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Wingnut Wings Done?

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  • Member since
    May 2012
  • From: Pennsylvania
Wingnut Wings Done?
Posted by pilotjohn on Friday, April 17, 2020 7:59 AM

Just read that Wingnut Wings will be shutting down permanently....  Sad

John

  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Summerville, SC
Posted by jeffpez on Friday, April 17, 2020 8:34 AM

Their web site says it's temporary.

  • Member since
    May 2012
  • From: Pennsylvania
Posted by pilotjohn on Friday, April 17, 2020 8:45 AM

jeffpez

Their web site says it's temporary.

 

http://hyperscale.com/wnwupdate_1.htm

John

 

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Mopar Madness on Friday, April 17, 2020 9:18 AM

I've head about this, I'm really curious as to who will buy the moulds & tooling. 

Chad

God, Family, Models...

At the plate: 1/48 Airfix Bf109 & 1/35 Tamiya Famo

On deck: Who knows!

  • Member since
    May 2012
  • From: Pennsylvania
Posted by pilotjohn on Friday, April 17, 2020 9:44 AM

I looked at a box and it says "designed in New Zealand".  It is manufactured in China.  Seems there may be more to it than just Covid-19.

I agree, and think that the moulds are the real asset.  Even if there are processing and shipping issues in China, why sack your design team?  It would take months to get from concept to production anyway.

John

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Mopar Madness on Friday, April 17, 2020 10:05 AM

I was really looking forward to seeing their new Lancaster! 

Chad

God, Family, Models...

At the plate: 1/48 Airfix Bf109 & 1/35 Tamiya Famo

On deck: Who knows!

  • Member since
    May 2012
  • From: Pennsylvania
Posted by pilotjohn on Friday, April 17, 2020 10:30 AM

Mopar Madness

I was really looking forward to seeing their new Lancaster! 

 

I was looking to their DR. 1's as well.

John

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Friday, April 17, 2020 1:29 PM

Very sad news indeed.  I had read that there was some dust up with subsidy monies from the NZ government to promote international business, but until there is official word, it's all hearsay.  The relevant part of all this is that we may be losing a kit maker that not only produced some of the finest models ever, but put 1/32 WW I on the modeling map.  And on our work benches and into our stashes.  Mostly stash for me, as I am one of many that suffer from "WNW Inferiority Complex".  Too many awesome builders out there.

I was really looking forward to the Dr.I, as I wanted to rid myself of the embarrassing Roden kit I built several years ago.  It was such a pain to build, and the resin/PE parts actually made it worse.  I dreamed of building a WNW Dr.I or two.

But never say never (only Romeo Void can say it).  The tools are high quality metal, and the original crew who brought us WNW but are now out of a job might - just might - organize and make a new company to sell the existing kits plus the Lanc, HP-0/400 and Dr.I they were working on.  Keep your fingers crossed.

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Saturday, April 18, 2020 12:46 AM

Oh man, this is sad indeed, I really hope it will come on the market agin oneday. I hve hd my se5 for many years now and can simply not bring myself to taking it out of the plstic, it is the best kit I have ever owned and I know there is nothing that can repace it detail wise :-(

 

Theuns

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: 37deg 40.13' N 95deg 29.10'W
Posted by scottrc on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 8:17 AM

Just when I had some funds to order that Camel.   Man, that is really a shame.  

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 8:36 AM

Real G

Very sad news indeed.  I had read that there was some dust up with subsidy monies from the NZ government to promote international business, but until there is official word, it's all hearsay....

Here are two of the latest stories in the Kiwi media about this:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12306788

https://livenews.co.nz/2020/02/09/media-release-on-41m-annual-subsidy-for-weta-group/

Those are just among the latest updates on Jackson's Weta Group and the government subsidies it accepted.  The story has been brewing for two years.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 9:24 AM

The first link lead me to an article that wants a paid subscription in order to be read, and the second article is a political party piece with no real facts...

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 10:32 AM

stikpusher

The first link lead me to an article that wants a paid subscription in order to be read, and the second article is a political party piece with no real facts... 

Yeah, the NZ Herald has a paywall.  Regardless of the politics of the second site, the issue is with the state subsidy.

Here is an older story which you can access in its entirety.  As I said, this story has been brewing for at least 2 years:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12195991

If you search on "peter jackson weta group subsidy", you can find more.

Weta Digital is a digital special effects company Jackson founded.  From the stories that have been published, it sounds like the fallout from the controversy spilled over to his other businesses, like Wingnut Wings.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 3:56 PM

Yes, I’m sure that I could spend time doing web searches for the relevant information if I felt inclined enough to do so. I’m really not, as I’m not a Wingnuts Wings buff. They are nice models, but they’re not my cup of tea. 

I had hoped to read from a single article what the issues and facts were, as happened when Hobbico Revell foundered. Instead one wants my money, and the other was an opinion piece masquerading as journalism spouting some political talking points that did not even try to objectively present any basic facts of the situation. No offense meant against you Baron.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • From: Salem, Oregon
Posted by 1943Mike on Saturday, May 2, 2020 12:31 AM

As I haven't been doing much model building in quite some time this comes as a shock to me.

I was just viewing this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pwBdI8L9Ho

Andy mentioned (starting at 4:22 in the video) that it was shutting down. I had to come over here to see if there was a thread on the subject and here it is.

If I'm going to build aircraft it's usually 1/48 scale but I do have the Fokker D.VII "Early", the Sopwith F.1 Camel "USAS", and the Albatros D.V (Manfred von Richthofen) WNW kits in my stash so at least I'll be able to build those.

Really sad to me. They seemed like a business intent on furnishing a high quality product. Too few of those around.

Mike

"Le temps est un grand maître, mais malheureusement, il tue tous ses élèves."

Hector Berlioz

  • Member since
    January 2017
Posted by damouav on Saturday, May 2, 2020 1:29 AM

Unsubstantiated  gossip!

I read that planet earth has been invaded by aliens from a galaxy far, far away...

In Progress
1/48 Tamiya P47-D Bubbletop
1/48 Hobby Boss TBF-1C Avenger (on hold)
Pending
1/48 Roden S.E.5a
1/48 Airfix Walrus
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