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Most wanted ship kits

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  • Member since
    July 2013
Posted by DURR on Sunday, September 19, 2010 1:39 PM

i agrree with you Don  i would love to see a lng tanker or two  and a few modern passenger ships  and even smaller lake frieghters and large ore carriers  like the edmund fitz.   all in Non-resin

  • Member since
    May 2008
Posted by tucchase on Friday, September 17, 2010 5:47 AM

I agree.  And with the sheer volume of truly new ship kits coming out in plastic nowdays, you may be getting your wish in the next few years.  That new container ship was certainly popular, here, and elsewhere! 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Thursday, September 16, 2010 8:37 AM

tucchase

There have been a couple of threads in Ship Model Forum about this very subject recently (this past month).  Some of them quite heated.  The consensus there is that while warships are undoubtably more popular, there is quite a bit of interest in non-military ships.  Especially passenger liners.  But since very few of these even resembled each other, much less used the same plans, it is harder for a model manufacturer to get a good return on a model.  With a model of the Titanic, someone can make one of its sisters.  But how many of these liners had sister ships?  Most were one-of-a-kind.  Some had several configurations that could be made, such as Troopship service, which would give the manufacturer a little more leeway to make multiple models from one set of basic molds.  But most warships had several sister ships (some, dozens!).  The main subject on SMF was the Normandie, and why no plastic company has made one in something larger than 1/1250 scale (I think it was Dragon that made that one).  There was a lot of argument about the reasons why and why not.  Basically, it comes down to whether the manufacturer can sell enough units to pay for doing the research, and mold-making, and designing, etc.  I think someone mentioned a figure of 10,000 units as a minimum break-even point.  If they only make 5000, then the price may be to high to actually sell that many.   But if they price it lower and make 10,000, then they may  be stuck with a couple thousand leftovers.  Its a delicate balancing act.

I don't blame the mfgs. I'd like to see more modelers broaden their interest. 

There are so many other civil ships than liners.  Of course, there have been a number of tugboats, but there is room for more.  Never seen a single plastic kit of a towboat, so common on midwest rivers.  Lots of other types of small craft on rivers, in harbours.  How about ferry boats..  Yeah, people like to build what they hear of.  How about ones they see?

The recent Revell-gr container ship was a great release, one greatly needed.  We just need more.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: brisbane australia
Posted by surfsup on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:18 PM

There are only a few Civllian Ships I would love to see and they are as follows....

Andrea Doria

A Good and accurate Queen Elizabeth

Normandie

Jervis Bay

Rawalpindi.

The last two became AMC's. The Jervis Bay took on the Admiral Scheer to protect her Convoy she was guarding. Her sacrafice basically saved most of her flock. The Rawalpinidi took on the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau in a one sided affairwith only 36 survivors from her. If I remember, both Captains recieved the VC for their actions....Cheers Mark

 

If i was your wife, i'd poison your tea! If Iwas your husband, I would drink it! WINSTON CHURCHILL

  • Member since
    May 2008
Posted by tucchase on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 3:38 PM

There have been a couple of threads in Ship Model Forum about this very subject recently (this past month).  Some of them quite heated.  The consensus there is that while warships are undoubtably more popular, there is quite a bit of interest in non-military ships.  Especially passenger liners.  But since very few of these even resembled each other, much less used the same plans, it is harder for a model manufacturer to get a good return on a model.  With a model of the Titanic, someone can make one of its sisters.  But how many of these liners had sister ships?  Most were one-of-a-kind.  Some had several configurations that could be made, such as Troopship service, which would give the manufacturer a little more leeway to make multiple models from one set of basic molds.  But most warships had several sister ships (some, dozens!).  The main subject on SMF was the Normandie, and why no plastic company has made one in something larger than 1/1250 scale (I think it was Dragon that made that one).  There was a lot of argument about the reasons why and why not.  Basically, it comes down to whether the manufacturer can sell enough units to pay for doing the research, and mold-making, and designing, etc.  I think someone mentioned a figure of 10,000 units as a minimum break-even point.  If they only make 5000, then the price may be to high to actually sell that many.   But if they price it lower and make 10,000, then they may  be stuck with a couple thousand leftovers.  Its a delicate balancing act.

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: EG48
Posted by Tracy White on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 3:17 PM

People want a ship they've heard of. Warships have received more press in history than most civilian ships that quietly travel the waters.....

Tracy White Researcher@Large

  • Member since
    December 2009
Posted by Harshman II on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 9:29 AM

Warship looks nicer than civil ship, really!!!

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Most wanted ship kits
Posted by Don Stauffer on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:57 AM

A recent issue of FSM published a survey they had done on the most wanted kits. In the ship catagory they listed the top three in each of several size/scale ranges.  Not a single civil ship showed up in the survey.  Does no one else want to build civil ships as well as naval ones?

I am thankful for the kits of civil ships that are out there, but now I see why there are not more!  Now, I do also build naval ships, but geez, I'll bet there are far more civil ships afloat out there than naval ones, and I'd like to see kits more representative of what are actually on the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

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