Landships II

Date: Aug 28, 2005

When will we reach the Tipping Point?

Date: Aug 28, 2005

I agree Peter, WW2 is so over done.I just hope the companys will put out 1/35 scale, as well as the 1/72 scale that all of you seem to Enjoy. But I do belive the day is coming, that WW1 modeling will be the in thing, not WW2 German Everything......

All the Best

Tim R.

Date: Aug 28, 2005

I think you're most likely right there, Peter.

Certainly the WW2 market is overcrowded. Whilst it's a fascinating area, it has been afflicted by overkill for some time. I have to admit to being left cold by yet another model (no matter how superby crafted) of the umpteenth Tiger or Panther or Sherman or ---------* (*fill in as appropriate).

It's rather like the warship model sector. Seemingly infinite variations on a theme of Bismarck, Missouri and Arizona flood the market.

But there are good Eastern European resin kit companies, such as Combrig and Modelkrak, that seem to achieve near-injection moulded plastic prices, combined with excellent quality and sheer volume of products, and now there are dozens upon dozens of predreadnought battleships, armoured cruisers, TBDs, what have you, pouring forth. And in Japan, injection moulders such as Seals are contributing even more.

People are seeing that there is more to military modelling (in its broadest term, covering land, sea and air) than the Second World War. With the Great War, it's a growing realisation that there is actually a wealth of subjects to cover. Someone on this board, I forget who (apologies!), commented that he hadn't realised how much there was done in AFV development. And it's true, there is a huge amount. If anything, because we're looking at the origins of the technology, there is far more of interest as the sheer variety of experimentation becomes apparent.

Also, I think more information is coming to light, thanks in large measure to the internet. How many of us would ever have even been aware of each others' existence before the online revolution, with all the implications that means for the exchange of nuggets of information, much less actually communicate on such a regular basis?

One example is the Vezdekhod. In a matter of weeks, we've accumulated more information, data, drawings and photographs, in one place, this site, than any other source in the world. And take the Big Bertha. Various of us had gathered isolated bits of information over the years, but combined have now produced an account that surpasses any single source offline.

All this new information combines to make our knowledge of early developments that much richer, and provides the raw material for galvanising wider interest and producing new models.

Date: Aug 28, 2005

I agree the tipping point will come, in some time
Emhar is the company that in these years has been the back bone of wwi AFV but its kits cant stack up to say timiya or dragon
but in the recent years RPM and ICM and Hat for 1/72; have taken interest in wwi era and have made some trully exciting kits, the ICM 1/35 figures are some of the best in the market in any era, the RPM 1/35 ft-17 is fantastic and so many after market parts, three options for tracks, a intirior an engine and four photo etch sets.

We should though remember that wwi modeling is still mostly resin and the boom will come when that will be changed to the more cheaper and available plastic
also we must be aware of some problems
Tauro though that there was a huge market for wwi in 1980 they planned a big line of wwi tanks but only came out with the a7v since they realized the market was a lot smaller than predicted.

Date: Aug 28, 2005

Roger, you pointed towards something very important there: INFORMATION. Lack of good info, and, specifically, lack of good PLANS, is hampering the output of new WW1 Models. The dominance of, say, WW2, is not just about people being nuts over that particular conflict, but also because there is an abundance of information to be had. This while other areas, not least WW1, is suffering from the opposite.

And I think one of the things that made WW1 Aero reach the Tipping Point was the fact that there no longer was any lack of info. Especially publications like Windsock and publishers like Albatros has formed the backbone of the upswing, I think. (Several Manufacturers used their publications, and mentioned it freely in their kit instructions.)

I also think that Internet is a fantastic thing. When people pool their knowledge and their respective resources, well, then great things can happen!

/PK

Date: Aug 29, 2005

Absolument, Peter. A very good source of information and scale drawings is the MAFVA's 'Tankette' magazine. One thinks, for example, of the epic series they did years ago on the origins of the tank, which included such gems as the Crompton machines, Holt tractors, Big Wheels and the like (I have only a few issues sadly). But 'Tankette' seems, unfortunately, to be hardly known outisde of a small circle. It would be great if, for example, MAFVA were to collect all their WW1 stuff (or at least that series about the origins) and print a special mega-issue, or something like that.

Date: Aug 31, 2005

We may actually be witnessing it presently:

- H�T can not be seen as a cottage industry since quite a few years, and they have certainly picked up on WW1 (though one would wish they would let the sculptor of the Turkish Infantry do ALL their WW1 sets!)

- RPM have released the excellent FT-17 series and some nice variations on the T-Ford and now add the Mack series to this. They seem tobe quite willing to continue releasing WW1 kits!

- Slow in releasing but good in its choice of subjects EMHAR have not only released the main British and German tanks of WW1, but also some very usefull figure sets.

- MIRAGE at least have announced a FT-17 series, which all the world hopes will have simpler track assemblies than the RPM offerings.

- Check out http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/FutureReleases.html#CAE a company called CAESAR, which makes very good figures, have announced a set of WW1 German an French Infantry

- also http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/FutureReleases.html#WAT showing WATERLOO 1815 promising Italian WW1 Infantry.

None of the above companies are cottage industries. None of them produce in resin. Ten years ago we would have seen the dozens of sets they currently produce or propose between them as a veritable 'flood'. Maybe we have already reached that Tipping Point?

Mario