Trumpeter expense

Well, some of the Trumpeter kits are expensive. Their WWII battleships 1:350 usually cost more than Tamiya's 30 years old kits (Tirpitz, Bismark, Yamato, etc.). However, Trumpeter's Nimitz 1:350 is cheaper than the 30-year-old Tamiya's Enterprise, yet it has far better details.

MJH wrote:

I can just about see the value in a modern, newly-tooled kit, especially if it’s done well, and all the points made above are valid.  What I have difficulty with however is the prices of re-released kits whose prices often match them. To take a case in point (now I know this isn’t a ship but I’m only making a point), in the early 90's Doyusha re-packaged some of their car kits in a new series titled “Nostalgic Heroes”.  These were mostly 1970’s Japanese vehicles such as Mazda’s RX-3 and RX-5.  While not bad models for their time with quite acceptable, if not too sharp, external detail these kits suffered from the fad for ‘motorizing’ that afflicted all Japanese model cars of the period.  This meant the interior was just a shallow panel with only the seat tops and dashboard with half a steering wheel – rather like a slot car.  If they had an opening bonnet the engine was similarly represented.  Tellingly perhaps, the box top illustrations were excellent photographs of the real cars. All well and fine, and I was pleased to see them again, but the price was comparable, or even higher, than modern offerings from the major Japanese firms! Now these are kits that have well and truly amortised their tooling costs, have decidedly inferior moulding not helped by the age of the tooling and are, by modern standards, toys – but they’d be well suited for young beginners if it were not for the price, they’re right up there with the best on the market!  And they don’t even supply the motor.  I’ve seen the RX-3, for example, on offer for AU$56.95 (that’s over US50!) – how can that be justified? Michael

I suspect that what is going on with the increase in price on the older kits is an attempt to recoup the cost of the newer kits more quickly. I'm not saying that I like the idea but that is about what I would expect from an industry that is releasing really fantastically detailed new kits at a rapid pace. There is no way they can recapture those costs fast without some help from the old molds.

It is always a good idea to check out reviews of any kit before plunking down your cash and luckily with ships the resources to do so are plentiful. On the internet you have SteelNavy, Modelwarships, ModelShipwrights and the Rajens List that are dedicated sites. There are many other sites that also contribute reveiws on a more casual basis.

Ship models are being churned out at an unbelieveable pace now both in large and small scales. Here's an interesting quote from FSM itself in the Great Scale Modeling 2002: "While most of the plastic kit industry has given up on new ship kits..." Gee, I don't think that applies anymore. It is a great time to be a ship modeler.

I can just about see the value in a modern, newly-tooled kit, especially if it’s done well, and all the points made above are valid.  What I have difficulty with however is the prices of re-released kits whose prices often match them.

To take a case in point (now I know this isn’t a ship but I’m only making a point), in the early 90's Doyusha re-packaged some of their car kits in a new series titled “Nostalgic Heroes”.  These were mostly 1970’s Japanese vehicles such as Mazda’s RX-3 and RX-5.  While not bad models for their time with quite acceptable, if not too sharp, external detail these kits suffered from the fad for ‘motorizing’ that afflicted all Japanese model cars of the period.  This meant the interior was just a shallow panel with only the seat tops and dashboard with half a steering wheel – rather like a slot car.  If they had an opening bonnet the engine was similarly represented.  Tellingly perhaps, the box top illustrations were excellent photographs of the real cars.

All well and fine, and I was pleased to see them again, but the price was comparable, or even higher, than modern offerings from the major Japanese firms!

Now these are kits that have well and truly amortised their tooling costs, have decidedly inferior moulding not helped by the age of the tooling and are, by modern standards, toys – but they’d be well suited for young beginners if it were not for the price, they’re right up there with the best on the market!  And they don’t even supply the motor.  I’ve seen the RX-3, for example, on offer for AU$56.95 (that’s over US50!) – how can that be justified?

Michael 

The question of kit prices is an interesting one.  There's no doubt that, during the fifty years I've been in the hobby, those prices have risen far faster than the inflation rate.  (A participant in another Forum thread recently compared the prices of big warship kits with the prices of gasoline.  There's no room for doubt:  plastic kits have gotten more expensive relative to most other commodities.)  It's equally true that other aspects of the market have changed during that period.  The principal market for plastic kits used to be kids; it's now almost entirely an adult hobby.  The number of people participating in it has also shrunk.  It's not surprising - indeed, it's almost inevitable - that such a situation would lead to (a) higher quality products, and (b) higher prices.

