Kev67 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 When will model manufactures start making good quality airliners such as Boeing 737 and 727, DC-9, BAC 111, Comet etc in 1/72, and I am not talking about expensive vacform and resin kits, I talking about Airfix, Acadamy, Revell, Tamiya, all we seem to get is another Spitfire, Phantom, F16 and the likes, very boring!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GCA333 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Its probably the size that is limiting the production. The prices could be high, and the market limited. A 1/72 A330 would be nice... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fischer Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 I have a friend that worked at Airfix as designer and I asked him about airliners at 1/72 and he told me that Airfix doesn't make them becauese the are too big and expensive. He also said they can't compete with the 1/144 airliners, that are cheaper. That is the normal reason. F Quote Link to post Share on other sites
72linerlover Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Hi airliner lovers. I think, or better, I'm pretty sure, the reason is the little market they have. The technical reason is poor since there are some bombers in 1/72 or even in 1/48 scale that are bigger than a 707 or than an A330. The price also would not be so high if they were sold in the same numbers as military aircraft are. Now that I've on the way a DC-7 C and planned a 707, I'm going to build a special case just for them and others. People prefer to have many 1/144 scale liners than less 1/72 they don't know where to put into and this is a logical point of view. The liners Kev67 mentions have still reasonable dimensions in 1/72 and are on my wish list, but I'm afraid they still will for a long time. On the other side, there are some available: F-27, Concorde, DC-3, DC-6, Caravelle, Viscount, and so on. Not all are the same quality and many need a lot of work, but it is better than nothing. Some other are military that can be converted into airliner, of course with much more work. We 72 scale (and liner) lover have to be satisfy by what is available at the moment. My only guess is to keep my modeling skills alive enough in the future to build all liners I have in the shelf. Regards Euge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 When will model manufactures start making good quality airliners such as Boeing 737 and 727, DC-9, BAC 111, Comet etc in 1/72, and I am not talking about expensive vacform and resin kits, I talking about Airfix, Acadamy, Revell, Tamiya, all we seem to get is another Spitfire, Phantom, F16 and the likes, very boring!!! Considering that Academy and Tamiya have never done an airliner, probably never for those. And considering the miniscule size of the market for airliner kits compared to F-15s and Bf109s, probably never for the others as well. It's nice to dream (I do it all the time), but the reality is, the market for airliners, especially large kits of airliners, is so vanishingly small in the grand scheme of the universe that it would be a losing proposition all the way around. That leaves it to the likes of the cottage industry to do them as best they can (before the licensing attorneys catch up with them). J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kev67 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 As size, the 737 is much smaller than my Nimrod kit, and has so many options, military and civilian, as I am not expecting massive airliners just moderate ones I have the Caravelle kit by Mach 2 and needs alot of work especially the horrible frosty windows, but will make a nice kit. I personally think the 737 would be a winner and should not be ignored by the kit manufactures. I cannot afford another Welshmodel 1/72 737, I already forked out £65 for the T-43A Quote Link to post Share on other sites
72linerlover Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I totally agree with you Kev, both for Caravelle quality and Welsh 737 price, but since I know myself, I’ll bleed out some money for the announced DC-9 30. Probably the “no one’s land†or the intersections between the civil an military purposes of similar airframes could be the way for model manufacturers to satisfy modelers’ dreams. Just a thought. Euge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
guillaume320 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Hello guys, I received my 1/72 A320 from Welsh recently. Im very impressed by the quality and to me the kit captures the look of the aircraft very well. OK not cheap compared to what you pay nowadays for lets say Revell's Atlantic or C160, but at least it's a 1/72 A320 and I'm happy with it. It also comes with seamless engines, so no aftermarket required. Compare that to Revell's recent C-17 engines... I'm looking forward to start and to finish it in Air Malta markings. The problem I have at the moment is it's my first vacuformed kit, so I just bought Aeroclub's Canberra B6 and Venom NF3 in 1/48 scale to learn the skills... If I screw up the Canberra, I still have 3 Airfix kits in the stash (B i8, PR9, B-57) and also a Classic Airframes T17 (waiting for a coat of paint since more than a year!), so that wouldn't be such a big loss. Maybe when the P-8 Posseidon starts replacing the Orions in service we might see that in a mainstream kit? Fingers crossed but I don't hold my breath. One thing is for sure, when Welsh release their 737-800, I will get one for sure! Best regards, Guillaume Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kev67 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 The other problem with building vacform, that this is my own opionion, is that I prefer to cut out all the window panels and glaze them with crystal clear and johnsons klear, that is why I choose the T-43 as it only has 9 windows eash side, and if I bought a commercial 737 I would have to cut out alot more, but that is my own personal taste and I know some would just use decals which is adequate at 1/144 scale. Leading to the Navy 737 800 yes I would make that in 1/72, its a great looking aircraft with all those bumps and aerials and not many windows to cut out. And I would pay money to build that. For any body that has not built a Welshmodel, they are quite easy it took me 2 weeks to build mine as there are not many parts and the vacform fitted very well just make sure you use weights at the front, I cut a small strip of plastic card and fitted it around the inside so it could join better, I also found the cabin and wheel bay fitted very well as well, the only problem I found was connecting both wings to the fueselage as there was quite a big gap that needed filling with car body paint http://www.flickr.com/photos/26726329@N02/3775364198/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/26726329@N02/3774560257/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GCA333 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 There are some pretty good airliner plans online that could be enlarged and used to scratch build an aircraft. Airwar.ru has plenty, including 737, 747, DC-10 and L-1011-100. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 There are all kinds of opinions on this, and I'd love to see a state of the art quality 1/72 airliner of any kind (especially a 737NG), but the reality is, it's just not likely to happen. The number of people in the world who actually build model airliner kits is, as I said, vanishingly small. Even if you include military versions of the 737, the numbers don't get much bigger. The interest just isn't there. Believe me on this. I've talked with people in the industry, and interest simply isn't there for them. I never say never (or always), but I'd be extremely surprised if it ever happens. The only glimmer of hope might be (and it's a very long shot, given the problems with licensing) a 1/72 Boeing P-8A Poseidon (737-800), but again, very unlikely. Licensing requirements on things like that are killing the kit industry. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kev67 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 Yes, but somebody took a gamble on the 707 (Heller) and that seems pretty popular and twice the size, so as I said why not the 737, just think of all the after market decals for various airlines and other add ons, I dont think it is impossible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airplane88 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I totally agree with you Kev, both for Caravelle quality and Welsh 737 price, but since I know myself, I’ll bleed out some money for the announced DC-9 30.Probably the “no one’s land†or the intersections between the civil an military purposes of similar airframes could be the way for model manufacturers to satisfy modelers’ dreams. Just a thought. Euge Did you say announced DC-9 30? Who is doing this?!!!! :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
72linerlover Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Did you say announced DC-9 30? Who is doing this?!!!! Welshmodels! Perhaps in 09 November Sorry for the late answer Euge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kev67 Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 You may need to read russian to understand where to go on the site as I could not see any English buttons to translate it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GCA333 Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Search Airwar.ru on google and click translate. It works pretty well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iaf-man Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 You may need to read russian to understand where to go on the site as I could not see any English buttons to translate it When you point the mouse to some link,there's an address in English at the bottom,telling you the type,here's a link to the civil aviation page: http://airwar.ru/other/draw_civ.html Isaac Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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