I was looking at the specifics of Dragons new LateTiger. The stuff that they are doing is incredible. But, as I thought more, I asked myself will all of the breath taking features eliminate the need for further detailing? Is it more of a nuisance than help? Will it take the pride out of scratch building half of a model? Will it take the FUN out of our sacred hobby? what do you say…
I don’t see how, mainly because one will have plenty of unused parts for the spares box. If these kits weren’t so low priced, that would be a major knock against DML. Charging you for versions of the model that you can’t build, pick one of three only. Those extra sprues will appear in many kits down the road in modified form. Need to add a field modification? hey just dig out some of the DML leftovers and let your imagination run!
As slow as I build, I appreciate all the help I can get. Also, if it saves money, that can go towards more kits.
Unless you’re one of the very few who have the wherewithal to scratch all that extra stuff, all the extras make this more fun, not less so. As long as the prices don’t skyrocket, the more they give me, the more fun I’ll have with the kit, and the happier I’ll be.
what will happen after DML have brought 20 versions of the tiger 2? They probably will do the same for the tiger 1 and so on. Not that it’s a bad thing .
Dave
I don’t think so. Like the others said, I like the extra stuff and there is always things you can do to super detail a kit if you want. I mean think of all the different Shermans and all the stuff you see on them in photos. I think I could spend the rest of my days just doing them, no matter how detailed the kit is.That’s one of the things I love about this hobby, looking at all the ref materials to get ideas
i dont see how this could ruin the hobby. Those that can scratch-super detail one, still will. Hopefully for them, there are still gonna be old, simple kits to detail. I fall into the category where im not skilled enough to scratch-build, but definitely can appreciate the detail.
Those that take ‘scratch-building’ to an art-form will not be worried about the level of detail of current releases. They’ll still do what they do anyway. The rest of us are delighted to see more accurate kits, with more optional parts included! I know I am!
Glenn
that 3-in-1 business is not really that new, it’s just that dragon seems to be the first one to actually advertise it. i’m buying PST kits and most of the time all the at all related tanks will actually come from the same kit. if you get the KV-1, KV-1e, etc it’s the same box contents. the kit i’m working on now, 1e, comes with 4 different gun mantlets. i could make a plain old KV-1 or a flame-thrower tank out of this no problem.
that’s not to say dragon isn’t doing a good job, just wanted to point that out. these are 1/72 kits but i’m guessing PST’s 1/35th scale stuff is in the same boat.
Sorry for not articulating my self enough. I’m not concerned with their 3 in 1 business. What worries me is that with dragon’s Late Tiger, you get pre bent photo etched side skirts, heat shields. Theire mud gaurds are all ready hinged and can be folded. Come on, this is what p.e. is for. I guess its good, but soon they will be adding clamps. and what fun would it be when you get it all in one package. I take great delight hoarding all of the neccessary after market stuff and finally building my model after months of preperation and planning. As they say, simplicity is beautiful, but simplicity lacks a difficulty. I guess its just me but Model companies make plastic models and AM commpanies make after market stuff. I guess it does have a monetary advantage, but when dragon starts hogging the ball, they are at liberty to hike the prices up …
I don’t think it will ruin or hurt the hobby. Extra parts for almost next to nothing in price is always a good thing. Modellers who prefer to scratch build detail for the model will always do their thing. Major scratchbuilding isn’t for me as I don’t have the space, skills or money to put in a model. I can do things like adding weld seams or adding new bolt detail. It’s a money thing for me and I am glad DML is including extra stuff. I am certain I will put the parts to some use in the future. If DML starts to hike their prices, that leaves the market open for another company like Trumpeter to come in and pull the rug out from Dragon by offering low prices.
I doubt that there will ever be a kit so perfect, so complete, that one who enjoys scratchbuilding and tweaking, cannot find some excuse to do so. Taking Shermans as an example, out of the 50K that were built, there were literally hundreds of variations, so there is no way that Dragon (or anybody else) can make kits to cover them all. So if you want some fun scratchbuildng, you can always do some esoteric conversion. Speaking as one who enjoys augmenting a kit and scratchbuilding details, I certainly would never have crtiticized Tamiya for usually producing kits that need little or no putty to make nice seams. I certainly don’t take less pride in a well fitting kit whose seams required little or no work to hide compared to a poorly fitting kit, the hiding of whose seams consumed the greater portion of the entire build.
The area where I do see a possible disadvantage to the higher quality kits is that they seem to drive the lower cost kits from the shelves. As a kid, I had enough difficulty buying kits, and feel that I would be largely priced out of the hobby if I was a kid today. Had I not built models as a kid, I don’t know that I would have started model buyilding as an adult. So from a cost perspective to modelers on a budget, I do lament the loss of kits like Tamiya’s M4A3(1981) or their 1970’s T-34’s that were good, well fitting kits, perhaps not the most detailed, but attractive out of the box.
Andy
A better-detailed, option-loaded kit selling for a reasonable price can only be a good thing, as far as I’m concerned.
For the scratchbuilders, it only offers a better vantage point from which to leap into their scratching. A dedicated scratchbuilder can focus all the time and effort on superdetailing a great kit to the Nth degree, rather than trying to bring a less-detailed kit up to standards and THEN going the extra lengths to make it something truly special. Why not start with a better canvas?
The non-scratcher/detailers can have a truly great model right out of the box.
Seems like a win/win situation to me!
You want to work at detailing it up more? Have at it! There will always be room for improvements, in any kit.
Like it as is? Then, OOB you go!
Of course, the bottom line is that this is a hobby, and whatever anyone wants to do with any kit is entirely up to the builder.
Thanks for your replies. I guess i was looking at it from a pessimistic point of view.