Artful69

Hubert … Again … this post is in direct breach of the rules of this forum. I do not need to be lectured to by you or anyone else - I am quite capable of doing my own research, should I wish to. Your ‘essay’ (of which I have tried my best to ignore for the most part and restricted my read to a paragraph or two) holds a heavy bias on certain ‘truths’ while ignoring others as ALL political arguments do … This forum is for modelling purposes. In respect for ALL members on it please remove your political views and stick to the subject matter and rules prescribed. Should you feel so passionately about a particular politically related subject - there are forums for this elsewhere. Rog

True … but besides the point … No-one should have to hide from someone breaching forum rules … Rog

I think none of us have ever had an issue with religion on the forums … as Christian as I am, if I ever saw anyone posting bigoted crap against anyone Jewish, Islamic or Hindu for example, I would make the same comment as I did relating to the Ill-informed political crap posted above … support who you want, for whatever reason you want … just don’t post it here - I don’t need opinion rammed down my gullet!! Rog

I for one am sick of the political comments still being allowed on THIS forum … can we please leave the virtue signalling to the other forums and focus on modelling … I’m sick of seeing Ukraine this and Ukraine that with blue and yellow flags everywhere as if they are the righteousness of God while the other is portrayed as pure evil (just like the western press, the elites and political establishment want it!!!) … They are BOTH responsible for the mess that is happening over there - tragic as it is … can we leave our personal political opinions OFF the forum like the rules explicitly state?? TIA Rog 😡

Heya Ern ... Thanks for the feedback!! I must have been a little vague with my comments about HPH's business ... I was specifically referring to their involvement with the manufacture of models ... not the entire company ... The main focus of their model building is museum and private contracts ... My bad lol. I don't think the IM version of the SB2C is necessarily bad ... just poor in relation to its competition at that price point. It's certainly better than the resin version of the same subject! The overall point was: IM type kits are very rarely manufactured to perfection - especially on the first go ... Even ZM kits can provide a struggle to some ... So if you're going to charge that much money? - produce something popular and done as well as can be done as your first subject. I, too, hope they don't go sooky-sooky-la-la and throw the toys out of the pram... take the 'L' for the poor choices initially and keep progressing ... Besides the Me.410 and the Beau ... I want that bloody Do.17 !!!! Rog :)

I've been informed that it's going to retail here for around $270-$300 AUD ... Also Max ... the resident model guru at Metro Hobbies, tells me that it fits like a Tamiya kit ... the leap in HKM quality is that good! He's built everything going ... WNW kits, the lot! So when he says it the best kit he's built with no exceptions ... (it may not objectively be so) but I'm inclined to take his word for it. Lots to look forward to I think? Rog

The command vehicle was very useful in the early stages of the war ... Up front with the panzer divisions but just rear of the direct engagement. More armour than the Panzerspähwagen (though only to protect against small arms fire), yet just as quick and manoeuvrable while also tracked allowing great cross country capability - so as to avoid unnecessary direct entanglements with AFVs. The bow machine gun was for close defence against infantry - but there are several observation ports that can be used for close defence also. An odd looking thing, but surprisingly useful in 1939-40! Rog

That's a lovely Panzer III Ausf M

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and handiwork! ... I had a feeling that it might work the same or similar ... leastways the Erla G-10 front end is pretty much all one piece, so I was mainly concerned with wings, fuse, tail etc. If I have to template a special panel and scribe (or fill one in!) I'm good for that, but scratch building parts is another story!. Rog

