.... after Eduard's "72nd scale revolution" turned out to be a lie, this would be a welcome change. 

[RidgeRunner]

Yep, that disappointing mail landed in my inbox earlier this evening too. What a let down! Like Patrice, I have some Tamiya’s but I want to build an AH-standard D-model. I am wondering if I could butcher a Tamiya upper fuselage and fin in to an AH B/C? The AH product is so much more refined! Ah well :(.

 

Martin

 

[czaralko]

6 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good evening

 I am also disappointed that the P51 D is postponed but maybe Eduard will downscale its 1/48 kit to the 1/72 next year ?

Anyway I have a few Tamiya Mustangs kits in my stash in case I 'd feel the urgent need to build one ..

Best regards

Patrice

 

Wouldnt count on Eduard anytime soon, I think their plans for next year are bf-109’s in 1/72, all we can do is be patient for now, trying to stop my tower of babel made of unfinished kits from growing! 

[TEMPESTMK5]

9 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

Yep, that disappointing mail landed in my inbox earlier this evening too. What a let down! Like Patrice, I have some Tamiya’s but I want to build an AH-standard D-model. I am wondering if I could butcher a Tamiya upper fuselage and fin in to an AH B/C? The AH product is so much more refined! Ah well :(.

 

Martin

 

Good morning Martin

 That is a very interesting project ...I wish you the best of luck if you decide to start it ...

So far the only extra work I made on the Tamiya Mustang is cutting off the flaps to represent them in a down position and I also replaced the fillet tail by a Pavla resin set ..

 

Best Regards

Patrice

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

4 hours ago, czaralko said:

Wouldnt count on Eduard anytime soon, I think their plans for next year are bf-109’s in 1/72, all we can do is be patient for now, trying to stop my tower of babel made of unfinished kits from growing! 

Good morning czaralko

I am really not interested in German Aircraft and as my stash is already big enough to keep me busy for the next years Eduard can produce as much BF109 , 110 FW 190 as they like I don't care at all ... 

Best Regards

Patrice

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

6 minutes ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning Martin

 That is a very interesting project ...I wish you the best of luck if you decide to start it ...

So far the only extra work I made on the Tamiya Mustang is cutting off the flaps to represent them in a down position and I also replaced the fillet tail by a Pavla resin set ..

 

Best Regards

Patrice

 

Whether I do it or not is very much in debate right now. The builds I have planned for the foreseeable future would push a “cut and shut” Mustang beyond a year away as I am a slow builder. I was hoping for an OOB Mustang :(. I have everything ready, especially the decals, which weren’t cheap to have drawn and printed!). 

 

Martin

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

Overnight Wojtek has emailed, saying “Hopefuly we can release P-51D 1/72 shortly after H2C 1/48.”

 

🤞

[czaralko]

9 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning czaralko

I am really not interested in German Aircraft and as my stash is already big enough to keep me busy for the next years Eduard can produce as much BF109 , 110 FW 190 as they like I don't care at all ... 

Best Regards

Patrice

 

 

Tell me about it, in my stash the germans out number the allies 3 to 1, every time i say no more bf-109’s or fw 190’s a company decides to bring some sort or cool camo/decal combo, they surely know those sell well.

[Cammer625]

The stash is bulging at the seams, so I can wait for a year or two for the D to arrive. And I’ll be waiting knowing that another surperb really great kit will pop out at the end. And I spell like I build - not great lol

[Whofan]

23 hours ago, drake122 said:

Arma Hobby produces excellent kits, I just wish they ventured into more modern subjects, jets, in 72nd scale.... after Eduard's "72nd scale revolution" turned out to be a lie, this would be a welcome change. 

I think accusing Eduard of lying is over the top.

 

They are a commercial organisation and may well have had every intent to do more in 1/72, but who knows what commercial pressures have been on them?

 

by all means express disappointment or criticism, as many others have, but such an accusation is not compatible with the spirit of britmodeller.

[Piotr Mikolajski]

51 minutes ago, Whofan said:

They are a commercial organisation and may well have had every intent to do more in 1/72, but who knows what commercial pressures have been on them?

