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Tamiya WWII Aircraft


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I heard a rumour adn hopefully it is just that, that Tamiya will not be releasing anymore WWII aircraft in any scale for a very long time as there focus will be on other types of kits. Has anyone else heard this? I hope this is just a rumour as I was really hoping they would shrink down there 1/32 Spitfire kits to 1/48th scale.

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If there is any one truism you can state about Tamiya, it's that they don't let ANY information out. So no, I'd say there is a .00004% chance that such a rumor was true. They would have no reason to state such a thing anyway, since business is fluid, and things can change rapidly. In 2006 who would have guessed we would be four years into a near-collapse of the world economy as we are now?

J

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Who said anything about discarding their current 1/48th Spitfires?..they are Mk1 and MkVb, the 1/32nd scale are MkVIII and Mk.IX, totaly different aircraft. A few years back there was a leak of info that Tamiya's Sr. designer was very ill, but now they are on the fast track again and the rumour was that every aircraft kit would be done in all scales 1/72/1/48 and 1/32nd. You can see they have done the zero's in 1/48th just like their big brothers and I hope the trend continues as I already stated I would love to see the Mk.VIII and Mk.IX in 1/48 as I am sure I am not the only one. And Tamiya also makes a Stuka and Hellcat in 1/72nd, would be nice to see them in 1/48th.

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I heard a rumour adn hopefully it is just that, that Tamiya will not be releasing anymore WWII aircraft in any scale for a very long time as there focus will be on other types of kits. Has anyone else heard this? I hope this is just a rumour as I was really hoping they would shrink down there 1/32 Spitfire kits to 1/48th scale.

That one is almost as good as the one I heard last week about the 48th P-47 series being discountied.

Rumours about Tamiya are always funny when I hear them. I know for a fact that Tamiya will be releasing a newly tooled 32nd WW2 subject next year...

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Who said anything about discarding their current 1/48th Spitfires?..they are Mk1 and MkVb, the 1/32nd scale are MkVIII and Mk.IX, totaly different aircraft. A few years back there was a leak of info that Tamiya's Sr. designer was very ill, but now they are on the fast track again and the rumour was that every aircraft kit would be done in all scales 1/72/1/48 and 1/32nd. You can see they have done the zero's in 1/48th just like their big brothers and I hope the trend continues as I already stated I would love to see the Mk.VIII and Mk.IX in 1/48 as I am sure I am not the only one. And Tamiya also makes a Stuka and Hellcat in 1/72nd, would be nice to see them in 1/48th.

Pretty sure the Stuka and Hellcat are re-boxings of the Italeri kits.

cheers

Old Blind Dog

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the rumour was that every aircraft kit would be done in all scales 1/72/1/48 and 1/32nd.

That would be great..I'd love it if Tamiya would scale down their Betty and Irving, and it would be cool if they's do a 1/72 P-51B/C as well. But like Jennings says, when it comes to new releases Tamiya is like a box of chocolates....

SN

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Anything with a B in it and in 1/48 by Tamiya is a godsend. I even had my LHS ask me if I wanted an extra tube of putty with some kits I buy...

They'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they stopped WW2 subjects. Sure we might see more autos and ships during the next release cycle but I am sure they have a few trump cards being molded for the next cycle.

Edited by Zotted
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I heard a rumour adn hopefully it is just that, that Tamiya will not be releasing anymore WWII aircraft in any scale for a very long time as there focus will be on other types of kits.

Would that be only new-tools or just re-pops of old ones??. If it's the latter it would be the same as saying no to making money with all the tooling and development costs already covered. I seriously doubt that!!!

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If I'd been a bookie, taking bets on rumours about Tamiya, I'd be a darned sight richer, and could have retired a whole lot earlier, than turned out to be the case. Last year we had it (on the best authority) that Tamiya's next 1/32 kit would be a Corsair, or a P-51D, or a ******** , but no-one mentioned a Spitfire. If Tamiya bosses ever read the modelling forums, they probably have to hold their aching sides, due to the laughter.

Edgar

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OMG Tamiya makes best airplane kits.... WW II airplanes are bestsellers.... Yes, tamiya make a one great kit in a 2years period - but when rumors says:Tamiya ending - Tamiya make a another great kit.... He knows a modelers watch for new quartescale Spits IX/VII - they are must be mad be discontinued WW II aircraft program... And WHY ? Modelers can pay for traditional Tamiya quality kits...

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Tamiya is *NOT* doing a B-17 (or anything else with a "B" in it). Take that to the bank guys.

J

Hence my " :thumbsup: " and my <_<

Maybe some didn't get the joke that the B-17 rumor has been circulating for, what, years now?

It was my way of gently chastising the OP for rumormongering.

:worship:

Mike

edited, as Matt noticed spelling isn't my strong suit! :cheers:

Edited by mlicari
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rumourmongering is one word......

I think I first saw the 'Tamiya B-17' on RMS back in '95 or '96 so at least a decade and a half now! (scary that that is what my initial modeling memory from the net is....I guess my nickname over on BM is most apt then)

matt.jpg

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SO let me ask - at what point is their a diminishing return for any maker. The WWII subjects are a finite resource of potential candidates. I mean, there are only so many to go around. They did a new Spitfire, for example... okay, But, we needed another one of those?

Where does a company like Tamiya draw the line on producing either one that has been done to death, or one that no one has ever heard of? What drives them to make their choices?

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What drives them to make their choices?

In the case of Tamiya - it's what the head honchos like. Period. The plastic kit side of Tamiya is the playground for the company execs. The huge majority of their money is made on RC products, much of which you don't see outside of Japan. Plastic kits are an afterthought. The reason they did a 1/48 Dewoitine 520 is because one of the head guys liked it. There's no other reason for them to have done it.

J

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But what about their 1/48 Spitifre Vb? It has a "b" in it. And maybe one day they will finally do two seater F-16"B" models. :thumbsup:

They did do a P-51B....

I'm just sayin....

Maybe a B-32 also..... (speaking of which, someone DOES need to a 48th scale B-32!)

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It does amuse me (per Jennings' suggestion) that Tamiya sometimes does pick reasonably obscure subjects, and then executes them in commendable fashion. Witness, for example, their F4D Skyray. I admit to taking a mildly dim view at their prices, but I admire their occasional foray into the airplane-arcane, because I see as a certain brassiness there.

Hey, Tamiya. Really surprise us, and frustrate the usual glamor-plane fanboys (F-14s and BF-109s) by producing a F3D Skynight. Or a 1/72nd scale Coronado.

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It does amuse me (per Jennings' suggestion) that Tamiya sometimes does pick reasonably obscure subjects, and then executes them in commendable fashion. Witness, for example, their F4D Skyray. I admit to taking a mildly dim view at their prices, but I admire their occasional foray into the airplane-arcane, because I see as a certain brassiness there.

Hey, Tamiya. Really surprise us, and frustrate the usual glamor-plane fanboys (F-14s and BF-109s) by producing a F3D Skynight. Or a 1/72nd scale Coronado.

Or a Fisher XP-75!

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