A few years back the owners of HPH announced that they were creating a company to produce subjects in injection moulded plastic ... aiming to venture more heavily into the retail market - a move away from their resin subjects. Within the last 48 hours, I’ve discovered – less than 4 years after that announcement ... and with only 3 subjects released (one of them not really having filtered through into the retail market yet), that they may be inclined to discontinue this venture. This doesn’t leave a great impression - as continual ‘news’ posts from those connected with the company throughout the first couple of years have suggested a myriad of different subjects were to be developed and released … almost like a wish list. The first I had heard about the shift towards IM was via Mireks' announcement on the HPH Vendors page over on LSP on October 1, 2019. It was a simple statement - "Plastic age in HpH started :-)" ... along with a link to their post on "Modelforum.CZ" showing one of HPH's most recent resin offerings (the SB2C), recast via injection moulding. Given the actual release date of this kit, I would suggest that sprue photo taken at that time was a test shot from some of the initial moulding. The business model for HPH appears to me to be quite sound ... Their main focus is in producing large scale, museum quality models for both public museums and private commissions ... It's obviously served them quite well, given that they've been around since long before I jumped back into the hobby in 2008. The ‘scale model’ production is a side business (more of a hobby) and the main medium utilised to date is resin casting - especially for the smaller parts and I'm led to believe that fibreglass is used for a lot of the larger castings. Apparently, this is because, while resin holds detail really well, it is also subject to shrinkage in casting - so the smaller the parts cast in resin, the less problems experienced in assembly. At whatever point in time - HPH decided that making some of their resin work available for public consumption might be a good idea. Again ... the business model seems quite sound ... produce a limited run of resin cast parts in 1/32 scale for a particular aircraft of esoteric interests, not likely to be produced by injection moulding due to lower demand. Because of their passion for modelling, their focus was on making sure the subject was detailed and done accurately. The other side of that coin was that the process of releasing the kit to market (design, master creation, moulds, casting, QA, presentation, advertising and distribution) is quite expensive and the retail price per item therefore, is quite large. Part of the reason for this is the effect of what we call in economics, a lack of economies of scale ... in short: the less numbers you produce of an item, the more cost per item you will experience because certain ‘development’ costs at the front end have fewer end products to distribute that cost over. Another reason is the type of design and production used. There is a reason why injection moulded model kits are still the cheapest retail kits on the market on a per-kit basis! I know that a lot of folk were complaining about the retail price of each resin kit to start with. My philosophy is this - it is what it is - yes it might be steep, but that's the price you pay for a quality kit in limited production (it is produced that way, because of the limited demand for it!). Presentation was sound, instructions were good, detail was excellent and customer service was also pretty decent ... they even provided a chocolate inside the box! Shortly after the first few subject releases however, we started seeing feedback on the forums of the difficulty in assembly ... some kits hit the shelf of doom because parts would simply not fit no matter what you did to them. By and large these complaints were ignored by the community. This is probably because it was more a fault of the medium used rather than the manufacturer ... we know what we're walking into with resin - so it's always a 'buyer beware!' proposition. The point where I started to change my mind about the company, was when a fellow modeller went to work on one of their more recent releases a few years back ... the F7F Tigercat. The build started full of enthusiasm on 8th Nov 2017 and currently meanders out to an incomplete build thread of 74 pages long in mid 2022 - the kit fighting a desperate rear-guard action with the builder at every step in the process. Significant scratch building work needed to be done to fix some questionable engineering choices - but the main issue to my mind was that the entire moulding of panel-lines on one wing were completely wrong - think Trumpeter 'Z team' out-in-the-alleyway-at-the-back-of-the-factory wrong! ... The issue was pointed out to the team at HPH who just summarily dismissed the complaint. For mine this was completely against their previously displayed values as a company (an accurate representation of a subject, presented in a quality fashion with focus on customer interest and care) ... and I could not reconcile the product provided with the amount of money being charged for it - along with what appeared to be a blasé attitude toward the customer. Now I know we all complain about something like the Hobby Boss A-26 Invader ... But here's the deal - It's relatively cheap as a starting base ... I mean, there's a whole lot of plastic there for a lot less than $200 AUD ... Yes, I know that a lot of that plastic is inaccurate and that there are plenty of shape issues with the aircraft. But just stop for a second here and look at the market for it ... Price is always a consideration for a purchase. It's mass produced - which also means it's mass marketed ... it's not specifically targeted at A-26 fans – never mind SIG 1/32. To a lot of people (let's be honest - most people) taking a quick look at a few period photos - it's a Douglas A-26 Invader ... a cool subject with guns and turrets and stuff. To a very select few of us (and I am not really 100% in this category!) the kit is a half hearted abomination of what an A-26 should be! - Yet it's probably sold really well due to the balance of cheap retail price (compared to similar sized model kits at between a third extra and double the price) and the availability across a huge network of advertisers, retail outlets and so on, world wide. I bought it ... and will probably build it as is ... Same with their B-24 ... a shame that they mucked it up - but far from unbuildable (especially with a couple of AM clear resin turrets thrown in!) The point is ... with the retail of model kits ... your marketing, product detailing, medium(s), packaging etc needs to reflect what you are actually trying to achieve. In HB's case above ... Sales, sales, sales to a blanket market who really don't necessarily know (or care about) the subject on an intimate level in order to make a profit on the initial investment cost. Every company out there has variation on this business model ... ZM has a quality production method with a unique assembly style as their point of difference. Their kits are expensive but have created a large fan base in a short space of time because of their attention to detail and overall quality of product ... Tamiya are known for presentation, quality, detail, accuracy and fit (pretty much the full package) ... but again - you're paying for it! Note that they selected fairly popular subjects of WWII aircraft as well (John alone is probably responsible for half the Corsair sales!). HKM's point of difference is BIG (and detailed) aircraft ... Starting with the B-25 (a bomber FFS!) and then doubling down with the B-17 and the Lancaster ... again, these products are expensive - but there is a lot of plastic for the price paid ... and all of it quality! ... Their Mosquito bombed (no pun intended – but it seems to be a bit of a retail shelf queen) with some HB type inaccuracies (and I seriously hope that one day they can afford to go back and revise the kit – because Tamiya stopped with the FB (when they could have so easily re-boxed the kit with the modular sprue for the B.Mk.IV or the PR.Mk.IV) And ... Just so we know a sound business plan isn't limited to injection moulded subjects - look at what Jetmads has achieved ... Absolutely stunning kits where presentation, accuracy, detail, engineering, fit and finish come together wonderfully ... Yes they are extravagantly priced - but not that much more than a good IM offering, while based on a very similar business model to HPH. Esoteric subjects that are popular enough to sell in a limited production run. If you Really want that subject in 1/32 - here's your option. To enter the the 1/32 market for Aircraft at this point, you need to be aware of one thing always ... Customer perception ... above all - you need to be offering 'bang for buck'. For every dollar spent a customer will be expecting 'more' in return ... but more of what exactly? ... More accuracy, more engineering quality, more detail (or plastic), better fit and finish ... more options in the build. Basically 'more' of any one thing (or a combination of things) that conveys value for money to them - NOT to you - the manufacturer. You need to spend a day in your customers shoes ... regularly! Obviously the cheaper the kit, the more inclined people will be to buy it ... so for every incremental increase in price point, you need to be offering something that makes the extra expense worth the outlay! We've covered a few of those value points above. But does anyone here believe for even a second, that ZM sells as many Bf.109's as Revell - in the same scale?? I know I don't ... and I would much rather buy the ZM kit any day of the week over the Revell offering ... But why is this so? ... Two different target markets! ... Revell is the mass produced 'looks-pretty-much-like-a-109' kit ... that may, in fact, be a fairly accurate representation. Designed from the outset to be a mass seller to the worldwide market - and priced accordingly. ZM's customer base is a lot more focused and discerning box-to-finished product, expecting quality, accuracy and detail all the way. Infinity started with a subject in 1/32 that had already been done in HPH's resin line up – of an esoteric subject ... and apparently wasn't a great seller in that regard either - customer perceptions that I picked up in a variety of forum conversations were that it was: overpriced and an absolute mission to assemble ... something that had been a constant in feedback from previously released subjects already. So why start the IM line up with this particular subject? We can speculate until the cows arrive home from their daily constitutional in the paddock, but I dare say it would have something to do - at least in part - with the amount of pre-existing research and design already completed for the resin kit (a cost saving concern). The kit was always going to be limited run moulds ... but let's face it ... even these are expensive!! ... That being said ... Initially, you need to have a product priced low enough, of a subject matter popular enough, to attract sales in the first place ... If your pricing is set too high (in order to recoup costs invested over a limited run) you immediately restrict your sales away from the average affordability levels of most ... add to that (again), an esoteric subject? - you've dropped more potential sales again ... and then there's the quality of your product ... If you don't hit the nail on the head with a certain amount of 'wow' factor on your first 2-3 subjects, your projections for business success are not looking good ... So … look back to their comment history around start up and have a look at their originally announced line up. Out of 8 subjects projected, there are only 2 subjects that would have had a reasonable chance of making some solid profit margins (the Me.410 and the Beaufighter TF.X) … and both of these are slated to be released LAST! … Of course the line up has changed a few times since – but this list sheds some light on the thought processes being applied. An Aichi D3A1 Val was announced for late 2023 … Interest levels started high and only grew from there … Sure, the subject is a little more esoteric than others … but not even half as much as the SB2C and the Vampire … If most people were to name the top 6 single engine aircraft from the early stages of the PTO, surrounding