Small Scale Military Headquarters

Read this...

"Plastic Aircraft Model Kits are Going Away

January 31, 2005: For over half a century, kits have been sold that enable military history buffs to assemble scale models of military ships, aircraft and vehicles. But that era is coming to an end, as the manufacturers of the original equipment, especially aircraft, are demanding high royalties (up to $40 per kit) from the kit makers. Since most of these kits sell in small quantities (10-20,000) and are priced at $15-30 (for plastic kits, wooden ones are about twice as much), tacking on the royalty just prices the kit out of the market. Popular land vehicles, which would sell a lot of kits, are missing as well. The new U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles are not available because of royalty requirements. Even World War II aircraft kits are being hit with royalty demands.

This move grew out of the idea that corporations should maximize "intellectual property" income. Models of a company products are considered the intellectual property of the owner of a vehicle design. In the past, the model kits were considered free advertising, and good public relations, by the defense firms. The kit manufacturers comprise a small industry, and the aircraft manufacturers will probably not even notice if they put many of the model vendors out of business.

Some model companies will survive by only selling models of older (like World War I), or otherwise "no royalty" items such as machines designed by the Nazi party. The aircraft were always the bulk of sales, and their loss will cripple many of the kit makers."

So long MRC, Tamiya, Dragon, Merit, JSI......

Thank goodness for 3D printers, you can make your own models for personal use but crappy you cannot sell them. Greedy SOBs.

Model cars were first threatened. "Jeep is a registered trademark of the Daimler-Chrysler corporation." Jeep models were the first victims of the stink as I remember it long ago. They still say that slogan after every Jeep commercial to this day. I can't think of any other brand that feels the need to do that kind of thing.

Are any models even made in the U.S.A anymore? Maybe some Revell-Monogram?

"Thank goodness for 3D printers, you can make your own models for personal use but crappy you cannot sell them. Greedy SOBs."

They're going to get royalties by taxing the software for your 3D printer.......greed is not good!!!!

Axis Nightmare wrote:Model cars were first threatened. "Jeep is a registered trademark of the Daimler-Chrysler corporation." Jeep models were the first victims of the stink as I remember it long ago. They still say that slogan after every Jeep commercial to this day. I can't think of any other brand that feels the need to do that kind of thing.

Are any models even made in the U.S.A anymore? Maybe some Revell-Monogram?

Maybe,... I have not had a Revell in decades. I have some old Aroura Models from the 1960s still in the box. Those are the last ones that I remember being made in the USA. My vintage models from the 70's 80's and 90's say made in the Philippines, or Japan... Now everything will be made in Mexico. I know some individuals from Hasbro and they are already moving some production to Mexico.

There is some revitalization or re-shoring mfg to the USA.

I'm hoping that because of this production will be cheaper or maybe the IP holders will be proud to have mfg back on home soil and royalties will be cheaper.

I just can't believe this will be true. I have heard that some stuff has already been pulled off Shapeways by threats of lawsuits from Fox ( Predator ), Boeing, and Colt.

This is the next Napster I guess.

But...just like software, music, and movie piracy, the IP holders went after the distribution provider, napster, limewire... so they will likely go after Shapeways. I bet this will happen with 3D CAD files too, they will be put up online for free. That or you will have to go directly to the IP holder to get a legit one time use CAD file.... Who knows what will happen....

Since MRC and Tamiya owns about every good model company there is, we can probably say goodbye to their models, same for Merit, JSI. and BBI

Just gotta say this. Anyone making and selling IP protected stuff here should be careful. If you use a name, it can be googled. If the wrong person sees it, it could mean a lot of trouble. I know someone who accidentally used a Time Life photo from WWII on a blister pack and got himself into a lot of legal crap, cost him a lot of money, and he made sure to never make that mistake again. It aint worth it.

normandy wrote:"Thank goodness for 3D printers, you can make your own models for personal use but crappy you cannot sell them. Greedy SOBs."

They're going to get royalties by taxing the software for your 3D printer.......greed is not good!!!!

Like the article said, I don't think they will care. What if they want a 40.00 royalty for 10,000 units, that's $400,000... What's $400,000 to Boeing, a 500 billion dollar, or $500,000,000,000.00 company....

I'm just glad I already have printers and software, resin injection systems, and know how to use them. I've been making my own models for over 5 years. Working at WPAFB helps.

I refuse to believe this is happening....

So can model companies overseas thumb their nose at U.S. trademarks?

