Got the “new kit/preorder” email announcement from e-hobbyland, found in the “Tamiya 1/35 armor” category is this:
TAM25108 Japanese Type 5 medium Tank CHI-RI w/Metal Barrel Retail $137.00 PreOrder $96.99
Did a 35 scale PLASTIC ARMOR kit just break the 100$ barrier???
(PS - e-hobbyland is a great online store with modest inventory but lower prices than GM, Squadron or even SPrueBrotehrs. So, the “mark up” is not at their end…)
PS 2 - Nope, not a typo. Great Models also has it on pre-order for $103 USD:
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=TAM25108
For the same amount of money ($101 USD), I can get the Academy 350 scale Graf Spee with laser-cut wood veneer deck, turned brass gun barrels, dry transfer draft marks, anchor chain, metal nameplate and extensive photo-etch set.
I am missing something here???
I don’t know, but it ain’t gonna break MY price barrier.
(Does that include two barrels of oil?)
According to the Tamiya USA site, the MSRP listed is indeed $137.00
http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=25108
It’s a rebox of the Fine Molds kit, but including the otherwise optional metal barrels.
EDIT: Sprue Brothers lists the original Fine Molds kit (not including the metal barrels) at $74.99
I’ll be uhhhhhhhh… passing on this one. [:XX]
When Fine Molds first hit the scene about 10 years ago, their IJA tank kits were multimedia affairs that were about $120-150. Around the mid 2000s you could find some of them on the clearance shelf for around $90-100.
At least the Chi-Ri is about the size of a Sherman tank. Most of their tankettes are around the size of a 1/72 Abrams tank kit or slightly larger than a 1/35 scale Jeep.
Must be the BMW engine that drives the price up
It almost looks like a Japanese take on a Panzer IV, with the quad double-bogie suspension setup.
All i can say is that i am glad i have built up a stash over the years.
I guess the more a kit cost’s the less the sales will be. Then do they have to bump up costs even more to cover dropped sales? It’s a real catch 22 situation.
If modern kits start fetching these sort of prices i don’t think i will be buying much anymore.
Boomer…
yes,a bit too much for me also.
It’s great to see something other than another Sherman or Panzer IV variant,but with that price…I’ll pass on it.
I would like to ask the executives of Tamiya how their prices are ensuring a new pool of builders to provide for a renewable pool of paying customers at these prices. I mean, can you see some teenage kid even paying the “normal” $50-60 dollars now for a week’s worth of building?
Must be the same people who are running Toyota?
I just spent over $50.00 on a few paints and supplies yesterday. The price of just modeling anything lately is going through the roof, and I’m rather disgusted. [:@]
Is paint for models really worth the asking price?I can get a gallon of housepaint for 10 bucks.
10 dollars wouldn’t buy you 3 jars of modeling paint in a lot of cases.
More than a few builders around here use the huge cans of Krylon or Rustoleum for $3.50 a can compared to the much smaller modeling spraypaint for twice that price or better.
I’m with ya doog. I just spent $50 on paints. Prices on new kit releases are getting insane and it makes me glad there are generations of older kits out there still priced reasonably.
At those prices, they will also lose the '“other” renewable pool of paying costumers: hobby returnees in their 30-50s (like myself!). Coming back to the hobby, I had no problems putting down 15-20$ in Ebay for the old Tamiya kits, 15-20$ for old Revell/Monograms, etc. Once you get beyond the “nostalgia” phase of hobby re-entry, what are you supposed to get? (I know, Hans will say "more monogram kits! 
a 40$ Dragon kit? a 75$ Cyber hobby? 50$ 1/72 scale jets??? 75$ WWII Prop birds (1/48 scale) ???
Good thing I built up my stash fast and early… as I mentioned in my first post, for $100 USD I can get a large scale, state of the art (with good reviews), WWII large war vessel (Academy Graf Spee), including wood decks, metal barrels and large PE frets. Moreover, that kit will take you several months (or a year!) to build, giving you a good expense/time ratio.
