Arma 1/48 announcement at Babaryba

[DominikS]

10 hours ago, Wayne Bull said:

To be really honest i was a little under welmed with the  test shot, it did not look anywhere as nice as the Hurricane and looked a little soft on the panel lines and detail . Could be the photo but i dont think so . Unless it is the image i dont think this one offers more than the Eduard kit which to me is beaten by the hasegawa kit . So i 'll be sticking with that unless i'm worng ,which is quite probable.

IMHO, testshots looked very good. Saw them personally and had the kit in my hands. It looks really good.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tbolt]

9 minutes ago, DominikS said:

IMHO, testshots looked very good. Saw them personally and had the kit in my hands. It looks really good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good to know. I'm surprised some good quality photos haven't appeared yet.

[Phoenix44]

A long way from an expert but on e.g. this walkabout, it seems to be a relatively smooth surfaced aircraft?

 

https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/awa01/601-700/awa632-P-39-pt2-Bailey/00.shtm

[Wayne Bull]

Good to know i am wrong , but the photo's are not the best from 12,000 miles away 

[Tbolt]

3 hours ago, Phoenix44 said:

A long way from an expert but on e.g. this walkabout, it seems to be a relatively smooth surfaced aircraft?

 

https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/awa01/601-700/awa632-P-39-pt2-Bailey/00.shtm

 

The P-39 is your standard countersunk riveted finish. Relatively smooth but there's the on going debate whether they should be represented as hole on a model surface. Arma have mainly not done them in 1/72nd scale, they didn't do them on their first 1/48th scale kit but then added them to the Hurricane. It maybe that is how Arma are not going to do them in the future and not doing any rivets. It doesn't really bother me but I know there's plenty of people that are not going to like it.

 

 

[Overflow]

If it was first new tool after Eduard, rivets-no rivets would jump on it, but looking at parts breakdown and close ups, I truely cannot grasp the market logic behind it, not being as detailed as we come to expect from Arma, taking out my Hasegawa boxing, while they differentiate in few details, panel lines are  finer on Hasegawa, seems like some sort of a rush job.

[Tbolt]

"New Arma Hobby 1/48 Airacobra kit pre-order!

 

Today we are starting pre-orders for a new 1/48 scale kit. It is no longer a secret that this is the P-39Q Airacobra. We revealed the model built from test injections at the Babaryba Warsaw Modeling Festival last week-end, where it met with great interest and good reception from hundreds of modellers from Poland and abroad. Many photos with enthusiastic comments also appeared on social media, and the iModeler portal will soon publish the first review based on test injections from the Festival.

 

For the pre-order of the new 1/48 Airacobra, we have prepared several attractive promotional bundles, the larger the bundle you order, the bigger the discount you will get. You can buy the Airacobras themselves in bundles, or you can also complete your Hurricane collection. Each promotional bundle also includes free files for printing resin details on a 3D printer. Download them even if you don't have a printer, these devices are becoming more and more available and maybe soon you will be able to print them without any problems?

 

Check and pre-order promotional bundles! We plan to ship the pre-ordered kits in the second half of June!"

 

👉https://www.armahobby.com/blog/new-arma-hobby-1-48-airacobra-kit-pre-order?hash=4124d1af9a7ea1f5bece2c836dcc1e82

 

"With the 1/48 Hurricane, we kind of hit a wall - the model is perfectly detailed and perfectly assembled, but the work on it was very long and tedious, and the costs of its development and production of molds were also very high, which must have had an impact on the final price of the model. . Now we have taken up the challenge: how to produce a model with very good detail and fit, but more efficiently and cheaper, and at the same time try slightly different machines - all in Poland, of course."

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/BAcMjW9uftx8F4GR/

 

 

 

 

[Ad-4N]

Arma has missed the boat completely.  All right-thinking modelers know the world was clammering for the 1/48 Douglas BTD Destroyer.  😄

[Bozothenutter]

The blog almost makes you think the sales of the Hurricane were disappointing...

I like that they are being so open about trying to find a 'sweet spot' of price, detail, and cost. 

[SprueMan]

Geez lads, that is more than adequate.

I agree with @Tbolt here that whether these should be visible in 1/48 scale is questionable.

Just like oversized turnbuckles, the garden variety carbon fibre and other modelling staples there is a thing of details being too large for the scale they represent.

