new stuff

What would be great would be if someone (Lindberg, you listenin'?) did a 1/200 WWII US battleship or fleet aircraft carrier... you know, an Iowa, a Yorktown or Essex?
Ah, such is the stuff of dreams...

tankerbuilder wrote:

HI ---- Well are you ready for some new stuff from lindberg?? wait till you guys see the DKM Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier!!!!!! The next thing is the JAPANESE sub C 3. I am not going to say more ,except I have this from an unamed source ,that when they hit the hobby shops you,re in for a surprise!!! Wait and see . This is the opening salvo from the NEW LINDBERG . Now hear this ,All LOOKOUTS be scanning for that sub !!  TANKERBUILDER

Not sure where you have been Tankerbuilder, but the news about the Graf Zeppelin has been out for months, with photos of the prototype, etc.  From what I have seen, the Lindberg Graf Zeppelin looks very crude, and with a lot of problems (though it is certainly possible that they have cleaned up the molds considerably in the meantime).  Of course, the BIG question everyone has is is WHY Lindberg would come out with a 1/200 version of a ship that never sailed!  1/200 is a pretty humungous scale, and only a few large ships have ever been produced because of this (Yamato, Musashi, Missouri, and a few destroyers and submarines).  The Japanese sub Lindberg has been promising for about six months, and apparently will come in two versions, one with Kaiten suicide subs, and the other in the original aircraft-carring variant (I-19).  There are a LOT of people waiting for that one, as it is going to be in 1/72 scale, which means it must be HUGE!  But those are 'B-2' subs, and you mentioned a C-3.   Have you heard what scale the C-3 will be produced in?

They show a C1 type on their website, carrying the type of minisub used at Pearl Harbor

http://www.lindberg-models.com/water_model70817.html

58" long... that wil be a big kit!

Yup, I went back in the files, and it is a C-1 (I-20) with minisub (as per Pearl Harbor), and they also are making I-53 (Kaiten).  Anf yer right, it is a whacking big model!! Here is the I-20

Vagabond_Astronomer wrote:

What would be great would be if someone (Lindberg, you listenin'?) did a 1/200 WWII US battleship or fleet aircraft carrier... you know, an Iowa, a Yorktown or Essex? Ah, such is the stuff of dreams...

Trumpeter anounced a 1:200 scale USS Arizona in the 2008-2009 catalogue, Model #3701. There used to be a preorder page at the Freetime Hobbies, but the page was removed recently.

Yet, those are stuff of dreams. With a MSRP of $999, I am not surprised if Trumpeter killed the Arizona project.

Yup, at THAT kind of price, I can't think of many who would buy it!  After all, you can get a 1/200 Yamato for about $300-$500, depending on where you shop...... When you think about it technically, there is really not a lot more to producing a 1/200 kit than a 1/350 kit, except the amount plastic and packaging required.  In order to sell, Trumpeter will have to get the price below $500 at a minimum. Perhaps they are only planning on a 'limited edition' version?

cost of a 1/200 scale mould for the arizona would probably be at least twice that of a 1/350 scale arizona mould.

The $999 price was more of a place holder...common on many sites for future releases. No MSRP was ever released or suggested.

ddp59 wrote:

cost of a 1/200 scale mould for the arizona would probably be at least twice that of a 1/350 scale arizona mould.

I'm curious; what makes you think that? Yes, the molds would be larger, but the materials and technology needed to make them are essentially the same....

Historically, the estimated cost to bring an injected model kit into production has been 1000 dollars per part of the mold.   The bulk if this would cover research,  master,  and cutting the mold die.  Artwork, instructions, and decals are small side expenditures.   The plastic itself is cheap, 25 cents per pound.

Even if you consider the modern differences of using CAM to do your master & cut your die as opposed to building a physical model and pantographing the die with cutters.  There is still a time and money expenditure.   You have just changed the speciality of the artist.  Whether it still takes 1000 dollars per part, or it now costs 1500 or 500 because of technology is irrelevent.   The average cost per part is a constant.

At half the scale (plus or minus) you are now twice the size.   What was two or three parts in 1:350 will now be four to six.    Look at the parts count expansion for a quad forty MM from 1:700 (two)  to 1:350 (five).   In 1:200 scale I can identify at least eight to ten separate pieces which make up the assembly.  

So your unique piece count becomes your cost driver.   You make more and more detailed parts because you can,   and that is what the modeler would expect.  

searat12 wrote:

ddp59 wrote: cost of a 1/200 scale mould for the arizona would probably be at least twice that of a 1/350 scale arizona mould. I'm curious; what makes you think that? Yes, the molds would be larger, but the materials and technology needed to make them are essentially the same....

The 1:200 cannot be just a scale-up version of the 1:350 model. The details will look cruel if they are not tightened up. The added details can substantially increase both the cost of the mold and complicated the injection process.

The material of plastic is cheap compared to other costs. It takes a lot more to design and fabricate a 45" long part that is free from warping and free of pin marks compared to a 30" hull. (BTW, the material increase is NOT linear to the scale, but to the cube of scale which is the volume ratio of the models. In this case, the 1:200 kit needs 5.36 times more plastic before reinforcing the strength of the parts.)

While the 1:200 kit is only 1.75 time bigger than a 1:350. The cost is likely to be 3 times (square of 1.75) or more higher for similar details and quality. When the manufacturer wants to add part counts and PE frets etc. to maximize profit, the sky is the limit.

These are all good points, and well taken.  I do note, however, that very large-scale, and very detailed ships can be had from Loyalhanna Dockyard for cheaper prices (see here: http://www.loyalhannadockyard.com/ )

 HEY SEARAT !!! I,ve been right here ! I just had to make a statement based on info that I got . The main problem has been detail and reasonable accuracy. The reason for a model of a ship that ,I believe ,Never left the drawing boards is beyond me . I do believe that they ,LINDBERG , would listen if enough of you said ,hey how about a 1/350 ESSEX, MIDWAY ,YORKTOWN , or HORNET ? PUT in the parts to build the others of the class and we WILL buy it !! BUT,LINDBERG it,s gotta be outstanding !! Now , how,s that for a suggestion guys ???? ___tankerbuilder

On a local modeling website a fellow modeler has recently posted about Lindburg's new stuffs too, and his thread contains pictures of the submarines and probably the 1:200 carrier which he claimed to be 5.5' long. The title of this thread is "Pre-Order", though you can't read Thai text, you can view the pictures:

http://www.thaimsot.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=8584