Karl, I hear you about paints/supplies. My LAST trip to my (not so local) LHS ended with me paying more money for paints and minor supplies than I would have spent ordering them online including shipping costs!
suffice it to say, Academy would get my 100$, not Tamiya.
Ahhhh, yes…Krylon paint…[bnghead]
I’ve repainted a modifed stocker about 6 times now due to the Krylon that I’ve been trying to use. Man, what a finicky paint. When you get the hang of it (decant it and thin with spirits) it’s a decent option, but spraying with that fan nozzle sucks, big time. It also hates going over any other paint, and even crazes itself if you re-coat with too heavy a 2nd coat. AT least that’s been my nightmares with it.
It’s a good paint if you are into the enamel-type finishing school, but I prefer acrylics on armor. The paints I got, by the way, were auto lacquers. I’m still bitten by the MOPAR bug, and working on two Roadrunners. I know, I know–shoot me! lol!
I would never paint a model with house paint. Too heavy.
I wouldn’t suggest using house paint on a model.But how different can it be from modeling paints?Think how much a gallon of any model paint would cost you.
I’m sorry but Tamiya is just plain greedy now. No way does it cost that much to make one model kit.
TD, it’s all in the pigments, man! The pigmets in house paint are MUCH larger. The carriers (solvents) are also formulated differently in many cases. to affect durability and/or coverage.
Just go into AC Moore’s or Michaels’ hobby and pick up some of those cheap craft paints like “Apple Barrel”–try airbrushing them. GOOD LUCK. The pigments are so big, and the carrier so “sticky” that it’s nearly impossible.
I was just having this discussion about model car paints with an expert from the Scale Auto community. He was talking about how the metallic finishes that you get from most major manufacturers are no good for 1/24/25 car models, because the metal chips in them are way over-scale. Not ground finely enough. After seeing his models, where he uses a special manufacturer’s paints which uses much-more-finely ground chips, I couldn’t believe the difference. Whenever I would see a metallic car model, I’d think it looked like a toy–so much so that I’ve almost decided to never do a “Metallic” finish. The paint from Model Car World was so perfect, they models looked like real cars–because of the microscopic pigments.
That’s a big factor in choosing paints–the pigments and manner of manufacturing that paint.
Two things that i have to offer, first, the good news, look around at your LHS, both of my fantastic local stores carry flyers for “kit expos”, basically swap meets for those selling kits second hand. We have such sales locally about every month, or every other, they are an amazing way to pick up everything from pretty recent releases to stuff you never heard of. Any decent sized show will also have vendor tables, and a ton of second hand kits.
I have only been to one so far, but they had 1/16 Trumpy t34s, with metal barrels for just under $100.00. I didn;t bite, but I did get a BA-20 Armored car, a BA 10 Armored car, An Italiere PZ 1, a T-35 super heavy tank, and an M3 armored car. I spent $60 cash at that sale. Every kit I got was complete with all parts on the sprues, decals, and instructions. Great way to build the stash and get some depth you most likely won’t find at a LHS.
Second, for my take on expense. I am right now working on a 1/35 C7P Polish Artillery Tractor, it’s so small it fits roughly in my palm. I have been working fairly steadliy, at least a couple hours a week if not more, since Nov 12, 2009. That’s three months of not going crazy thinking about work or other stressors. If you amortize the cost over the use you get out of it, it’s a pretty cheap hobby. Of course, if I bought a bells and whistles kit that didn’t need so much work, it would cost more and give me less distraction time. I bought that kit for under $20.00. That’s a pretty good return. I gues me theory only holds if it’s something tha tI planned on spending a ton of time one.
I did recently buy a Tamiya IS 152, that was by far my most expensive kit, and will probably go together the fastest since it is a newly tooled Tamiya shake and bake.
Bill
