I Wonder What high Pressure would do for us .

If the Aisian makers are flooded with requests for certain hulls, eventually the US and Euro makers will followsuit, just to get a piece of the pie.  All it takes is one, and the dominos will start.

Digressing from the thread, when TB said high pressure, thought he was talking blood pressure, and I know what itachieved for the both of us.  I only got the stents along with a de-fib and pacemaker, TB got the full treatment.

Gentlemen,

The answer I frequently and repeatedly get from manufacturers is that there are few ship modelers.  If true, then please explain the over 27,000 members of www.Modelshipworld.com,  active builders all.  If true, then please explain the thousands of member of www.shipsinscale.com, or www.modelwarships.com, among others.  We ship modelers exist by the tens of thousands.  The Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans seem to understand this fact, but the American and European manufacturers ignore us.  It's time that we have a concerted and active lobbying effort to help our hobby grow even more.

Bill

What you do is get a major amount of cash together and by revell for the amount of debt from hobbico and there you go you can manufacturer whatever you want. No problem.

I love civil ships and boats, especially work boats.  That 1:700 Fitz is a pretty good kit.  A friend had the kit, decided he would never build it, so he gave it to me because he knew I'd build it.  Another friend who does a lot of resin casting had a water/waves base and gave that to me.

Good news is that there are a number of plans of lakers available, if you are up to scratch building.  They are in a large scale, most of them in 1:192, so they build up several feet long.  If you want to scale it down, photoetch is available for railings and ladders. 

Wood is a pretty cheap building material, and using the bread and butter method there is not a lot of carving to do- lakers had pretty simple lines, a very full hull.  For most of their length, the cross section is a simple rectangle with just a slight rounding of the chine (area where bottom meets side).

I'd love a kit of the Wolverine!

Tanker - Builder

I would even grab a re-release of the " Natchez " By Lindberg or Lifelike .

I have the "Natchez" .... The original Pyro release. I would love to see somebody do another "up-dated" kit of this. But it would probably bring a "premium" price.

The original cost ... what $10. Now they would want $200 for the same chunk of plastic.

Having a few new sailing vessle's to chose from would be nice.

R/C and scale display models are usually two different animals. There are some builders who build a scale display model into a functioning R/C type, but I suspect, not that many. Just like the wood ship modelers and the plastic ship modelers are two separate groups. It’s like model railroaders- yes they all fall under that group but then break down into their preferred scale:O, HO, N, etc. And the train companies cater to each category of those folks. While some of their stuff is useful to a static scale model builder, they don’t cater much directly by having Railroad guns or armored trains for the static scale modelers.

Now mind you I love a scale ship model. But what are the demographics of that group? Is it mostly older? Younger? What is the rate of new folks entering as opposed to the older ones leaving or dying off? How many affordable and simple entry level kits are out there for the novice ship building modeler? And how many experienced ship modelers are encouraging the neophytes to take up that kit? How many times do you hear an old hand say, “stay away from kit X... it’s old worn out junk”. Then recommending some expensive high parts count kit and A,B, C,& D expensive aftermarket items to the newbie. Wood decks, Photo Etch everything, and turned metal barrels sure look good. But are they appropriate for the new builder? As opposed to remembering when they cut their own modeling teeth on such a basic kit and encouraging them to start simple. Instead of crawl, walk, run, they suggest a marathon first thing.

I don’t know where these leagues of new modelers for any subject area are going to come from. Few kids are interested nowadays, and how many of them stick with it while getting their life going with career, family, etc. Many give it up and some of them come back later once life has stabilized. But it’s always fewer than before.

Aw , Cmon Stik !

 I know at least a few states full of shipmodelers . How do you suppose the R.C. and niche mfgrs of R.C. Sized kits stay in business . I still don't have as much wrapped up in an 1/72 scale Corvette from W.W.2 as I would have in the Normandie .. At least I can sail the Corvette . All I could do is look at the Normandie .

 Think about this too .There is an old company , granted a small one that has been in business for over 100 years ( Bluejacket Shipcrafters ) and they constantly release new stuff .Yes , Stik , I am serious . There is a market , and based on my research , it would grow exponentially if the product was out there .

 $1,000,000.00 invested  would generate at least a 150 % return in three years . Research would take about , in these days of the internet  45 to 90 days and mold making another 45 days . Marketing and advertising another 45 to 60 days . Badda Bing, Badda Boom .

 If I was thirty years younger I would take up the gauntlet in a minute . I might not at the age I am now see my dream come true , surely you understand ..

   Revell doesn't even offer half of what they did . I am sure the molds are paid for for sure !! And I am not blowing smoke . Bad Shipmodels went south .That's on the new owners not past owners .Lindberg is over the ropes and under new mgmt .Why , Well the Public tore their new stuff up before they ever saw it .All based on what if comments . How would you keep going if at a trade show , Before it opened The competition blasted what you had and it was much better than they expected ?

 I know for a personal fact that one product was based and scaled from Actual Naval Blueprints from the country of origin as well as existing photos of the real vessel . Talk about heartbreak ! Old guys like me can't do this . It has to be a youngster with a dream and the ability to see this dream live .

Thanks a Bunch , Nino;

 I wish for much in my old age . Now that the technology is there to really make anything , Sail or Steam or just M.Vs really accurate and do-able . I guess the American companies are afraid of making money .That certainly hasn't stopped the Chinese or Japanese mfgrs. has it ?

Tanker - Builder

 I do wonder if High pressure Customer reaction or requests would do for the modeling community . Why ? Well , they keep re-capping old stuff that many of us have seen a thousand times .

 How about giving us a nicely done Normandie or Andrea Doria in 1/350 with P.E. ? Sure would be cheaper than $950.00 for the resin offering of the Normandie .

  

I believe that market does not exist to support such an investment. 1/350 liners in a long run kit, affordable priced for builders? I doubt that any company would make back the money on such an investment for research, materials, and tooling. Even a such a kit in a short run release, with its corresponding higher price, would not likely make back the money required for development. 

The re pops? Well, as long as they sell and can make money off of moldings made and paid off long ago... I remember as a youngster that Revell had an extensive line of ship kits in various scales. Tugboat, Fire boat, iconic sailing vessels, warships of every description, ocean liners. It was literally a target rich environment of kit choices. Obviously at that time the market supported such a variety. But modeling has lost those numbers of customers. Fewer modelers overall, and fewer of those modelers build ships.

It is what it is.

TB,

I have been lobbying the major manufacturers for over a decade about the need for a greater number and variety of sailing ship kits, not just the same tired and old repops.  It has been to no avail.  I have also called for other sailing ship modelers to join in this lobbying effort.  I will gladly continue to do so with your preferred projects as well.

Bill