The Wingnuts Lanc is happening!
Border Models of China are putting out the WNW Lanc! I'll let the pics do the talking.
Anyone got the Handley Page 0 series molds!?
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Wow, a 1/32 Lancaster and an incredible amount of detail.
You can definitely put a lot of modelling hours into this beauty.
What could mold maintenance issues be? Is that a trick to increase sales? Does anybody know?
It sure looks like bait for a “buy now ‘cause there won’t be more available”
My guess is something along the lines of, "we don't have the designs, and thus limited knowledge to be able to make assured mold repair". In other words, it may be such that they are not currently apt to guarantee the maintenance of the molds without potentially sacrificing quality... ie, pop a limited qty and then reassess. I mean look at the surface texture of those skins. Not just any ole Joe could repair a die with such detail, especially if you don't have the programs used to create them. Certainly they'd want to release the kit, but probably also not drive themselves under by overcommitting product with a very limited plan of manufacturing... at least that's what I got from their communication.
Great news indeed, Paul!
That sure looks like a beauty, or a beast... my goodness.
The 64.00 for Dollar/Euro/Pound question how much? If its a limited run then the kit becomes the domain of collectors who don't worry about price. Although, you wonder if the Wing Nut Wings molds were cut by a Chinese company one would think that either the company that cut the molds would buy the rights or the sale of the molds would included technology on how to or the new owner would sub-contract the company who cut the molds and have them do the pressing like Wing Nut Wings did.
Of course those who ask about price can't afford. The new owner must still be aware of the HK's Lanc. Maybe on par with having a Ford vs Rolls-Royce. Either way the detail of this kit is very impressive and the brain child of Sir Peter. Some top notch quality.
It’s hard to guess their strategy. They have had to do some work for sure to get it to the shelves. They had no instructions for the kit - never published by WNW. A ‘master modeller’ in China built the kit from the sprues and wrote the instruction manual. So already a little strange!
I agree with a previous comment that the detail on the ‘stressed skin’ is subtle and that may have an impact on how the molds need to be handled, but I also think they will
want to shift as many as possible early on, and have a strategy geared to that.
It will be a huge kit of course and almost certainly very expensive. They are clever to get it out as a Christmas pre-order. The Kotare spitfire won’t have settled their nerves much either I’m guessing, even though it comes later. If this was the only Wingnut’s game in town (as was the Dr1 when it came out) I think there would be more ‘addicts’ (and I’ll include myself in that bracket) ready to get their fix!
As for price, the guestimates around the time of the WNW kit emergence varied - $650 was a common guess. The HK model can now be found for say $330 and has been scaled down to 1/48 for around $90. That’s interesting because some of the issues around accuracy of panels and lights and canopy options from the 1/32 release have been addressed, even though some parts of the smaller scale kit have been simplified and have become a little more fiddly (rear turret). The 1/32 kit also bore more resemblance in some areas to the BoB memorial flight aircraft which has post-war features.
The HK 1/48 looks like a great kit, a significant fit upgrade from highly respected but older (nearly 50 years old) 1/48 Tamiya kit, and of course smaller - but still very large! The HK 1/48 has a wingspan of 65cm. The 1/32 is almost 100cm wide. This too must be a factor for the average modeller. Although the HK fit around the wings and fins is said to be so good that without glue they are snug and fit perfectly, so do not need glue. I’d imagine that is also true for the Border version.
The big question is how to entice a modeller who doesn’t really need a 1/32 monster. The answer I guess is in the outstanding detail and trading on the WNW reputation for excellence.
Paul I agree. It seems like they bought the tooling as is, and have made headway from there.
There is a reason first run kits are generally more desirable. No doubt they will make a production run, ensure quality and ship. Any go in the future would depend on their ability to replicate the mold in regard to maintenance ($), repairs ($$), or reproduction($$$$).
Nevermind that commiting to high volume for a niche market where customers cry foul as loud as their pockets are deep would be very risky business indeed.
LuckyModel has pre-order at $600
lot of detail there!
That stressed skin detail is amazing. I hope whoever gets a preview of this kit shows the results with paint. I'm kind of glad that the WNW Lanc sees the light of day.
Pretty sure that person won't be me. No place to put a beast like this. Also not much $$$$ after this year's house repairs/upgrades.
Wow!
Would have loved to have this as a never-built discussion piece in the stash, but the pre-order price at LuckyModel is $600 with another $100 for shipping. LuckyModel sells Border at 60% of Spruebrothers, so this will hit the US at close to a $1000 price point, if discounting holds up.
Too rich (by far) for my blood, and yeah, no wonder Wingnuts bled money.
The $600 from Lucky Model is in line with the earlier WNW guestimates. If I do get one it will come direct from them. I have used them before and always received well packed goods. I have used their slow and fast mail options and both worked as advertised. Previously I got the Meng Dr1 and the Kinetic Pucara from them and had no complaints. I know others have had the odd issue. Both were considerably cheaper than getting them in Aus even after paying postage.