I make this posting as a result of thoughts I’ve had while making contributions to the subjects regarding what kits we want to see most and the one about burn out in modeling.
I’m so tired of walking into hobby shops and seeing the shelves littered with the same old modeling subjects. These companies we buy the products of crank out millions of plastic kits per year of various subject matter, but in the end its mostly all the same things or re-issues of old things, or worst of all (in my opinion) is some other company’s kit repackaged as if it was something new. I almost bought an Italeri 1/48 F-5 fighter recently, but then found out it was an old Esci kit and gave it a pass.
A number of years ago Academy had a series of 1/48 general aviation kits, a Beech Bonanza and a Cessna Skymaster were part of that line. I heard mixed reviews about those kits, but I must admit thats a subject matter worthy of further exploration by mainstream injection form manufacturers. We shouldn’t have to spend an arm and a leg and all of eternity waiting for a limited run resin or vac form kit we had to special order from half way around the world just to have these things on our shelves at home.
There are so many subject matters that are worthy of coverage by mainstream manufacturers that never seem to find their way into being, agricultural and construction vehicles are one example of subjects I’ve heard many modelers lammenting the inadequate coverage of in our hobby.
Speaking as an aviation nut, I realize the ME-109, P-51, spitfire, Hurricane, Sabre, Phantom… are all classics and worthy of some coverage in the hobby, but they are all overdone by manufacturers. As far as I’m concerned the ICM Spitfire series should have been the last word in 1/48 kits of that aircraft for a long time, they’re terrific kits and I can’t see anybody being able to improve on them anytime soon, so lets leave that bird alone for a while.
I’ve been waiting for ages to see a manufacturer recognize the worthiness of the Piaggio P.180 Avanti aircraft for a kit subject. I still wait.
What have you asked for over and over again but never seen? What do you NOT want to see on the shelf for a while? What bores you to tears because you’ve seen it too often? What would bring you back to your workbench with real passion for the project and the hobby?