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Future of Kitty Hawk molds?


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I'm pretty confident that as long as the molds exist, someone will figure out how to make money off them. It just may take a while.

 

When I got into this hobby in the late '70s ESCI kits were incredibly rare in the local mom and pop stores that were really all I had in my area.  After ESCI went bankrupt in the late '80s, it was almost like they never existed.  I probably spent 15 years looking for a 1/48 Mirage F1. When e-bay came around I spent absurd amounts of money tracking down some of these old ESCI's kits of planes no one else made. ESCI's 1/48 European fighters like the Mirages, Viggens, etc were my crack fix. Then Italeri got their hands on the molds and released most of these kits about 20 years after ESCI folded and new tool version have come out of many that are available for a lot less than I spent on the old ESCI originals.  

 

I figure the same thing will happen with Kitty Hawk, probably a lot faster than it took Italeri to start putting out the ESCI kits. I would not be surprised to see Kitty Hawk's line reappear in the next 3-4 years, but it could take substantially longer and some of the kits may never get reissued.  If your line already has a Su-22, Su-27 or Su-34 why use Kitty Hawk's? It might make sense for a vendor to buy and just store some of these to keep them from a competitor.

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On 12/28/2021 at 7:07 AM, bashace said:

It's tough to compete with the Tamiya F-14D, especially when you have some obvious inaccuracies in your offering. The Mig-31 is a cool plane, but I don't see a lot of people wanting to build it, I think the Mig-25 is probably the preferred choice for that aircraft type. I do have the Delphin kit, looks like a real nice kit. The past year and a half has put a huge strain on a lot of small businesses around the world, I'm sure these model kit manufacturers are feeling the same pain.

they begged the folks at the on LHS in Indy to carry AMK kits (I've seen at least a half dozen of them myself), and was refused! When I got my first Mig31, the store manager asked me to bring it in for a look see. I did, and he was simply stunned, and told her to get them! While we were looking it over, two others inquired about buying the kit, and were also refused. Glad to see their store in Southport gone, so maybe we can get another Tom Metzger clone again!

gary

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17 hours ago, mawz said:


Special Hobby offers P-39's as well, and the main issue with them (too short aft of the canopy) is also present in the KH kit. 

Kingfisher's are another story. unlikely we'll see them again in larger-run form unless somebody grabs the KH molds and repops.

that kit is junk is second rate (P39). I have the book written by the chief engineer on that air frame, and the numbers he give are pretty close to what KH did. I think they are roughly sixty thousandths short when checked on a Shadowgraph. I did not check the width, so that might be another story. The other kit is off by close to a quarter of an inch, and it's shape is pure imagination

gary

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9 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

 

Never was corrected. The problem makes it look like a cross between an F-4 Phantom and an F-15 Eagle.

It looks nothing like an F-14 Tomcat at all...

 

 

Im with you, I dont think the Tamiya kit is 20-25% better.

 

 

F-111F I would have love to have seen by either KH or AMK.

been an F111a for me, but still rather seen a new F100. As for the F14, I can't see the Tamiya kit being 2% better if even that. Moot point now as most F14's are beer cans now.

gary

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20 hours ago, mawz said:


Nope. I have the most recent boxing and it's the exact same plastic as at release, just without any A2G sprues beyond the bomb adapters for the Phoenix rails.

Around here it's not enough cheaper than the Tamiya to matter. Not much difference between $130CAD for the AMK and $150CAD for the Tamiya, especially when the latter has FAR better reviews. I bought the AMK solely to see what the fuss is about (The AMK is good enough for my standards and looks like the more interesting build)

AMK can be had for about $55, and try to touch a Tamiya kit for less than a C note. Tot get the better Tamiya kit your looking north of a $100, and you got all that for $55 from the start

glt

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2 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

AMK can be had for about $55, and try to touch a Tamiya kit for less than a C note. Tot get the better Tamiya kit your looking north of a $100, and you got all that for $55 from the start

glt

 

2 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

they begged the folks at the on LHS in Indy to carry AMK kits (I've seen at least a half dozen of them myself), and was refused! When I got my first Mig31, the store manager asked me to bring it in for a look see. I did, and he was simply stunned, and told her to get them! While we were looking it over, two others inquired about buying the kit, and were also refused. Glad to see their store in Southport gone, so maybe we can get another Tom Metzger clone again!

gary

The only Indy hobby shop I've been to is the Hobby Town in Castleton, they have very little that interests me there, I do most of my shopping online anymore. 

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2 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

AMK can be had for about $55, and try to touch a Tamiya kit for less than a C note. Tot get the better Tamiya kit your looking north of a $100, and you got all that for $55 from the start

glt

I've seen the Tamiya F-14 as low as $80 recently on Amazon, I have all the manufacturers 1/48 F-14's offered except for AMK, just cant pull the trigger on it.

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6 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

AMK can be had for about $55, and try to touch a Tamiya kit for less than a C note. Tot get the better Tamiya kit your looking north of a $100, and you got all that for $55 from the start

glt

 

Tamiya D: US$65

https://www.hlj.com/1-48-scale-grumman-f-14d-tomcat-tam61118

 

Tamiya A: US$59:

https://www.hlj.com/1-48-scale-grumman-f-14a-tomcat-tam61114

 

Though admittedly, I am not sure of shipping cost to whichever country one is in.  Having said that though, I've always found HLJ shipping rates to be reasonable.  And now, they are having some sort of promotion called "Order Week":

https://www.hlj.com/

 

Also, I kinda like Tamiya's more refined details (light gray plastic at bottom) when compared to AMK (dark gray plastic on top):

https://i0.wp.com/www.ravico.com/ST/models/SbS_F-14/SbS_F14_012_nose.png

Edited by JackMan
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21 hours ago, bashace said:

 

The only Indy hobby shop I've been to is the Hobby Town in Castleton, they have very little that interests me there, I do most of my shopping online anymore. 

they had the shop in Southport. Very mismanaged, but the actual employees were pretty nice. The owners had little interest in modeling. I miss Tom Metzger!!!!! Rumor has it that we will see a new shop down south

gary

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17 hours ago, JackMan said:

 

Tamiya 😧 US$65

https://www.hlj.com/1-48-scale-grumman-f-14d-tomcat-tam61118

 

Tamiya A: US$59:

https://www.hlj.com/1-48-scale-grumman-f-14a-tomcat-tam61114

 

Though admittedly, I am not sure of shipping cost to whichever country one is in.  Having said that though, I've always found HLJ shipping rates to be reasonable.  And now, they are having some sort of promotion called "Order Week":

https://www.hlj.com/

 

Also, I kinda like Tamiya's more refined details (light gray plastic at bottom) when compared to AMK (dark gray plastic on top):

https://i0.wp.com/www.ravico.com/ST/models/SbS_F-14/SbS_F14_012_nose.png

I'm quoting prices in America. A Chinese kit in Japan is way over priced. Just like the other imported kits are. I don't buy kits overseas but with one exception (Vector Resin).  I don't think you have ever had an AMK kit cause they are a  light medium grey (slightly darker than Revell). I've owned several

glt

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11 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

I don't think you have ever had an AMK kit cause they are a  light medium grey (slightly darker than Revell). I've owned several

glt

 

The photo he posted a link to literally shows the AMK part in a darker gray plastic. How is it relevant if he's ever owned an AMK kit, or that you've owned several?

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