If you've ever been to a scale modelers show and swap, there are more models now than ever. Hardly anything you can't find a model of in at least one scale and format. Perhaps the high prices are partly because of licensing?

Just know there are tons of models coming out of Eastern Europe as well as Asia.

And what about Die cast? Historic Aviation has tons of those each catalog.


http://www.historicaviation.com/

Yes, and the PC died ten years ago.

Not that BBi has put anything out recently, but I do seem to remember the back of boxes indicating that the things they made were produced under license.

Of course, things were (mostly) cheaper then.

Im really not going to loose sleep over this. I think someone is just bored.

FX studios have used models for years and still do without paying anything back to the source of the object. Look at the newest MadMax movie for instance. Do you think they paid GM anything for using models of the Cadillacs they used to make the actual car from the movie? no. They bought the models, they bought the cars and paid the builders and model makers. GM would only have a case if the studio started producing cars.

If they are not going after movies making millions of dollars I wont worry.

Uh, the article itself is 11 f'n years old... are you guys seriously freaking out about this?

Not sure who wrote it, but the title line alone is such sensationalist tripe to its target audience (IE: guys who build model planes) that it's laughable.

Nobody's coming to steal your planes today guys.

Yes, this was getting press 11 years ago because some in Congress were trying to pass a bill so modeling companies would not have to pay royalties to the defense industry on +60 year old aircraft/armor. Car modelers went through this years ago. Then the model railroad industry went through the same. I don't think its so much the licensing fee as the liability inferred with such an agreement. Maybe if true licensing agreements were made the model manufacturers would produce better representations and we would have less collectors in the community complaining about inaccuracies---but I always look for a silver lining

Jesse James wrote:Uh, the article itself is 11 f'n years old... are you guys seriously freaking out about this?

Not sure who wrote it, but the title line alone is such sensationalist tripe to its target audience (IE: guys who build model planes) that it's laughable.

Nobody's coming to steal your planes today guys.

Doh... I thought it was 2015... but, contracts are governed by time. Some are 1 yr, 3yr, 5yr, or more. So this still could be accurate. Only time and more research will tell.....

One thing is true, these new 1/18 scale models and companies are more 2-3x more expensive than they were 8 years ago, and there really is no reason they should be and production costs have lowered. These models could and should be based off of new contracts....

The comment about model cars is true. It started in 2009 and prices have doubled while other kits have not.

Phew... Thanks for being more observant than me.

You know, I can walk into my local Hobbytown USA store and see several hundred new model kits on the shelves for everything from warbirds to historic aircraft to warships, tanks, and even Battlestar Galactica. I can go on a variety of online stores such as Hobbylinc, etc. and find hundreds of kits. Heck, when they released all the Star Wars toys for the new movie, there were snaptite kits available at every major retailer of the Star Wars ships. I don't think we're in any danger of losing our model kits...

What I can see happening, however, is that the current generation of kids is so obsessed with technology and video games that they start to lose interest in the patient process of building stuff (all the practically pre-built snaptite kits are evidence of this trend) but still, there are millions of people worldwide that enjoy building kits, so again, I don't see them going away anytime soon...

I thought the whole topic was about the fact that the prediction obviously had not come to pass. And there are more Jeep(R) models, diecast, RC and toys out there than 2005. (The "(R)" was as close as I could get to an R in a circle for registered trademark.)

One thing is true, these new 1/18 scale models and companies are more 2-3x more expensive than they were 8 years ago, and there really is no reason they should be and production costs have lowered. These models could and should be based off of new contracts....

Eh, it was just something I caught, easily missed, but regarding costs, if you follow that stuff, China's WWWWWAAAAYYYYYY more expensive to manufacture in.

Hasbro's moved some lines out of China because of it, as it's becoming prohibitive as their costs of manufacturing (IE: Steel mold toolings for plastic injection) are skyrocketing while the ability to pay for said rising costs in the US is stagnant (IE: Companies don't want to raise wages to meet inflating costs).

Star Wars figures cost anywhere from $6-$8 for "low articulation" stuff, to $13-$20 depending on scale. One of Hasbro's reasoning their 6" SW line is "why charge $13 for something smaller and less detailed when we can charge just a little more at $20 for something larger and more detailed and just as articulated if not more?"

Rising costs and retail partnerships killed 21st, BBI... It's not just materials, but labor. Labor is actually the culprit more than materials. You say there's no reason, but there's a huge one. The reason is inflation and a growing middle-class in China is moving their costs to a point where western countries cannot afford to do business with them without their own classes rising (from the lowest, to the highest). It's a pretty known thing that even Mexico may suddenly become a more economically viable manufacturing center for the US's consumerism than China, especially as Mexico advances in its abilities with the technological aspects necessary to handle the precision machining of steel molds.

