I have the same question.  I believe that I will purchase one of these kits just to see if they are new molds or repops of someone else's kits unless someone has some insight into them.

Bill

It's hard to tell, I've noticed much of the World of Tanks line seem to be older Italeri kits but the Japanese tanks are from FineMolds. I don't intend to buy either line, Warships or Tanks,  but I would be interested in where they're from. 

Hi Brad !

 I just found some at Hobby - Town . I am not sure , but they look like old Imai small scale ships  .A line long out of production . Neat little ships though ! T.B.

My memory is notoriously unreliable, but I don't recall that Imai ever made any twentieth-century warships in any scale - and nothing smaller than 1/350. Am I mistaken on that point?

HI Proff ;

  Yeah , I could be mistaken . Thing is the moldings Look like the way Imaii did their cargo ships  . Sharp and decent with many tiny parts .  T.B.

According to reviews available online,

Essex - Trumpeter
Atago - Aoshima
Bismarck - Dragon

Phil_H

According to reviews available online,

Essex - Trumpeter
Atago - Aoshima
Bismarck - Dragon

Thanks Phil :

    Thing is , my , question is this . Where did the original molds come to light from ? T.B.

Not a bad ploy. Kids get intrested in the games, then want their favorite warship or tank on the shelf. 1/700 or 1/1200 is just the right size and easy kits. It may get more intrest in the hobby long term.

Tanker - Builder

Phil_H

According to reviews available online,

Essex - Trumpeter
Atago - Aoshima
Bismarck - Dragon

Thanks Phil :

Thing is , my , question is this . Where did the original molds come to light from ? T.B.

If I follow your question, TB, I think that's answered.  Trumpeter's Essex was an original tooling, wasn't it, a downscaling of their 1/350 kit.  Same goes for the Atago and the Bismarck, in that they were kits original to Aoshima and Dragon.  I may be wrong, about those.

As far as the 1/1200 kits that have been released are concerned, they all go back to the Italian company Casadio, who sold them as kits, and also as assembled models in display packs, as "Mini-ships".  Those particular molds eventually passed through ESCI's hands, and into Revell's, some before the merger with Monogram, when Revell had a European office, and others after the time of the merger.   I haven't yet seen any WoW 1/1200 kits that would go back to Eaglewall (UK, 1950s) or Pyro (US, 1950s).  Lindberg has re-issued some of those, in the meantime.

I apologize if I have misunderstood your question, and I apologize to Phil if I have spoken out of turn.  And, of course, I apologize to everyone, if I have given out anything that is not accurate.

This state of affairs doesn't bother me at all. Italaeri has picked three fine kits to reissue. Anything that gets more good kits into circulation is fine with me. Who knows - maybe the prices will be a litttle lower.