I am writing here, because I would like to get some feedback from inside the modelling community about our new project, which is a 1/4 scale kit of an instrument panel. We are now making ready-made instrument panels. However, we know that this option does not appeal to a large community of modellers, so we want to come out with a kit, so you can make such panel yourself.
The smaller parts are made from resin, instruments and the main panel are from quality plastic. As I stated earlier, the scale is 1/4th, making the panel around 18cm wide, 15cm high.
After contacting some potential retailers, we got to the target retail price in the , which would be around £50. There would not be very large numbers (around 15-20 per month per aircraft type) of these kits, making them very unique.
Would you prefer more complex kit than the one on the pictures? (I mean fewer parts pre-assembled)
We are then interested in preparing kits and plans for whole cockpits, which you can then make around the panel. There would be around 4 individual steps, like… 1. instrument panel, 2. plans and some parts for a part of the fuselage, 3. additional instruments, levellers etc. 4. seat, pedals etc.
I will have pictures of first cockpit project of Fw190 during the September, so I will post them here then. The target price for all the parts for cockpit assembly is around £200.
Would you be interested in such “cockpit” project?
Do you think that whole cockpit kit is more interesting than just panel kit, so you would prefer cockpit kit but not just panel kit?
I would be very thankful if you can share your opinion with us. It will surely help us in making final decision whether or not to continue in this project.
Does this really classify as an advertising? I just want to discuss this project. Would getting rid of the first few lines where the company is mentioned/link etc. help?
Advertisements. If you would like to advertise a product that your commercial company manufactures, or if you are an individual private seller, you can buy a classified ad in the magazine or an ad on the Web site. This includes all buying, selling, and trading. Any posts that appear to be an advertisement or transaction will be deleted.
IMHO this is a close call, someone “testing the waters” vs outright advertising. I’d let FSM make the call. I’d assume if the OP gets good feedback, they’d advertise in FSM. Is this advertising, or market analysis?
Without continuing the advertizing debate, I think the market for such kits would be very limited. Personally, I wouldn’t spend that much for an Instrument Panel.
I myself would not classify this as outright advertising.It is pushing it though.Aside from the advertising debate…it sounds like an interesting avenue.I myself would like to have realistic cockpits of some of the more modern fighters,such as the F-4,F-14 or F-15 those would be very interesting to me.But anything outside of the $100 U.S. range would be a stretch for me financially.Interesting idea though.
In All honisty Jak i think you would have better luck with this over on the LSP website large scale planes. But i like the idea i think the dials should be an assembley too.
Jakub is not advertising. There’s no way you could buy his kits based on the information given in the post even if you wanted to.
Having said that, why on earth would anybody want a model of an instrument panel? Instrument panels are relatively generic (I’m a pilot and have flown behind many of them, and they’re all basically the same, at least within the same very general time period.
I am not going to get into the advertising discussion here, but will respond to the messaage in its aparent inteneded subject.
First, I dont think that just a panel would sell on its own, unless it had the rest of the office to go with it. If it was put out as a series of kits to keep the individual cost down, then that would probubly work. I would buy them if they were complete pits, or a series of kits to make a complete pit. As for the cost, $100.00 for a kit isnt that bad, look at what some of us pay for let say a Tamiya in 1/32, or a Trumpeter kit in the same scale. If the cost does go above the $100 mark, then weather or not they are acurate is top of my list of things I would look at, number two would be the quality of the plastic, resin, decals, and photo etch.
Second, you might consider posting this question at other forums, such as largescaleplanes.com , aircraftresourcecenter.com , or hyperscale.com .I dont know much about marketing, but it makes sence that you would want as many opinions as possible, and keep us posted on weather or not you plan on following through with this project.
I don’t see a market for this with scale modelers like us here. Like another poster said, it’s not a product I would buy unless it came with the entire office or plane. If I am going to build a cockpit panel I will certainly want to put it in a model plane to show it off. I love the detail but I think your company should make it in a smaller scale, say 1/48 and 1/32, so we can actually use these kits on our own models. Most aftermarket products are geared to be used with an actual model kit. I think the idea is right but the market your going after is wrong.
I also feel jet aircraft should be represented with these kits as well. I build mostly modern combat (jets) aircraft and I rarely ever build WWII planes. If you want to market toward modelers, expand on what your offering to those of us that also build jets too.
I would be interested if the kits entailed modern (1985-2010) IPs, like the 1/12 Viper Pit by Italeri (I think). I would definately place it next to the 1/48 model, to add another sense of awe.
YA know Waldron at one point had a 1/12 P-38 cockpit I think. And I believe that Italeri - or someone similar had put out a complete 1/12 f-16 cockpit with a helmut.
The question that is being asked should be relavent to the aforementioned kits and tthier sales per se.
I personally probably would not buy just and instrument panel. I haven’t bought any of the large scale cockpits available → but that doesn’t mean that no one would. I believe that the market for what is being proposed would be limited and specialized.
