AMK 1/48 F-14!!!

[Lex]

From AMK facebook;

 

Hi everyone. 
Just to let you all know some detail just in case you weren't aware. 
AMK is a small team of friends and modellers who got together to create a model manufacturing company that could produce model kits that we wanted the mainstream companies to make. 
Detail, accuracy, pride, price and confidence in our own product are at the front of our business.
We are modellers too. We want to be the best model company. But making awesome kits take time. We don't have the resources that larger mainstream manufacturers have. 
We all have several roles each. 
We love making the kits you want and we love hearing your feedback. 
We've already raised the bar for other companies. We always satisfy customers through our exemplary customer service and no quibble policies. Others have had to follow our lead or get left behind.

The Tomcat is coming. The Kfir in 1/72 is imminent.

We are moving the website to another server but our kits are more important.

There are only a few of us in this company and we really are trying our hardest to please everyone but it's really difficult to get everything done. Please bear with us. 
We are working two or three jobs just to do this.

We feel empowered by your feedback and by your support. 
Thank you for listening and we'll drop some new stuff and information soon.

Sio, Martin, Mivy and the factory team.

[Ant Phillips]

 

Hopefully the FB post will put to rest the negative posts and shut up the naysayers.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Ant Phillips

[ChesshireCat]

23 hours ago, Sio said:

Hi, Gary,

 

The upgraded MIG-31 did arrived US quite a long time, because of Chinese custom, shipping (about one month), and US custom, then transportation in US, etc. But all of them should arrive US in January.

 

As they are limited production, we still have a few stock in the factory. If you still want it, please follow Facebook how to get one of those not that many left.

 

Cheers!

 

Sio

 

got my MIG ordered from Hobby World about an hour ago. He had the kit in stock, so I jumped on it.

gary

[Justicebringer]

18 minutes ago, ChesshireCat said:

got my MIG ordered from Hobby World about an hour ago. He had the kit in stock, so I jumped on it.

gary

Hobbyworld-USA? If so good deal Matt is a great guy to deal with.

[ChesshireCat]

9 hours ago, Justicebringer said:

Hobbyworld-USA? If so good deal Matt is a great guy to deal with.

He had a price substantially lower than Victory to boot!  Prices were so good that I ended up ordering five items. Told him to call me when the Tomcats start to show up.

gary

[UpperDeck]

Perhaps a few people were left with the feeling this project was postponed because we suddenly switched from everyday updates (sometimes multiple times a day) on every new AMK projects to currently almost no updates. Not that I am criticising, it is just that the change in communication appeared suddent to me.

[jester292]

Still waiting in anticipation! Hope all is well on the AMK front. Any news?

[ChesshireCat]

got my MIG Saturday morning, and it's better than I expected. My first thought was the Tomcat being of that mold quality!! OR BETTER?? It seems that AMK is a constantly evolving company; learning to do things better on it's journey. I have the L29 kit in 1/48th, and did a quick comparison. It was like two different companies did the kits! And trust me the L29 isn't bad.

 

Lastly: I think every model company (even you Tamiya) needs to see how AMK packages a kit!!!!!! I'd gladly have Revell add couple extra dollars for a packing of this quality.

gary

[flybywire]

Just a little thought from the back of my mind, AMK mentioned that they will be releasing three versions of the MiG-25 during 2017 (straight from their Facebook last Oct. 6, 2016); I was deeply wondering how could this come into fruition when we’re already done with the first quarter of the year and the shadow of their physical Tomcats is still nowhere to be found.

[glorystomper]

i was under the impression from one of their recent posts that they were waiting on a backlog at the production factory  (something about them being bumped for a higher priority customer).. could be that the tomcat is already done and just waiting to be made into plastic and the MiG-25 project is still going on in the background?

[MoFo]

12 hours ago, flybywire said:

Just a little thought from the back of my mind, AMK mentioned that they will be releasing three versions of the MiG-25 during 2017 (straight from their Facebook last Oct. 6, 2016); I was deeply wondering how could this come into fruition when we’re already done with the first quarter of the year and the shadow of their physical Tomcats is still nowhere to be found.

 

Well, the MiG-25 was supposed to be one of four (five?) new 1/48 subjects released in 2016, too.  So the simple answer is, they've been a little over-ambitious in announcing their schedule, and while it would be great if they manage to pull it off, there's a good chance it won't make the published release date, so don't set your expectations too high.

 

 

7 hours ago, glorystomper said:

i was under the impression from one of their recent posts that they were waiting on a backlog at the production factory  (something about them being bumped for a higher priority customer).. could be that the tomcat is already done and just waiting to be made into plastic and the MiG-25 project is still going on in the background?