 

Some people think that even slightest mention of aircraft type is equal to official announcement of its kit. They claim that this kit was announced, they demand releasing it and in case of not releasing they claim that company promises more than delivers.
I'm pretty sure I asked in one of threads about not released official Eduard announcements and there was no answer.

 

If we are at commercial pressures, there is some more factors in case of Eduard:

1. Eduard is mainly manufacturer of all the aftermarket stuff. Always have been and in foreseeable future still will be.
2. Eduard mainly releases 1/48 kits and this is no secret.
3. Eduard suffered from enormous fire and this changed all their schedules to keep company working and bringing money needed to recover.
4. Eduard makes all their stuff in-house so every delay in tooling mould for one kit will delay tooling moulds for other kits waiting in the pipeline.

Am I disappointed with all their 1/48 kits which are not released in 1/72 yet? Of course! But still - one of modeller's virtues should be patience, so I can wait a few years. And let's be honest - most of use has stashes full of kits, new models are released on weekly basis and there is no reason to whine about releasing schedule of any company.

[Bedders]

12 hours ago, Whofan said:

I think accusing Eduard of lying is over the top.

 

They are a commercial organisation and may well have had every intent to do more in 1/72, but who knows what commercial pressures have been on them?

 

by all means express disappointment or criticism, as many others have, but such an accusation is not compatible with the spirit of britmodeller.

I agree that we should give Eduard a break. The 1/72 revolution is real and Eduard never said they would carry it out all by themselves: they started it sure enough, Arma etc have followed; think also about Special Hobby 109s, P-40s, NF Meteors and Mirages - they're all high-standard kits. Airfix's latest Meteor likewise. So let's enjoy what we've got, support the hobby in these troubled times and look forward to whatever new kits come out next. A new Bearcat by Christmas would be good though...!

 

Justin

Edited November 20, 2022 by Bedders

[rickpeck]

I look forward to the P-51D but not as much as I did the P-51B plus it gives me a chance to save up. Do hope they do a VLR P-51D set up.

Right now ,for me. this is the golden age of planes I like to build :

 P-47D's - Tamiya

P-51B- Arma

P-40N - Special Hobby

P-39-P-400 - Arma. Have to say it was not on my want list but a bonus kit.

P-38 Early and late , come on Tamiya . The Acadamy P-38J is not too bad but needs help.

 Rick

PS: A lot better Nieuport 11/16 would be nice also.

[TheKinksFan]

44 minutes ago, rickpeck said:

I look forward to the P-51D but not as much as I did the P-51B plus it gives me a chance to save up. Do hope they do a VLR P-51D set up.

Right now ,for me. this is the golden age of planes I like to build :

 P-47D's - Tamiya

P-51B- Arma

P-40N - Special Hobby

P-39-P-400 - Arma. Have to say it was not on my want list but a bonus kit.

P-38 Early and late , come on Tamiya . The Acadamy P-38J is not too bad but needs help.

 Rick

PS: A lot better Nieuport 11/16 would be nice also.

Like you I'm a big fan of USAAF fighters, I agree 100% with your list. The SH P-40's are really nice kits, although just as refined as the rest. I'm too hoping that they include the VLR parts, I have a DK Decals sheet for Iwo Kima Mustangs, I think there's 16 schemes.

And 1/72 Lightnings from Tamiya, that would be a dream come true. I have the 1/48 P-38F/G in my stash. But 1/72 is 1/72, always.

[TheKinksFan]

4 hours ago, Bedders said:

I agree that we should give Eduard a break. The 1/72 revolution is real and Eduard never said they would carry it out all by themselves: they started it sure enough, Arma etc have followed; think also about Special Hobby 109s, P-40s, NF Meteors and Mirages - they're all high-standard kits. Airfix's latest Meteor likewise. So let's enjoy what we've got, support the hobby in these troubled times and look forward to whatever new kits come out next. A new Bearcat by Christmas would be good though...!