Are those Trumpeter and Tamiya warship kits actually priced higher than they need to be?  I honestly don't know.  I have to wonder whether the 1/700 Nimitz-class ships really are so superior to their Italeri equivalents as to justify the enormous price difference; if I were a modern-day carrier enthusiast, I might well conclude that they are.  What I do know is that the new pricing structure has forced me (like, I imagine, lots of other long-time modelers) to alter my buying habits.  There was a time when I bought almost every new warship kit that appeared on the market.  (Hey, maybe I'll build it and maybe I won't, but it only costs five bucks, so what the heck.)  I just can't do that any more. 

I do wonder what all this implies for the future.  I worked in a hobby shop for a few years, while I was in college; it was a well-known fact in those days that only a small percentage of the kits that got sold ever got built.  Nowadays I only buy stuff that I genuinely intend to build.  If the situation reaches the point where every customer does that, I fear the number of kits getting sold will really plummet - even more than it already has.  (One of the many reasons for the demise of so many local hobby shops surely is the decline in the number of "casual purchases.")

I think we're living in a "golden age" of warship kits.  The average level of quality has never been higher, and the profusion of cottage industry kits and aftermarket merchandise is unique in the history of the hobby.  I wonder how long this situation will continue.  I suggest we enjoy it while we can.

The thing I love/hate about aircraft carriers is it's not just the ship you're building ... which those of us who have never built one don't realize until we're deep into construction.

Even in 1/700 scale, putting together a reasonable-looking air wing, let alone all the planes a carrier might have on a particular deployment, is another project in and of itself. When I did an updated USS Enterprise for a friend, she wanted a particular deployment, which meant particular decals for individual airplanes and helicopters. I didn't appreciate how many decals until I counted up the number that was going on each individual E-2C Hawkeye - 12! Times 4. Toss in the Hornets, Vikings, Prowlers and helos, and there were hundreds of decals. More than once I came close to launching the whole thing out the front door.

But when it was finished, I could look at it and think, Wow, I did all of that. 

  

As above, calculate the per hour cost and enjoyment.. this "beasts" are one-a-year projects

Try Dragon, I just picked up an Essex 1:700, 30$ .... 500+ parts...  will keep me occupied a bit

Want a quick build ship? Subs....  :) 

nsclcctl wrote:

why are these carriers so expensive? I saw a 1:350 hornet for 96 dollars. What do they have, scale models of planes as well? Do they make a 1:700 waterline series?

To answer the second question first, yes there are 1/700 scale carriers. At this time the Trumpeter line doesn't match up in all respects 350 to 700 but there are more carriers available to build than you probably have time for.

As to expense of the 350 kits, these kits are highly complex engineering projects that require a tremendous amount of expensive tooling and professional expertise to create, then there are the manufacturing costs, distribution costs, labor, advertising, legal (yes the weasels suck every egg) and a host of other expenses. The number of kits sold will have to pay all this stuff off in a reasonable amount of time or it isn't worthwhile.

Another way to look at it is don't buy that Latte before work every day for one month and you'll have more than enough money to buy the kit and the accessories. WS

Jeff Herne wrote:

Now, start looking at the math...a 1/350 Essex is not a 1/72 fighter we can bang out in a couple of days. When you start adding photoetch and an airgroup, you're looking at a several month project. If I work on a $100 Hornet for 90 days from start to finish, that's $1.11 per day I'm spending on my hobby. Jeff Herne Modelwarships.com

 

now this is a very interesting way to figure  money/fun ratio

These carriers are expensive because that's the market...

If this were a Tamiya kit, it'd be selling for $150 or more...

If you really want a Hornet or Essex, then look at Squadron or Hobby Lobby or Ebay, you can pick them up for about $70.

Now, start looking at the math...a 1/350 Essex is not a 1/72 fighter we can bang out in a couple of days. When you start adding photoetch and an airgroup, you're looking at a several month project.

If I work on a $100 Hornet for 90 days from start to finish, that's $1.11 per day I'm spending on my hobby.

And yes, each of the planes is a small kit in itself. Add in the White Ensign PE cockpit set and you've got a very small model aircraft. I can typically do one aircraft a night...

Jeff Herne
Modelwarships.com