Hi All;

As Tim Perry has also noticed, the 1/35 scalers on M-L are restless again. Here are a few tidbits from a recent thread there, bemoaning the fact that Tamiya is totally ignoring them these days, and 1/48 gets all the goodies!
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Thread Title Reads:-

Wouldn't this be great if it were in 1/35?
January 20 2009 at 2:25 PM
Missing-Lynx members

Here's Tamiya's latest announcement in its 1/48 scale line: 10HP Tilly Utility

I really wish someone at Tamiya would think about releasing this, the Citroen 11CV and the US Army Staff Car in 1/35!

I'm with you my man....

the US Staff car, Citroen and now the Brit truck would sell like hot cakes in 1/35th, I'm sure to market them in 1/48th is all for the plane builders out there though...so they can make neat airfield dio's. Mike.

Newly tooled Crusaders, M10, M4A1, Ic hybrid firefly...
January 20 2009, 2:58 PM 

...and they were all 1/48 and I haven't bought any of them. If they had been 1/35 I would have and likely more than one of each. Do Tamiya care, probably not, but I do, and apart from the odd kit I don't buy much Tamiya anymore. No boycott, they're just not releasing the kits I most want.

Alright, bitch over for today. Now xmas is past I can finally order my AFV club churchill, 2 of them, and Dragons 75mm gmc halftrack, Tasca M4A4...drool, so much choice. It's good to be an ally!

Tamiya and 1/48 scale
January 20 2009, 4:17 PM 

Tamiya seems to have abandoned the 1/35 market except for an occasional kit with 80's technology or 30 year old rehashes with $.25 worth of photoetch added for a ridiculously over inflated sum! Lets face it - they've taken it on the chin from Dragon, Tasca and others.

I may be guessing wrong here but they seem to be eyeing supremacy the market in 1/48. They can control the cross over market and maybe even convert some hard core 1/35th people with the alluring promise of armor and wrecked aircraft all in the same scale!!!

Can't be sure what they think. But I do know that they have lost my modeling dollars when it comes to plastic and when Lifecolor becomes more available they'll loose my paint dollar too! That's what happens when you don't listen to your customers - just ask GM!

 YIKES! have I ruffled feathers?
January 20 2009, 7:38 PM 

Obviously my comments aren't being taken in the nature I meant them to be.

As mentioned had the 1/48th scale Crusader, Citroen, this latest British softskin and others been released in 1/35th they would have been snapped up in a heart beat by the 1/35 community. I would have bought at least one and possibly 2 of each. The Crusader would have become an entire tank section itself!

Tamiya has been resting on its laurels. I've been building for 48 years and have watched in awe as the hobby has changed from the old Aurora and Airfix kits to 60's and 70's Tamiya. We were so pleased with Monogram. I remember Tamiya and Italeri battling it out for who could make the best detailed kits. I remember when Tamiya was KING bar none. I remember Dragon's early clunky kits. Now from Tamiya we get a few new kits in 1/35. Expensive re-releases and questionable repackaging makes my hard earned model dollar look else where to get better selection, overall quality and bang for the buck

What I have meant to say is that while Tamiya may still hit the mark it is sadly far less often than before. The same technology that makes a 1/48th scale mold can easily be reconfigured to make a 1/35 scale mold. It is a cognizant marketing decision to chose one over the other. It seems to be the choice that Tamiya has made most recently. I wish they would reconsider. We need the quality and competition to keep this hobby moving forward.

If I have offended or dismayed anyone it was unintentional. These are just my thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings are like sphincters - Everyone has them and many of them smell bad!

Keep building and don't stop until they pry your airbrush from your cold dead hand!!!
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I think we all get the drift by now ... and here we are arguing among ourselves!!!

no matter what scale we build.

The same bemoanings about the new kits we see here would be in the same way there if they get the stuff in their scale.

And wasn't there some news in 35 Char B1bis, Opel Blitz, Pz.II, Jagdtiger ... Tamiya is not flooding the market like the Chinese companys, but they try to please the people! I get my occational aircraft and some armor stuff too (both 48 scale and I was/am very happy with the Storch and the Viper) ... I could not afford it if BigT would bring in news every month (they are expensive)

I bet Nuremberg will see some news in 35 scale too .. or Shizuoka which is just ~4 months later

my 2 ct

cheers

Steffen

For whatever psychological reasons, we take our hobbies very "seriously" and very "personally". And we all seem to have our favorite kit firms, and mine has always been Tamiya, for various reasons. We feel these firms are our "best friends", and they should act like best friends, and therefore give us what we want! Problem is, if Tamiya (or DML, or AFV Club etc) are OUR best friend, how can they possibly be everyone else's best friend? It is here that the problem arises. I love 48th armor, but my friend down the street who also "loves" Tamiya wants new 32nd aircraft kits. Another guy in my club who loves Tamiya is a big WRC auto racing fan. If Mr T issues a new rally car, one of us is pleased beyond belief, but the other two of us feel "jilted" by our love!