I agree 100% with everything you write. I'll add Clear Prop to that list, high quality stuff although technically they are short run kits. And supporting the companies by buying their products is very important. Especiallo companies that produce aircraft kits. The likes of ammo and ak interactive are doing fine, I believe, because their customer base is bigger, all the armour and figure etc. modellers.  Worst case scenario is that these smaller kit companies don't exist in the future, if the sales keep dropping.

[GioCare]

My complaint about the postponed P51D is not versus Arma, it's more versus this damned economical situation that's smashing Europe (and may be not only Europe). Arma promised the P51D and in some months more we have it ... this fact postponed the next Arma news after the P51D and my curiosity and insane desire for new HQ new kits suffer 😉  ... with the P51D in december we may be have a new announcement in Nuremberg or later in Spring 2023 ... now we have to wait till summer I suppose ... anyway there's IBG that can come to rescue us with some new exiting news in the meanwhile ... the Dora Family is old enough to have more news for 2023 (a new Spit family of some kind? ) !   

[Tbolt]

3 hours ago, TheKinksFan said:

Like you I'm a big fan of USAAF fighters, I agree 100% with your list. The SH P-40's are really nice kits, although just as refined as the rest. I'm too hoping that they include the VLR parts, I have a DK Decals sheet for Iwo Kima Mustangs, I think there's 16 schemes.

And 1/72 Lightnings from Tamiya, that would be a dream come true. I have the 1/48 P-38F/G in my stash. But 1/72 is 1/72, always.

 

Yes we really could do with a new P-38 series in 1/72nd scale and ax much as Tamiya doing their F/G and J would be great I would rather someone like Arma do them as we would get  more versions rather than the usually two or three we get from Tamiya.

[Piotr Mikolajski]

54 minutes ago, GioCare said:

the Dora Family is old enough

 

That's exactly the problem I was talking about. IBG Model's family of Fw 190Ds is in the market just about 10 months, it was not released fully yet and you are already calling it old.

 

The Bf 109 family from Eduard is due in the spring next year and at the end of the 2023, too, someone will say that it is "old" and something new is needed. Meanwhile, in both cases, the companies have prepared a comprehensive treatment of the subject, with many versions and variants. Such projects take time and money and yet these are not the only projects these companies are releasing - IBG Models has vehicles in 1/35 and 1/72, Eduard has an aftermarket stuff for many scales and aircraft in 1/48.

[GioCare]

20 minutes ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

That's exactly the problem I was talking about. IBG Model's family of Fw 190Ds is in the market just about 10 months, it was not released fully yet and you are already calling it old. 

Ok, old it's not the proper adjective ... the question is that you can not think that modellers buy for one or more years only Fw190D ... a limited number of us, falling in love with the type, buys alla the version and subversion, the majority buys one or two box of different versions and after needs fresh blood, I mean, different subject ... and that's the reason why for a firm is better to have a catalogue with multiple choices of subjects, versions, etc ... Arma for instance has a clever policy in this direction ... the Hurricane news are now available among P51B, P39 and in a future P51D ... The Hurricane family will be out at the end in pair with other family, a monopoly of a single item subject in a single version is not a so good choice, there's the concrete risk to fed up the demand.  Alternate the issue of two or more items is the best way to make business.  

[TheKinksFan]

2 hours ago, GioCare said:

the question is that you can not think that modellers buy for one or more years only Fw190D ... a limited number of us, falling in love with the type, buys alla the version and subversion, the majority buys one or two box of different versions and after needs fresh blood, I mean, different subject

I tend to agree, and I'm not entirely convinced that their FW 190 Doras sell that well. I might be wrong though, maybe there are enough FW 190 aficionados and luftwaffe fanatics that buy every single boxings. But for a more casual modeller like me, one is enough, maybe two, as I think that they all look alike, there's not enough variety. The earlier FW 190's have more variety when it comes to schemes and colour. I already had several Eduard Focke-Wulfs, but some time ago I bought the Grunhertz dual combo, just because of the interesting schemes.