the first three major (and famous!!) actions involving the US: Pearl Harbour, Coral Sea and Midway (slot Guadalcanal in there if you like!) … you would have: A6M2b Zeke, D3A1 Val, B5N2 Kate, TBD-1 Devastator, SBD Dauntless, F4F Wildcat … Every other aircraft type is a cameo … P.40’s, B-26’s, B-17’s, TBF Avengers etc etc It probably sucks … but just as race wins and sales create interest in certain performance car models, famous battles create interest in military vehicles … more so than other military vehicles and civilian types. The point is … To illustrate how popular this particular choice of subject was - people everywhere, having seen the line-up, started asking: “what about the Kate?” … I mean … if you’re going to make a Val why not make its combat partner - after all, they were always used in tandem. I think it took them less than a month to announce the Kate into their line up after the Val announcement was posted up on the forums … and more importantly, it was bumped in ahead of a few of the other previously announced and more questionable choices. Better late than never, I guess … but the attitude is most obviously reactive! In the initial set up of a brand new business and business model – you must be pro-active … set up opinion polls on multiple forums … put up a list of 10 subjects you’re thinking of making and see which are the most popular … out of the 8 initially put forward by infinity, I’d wager that the Beaufighter would have scored best (by quite a margin) over the others … with either the Val or the Me.410 coming in second (most likely the Me.410)… so then, lead with that one! … On a variety of forums people had been crying out for ages for a new tooled large scale Beau to replace the ancient Revell offering that had been re-popped so many times it must be an all time winner in the ROI stakes! … Do that one first … do it right …. Even if your product standard on the first couple of kits with fit and finish slips a little (no-one gets it completely right the first time) people move past that because the subject matter is so attractive it distracts them. Any potential loss of sales is countered by the people who just want that subject!! … Look at Fly Models new tooled Hurricanes as an example – not a perfect assembly by any stretch, but because the demand for a new tooled detailed and accurate product was in high demand, they sold like hotcakes! Meanwhile if you are passionate about getting it right and being successful, you take the various commentary and build review feedback around the place, refine current processes and learn new ones for subsequent releases … à-la ZM … and before you know it you are in a position where you can release one esoteric subject for every three popular subjects – all of notable quality in production … Before Kotare came to light they could have even announced a Spitfire Mk.Vb! There a so many popular choices that would have given them a great product launch. I don’t so much have a problem with the resin cast detail parts … why not? … Fly Model did it for their Hurricanes, Special Hobby did it for their Tempest etc … But with each release the subject was popular and the option of an all in one kit or a ‘budget’ kit was offered. And for crying out loud - check your pricing!! … Selling a short run IM kit of a single engined bomber even with resin detailing should be vaguely comparable to similar products out there … such as a Trumpeter TBF or SBD with some AM details added. If I’m going to be paying more than that, there must be some justification as to why that is! I hope their Val sells well … I made up my mind well before I saw ANY of their design work that I was going to buy one … and the same with the Kate, the Me.410 (even though I already have the HPH resin version) and the Beaufighter TF.X … When they enquired about a German Bomber, the Do.17z was mentioned - the only one still missing from the Polish Campaign, BOF or BOB line up (and from what I remember, taken up by them as a future subject). I might have eventually bought a Vampire … but only because it was used in RAAF service at one point. None of the other subjects hold any interest for me and I would dare say that goes for a lot of other potential customers out there although I believe that an SM.79 Sparviero was mentioned at some point, somewhere - drawing some interest. It certainly looks interesting! Given that your production and maybe even your marketing chain is going to need some tweaking no matter what you do initially … in order to give your business the best possible launch, the subject needs to be chosen well. Hype generates hype. As stated previously, HPH seem to view this Infinity set up as a side business to their main passion. I feel that their initial subject choice was a reflection of the lack of understanding of the particular market segment focus that was needed. In the marketplace it is demand that sets supply. If you are moving out of a ‘niche’ style system toward a ‘mass production’ model - changes in your target market and approach to that market are required … gone is the flexibility in choice of subject matter … Even Peter Jackson with his millions couldn’t escape this reality! If the crew at HPH have decided that running an IM company is too much trouble for them purely because it’s taking their attention away from their main focus or they have discovered that they do not have the staffing capacity to service the business – fair enough. Annoying that the cost was not properly counted before 'announcing' place holders on a stack of kits, but a fair call nonetheless. But if the main reason for abandoning the business is the low sales results - then that is something that only they can control … there’s no point bemoaning it and making the suggestion that customers can save the company by buying product that they don’t like or want and is drastically overpriced for the quality or quantity of product delivered when compared to competitors in the marketplace that they have chosen. Instead of rejecting feedback, take it on board … self examine … make adjustments where necessary (they may not necessarily have to be large ones) and evolve … It’s what every successful organisation does! Rog

