Hasegawa Nagato CAD line fix?

Tracy White wrote:

searat12 wrote: and certainly not make the same mistake twice (i.e. the planned release of 'Mutsu' with the same stupid problem). How about three or four times? I helped Dragon with their 700th Essex kits and they made mistakes for every deck past Essex, mistakes we told them before release were there, and they declined to fix the problem. It's pure economics.  By the way, your arguement about collectors is not worth while. How is Hasegawa going to benefit in the slightest from the secondary sales market? Now, I know some of you are going to jump on me and say "but that's different." No, it's not. The degree may be different, but the decision is still the same; we don't think it is worth our time and money to fix. You can take it or leave it; those that are leaving it are making the right decision in my view. Those that are expecting Hasegawa or a third party company to fix the problem have unrealistic expectations. I'm not saying your letter was a bad idea, I'm just saying don't hold your breath.

Well, I look at it this way... Fujimi recently came out with a perfectly splendid 'Kongo' in 1/350, and now I understand Aoshima is also about to release a 'Kongo' in 1/350.  If the Fujimi version had turned out with major issues, you can just bet the Aoshima boys would have scooped up the market (who knows?  They may have been Machiavellian enough to have that as part of their business plan, though my guess is they simply didn't know about the Fujimi kit). 

How many companies produce a 1/350 'Yamato' or 'Bismarck?'  With the use of the CAD program, producing molds is far easier and far cheaper then ever before, and it is my guess that some company other than Hasegawa will soon come up with a 1/350 'Nagato' on their own, without the stupid CAD lines reproduced on the hull, and when that happens, Hasegawa will be stuck with a dud mold and a lot of expensive unsold inventory.  And that's pure economics!  I expect Dragon hasn't sold too many 1/700 Essex kits in comparison with those by other manufacturers that 'got it right!'

searat12 wrote:

Hasegawa will be stuck with a dud mold and a lot of expensive unsold inventory.  And that's pure economics!  I expect Dragon hasn't sold too many 1/700 Essex kits in comparison with those by other manufacturers that 'got it right!'

I would imagine that the vast  majority have already been sold to distributors that will be stuck with them on their shelves, forced to sell them at a sweet deal to get them to move, which will cause them to raise prices on other products to make up for it!

In terms of the Essex kits, it's sort of six of one, have dozen of the other. NO ONE makes an accurate kit. The "long hulls" were all shipped with flight decks that are incorrect for any ship or time period, but really, only the accuracy police know.

So, let me get this right . . . Tracy White is okay with the CAD line dilemma on Hasegawa's NAGATO and MUTSU?  Is it his insinuation that those of us who object to this kind of corporate inattention to the detail of their product are nothing more than "accuracy police"?  I have a suggestion before this kind of negativity gets out of control . . . Tracy, you have your opinion and we have ours.  If you don't want to send a letter to Hasegawa, then don't.  But, I have done so, and I encourage any others to do the same who object to this kind of shoddiness in manufacturing.

Bill Morrison 

 I'm with you Bill. Sent a letter myself and noticed the price is already dropping on the Mutsu. I don't expect any kit to be 100% accurate, A brand new kit sold for $200 bucks plus should not have 21st century animated drawing lines recessed on a early 20th century ship. It is not an inaccuracy it is an abomination. I have joined you in no longer purchasing ANY Hasegawa kit until they have shown enough pride and dedication in their work to do create a better kit. Too many other companies have done better and they will get my $. I actually felt like the ripped me off.

If we all worked with Tracy's logic, we would still be stuck building the Lindberg ''Bismarck' and 'Hood'....... I think I will just sit back and wait awhile to see what else comes down the pike.  I do pity the poor distributors who may get stuck with the 'Mutsus' though, and I magine they will be forced to discount the heck out of them just to get them off the shelves!  I have also heard it said (by Prof Tilley I think) that a model company needs to sell some enormous number of kits to pay off the cost of producing a set of molds, which is why many companies would prefer to keep 're-releasing' old kits (are you listening Revell and Airfix?).  If this is the case (and I have no reason to doubt it for a moment), the combination of a very high initial price, plus a flawed production run means Hasegawa simply will never recoup their money on the Nagato and Mutsu turkeys, and instead, will have to eat it themselves.  If they try to spread the cost by raising the price of their other kits, they will simply be undercut by their competition (and Trumpeter has long since caught up with and in many ways surpassed Hasegawa long ago, and Fujimi and Aoshima are hot on their tail!).  As far as Hasegawa's investors are concerned, 'There is no joy in Mudville!'

sfcmac,

Thank you for your support and for sending that letter! I really appreciate it.

Bill Morrison

 I recently saw this kit in Montreal going for an astounding $400 at Udisco... It is routinely around $200 online...

 That some try to excuse this crap is amazing. People don't always know everything,  and they do go by brand names all the time... This is really Bernie Madoff territory... And they are not even hull plates...  Insane...

 Gaston

I remember this thread, thanks for digging up this zombie, Gaston.