Admiral Toys Information Q&A (Jason)

Jolly Roger · Post by **Jolly Roger** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:44 pm

well i have to say the recent rumor about the F5 has peaked my curiosity, and being AT seems the only company to have a little balls to them and try somthing different, means if it is true, you have a new customer for life!

after seeing the difference in quality on the F86's, it is resonable to say i know who's Me262 i will be buying shortly

well and the F86.. meanwhile the broken F86 and Mig13 are going to the scrap yard.

STUKA · Post by **STUKA** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:10 am

I can be your scrap yard

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:12 am

Jason if you go and do 1;32 scale aircraft plesae check this out

http://www.markwaki.com/pages/Focke%20W ... 0page1.htm

I hope you do a higher level of detail in your 1:32 scale aircraft then what the others do, I might look into that scale if you do it.

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:01 pm

ok, I resisted as long as I could, but I officially put my Me-262 order in with the 'Cat about 20 minutes ago... Considering the outstanding quality of my CL-13, I am really looking forward to the Schwalbe!

Timbo · Post by **Timbo** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:02 pm

According to the info on the AT website they have another shipment on the way.

Jason, is there any chance you guys would be willing to let us vote on the next paint scheme for the 262? I have a couple favorites that I wouldn't mind seeing.

Jason of Admiral Toys · Post by **Jason of Admiral Toys** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:34 pm

Timbo,

I like your idea. I think a vote would be pretty fun. I am not guarantying that the vote will be accepted. I say this because of cost considerations; we may already have something similar in production, etcetera. But I would be interested to see your interests. At the very least I would like to see what you have in mind.

The second paint scheme has already been chosen and predevelopment has begun. It will be a while before they are out, and I cannot discuss or divulge what the paint scheme is.

Therefore let me know what you would like and give us the significance of your choice; why should this aircraft be represented in the ME 262 line.

Starman 352nd,

Timbo is correct. We have another shipment on the water that should be here soon. I would advise your friend to get on a pre-order list. The second shipment is almost all spoken for. I am sorry, but we do not disclose production numbers except on our limit releases. However, thank you for your kind words regarding the ME 262. We are pleased with the way it turned out. But “I” think the next aircraft is even nicer!!

Jolly Roger,

As stated before, my lips are sealed. The F-5 should be a great model. A lot of young people will think it is a sharp looking stereotypical fighter. There are a lot of sales in that demographic.

VMF115,

You will learn more in the next couple of months. I am saying nothing either way. However, that is a great looking model. I promise you that we could not be competitive with pricing if we put that level of detail into a production model. The competition has priced there 1:32 scale models, metal and ABS models, at a point that prevents much more detail to be incorporated. That level of detail would take you close to a retail price of the current 1:18 models. I do not see people justifying paying the same price for a 1:32 scale model as a 1:18 scale model. Size matters, but is not the determining factor with production.

FieroDude,

Thank you for your compulsive order! I am sure Bad Cat appreciates it as well. They are a great company to deal with.

Regards,
Jason

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:45 pm

Jason, when will the next Sabre repaint be out?

Timbo · Post by **Timbo** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 4:41 pm

Well here is the first one on the list. I'll add 1 or 2 more as I have time.

White 3, JV 44 Piloted by Franz Stigler.

Often misidentified as belonging to Adolf Galland, this was actually the personal mount of Oberleutnant Stigler. Stigler was recruited to JV 44 by Galland himself, the only stipulation being that Stigler bring his own plane. Stigler traveled to the Leipheim factory, which had only just been bombed earlier in the day. Fearing that the factory might be hit again, Stigler was allowed to take the aircraft without any papers. While with JV 44, White 3 gained a reputation for reliability and performance and Stigler refused to let anyone else fly it. It was unusual for anyone in JV 44 to have their own aircraft as the pilots usually flew what was available. Galland however did pull rank occasionally and flew several missions in the aircraft and by chance happened to be photographed next to it which is why it is often believed to be his. Stigler only allowed one other person to fly the aircraft who was subsequently killed when the plane crashed just after takeoff and was completely destroyed. The aircraft was mostly likely painted in the classic gray scheme of RLM 74/75/76. The profile view below was approved by Stigler himself.

Edit:

While doing some further research on this aircraft I came across this article about Stigler while he was flying 109's.

"...in December of 1943 when Charles Brown and the crew of "Ye Olde Pub" were nursing their badly damaged B-17 back home. They happened to fly directly over Oberleutnant Franz Stigler's fighter base. Stigler had already shot down two other B-17s that day and quickly took off and caught up with Ye Olde Pub to make it kill number three.

As Stigler moved in to fire, he noticed how badly damaged the B-17 was. There were gaping holes in the fuselage and half the rudder and horizontal stabilizer was shot off. The tail gunner did not fire, so he closed in and could see blood dripping off the .50 caliber tail guns. Inside, Stigler could see the crew members frantically tending to the wounded. At that point, he felt that shooting down the aircraft would be like shooting men in their parachutes.

Stigler pulled up along side the B-17 and motioned for Brown to land in Sweden. However, Brown continued towards home. When they reached the coast, Stigler saluted, pulled up and flew back to base. If his actions had become know, he would have been court-martialed and possibly shot for letting an enemy bomber escape.

Charles Brown and "Ye Olde Pub" made it back to their base in England. Much later, these two former enemies met again and became close friends."

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:39 pm

hworth18 · Post by **hworth18** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:01 pm

Thanks for the intel Jason..
I posted this on the Model Hangar also for those guys that are interested..

EnemyAce · Post by **EnemyAce** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:29 pm

Great looking scheme and great looking plane! I'm looking forward to picking one up but I may have to wait until S.2 on this one.