I agree with the lack of availability ... You'd think Hasegawa would pop out some more A-5 - A-8 kits ... especially with the Revell A-8/F-8 option dwindling in the marketplace and the ZM series taking so long to come online. They don't have to print many ... and they could even bump up the price, considering the inflation rate out there for comparative kits. I don't think I've seen any word from ZM about limiting production?? - where did that come from?? ... That seems counter to their current philosophy of reprinting previous releases at present ... they seem to be taking pre-orders for older kits about every 6 months. Retailers will all have the new A4 kit on backorder since its announcement - well over 5 years ago!! ... ** Edit: I just saw the latest post about the preorder - It is for a special edition similar to the Eric Hartman Bf.109G-14/U4 (except I think they made a mistake with that one by calling it SWS-18 ... they probably should have labeled it SWS-SE1). So the idea is that this particular edition with the resin figure is a limited run ... NOT the Fw-190A-4 ... just this particular boxing. The same was mentioned for SWS-18 ... I was still able to get it from my LHS, because they pre-ordered it ... I just reserved my copy ** Rog

For a simple build - The Hasegawa kit is almost impossible to fault ... Even at this age now (it was 'New Tool' a long way back) the details are mainly accurate and quite crisp - and there's still plenty of AM around for it, should you want to go nuts on it ... The Revell kit is quite similar and most of it's detractors arise from the poor engineering choices for assembly and, while there is a lot of extra detail supplied, the basic external moulded stuff is either the same or of lower quality than the Hasegawa kit ... The ZM kits are the ones I'm waiting for - Given ZM's exponential improvements in detail clarity, fit and finish over the years. Every successive kit has major improvements to design. They do their research well because they are passionate about representing their chosen subjects well I have to assume that you're actually intending to compare the the forthcoming Border 1/35 Kate with the comparative forthcoming Infinity 1/32 offering? ... I'm unaware of any Border production of a Val at all? One thing I can usually credit the team at HPH for is their attention to detail and accuracy ... The Tigercat is the one major miss in that regard. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of their fit and finish ... I do think though, that the move to injection moulding through Infinity Model will provide a much better basis for iterations in improvement going forward. This has already been proven to be the case as their Vampire was much improved over their initial SB2C release according to most who've built both ... So regardless of how difficult the Val might be to put together - you'll end up with a fair representation of the real article. Rog