This is talking largely about cheap plastic crap, not other forms of manufacturing, but others are already moving South... Not that they were ever being done in China, but I digress.

China was king of cheap plastic, and now they're not. Thus they're threatening the waters off various Asian nations who wish to undercut them, like Vietnam for instance, who are growing closer and closer to us because they're getting good at makign cheap plastic crap we like to buy. India as well have been growing this aspect of their economy, wisely seeing that China's class warfare within their own nation is hurting their ability to remain the king of cheap plastic crap.

IMO that article was really just something to stir up something among the readership... Sky is falling stuff. There is nothing happening to your models. You'll still have them. Where they're made at though, that's the question.

AV-8B Driver wrote:Read this...

"Plastic Aircraft Model Kits are Going Away"

January 31, 2005: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

OK folks, time to wake up.

@ AV-8B Driver,

The text you sent by the title "Plastic Aircraft Model Kits are Going Away" which you found somwhere on internet.. is actually a HOAX! A lie! A well known lie, copied & pasted over and over again all these years, spread on internet since 2002 (if not earlier) and now we have 2016 !!! I should also remind you that on 2002 when your "here comes the end of scale models" hoax text first appeared, the term "3D printer" or "3D printing" was completely unknown to the public.

Sorry mate, you 've been a victim of a hoax. The worst part is that you keep spreading the fake "news" like it it actually real, without even try to confirm the reliability of your sources and that is the most disappointing.

Nick_Karatzides wrote:

AV-8B Driver wrote:Read this...

"Plastic Aircraft Model Kits are Going Away"

January 31, 2005: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

OK folks, time to wake up.

@ AV-8B Driver,

The text you sent by the title "Plastic Aircraft Model Kits are Going Away" which you found somwhere on internet.. is actually a HOAX! A lie! A well known lie, copied & pasted over and over again all these years, spread on internet since 2002 (if not earlier) and now we have 2016 !!! I should also remind you that on 2002 when your "here comes the end of scale models" hoax text first appeared, the term "3D printer" or "3D printing" was completely unknown to the public.

Sorry mate, you 've been a victim of a hoax. The worst part is that you keep spreading the fake "news" like it it actually real, without even try to confirm the reliability of your sources and that is the most disappointing.

** ADMIN EDIT - Unnecessary **

"I should also remind you that on 2002 when your "here comes the end of scale models" hoax text first appeared, the term "3D printer" or "3D printing" was completely unknown to the public." What ??? How is this relevant??? You got some word salad going on. LOL

Bro calm down

dannyc wrote:Bro calm down

When someone repeatedly insults me in a condescending manner with a copy and paste method for no reason other than his own misunderstanding and superiority complex, I think "prick" is quite fine.

AV-8B Driver wrote:

dannyc wrote:Bro calm down

When someone repeatedly insults me in a condescending manner with a copy and paste method for no reason other than his own misunderstanding and superiority complex, I think "prick" is quite fine.

You don't have to call someone a prick there are so many other things you could do but you choose hostility

AV-8B Driver wrote:

dannyc wrote:Bro calm down

When someone repeatedly insults me in a condescending manner

@ AV-8B Driver,

Dont worry mate, you manage to insult yourself just fine. If you are offended, better blame yourself for spreading some unsubstantiated rumors & lies you find on internet.

You came uninvited into a thread where people were interested to find 1/18 scale accessories and aircraft ordnance miniatures (while I - as a forum member - offered them the chance to get 3D printed products) and you spread some "beware, dont buy from Shapeways because it is illegal" warnings, just because you read some hoax bullshit and you believed that like a naive you are... and you called me "...a complete prick..."?

As I said before, you've been fooled by hoax. You've been a victim and you believed some bullshit you read on internet without taking the time to check & verify. And as if that was not enough, you prefer to spread conspiracy theories like they are actual facts. You've been fooled! The sooner you accept it, the happier you'll be. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. We really appreciate the feedback, and will definitely take it to heart.

People say that "...the idiot persists, the cunning tries to justify and the smart admits his mistakes...". Well mate, you're out of competition due your congenital idiocy - I cannot confront a stupid, since stupidity has always been the supreme weapon.

Alright guys, this topic is getting a bit heated so I'm locking it down.