Ever since ARC played their April fools joke on everyone everyones been talking about Tamiya or Hasegawa releasing a B-17 kit in 1/48th scale like Monogram/Revells. It’s not going to happen anytime soon guys. I got an e-mail from Tamiya and it said in plain english that they had no plans on ever releasing a 1/48th scale B-17 kit and until you see anything posted on Tamiyas websit do not believe it. As for Hasegawa they had released a 1/48th scale kit in Japan but all they did was use the Revell-Monogram molds and it was released only in Japan and no where else. I know Panda is releasing a 1/32nd scale B-17G and a 1/32nd scale B-17F in the very near future and that would be very interesting to see it’s size. Now where would I ever find room for that?[:D]
My question is… Why not realease a B-17F/G kit? Of course this would be a fairly expensive kit, but it is an extremely popular aircraft. It is my favorite by far. I don’t know the specifics of production costs, but the fan base must be huge.
A B-17 by either Hasegawa or Tamiya would be one of the best things to hit modelling since plastic. To not do this is, is just plain ignorant. They would sell like no other B-17. It would sure beat the old Revell kits.
I’m on your side Jason, but unfortunately executives at model kit companies are not as intelligent as you and I! Their may be several reasons for not issuing such a kit- even legal reasons. Hasegawa and Tamyia may have non-competition agreements with certain “trademark” kits of Revellogram and vice-versa as they do have a partnership going on (see recent Pro Modeller kits).
If I were an executuive at Revellogram, I would do this: Re-tool the existing design adding recessed panel lines, slight fit improvements, an open bomb-bay, vinyl tires and other fine details. This can be done for a minium of R&D and Design costs. The tooling ain’t cheap, but I think they would see a payback in 2-3 years (the old mold probably paid for itself dozens times over).
The problem with most modern corporations is that they cannot see past the next fiscal year. They want a return on investment in less than one year. Those damb bean counters make sure of that!
I now return you to your regularly schedualed program.
Toad
Toadwbg’s made a very good point. The executives are going to listen to the bean counters, not the modellers. That’s a shame; a high quality B-17 mold would be a winner for EVERYONE - and quickly, too!
I absolutely agree!