John ... You're going to end up building more Corsairs than Vought!! ... Have you ever thought about building any clipped wing FAA types?? Good to see you've built some other kits though ... Maybe a Tamiya Mosquito next? lol Rog

That's very considerate of you Gaz ... but really no need ... Especially if merely fitting the corrected Erla G-10 nose from Amur Reaver to the G-6 will do the job ... I can use the leftover decals from my other G-10 kit. Rog

... I mean - to convert the G-6 to a G-10 Erla ... since the G-10 Erla, G-6 and G-2/4 kits are the same basic modular moulds - I thought it might work? Rog

I saw that!! ... My F-35 kit is the Italeri kit with RAAF Markings ... You know ... for the aircraft we STILL don't have in operation yet! The only decent build review I've read says that there are some vague instructions leading to fit issues with weapons bay doors - but otherwise the kit is golden. Is the Trumpeter really that far off the mark? ... I haven't read any reviews that sledge it. Rog

Interestingly I once asked one of the HPH fellas about doing a 1/32 Ju52 ... and they said there were limitations on doing corrugated panels ... so either technology has markedly improved over the last 5 years or there some BS being dropped!! Rog

Well ... It's finally about to hit the shelves this year ... I hope its as well done as the TBF, SBD & F4F Rog

My question is: ... Did WNW cover this one - and could someone do a side by side unboxing when it arrives? Rog

At the moment I'm involved with a different kind of build ... A House ... and I've hit a bit of a roadblock with that at present ... I don't have enough room in the current dwelling to build anything ... Otherwise I'd be on for a side by side build - but of the same kit ... it's a nice thought to have someone to bounce ideas around with if running into difficulties - thanks for the offer lol ... I mostly reply to threads in the traders section when I can find a particular kit that someone is searching for, so no need to proactively ask me , specifically ... but I'll happily provide a list of retailers based here in Aus' that are willing to ship overseas at some point. Rog

There are a couple of reasons for this: 1/ TBH probably the main reason is that there is a shortage of vehicles for sale here ATM (actually since the chip factory burned down in 2019 - 2020, slowing international car production worldwide) ... and the Great COVID Scam didn't help. Buying a new car here involves a 6m - 2y wait ... used car sales are at a premium. That all translates into a sellers market with NO negotiation on price ... So I paid full retail price and a small premium for this thing! They'd better throw out the welcome mats!! 2/ Every dealer transaction involves a customer service survey run by the manufacturer ... anything less than a 9/10 and both the dealership and the sales person cop some sort of financial penalty. ANY dealership here will bend over backwards to maximise added wow or smiles during the sales-to-delivery process - and given the amount of shit that can go sideways during that extended wait period - they are willing to do almost anything short of whoring themselves ... and the servicing department doesn't avoid scrutiny either - even though they charge like a wounded bull. Rog

Just about every time I see somebody post a query about a particular sold out kit that they are chasing, I check the local stores here - the ones that I know will ship internationally ... Quite often I can find a kit and post a link for it ... but for whatever reason, it seems they get ignored - even though the favourable exchange rate most often means the purchase prices and shipping rates are a net saving. Never been able to figure it out. Rog

I seriously think these added "safety" features are going to end up causing traffic accidents!! ... The real annoyance for me is the auto headlights. My unit is located in a set of 6 ... 3 on either side of a small access driveway ... I usually turn of the headlights when I enter the driveway and let the day time LEDs provide the little illumination I need because the neighbours lounge room is 5m away from the front of my car as I'm reversing into my garage. The auto engine off as soon as the car stops is also particularly aggravating ... Rest assured this is the GF's car ... Once the house is built I'll be buying something more aligned with my motoring values ... and as analogue as I can get!! Rog

Yeah we're pretty cheap over here now 🤣🤣🤣 Its just that, the once - most reliable postal service in the world - is now the most unreliable. Rog

Thanks for the heads up ... I will ask the Nissan service team about cost when I take it in for the one month check up (I'm not going anywhere near 1000km's inside a month ... even if I'm on leave at present) ... I'll try to dig up the transmission specs before I go also - see my last comment below! Is that a Nissan King Tiger with the high performance 88mm cannon and premium camouflage paint option?? Ahhh ... then this might be so ... it does have 7 "gears" and steering wheel paddles (I mean seriously?? - It isn't a freaking Maserati!!) - I'll check up on the spec ... It does have a chronic lack between releasing the brake pedal - accelerator - and initial movement! ... though once it's going it's reasonably responsive. Rog