 

Sort of.  AMK *are* the factory.  They were a tooling shop that decided to get into the plastic model business after tooling some kits for another manufacturer.  So they seem to have bumped themselves, because a(n external) paying customer has higher priority.  

 

But my hunch is, it's probably not done and just waiting to be installed in the presses.  AMK have a fairly well established practice of posting Facebook updates as their projects hit major milestones.  It's effective marketing, as it builds anticipation and enthusiasm, and it lets consumers feel like they have an inside track; but it also lets you gauge progress.  And they haven't posted anything to suggest they've started cutting molds, let alone completed them.  In fact, they haven't even posted anything to suggest they've completed design work on the kit.  And while it's possible they've decided to completely change their policy and no longer provide substantive updates - maybe they've decided to ape Tamiya and just wait until the kit's ready to release, or maybe it's due to the health issues Martin was dealing with - going by past practices it seems more likely that they're still somewhere in the development or tooling stage.

 

 

TL;DR: it's really hard to meet production deadlines on complicated projects, and even harder to meet them when the deadlines are optimistic.  The kits will get here when they get here, so it's probably best not to get hung up on 'are we there yet', because its going to take some time.  Build your stash and be excited when they DO hit the shelves.

[Craig Baldwin]

I was hoping a little more that the Super Etendard and G91 would be produced but disappointed in that, especially the G91. I did purchase the MiG 31, more out of wanting to see what the kit was like.

 

I'll keep holding my breathe for the G91.

[Jonathan_Lotton]

On 4/4/2017 at 9:39 AM, MoFo said:

 

Well, the MiG-25 was supposed to be one of four (five?) new 1/48 subjects released in 2016, too.  So the simple answer is, they've been a little over-ambitious in announcing their schedule, and while it would be great if they manage to pull it off, there's a good chance it won't make the published release date, so don't set your expectations too high.

 

 

 

Sort of.  AMK *are* the factory.  They were a tooling shop that decided to get into the plastic model business after tooling some kits for another manufacturer.  So they seem to have bumped themselves, because a(n external) paying customer has higher priority.  

 

But my hunch is, it's probably not done and just waiting to be installed in the presses.  AMK have a fairly well established practice of posting Facebook updates as their projects hit major milestones.  It's effective marketing, as it builds anticipation and enthusiasm, and it lets consumers feel like they have an inside track; but it also lets you gauge progress.  And they haven't posted anything to suggest they've started cutting molds, let alone completed them.  In fact, they haven't even posted anything to suggest they've completed design work on the kit.  And while it's possible they've decided to completely change their policy and no longer provide substantive updates - maybe they've decided to ape Tamiya and just wait until the kit's ready to release, or maybe it's due to the health issues Martin was dealing with - going by past practices it seems more likely that they're still somewhere in the development or tooling stage.

 

 

TL;DR: it's really hard to meet production deadlines on complicated projects, and even harder to meet them when the deadlines are optimistic.  The kits will get here when they get here, so it's probably best not to get hung up on 'are we there yet', because its going to take some time.  Build your stash and be excited when they DO hit the shelves.

 

 

I said something similar to AMK on their facebook page.

They made the mistake of even mentioning a "christmas" release last year..because now we're 5 months on and still nothign. 

[Berkut]

I really dont get all this complaining. The previous dates were stated because those dates were the goals and when they aimed at releasing the kit. It is AMK's best interest to release the kit as soon as possible as soon as it reaches the quality they want to. It wasnt a mistake to mention release date X, because that was the release date they thought they could do and were aiming at.

 

Clearly life happened in between which delayed the release. Nobody died as the result of it. Want to build an F-14 and want to build it right now? Then do it, there are plenty of other options if you have that massive of an itch. If not - just wait. If you want to build AMK's F-14 you dont have any other option than to wait anyway. The MiG-31 was a multiyear project too and it is widely agreed that it is pretty damn great model.

 

Zvezda Su-27SM was released almost 2 years after their promised release date and nobody died, there was plenty of other subjects to build in meantime. The Il-76 from them has been promised for years too and the test sprues are only finally being done now. And unlike F-14, there is basically no option to build Il-76 as of now which makes it far more "pressing" release.

 

Y'all need some perspective.

[Jonathan_Lotton]

1 hour ago, Berkut said:

I really dont get all this complaining. The previous dates were stated because those dates were the goals and when they aimed at releasing the kit. It is AMK's best interest to release the kit as soon as possible as soon as it reaches the quality they want to. It wasnt a mistake to mention release date X, because that was the release date they thought they could do and were aiming at.

