Armor (and others) modeling in the USofA

QUOTE: Originally posted by tediam Why is it that when surfing the web, the choices (especially for armor) in the UK and other European countries seem sooooo plentiful. Look at Wise Owl Publications. In the UK there are umpteen choices for the modeller in the magazine forum. Many titles dedicated to armor building. Is the US such a small market that all we can have is FSM.

Scale modeling - in all forms - has been considered a serious hobby in Europe far longer than in the U.S. I'm talking about hundreds of years here! Napoleon reportedly had an entire room dedicated to scale models of all the great armies in Europe and would plan out strategies using them.

While I do agree that there are much better armor magazine choices from Europe (I subscribe to both Euro Modelismo and AFV Modeler), there are magazines taking hold of this market over here. Military Miniatures in Review is an excellent example from Florida. Others may start up as interest grows.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tediam Why isn't there an American producer of kits and AM products. Seems like every thing comes from Europe or Asia. It's not like the stuff is mass produced and cheaper to produce in other countries. You thoughts are appreciated.

On this issue, I have to say that I disagree to a certain extent.

Yes, ALL the major model kits are produced overseas and I think that one issue (and one issue ONLY) drives this fact...Money. The model kits that are produced today could not be produced in the U.S. for even twice the money (IMHO). The resulting cost to the consumer would be prohibitive.

However, there are many, many U.S. companies producing outstanding AM products. Some of them are considered the best in the world at what they produce.

Enjoy your modeling...

Digger,

I too am from the US and know what it's like to work you a$$ off just to make ends meet. Not a lot of spare time here I agree. You make some good points. Sure wish we had more options over here though.

Ted

A lot of Americans veiw modeling as kids stuff.We are an impateint breed people who do not take time to enjoy what we have.This can explain why there is not much intrest and less of a market over here for modeling.My wife keeps telling me how life is over there in Europe because she is from Germany.Most Americans work 40 hrs a week and when we get home,we have things to do around the house or go fishing and camping.A lot has to do with the values that we have here,like 1 week off for vacation for a years worth of work.I know that being a truck driver,I worked 70 hrs + a week just to bring home some decent money to pay bills.This is what we call casing the buck and taking time in most cases to do what we want is very little.So hobbys and extra thing are sweap aside for rest and/or to work another job.This is a little back round on us here and this might help you to understand some of this that you have asked.As for manufacturing kits,mags and AM parts most is done overseas due to it is cheaper.This does exclude the mags which is done here.A good exsample of cheaper here would be:Tamiya vs Revell/Monogram(which is moving overseas),aTamiya kit and quaity which goes for about/or around $40.00 would cost about/or around $50.00 here if done by Revell/Monogram.Revell/Monogram would not be able to sell very many kits.So to bring there quaity up and to make them cheaper they moved overseas.
Goverment regulations and the work force here is making it hard to manufacture things here.This is why you have a hard time find good sites here for AM parts or kits.As for the the exsample of the low solder,well a lot of products that are made in your country are not allowed here or we don't know about them.My wife tells me about Germany and so of the things they have there.It is hard to find them here that is unless she goes to this computer and orders them from over there.Some of these products when she orders them are not allowed here so the order gets canselled.I hope this helps you out .Digger

Is the US a small market? Maybe we're just split into more "factions"? It seems like NASCAR and other cars are a big part of US modelling preferences. Or, mabe that's just what I see more of lately.

Isn't Verlinden now based in Missouri? Or am I mistaken?

With the interweb, borders don't seem to be so much of a limiting factor, just getting things delivered for reasonable prices and doing currency conversion can cause headaches. Just my opinion.