The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

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aferguson
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The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

Post by aferguson » Sun Aug 22, 2021 4:19 pm

I've been away from collecting 1/18 for quite a while and am just getting back into it recently (aircraft only).

I was surprised by a few of the subjects that never got made. I figured Pegasus was a slam dunk for an Me-163 Komet, but it nor any other 1/18 subjects came out of Pegasus after the first 3 (bell x1, v-1, gee bee z).

that an F-4 phantom never saw the light of day was also a big surprise. I would have figured JSI for that one, since they did the Tomcat.

The Harrier and FW-190A were nice to see but there's been nothing since....unless i'm missing something.

And i'm kind of amazed. 1/18 is still clearly popular...the high prices fetched for them on Ebay is evidence of that. But yet after all these years, there has been nothing new produced since , what 2014? I would have thought there would be a market for a new 1/18 plane every couple of years from Merit or somebody......even Pegasus still. But zip.
i never met an airplane i didn't like...

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Re: The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

Post by normandy » Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:56 am

Wasn't there talk of a B-24 in 1:18 from 21st? That would have been huge.
There was a 1:18 B17 F Memphis Belle - nose made by MPM
http://www.primeportal.net/models/thoma ... e_section/

I was also surprised that Pegasus did do a Me-163 Komet, I remember one of our members saying
Pegasus felt there was already one being made (skyworks?) so they weren't going to do it.


The two I wanted where the Me-163 Komet and the Focke-Wulf Ta-183 Huckebein which Pizzaguy made,
both great kits.
My all time favorite is the Ho-229 which Pickelhaube made in 1:18, this was so nice I got two.

There was a 1:18 Lippisch P-13a in the works but it crashed and burned.

I've stuck with armor (WWII) I can fit more tanks than planes. :)

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Re: The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

Post by Cascabel » Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:48 am

I really wanted a Hurricane, and an IL-2, and I thought they were popular enough to be made in 1/18

tmanthegreat
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Re: The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

Post by tmanthegreat » Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:57 am

It is very curious to see what got made and what didn’t… Like Aferg said, I am very surprised we never got an F-4 Phantom in 1/18. Admiral Toys even had one prototyped years ago. 21st made an announcement about doing a Phantom as well as a B-25 and Mig-21. Those were just that - announcements - as the company folded soon after. Another aircraft I’m surprised we haven’t gotten is an F-15. JSI even had one prototyped at one point…

On the armor front, there are several notable items I am surprised we didn’t get from 21st namely. I’m surprised they never did an M5 Stuart tank in 1/18 as they had decent models in 1/6 and 1/32 scale. I’m also very surprised we never got a King Tiger nor a T-34 from 21st.

That said, 1/18 scale is definitely not dead and there is a ton of renewed interest, especially among the younger crowd. The fact that Marauder Gun Runners earned over $512,000 in the Kickstarter for their 1/18 Marauder Task Force Vietnam line of figures is evidence enough of the popularity of 1/18 scale. Joy Toy figures are also proving immensely popular, particularly if one is into more futuristic/sci-fi items… The hobby seems much more collector-oriented now and is definitely much more expensive. It’s fun watching some of the newer collectors in the various 1/18 Facebook groups get all excited about finding a 21st tank, plane, or helicopter… I’ll ask myself where they were 20 years ago :P
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aferguson
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Re: The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

Post by aferguson » Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:29 am

well let's hope this renewed interest leads to new aircraft releases. An Me-163 Komet is still a no brainer and Pegasus is still around...
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Re: The 1/18's that never happened (but i thought they would)

Post by normandy » Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:36 pm

Tman mentioned the King Tiger among other things, I remember
reading it was next to "ship" after the 88's. I'm not sure what happened
but that may have been around the time of the FW-190's at walmart and
21st starting to go under. Don't know if product was being held due to lack of payment or what.
I've often thought of pallets and pallets of King Tigers sitting in a warehouse some place in china. 8)
Well Pickelhaube made sure those who wanted a KT, got one or two. :P
Maybe, with luck TKO will stop in and give us some insight on why certain things did or didn't happen
at 21st.

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