Also really, really looking forward to all your upcoming 1:72 products. Hopefully you have a lot hitting the store after the 1st. So far still no competitors on the M-10, Su-85, and Pz III front. Might I suggest the 38t series next? Hetzer, Marder III H & N, and early war Pz 38t. Lots of sales there.

Timbo · Post by **Timbo** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:44 am

Jason, I know this is probably a long shot but is there any chance of getting a few of these unpainted?

Jason of Admiral Toys · Post by **Jason of Admiral Toys** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:11 pm

Timbo,

It is a long shot with the ME 262. For the F-86 it was a simple task of not placing the spray-masking and tampo-prints on the aircraft. The ME 262 really does not have a base color. I guess we could paint them solid light-blue-grey, but this too would be difficult.

We would consider this a whole new production run. It may help if I give you a run down on how these models are produced.

1. I have spoken in the past about master models, tolling, modification, preproduction work, and therefore I will not rehash that process. So therefore after months, to years, of this process we go into production.

2. Productions starts by injecting all that you want produced for that particular run, with a percentage over injected for wastage.

3. Then all the parts are painted. This means the cockpits are painted separately, the struts are painted, the gun housing, guns, seat, panels, intakes, flaps, slats, ruder, stabilizers, wheels, tires, canopy, etcetera. All parts go through the paint process separately.

4. After all the parts are painted then the individual parts that need spray masking goes through that phase. This for example would be the tail, camouflage brown coloration.

5. After spray masking is completed then the aircrafts go through tampo printing. Of course this would be all the fancy German warning labels, yellow triangles (which are actually three tampo print steps, yellow then black lettering and then white outline), white 8, German markings, and etcetera.

6. Finally, after the entire aircraft is completed with all phases of paint, masking and tampo-printing they are put together. BUT:

7. They are put together in phases. All the cockpits are put together; the wings are assembled in one area, the tail sections in another, the struts and tires over there. The guns are even assembled on a different floor of our facility. Once all the major components of the model are individually put together, all those separate assemblies come together on one floor for final assembly.

8. Then with the ME 262, after they are completely put together they have the aerial antenna attached and are packaged.

Therefore, if we want only a few solid blue aircraft it could not be included with the standard production. They would have to go through all the steps separately and this is time consuming, which equates to a lot of money wasted.

Our production schedule is very full. To take time out for 100 to 200 solid blue ME 262s would push everything back 2 to 3 weeks. You know how this industry works…. 2 to 3 weeks will turn into a month at the blink of an eye.

I hope this helps explain the process. Theses models are not made one at a time. They are made in runs. Limited runs, such as the Patricia II are very expensive for our facility. Wasted labor hours on such small production numbers are not favorable in this industry.

But, you never know. Maybe in a couple of months, things will slow down and we will find time to get you a limited run of 100-200 ME 262s. Our silver F-86 sold very well. Well enough to induce us to produce a couple more. They should be out in a couple of weeks to months. Time is critical, but unpredictable.

Regards,
Jason

Timbo · Post by **Timbo** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:27 pm

I figured it was a long shot. I plan to do at least one repaint and possibly another and I know every coat of paint takes away just a little more detail. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys picked for the next scheme and I'll be posting another one that I'd like to see over the weekend. Thanks for the info.

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:49 pm

Hey Jason, Are you guys going to be doing replacements for people that had QC issues with this next run you’re getting in or are you waiting for a future run. I just love this plane but that smeared "8" means I can only display it one way. Not nagging.....just being nosey. I’m in no hurry at all.

By the way, your customer service rep Trey was a real pleasure to deal with. He was very quick to replay to me last week.

Jason of Admiral Toys · Post by **Jason of Admiral Toys** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:28 pm

toyktdlgh,

QC will be dealt with on this next shipment. All issues will be remedied soon.

Regards,
Jason

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:36 pm

You guys really aim to please. Thanks.

easy8 · Post by **easy8** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:28 pm

Jason any word you can pass along on your 1/72 line? You have some great looking prepro models, just curious as to how things are going with your small scale line. Thanks

easy8

EnemyAce · Post by **EnemyAce** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 3:20 pm

Any chance for a garage sale type deal for some of your returned products due to "QC" issues? I saw one guy return something that I couldn't even tell had anything wrong, let alone the kind of stuff I find on 3 out of 4 of my 21st planes. I'd love a chance to take some stuff off your hands for cheap if at all possible...

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:56 pm

aferguson wrote:Jason wrote:

"Eddie372, I just read what I posted and need to clarify. I kind of let the cat out of the bag. I was not going to tell you about certain modifications that you will see in 18001B (our second paint scheme). Then I got up for a drink of water and came back to my office after talking to a couple of people and did not read my prior sentence. I guess what I am saying is that this un-decorated version has the minor modifications. What I am not telling you is all of the major modifications that will be present on 18001B. We already retooled parts of the aircraft and accessories. I will tell you more in a few weeks.

18001B will be German…oops I did it again. Where’s that damn cat?

Regards,

Jason "

18001B

Is this the 2nd paint scheme for the me-262 ?

Timbo · Post by **Timbo** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:00 pm

I beleive that was in reference to the Luftwaffe CL-13.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:18 pm

Timbo wrote:I beleive that was in reference to the Luftwaffe CL-13.

Oh my bad

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 11:38 pm

Jason of Admiral Toys wrote:
It is a safe bet that next year we will modify the molds to produce an A-1a/Jabo. We did not want holes on our models that did not have such ordinance. Therefore the fighter versions are produced first and then the Jabo.

Regards,
Jason

Is this correct?

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:45 am

I just noticed in my wary search that Jason does not have an avatar.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

Admiral Toys Information Q&A (Jason)

1/72 Line?