 

Anyone want an Eduard Airacobra? Fresh in its box

[Matt B]

Looks good to me.  I may still get one, but I just bought a couple Hasegawa kits a few months back, along with a cheap Eduard dual combo (although that was mostly just for the decals).  So perhaps I should've waited a little longer to stash some 39s.

[Karearea]

I’ll definitely be down for one once I have the discretionary cash- still might wait to see if any other schemes get released though.

Edited June 5, 2024 by Karearea

[JFM148]

On 01/06/2024 at 06:59, Tbolt said:

 

That's just the way things are at the moment. To expect a relativity new, small company like Arma, who are producing highly detailed kits to go for a subject which just wouldn't sell a large number of,  is asking for trouble. Larger companies such as ICM that have been around a lot longer and produce a larger number of cheaper kits can afford to take more of a gamble on a type. If one doesn't sell well, in the short term anyway, it probably doesn't matter. If Arma did that at the moment it could really effect finances. Imagination doesn't pay the bills.

I am pretty sure 99 % of companies in this hobby are not "big enough" to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars in a small market like aircraft modelling.  There is maybe 2 or 3 companies that can afford such a risk and still survive financially.  We need this generosity in our thoughts and comments not only for Arma, but for each and everyone trying to make some business in our community.  Is an act of love indeed and maybe some money on the process...

 

 I am glad Arma released the P-39Q.  I have all, Monogram/Revell, Hasegawa and Eduard and I will definitely buy the Arma kit regardless of the negative comments.  We need to be thankful there are entrepreneurs still betting on us every time they release a new mold.

Edited June 5, 2024 by JFM148

[Tbolt]

50 minutes ago, JFM148 said:

I am pretty sure 99 % of companies in this hobby are not "big enough" to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars in a small market like aircraft modelling.  There is maybe 2 or 3 companies that can afford such a risk and still survive financially.  We need this generosity in our thoughts and comments not only for Arma, but for each and everyone trying to make some business in our community.  Is an act of love indeed and maybe some money on the process...

 

 I am glad Arma released the P-39Q.  I have all, Monogram/Revell, Hasegawa and Eduard and I will definitely buy the Arma kit regardless of the negative comments.  We need to be thankful there are entrepreneurs still betting on us every time they release a new mold.

 

I wasn't talking about a large risk where all of the investment is at risk. I mean you would have to really mess up for that to happen! My point was when ICM do a subject that won't sell as well it will take them a lot longer before they run into a profit or it could be something that they might only break even on. Not a problem when you are producing maybe 10 or more different kits in a year. If you are a lot smaller company and are only producing 2 new kits a year you need to be more careful to pick the right subject so you can turn a profit in a shorter time to enable you to reinvest.

 

Arma have realised they can't spend so long and so much on the tooling at the moment to be sustainable.

[GrzeM]

4 hours ago, Tbolt said:

With the 1/48 Hurricane, we kind of hit a wall - the model is perfectly detailed and perfectly assembled, but the work on it was very long and tedious, and the costs of its development and production of molds were also very high, which must have had an impact on the final price of the model. . Now we have taken up the challenge: how to produce a model with very good detail and fit, but more efficiently and cheaper, and at the same time try slightly different machines - all in Poland, of course."

Strange, as the original English text I wrote on our blog is a bit different:

 

"With the 1/48 Hurricane, we kind of reached the limit - the kit is beautifully detailed and has a perfect fit, but the work on it was very long and tedious, and the costs of its development and production of moulds were also very high, which must have had an impact on the final price of the kit."

 

https://www.armahobby.com/blog/new-arma-hobby-1-48-airacobra-kit-pre-order

It looks like machine translation by the google from Polish original, but has different meaning. In Polish I wrote "doszliśmy w pewnym sensie do ściany" which literally means "we reached the wall" but really means "we reached the limit", not "hit" or "crashed". So there is no worry that the Hurricane sales were bad.

 

Best!

G.

[SleeperService]

39 minutes ago, GrzeM said:

https://www.armahobby.com/blog/new-arma-hobby-1-48-airacobra-kit-pre-order

 

Great to hear this and that the Hurricane sales have worked well for you.

About the rivets; would it be difficult to offer a template with the instructions to make adding your own much easier, that would be a good compromise between those who want them and those who don't. 