 

Clearly life happened in between which delayed the release. Nobody died as the result of it. Want to build an F-14 and want to build it right now? Then do it, there are plenty of other options if you have that massive of an itch. If not - just wait. If you want to build AMK's F-14 you dont have any other option than to wait anyway. The MiG-31 was a multiyear project too and it is widely agreed that it is pretty damn great model.

 

Zvezda Su-27SM was released almost 2 years after their promised release date and nobody died, there was plenty of other subjects to build in meantime. The Il-76 from them has been promised for years too and the test sprues are only finally being done now. And unlike F-14, there is basically no option to build Il-76 as of now which makes it far more "pressing" release.

 

Y'all need some perspective.

It was a mistake because it created an atmosphere of expectation. 

Notice what Tamiya did...nothing about the F-14 until literally a week before it debuted, and even then it was only rumors. The way they announced the F-14 was a built up test copy, pictures of sprues and details on markings. 

What AMK did is get people whipped up into a frenzy, give update after update after update, saying "Around Christmas!"...and then when it didn't happen they elected to go completely silent. They went so silent that it caused people to wonder if the project was even still happening, or if AMK was still intact as a company. 

No one is saying that the F-14 won't be great...what they're saying is that AMK bungled things on the front end. 

[anj4de]

If Tamiya was really clever they would update their -A kit to a -B/D now...before a competitor is on the market. Should be an easy job after already having all the basic molds in place.

[Laurent]

1 hour ago, Jonathan_Lotton said:

... or if AMK was still intact as a company.

 

I believe that AMK is more a brand that an actual company.

[Jonathan_Lotton]

Just now, Laurent said:

 

I believe that AMK is more a brand that an actual company.

Well I stand corrected. 

[Jonathan_Lotton]

12 minutes ago, anj4de said:

If Tamiya was really clever they would update their -A kit to a -B/D now...before a competitor is on the market. Should be an easy job after already having all the basic molds in place.

Yep. 

Everything needed to convert the basic kit into a Block 125 A and B now would be one or two different sprues containing the ECM lumps and bumps, TCS, LANTIRN, A2G weapons and GE cans for the A+/B's. 

 

[shion]

1 hour ago, anj4de said:

If Tamiya was really clever they would update their -A kit to a -B/D now...before a competitor is on the market. Should be an easy job after already having all the basic molds in place.

 

Shizuoka Hobby Show is next month.

If Tamiya announce or worst show a new Tomcat release....

[ChesshireCat]

About four feet away from me is the AMK MIG31 kit. The kit is flat stunning. Now with a Tomcat looming on the horizon, and thinking it will be at least the quality of the MIG; I can wait! It will debut as the Tomcat to end all Tomcats.

gary

[janman]

5 minutes ago, ChesshireCat said:

About four feet away from me is the AMK MIG31 kit. The kit is flat stunning. Now with a Tomcat looming on the horizon, and thinking it will be at least the quality of the MIG; I can wait! It will debut as the Tomcat to end all Tomcats.

gary

 

Agreed on all accounts!

[anj4de]

I have also seen the AMK MIG31...but since this is such a really super ugly bird I will not get it. I got ICM's Mig25, not beautiful but interesting in it's brutal apperance...and I would buy a good MIG-29 in a heart beat. The Tomcat on the other side is a piece of art, a timeless design like a Porsche 911, a Spitfire or a P-51D...simply beautiful!

 

cheers

Uwe

 

 

[habu2]

4 hours ago, anj4de said:

If Tamiya was really clever they would update their -A kit to a -B/D now...before a competitor is on the market. Should be an easy job after already having all the basic molds in place.

 

Yeah, and if Tamiya was really clever they would have updated their F-16C kit to a D or even an A.  The molds for that kit is also modular and would require only a couple of sprues.  But here we are a full decade later, still waiting..... so I wouldn't hold my breath on a B/D Tomcat.

[Janissary]

4 hours ago, Jonathan_Lotton said:

Everything needed to convert the basic kit into a Block 125 A and B now would be one or two different sprues containing the ECM lumps and bumps, TCS, LANTIRN, A2G weapons and GE cans for the A+/B's. 

 

This is precisely what I'm waiting for. With all the Tomcat ref pics I have collected over the years, I couldn't find a single early Tomcat I liked. Gotta have the NACA vents... All the decals I have bought are late A's and B's. That said, I fear Tamiya will leave us hanging just the way they did with their two seater F-16s. 

 

With AMK's Delta, I'm not in a hurry. But when it comes out, NAWC, VX-4, VX-9, or primer colors is what I am going with. No operational scheme is interesting to me. Thank you. :)