Hurricane, Mustang and the Airacobra all have wide variety of markings, and were operated by several air forces, so they are in that sense ideal aircraft for multiple boxings.

[John Thompson]

I agree  - IBG may be limiting themselves. It's a very worthy and ambitious goal to commemorate the Fw 190D in such a manner, but I don't think very many customers will buy every single release in the series. I almost bought one just to enjoy they quality of the kit, but so far, I've held off. Alternating releases in the Fw 190D series of kits with something else (a series of VK-105-powered Yak-9's, for example ), or even a bunch of unrelated, not-currently-well-represented "something elses" - Allison P-51, late Corsair (although these types could become series too)  - might be prudent.

 

John

[Piotr Mikolajski]

5 hours ago, GioCare said:

a limited number of us

 

Just a week or two ago in the Flyhawk pool thread I wrote that modellers think they have a better idea of sales than model manufacturers.
The same argument is made every time - subject X would sell better than subject Y which the company just has released/is planning to release. Why would it sell better? Because the modeller and his friends think so. What is the evidence to support such a claim? None.
The modellers live in a bubble and are convinced that their bubble is representative of the entire modelling industry.

  

5 hours ago, GioCare said:

the majority buys one or two box of different versions

 

The majority, you refer to, behave differently with each family of models. Besides, they choose not only different versions, but also the theatre of operations, the marking, the unit and so on. This even works in 1/48 scale, where people generally buy fewer kits because of their size and the space they take up. And yet Eduard has a substiantial number of themed limited edition boxes, released in recent years, several thousand each, which have sold quickly: Adlerangriff, Afrika, Barbarossa, Bodenplatte, Reichsverteidigung, Wilde Sau 1 and 2 for Fw 190s and Bf 109s and Samurai and Tora Tora Tora! for Zeros.

  

5 hours ago, GioCare said:

and after needs fresh blood, I mean, different subject...

 

And they have tons of new kits each year. Seriously. The year 2022 is not over yet, and 113 newly tooled aircraft models in 1/72 scale have been released. More than 2 completely new models per week. This is the fresh blood you are talking about. Even if we assume that 80% of them are useless / uninteresting, there are still two good new kits a month.

 

5 hours ago, GioCare said:

and that's the reason why for a firm is better

 

Fine Molds has been in the business since 1988, Eduard since 1989, IBG Models since 2006, and they all have the same production policy, especially in recent years - to thoroughly research a subject and release multiple versions, variants and markings. These kits differ not only in the text on the box, but actually have different parts, not only a few details, but also the big and expensive ones, like fuselages and wings. 

 

Again: you see what you want to see.  Since 2010 Fine Molds has released 43 newly tooled model families, of which only five are aircraft in 1/72. In Eduard's case it's 46 to 11, in IBG Models' case it's 55 to 6. It means Fine Molds has an average of 3.3 newly tooled models per year, but you see one newly tooled aircraft in 1/72 every 2.5 years. For Eduard average is 3.5 a year, but you see a newly tooled model less often than once a year. For IBG Models it is 4.2 per year, but you see a new model once every two years.

 

Do you really think you know better than guys running these companies how they should manage them and what they should have in their catalogue?

  

3 hours ago, TheKinksFan said:

I tend to agree, and I'm not entirely convinced that their FW 190 Doras sell that well. I might be wrong though, maybe there are enough FW 190 aficionados and luftwaffe fanatics that buy every single boxings.

 

Well, you are wrong. The Luftwaffe was, still is and probably will be for a long time to come the best-selling subject in 1/72. This is why Special Hobby has released quite a few Bf 109E variants (and will continue to do so in 2023) and reboxed Ju 87Ds from Academy with new parts. This is why IBG Models released the Fw 190D family. And this is why Eduard is reissuing the Bf 110 family now and will release the Bf 109F/G/K family next year. Each of these kits at the time of their launch was "unnecessary" because, after all, "such models already exist on the market" and each is a business success, bringing heaps of money to the manufacturers. Looking at the Avia S-199 model it is already clear that the Bf 109 from Eduard will be a huge business success too and people will buy them by the dozens.