 

By the look of the wing to fuselage photo you seem to have got the details right it will be interesting to compare parts with the redundant Eduard kits and work out where they went wrong.

 

Thank You all for bringing this to market.

[Scooby]

On 6/1/2024 at 12:04 PM, Mike said:

I was right again. Not a big thing, but I really should get a lottery ticket this week  

An even better idea is if you buy me a lottery ticket.

[dragonlanceHR]

9 hours ago, GrzeM said:

So there is no worry that the Hurricane sales were bad.

 

Best!

G.

I should think so! I certainly went over and above my share

[2996 Victor]

Looking at the photos on Arma's website, for me they have struck the perfect balance for external surface detail: finely engraved panel lines with delicately-represented fasteners for detachable panels. The wing panel also has some beautifully restrained rivet detail in appropriate places. Don't get me wrong - the Hurricane is a truly beautiful kit and at this scale, accurately-reproduced domed rivets where appropriate is spot-on. But in my opinion, flush-rivets are just too shallow to be accurately represented in models of less than, say, 1/24 scale. And even then they'd need to be barely visible.

 

All-in-all, I think this is a great piece of kit production and I can't wait to order mine. Splendid job, Arma!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Tbolt]

10 hours ago, GrzeM said:

Strange, as the original English text I wrote on our blog is a bit different:

 

"With the 1/48 Hurricane, we kind of reached the limit - the kit is beautifully detailed and has a perfect fit, but the work on it was very long and tedious, and the costs of its development and production of moulds were also very high, which must have had an impact on the final price of the kit."

 

https://www.armahobby.com/blog/new-arma-hobby-1-48-airacobra-kit-pre-order

It looks like machine translation by the google from Polish original, but has different meaning. In Polish I wrote "doszliśmy w pewnym sensie do ściany" which literally means "we reached the wall" but really means "we reached the limit", not "hit" or "crashed". So there is no worry that the Hurricane sales were bad.

 

Best!

G.

 

I suspected the Hurricane sales would be fairely good, as it seems quite popular. I didn't intend to buy as many as I have, but you keep bring out lovely new boxings and there's still the D to come. I had intended to build at least one of the Hasegawa kits I have in the stash, but I doubt that will happen now. 

 

Probably the same thing will happen with the P-39, I had intended to build at least one more of the Eduard kits, but once I get my hands on this kit that idea will probably go out the window.

[VMA131Marine]

6 hours ago, Tbolt said:

there's still the D to come

And the Mk.IV hopefully 

[SleeperService]

6 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

And the Mk.IV hopefully 

 An accurate Mk.I would be nice too,

 

12 hours ago, Tbolt said:

Probably the same thing will happen with the P-39, I had intended to build at least one more of the Eduard kits, but once I get my hands on this kit that idea will probably go out the window.

 

My thoughts exactly my part-hacked Eduard offerings are going to be repurposed with an Airabonita entering stage left for one.

[2996 Victor]

1 hour ago, SleeperService said:

an Airabonita entering stage left for one

Nice!

[Overflow]

My two cents regarding quality of surface detail vs cost, once upon a time such fine detailing was done by hand using machine called pantograph, its was very laborious and extremely fiddly job that could easily turn south, with again with very expensive and time consuming repairs.

In 2020's pantograph and steady hand of person behind it is long gone, and in its place cometh CAD and electroabrasion, with drastically shorter time and price needed to produce a kit.

I understand many who want to support Arma, but again have to say, a.) Hasegawa is 60% of Armas price in most web outlets and far lower in Far East ones.

b) looking from the pics, Hasegawa is in some areas better, of course one can judge himself.

 

In my opinion it is rush job, that will be hard to push midterm if someone like Hobby 2000 re-releases Hasegawa P-39's( less likely) or when someone like Eduard ( more likely) produces P-39 with all the approprate surface detail.

Until than kudos to Arma but Hasegawa remains my Nr.1 for Airacobras.

[karjis]

10 hours ago, Overflow said:

... if someone like Hobby 2000 re-releases Hasegawa P-39's( less likely)...

I dont know why, but I have a feeling that Hobby2000 is definately going to re-release Hasegawas P-39... Or atleast I wish that they will 😁 They have released many other sought after Hase kits, such as the A-4B/C and B-26, so I would imagine that the P-39 is on their list too.