XP-67 Bat

[Chris Hughes]

Kits of this aircraft are quite hard to come by and as far as I'm aware, only two manufacturers have produced them, the Rareplanes vacform and the early Czechmaster resin kit.

Unfortunately, Rareplanes are no longer being made by Hannants and the "master" for the resin kit was built by the Czech Master some while ago! I was lucky enough to see it in May, resplendant in Petr's showcase at his home in Prague.

Since producing his earlier kit, Petr has been given access to a lot more information and imagery of the XP-67 by the NASM.

If sufficient interest is shown, he'll consider re-mastering this aircraft and producing a new 1/72 resin kit. Please, don't ask for a 1/48 kit, as Petr only works to 1/72 scale due to the limitations of the resin medium. However, Petr's successful kits are often taken up by the bigger manufacturers - see how many Wyverns we have now!

So, how about it folks? Any takers?

Chris

[Jim Barr]

I will definitely buy one if produced, already have his earlier one but will go for an updated one in a heartbeat!!

Regards

Jim Barr

[Madoc]

Chris,

If the end result comes packaged in a box priced at around $20 to $30USD then, yes, sign me up! Much more than that however, and the enthusiasm drops pretty quick. Certainly if it winds up cost near as much as the Collectaire version then that's well out of the question.

But, something done up to today's resin kit standards would be an excellent thing at the right price point.

Madoc

[Jim Barr]

Madoc

Their Wyvern goes for $63 at Squadron (now on sale for $30) so I would think a new XP-67 would be in the same neighborhood, the mass produced Trumpeter Wyvern goes for $28 so no way will the CM be as cheap as $20 - $30 for a limited run resin kit, that being said the detail in the Wyvern is exquisite.

Regards

Jim Barr

Edited November 30, 2005 by Jim Barr

[Madoc]

Jim,

OK, I see your point. $60 is getting way above my price point for something as small as a 1/72 WWII era fighter plane kit. $20 to $30 is probably more realistic for a mass produced injection molded kit fielded by one of the majors. Hopefully, something in the $30 to $40 range would be more do-able for such a limited run bit of resin.

Madoc

[Jim Barr]

Madoc

"something as small as a 1/72 WWII era fighter plane" is a relative term, the Moonbat was bigger dimensionally then a Me-110 and just a bit smaller then a He-219, so it was a fair size fighter for its day with a wingspan longer then most modern day jets, even the F-15 , this was no dainty Spitfire. But yes for a lot of people when you get into the $60 range your costumer base starts to drop off.

Regards

Jim Barr

[Hawk10]

I'm lucky enough to have an unbuilt Rare Planes XP-67 in my stash. Unfortunately, vacuform models and I don't have a good track record so I keep putting off building it. I'd buy a good resin kit as long as the MSRP were under fifty dollars. It rather surprises me that one of the Eastern European manufacturers haven't produced an injected version of it. After all, they've already produced the XP-55 and XP-56 in 1/72.

(I've even considered using the sheet of vacuformed parts to make a silicon mold and then casting my own resin parts in that - anybody think it's feasible?)

[Chris Hughes]

Well, I've taken the comments from here and HS and sent them on... As for using vacforms to make silicone moulds and "slush casting" - I don't see why it can't work.

I've thought of trying it for 1/144 "solid" models - I'll get around to it one day!

Chris