Why don’t they make my favourite plane?

Spudkopf · Post by **Spudkopf** » Sun May 17, 2009 5:15 am

Why don’t they make my favourite plane? (or just an aimless semi-related rambles)

For the N’th time I have had to re-adjust my (main) 1/18th aircraft display to accommodate a new arrival (well two to be precise) and it got thinking, the majority of the great unwashed, those that do not possess the same compulsive collecting gene as the majority of those who frequent here may in most cases only ever by one aircraft in this scale, seeing for most this choice will also be limited to the iconic planes of the past (or present) I can begin to understand why companies choose the create aircraft like the P-51 and the ignore the Hurricane for example.

This iconic bias or ignorance is not the general public’s fault but more due to the way that history has been presented in popular films or by the media of the time, as far as films go the reason has usually been one purely of logistics, in that there are far more airworthy P-51s and Spitfires around and all too few P-47s and Hurricanes, but in this modern CG world this should no longer be an issue, however the directors still persist on using these now established aviation icons regardless of the actual history. That said they are only continuing the follies of others, for example during the Battle of Britain it is a historic fact that the Hurricane was used in more numbers and actually scored more kills than its stable mate the Spitfire, however the Spitfire for propaganda reasons was praised as the hero of this conflict and thus became the accepted icon of this battle, the 1969 movie of the battle only reinforced this notion due the afore mentioned availability of airworthy Spitfires over Hurricanes, not to mention the fact that there were no flyable JU-88s or Do-17s and so there is a perception that the He-111 was the only axis bomber used. WWI is no different as the Camel and the DR.1 are the standouts icons from that war.

As such I’m quite interested to see how in general the airplanes of the present are remembered in the future, I would hope that the F-15 or even the A-10 will gain there rightful places, but I have an inkling that the film Top Gun may have more than it’s far share of influence over the eventual results.

I make no secret of the fact that my favourite aviation era is Europe 1943 to 1945 and I have been quite lucky in this scale as the Me 262, Fw190D and Bf109G6 rate among my favourites, although when it comes to allied aircraft from the same period the choice has been limited to P-47 and the P-51.

Even though I have my favourites unlike the general public I am willing the broaden my horizons and will basically take anything I can get, so aircraft from the 60s through to the present are also in my collection.

I had resisted all temptation for aircraft of the 50’s, simply because it was an era of little interest to me, but that changed last week when my $5 promotional CL-13 arrived, which in turn lead to the purchase of a Korean Mig15 and now I have the desire to get hold of the F-86E, the F-86F and possibly another Mig15. This leap into the 50s has also lead to me taking a crash course to learn more about these aircraft and the Korean conflict in general and now many pre-conceptions and comments of less than a week ago now seem woefully ill informed. However my recent ignorance typifies that of the general public / mass market and is what the 1/18th manufactures have to deal with when making the decision about what aircraft they should make.

I can see (however slowly) the beauty in all the aircraft that we have been fortunate to have until now, if not for space required to display these large aircraft and admittedly the shear expense of collecting them in Australia I would have more and have missed out on many. I put off buying a bubble top P-47 for a long time for both the space and financial reasons, only to miss out buying one locally that I had my eye on by just one day being sold the day before, now I may never own one.

So in conclusion, it is a simple fact of reality that for our 1/18th manufacturers to be able to stay in business and also turn a profit they must tap in into the ignorance of the general public and that means that the diversity available to them is limited to knowledge of that majority, who for the most part could identify less than a handful of aircraft from WWII period for example.

As for AFVs, well Jeep or Sherman anyone?

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Mon May 18, 2009 4:25 am

That's a great post. For people like us, these planes have an emotional and aesthetic appeal that the average person doesn't really feel. The specific "buttons" that particular planes push can be a matter of personal experience.

My father worked for LTV when I was growing up, so I have a real soft spot for the F-8 and the A-7. I'd love to see these in 1:18, but I know the chances of that are pretty slim. I AM glad that the F4U has made it into the popular "greatest hits" category, though, since I saw a LOT of pictures and models of it as a kid -- in my dad's shop it was THE great heritage plane and just about every one of his colleagues had some Corsair memorabilia on his desk and in his home.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Mon May 18, 2009 8:35 am

Sad but true. Makes you want to give some people a history lesson!

With the Spitfire molds being lost or broken, we still have a better chance of seeing one of those than a Hurricane. Though Skyworks has one, not everyone can afford.

I'm suprised with the P-51D being so popular we haven't seen the P-51 B/C fastback version in 1:18 mass quantities yet.

Spudkopf · Post by **Spudkopf** » Mon May 18, 2009 1:26 pm

Well I'd love to see a beefed up Korean era Corsair, but like most post WWII versions of aircraft it has little chance of happening and the repaint potential is quite limited, the french flew them and these looked quite cool and may have same sales potential because of this, but apart from some South American examples you only have the limited Navy Blue versions to choose from.

[quote="I'm suprised with the P-51D being so popular we haven't seen the P-51 B/C fastback version in 1:18 mass quantities yet.[/quote]

Again this would be due to so few B or C models still being around lots of D out there however.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Mon May 18, 2009 4:16 pm

True, but there are some B's and C's out there. Basically they are the same as the D except from the canopy back to the tail.

21st already did the B and C as well as a much improved D mold in 1:32. So they have the know how I would assume to do them.

There are so many paint schemes to do besides good old silver too. We could get a "Shangri La" and any of the ones they did in 1:32.
All they got to do is make them and people would buy them. A good way to come out screaming with a new 1:18 plane. There are no mass produced B's and C's in 1:18 yet. Once people buy one they're hooked and gotta buy the ones that follow. It's an easy sell the Mustang, as long as it's not yet another D in silver to flood the market. I'm suprised no one has put one out yet.

Then come out with a Hurricane. Put nice graphics and Battle of Britain story on the box, like they started to do with the last few planes. I think it would sell.

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Mon May 18, 2009 10:56 pm

Dauntless wrote:Then come out with a Hurricane. Put nice graphics and Battle of Britain story on the box, like they started to do with the last few planes. I think it would sell.

Agreed. A Douglas Bader Hurricane sure would be nice too