Coreyeagle48 wrote:DO335PFEIL
You have a lot of comments and information jumbled together in your posts to such an extent that it is very difficult to understand what you are talking about.
You first have to remember these are mass produced models, not homemade pieces as you are doing. Certain considerations have to be made for mass production and errors are not just limited to the 1/18 scale. You can find errors in 1/48 scale, 1/32 scale and beyond. The truth is the Dauntless is one of the better if not the best of the mass produced 1/18 scale aircraft to date. In my opinion the only aircraft that even come close to it in terms of quality were the BBI Corsair and the Zero. Many of the 21st products look like dogs compared to the Merit Dauntless.
You are correct, there were some clear problems that should have been corrected. There were also glaring QC control errors that didn't help matters. This is probably why 21st Century Toys went under like they did. As far as the repaint situation goes, repaints are a factor in model airplanes. Many people do not like it, but it is the way it goes. Any product line has multiple repaints. Hobbymaster, Corgi, Franklin Mint all have multiple repaints of one tooling. It is the way it goes. My thought on repaints was always to just buy the one I liked best and if one came along in a repaint I really liked you either sell the other one or make room for a second one.
One of the issues with what you said is that the main market for these companies is the United States, and some of the aircraft you mentioned aren't well known in the United States. For example, as people here in the US to name a German aircraft from World War II people might say the FW-190, Stuka or 109...maybe the 262. I promise you no one would say the DO-335. Same thing with the Russian aircraft. I was at an airshow where a Yak-3 flew this year and no one knew what it was except for the diehard aviation fans. I think all models do have a market, but the hardcore collector only plays a small role in a company and their overall business outlook. Companies will produce what sells, and they know P-51's, Corsairs and the like will sell. I am thankful the Dauntless has done so well as it gives some hope that a more obscure model will be done in the future.
As a final note I will say this, I am glad you can make your own aircraft. Unfortunately many people can not. A lot of people have families, jobs, kids, other commitments that prevent them from doing the work you are doing. Some also do not have the skill or do not want to be bothered. Truly most of these aircraft are great value for the money and allow people to collect that are not able to build models or do custom building.
I can see your points, but I believe that the diehards are the ones buying these items, not the individuals who bought a P-51 at Walmart 10 years ago for $40.00. These are not sold retail anymore. I don't think casual collectors would spend $200.00 on a model. I remember quite a few people who wold not buy the new MH-60 due to the fact that it was essentially a re-paint at $150. That may be the reason why we are seeing 2 SBDs and not another F-14, F-16, or P-51, but I could be wrong. I think over production of the popular P-51, F4U and such killed the 1/18. In my opinion, had a greater variety of planes become available, these companies would have made it in the black.
I agree that the new Merit have nice weathering effects, but is still was not worth 150.00. At 150.00, I expected more details, especially after they claimed to take it to another level, but in reality, these new 1/18 are no better than the last JSI F4U-a1. It is my belief that they way these companies over produced single variants killed the market, and tainted the product. Had they offered a wider variety, they could have sold them for just as much now, instead of the 40.00 then. I believe the "die-hard" collectors would have bought the variants, as we are all collectors, and we are buying them now.
A few points....
While well over 100,000 people attend airshows each year, only a couple of thousand of these airplanes are produced. Not everyone at an airshow are there to see a WWII Soviet fighter. Sure, you may ask one of these people to name a WWII German aircraft, and they may never heard of the Do 335, but I would imagine 98% of people in this forum would know, and how many of the people here would buy a 1/18 335? These new 1/18 are selling out in the initial runs, at $150 +... Ask these same people who have never heard of the Do 335 if they know what a SBD is, and I think they would have no idea.
I've sold many of these 1/18 scale and 1/32 scale planes overseas. There is a large demand for them, especially now, and they are willing to pay. I sell several a month to France, Netherlands, Brazil, and even Russia, just to name a few. I don't sell through Ebay, I find the the international buyers for some reason don't like eBay. I think its because of the Buyer Protection, and buyer pays return shipping (When I sell overseas, I pay the return shipping, and the individuals are willing to pay 150.00 for a F-104, and MiG-15bis believe it or not, but they never return them).
The very expensive die-cast models you speak of are not repaints in the way these 1/18 scale are. Not every P-51D was constructed the same. There were many small details that these companies captured while these 1/18 scale ignored. That speaks to the toy like nature of them. (I agree, but I think all the 21st look like dogs, how could you not include the directional antenna on a plane?)
Hope I made more sense this time and I'm not trying to be argumentative.... I'm just a "die-hard"
Cheers.
You have to free the little tab under the tail, but then it moves down. Mine's a bit stiff, but it is moving and I'm not warping/breaking plastic. I think I had a criticism of the non-moving tailhook posted earlier, but I'll validate Corey's observation that it does indeed move!
