ATTENTION SAILING SHIP MODELERS!

I haven't read the entire thread (it's of epic proportions) but has anyone considered posing these same suggestions and pleas to the Japanese, Chinese and Korean companies? Airfix seems like it's constantly lurching around with one foot in the grave, while the Asian companies continue to outdo each other with new molds and varied subject matter. I realize Airfix has a long tradition of manufacturing sailing ships, but those days are long gone and they don't seem to be in any position to take chances.

I get the impression, though I could be wrong, that sailing ship models don't have quite as much appeal to the Far Eastern home market (which, I've heard, is still the main market for manufacturers there and the main influence on their choice of subject; exports are secondary) as they do in North America and (especially) Europe. Imai seem to have been a "one-off". Whatever the case, I don't think there have been any new sailing ship models from the Far East other than Trumpeter's Cheng Ho treasure ship and (rather half-hearted) Mayflower.

My #1 list of suggestions for Airfix would still be:
HMS Warrior, 1860 (1/200?)
Mary Rose (1/144?)
SS Great Britain (1/144 or 1/200?)

- especially HMS Warrior (a personal favourite!) All 3 are museum ships in Britain and, other than Caldercraft's excellent Mary Rose wood kit, models of them are nonexistent other than cheap wood souvenir models. A good quality, reasonably affordable kit would surely sell well in the museum shops at Portsmouth and Bristol!

There are plenty of other subjects I'd like to see (like HMS Shannon and Vanguard, as mentioned by warshipguy) but the above 3 would combine good market appeal with subjects that really deserve to be available in kit form!

I just had a short discussion with one of the guys at Revell of Germany
about making a kit of the dutch sailing vessel "De zeven provincien",
just like they did with the "Batavia". I got the response that there is an
interest in this object but as the replica of the vessel is still under construction
at the Bataviawarf in the Netherlands, they will have to wait until the replica
is finished and that can last another few years.....
No other plans for sailing ships at this time.
Maybe the manufacturers of the Far East will discover this field
and hopefully will issue some NEW sailing ship models.   

I have focused my lobbying efforts on Airfix because they have shown interest in the past and the overall quality of their ships has generally been high.  I have also lobbied RoG, a company that has shown some interest, as well as Lindberg in the U.S.  But, if you guys believe that lobbying the Asian companies could be fruitful, then let's lobby them as well!

I firmly believe that we the builders should lobby as many companies as possible.  They don't seem to realize that we are out here; they seem to get their marketing research based on our not buying the same old products they have been limiting themselves to producing over the past 50-60 years.  We need to make it clear to them that we exist and that we want new products!

Bill Morrison

Hello-jtilley;   I caught mention of the BALCLUTHA as I,ve been reading this thread. I do believe( you may want to keelhaul me )that the OLD sailing ship by AURORA (I don,t remember the scale) Has a rigging plan similar to the BALCLUTHA. When I first saw this ship ,she didn,t even have her tops,yards etc. Pictures I,ve seen seem to back up the thought,that maybe she was NOT clipper rigged but a TRUE ship rig ,using some incorporated later sail and yard placement. I have NEVER seen a photo of her rigged out ANYWHERE in a CALIFORNIA maritime museum! I too thought about a model, But there,s to many unknowns.I am enjoying this thread.The sailing ship has always been a fascination of mine. I,ve done plastic and wood and,yes one resin hulled ship.And I still gravitate back to plastic. Having gotten good pictures of H.M.S. SURPRISE,I am contemplating cleaning out my ship part warehouse.  thank you  tankerbuilder

Woxel59 wrote:

I just had a short discussion with one of the guys at Revell of Germany about making a kit of the dutch sailing vessel "De zeven provincien", just like they did with the "Batavia". I got the response that there is an interest in this object but as the replica of the vessel is still under construction at the Bataviawarf in the Netherlands, they will have to wait until the replica is finished and that can last another few years..... No other plans for sailing ships at this time. Maybe the manufacturers of the Far East will discover this field and hopefully will issue some NEW sailing ship models.

Greetings Woxel, It's very interesting to hear that you have a contact with the Revell-Europe production planning section. Not a sailing ship, but I have a certain vessel in my heart which had almost became an obsession to see as a 1/350 scale styrene kit: SMS Goeben. I still have difficulty in understanding why she, "the ship that changed the world" in Dan van der Vat's immortal words, still did not appear in plastic. Right from the moment she touched the sea to the day she went to the scrapyard, Goeben became stuff of a legend everywhere, a ship known to everybody who has even a basic interest for naval history. Here in Turkey, "Yavuz" as she's known, Goeben is subject of folksongs and proverbs. The English language books and articles about her can fill a small library. Moreover, a 1/350 scale Goeben can be reboxed with minimal effort as her sistership SMS Moltke in a late war configuration. And there is more: she can be boxed as TRS (Turkish Republican Ship) Yavuz in her late 1930's fit with her aftermast shipped out for some extra AA. May you ask to your connection at Revell if they shall think about a 1/350 Goeben, if possible please ? I own an excellent monograph about her and her companion the light cruiser SMS Breslau; written by Ahmet Güleryüz and Bernd Langensiepen, the foremost authorities about the 19th century Ottoman Navy. The book has a wealth of admirable quality photographs, many coming from private archives and published for the first time, along with two 1/250 scale plans of both Goeben and Breslau for modelers. In case Revell administration shall be interested, I can send them this monograph from my own pocket along with some other visual sources that can be helpful.

@ kapudan emir effendi:

Hello,

thats an interesting proposal. And it would be a nice addition to the light cruisers
SMS Dresden and SMS Emden in 1:350 scale by Revell of Germany.

I have sent the proposal to the Revell guy and I am looking forward to his answer
with interest. My argument for the importance of your proposal was the increasing
interest in 1:350 scale warship kits.
The difficulty is that the product planners of ROG have to present their plans
to the owners and then these decide whether to produce a model or not.....

As far as I know, there only 1:700 scale waterline kits of the ship exist,
maybe from HP models or WSW. Or NNT Modell. I can check that for you.
And there is a large choice of 1:350 scale cardboard models of WW I ships,
maybe there is a YAVUZ or GOEBEN as well.

I will be back if I have more news for you. 

Axel AKA Woxel

 

  

 

@ kapudan emir effendi:

Hello,

I have contacted the Revell of Germany guy and he will forward your proposal
to the person who is responsible for ship models. But he says there is only
a chance of 5 (in words: FIVE) percent, to have a shipmodel from WW I,
because there is not much request for WW I models, that era would be too far away....

The next meeting with the owners of Revell will be end of october, then new model
proposals will be presented to them and hopefully some interesting proposals
will be accepted.....

Greetings from Germany,

Axel