This is what is happening with these 35th guys. They see life as a zero sum game. If Tamiya releases a kit that isn't right up their alley of interest, then "Tamiya has abandoned me". The Allied armor guys of 35th scale are always bitching about DML, which on a monthly basis produces new tooled Nazi tanks of an obscure nature, while rarely producing anything new tooled for the Allied guys.



The main problem for any of the producers is this: because we have become a hobby of purchasers, rather than builders, "new kit releases" have a very short half life. You hear about the new kit coming, you chat about it a bit, it arrives, you look it over, and then it goes up on the shelf. "Next release please!".



Back in the day, when I lived in deepest, darkest Dunedin New Zealand, new kits rarely made an appearance on my local hobby store shelves. As a result, a new kit had to last me a long time. So I would spend two hours in the shop deciding what to purchase, and then buy it, drool over it, and very slowly, and carefully, build it, paint it, decal it, and then admire it for weeks until the next one turned up.



Today even in the more "obscure" scale of 48th military vehicles, we are inundated with new releases, if you include all suppliers. We get new Sherman tracks, decal sheets and now gun barrels from Fighting48. We get all sorts of resin wonders from Gaso.line, Kengi, Fighting48 and until recently, Iron Division. New injection kits from Tamiya, Italeri and soon AFV Club. Tracks from WW2 Productions, Fruilmodellismo, etched from Hauler, Aber and Eduard, Part in Poland etc. New figures here and there from Gaso.line, Fighting48, Squad48, etc.



We now "require" a constant stream of new products to feed our "hobby addiction", due to our short attention span. This is why people get upset when their favorite hobby supplier (Tamiya above) fail to come through for them, and instead "waste" a perfectly good new release on "some other, less worthy scale"!



I for one have decided that until recently I have taken things WAY too seriously, and henceforth will accept whatever comes along with a happy smile. If I see a new kit come out and it doesn't appeal to me, so be it. If it isn't perfect, I can either chose to fix it, live with it as is, or decide not to buy it. What I won't do is get all upset that some firm has issued a kit "I don't like", and take it as a personal slight aimed squarely at me



Cheers,

Andrew

Bruce, I just cannot resist!!! But don't spend too much time reading their little rants. One day they might discover that the world really doesn't revolve about them personally, and end up being happier for it. But until then, let them wallow in their own misery. It is entirely self-inflicted.

Instead, buy kits, make models, and ENJOY it! This is supposed to be a hobby, not some exercise in scourging your soul! If the kit is a bit squiffy, sort it out. If the kit doesn't exist, scratch-build it. If it doesn't come out right, have another go. Ask for advice. Right here might be a good place to start! But for goodness sakes, treat it with the level of seriousness it deserves. There really are a lot more things going on in this world worth worrying about!

Can I echo Andrews sentiments, expressed above? 100% with you there, Andrew!

Tim

PS, Are you going to put my Youtube link in this thread, or shall I do it?  Tee Hee....
www.fighting48th.com

I am merely his doppelganger.....

It's this type of thing that turned me toward 48th.

Cheers, Pat

p.s. I agree 1000% with Andrew & Tim, and George.

Tim:

That clip was brilliant, in fact I had forgotten how funny "The Life of Brian" really is, and will be renting it soon for the family to watch, as they haven't seen it, the kids anyway.

Cheers,
Andrew

I like it!

But it's funny reading .

1/35 armour is only a pie wedge out of Tamiya's total output, but it's all 1/48th's tiny market share's fault that they are deprived and suffering, oh Boo-Hooooo...

The whole 1/35 community is a strange place, a few leaders, and thousands of slavish followers.

Do your own thing, man, if you don't, who will? -

Malcolm

Where do they find the shelf space? Built kits or Unbuilt boxes.

Soon, we will all be doing virtual models on the Nintendo Wii or something anyways

The strangest thing one said was how he wanted Tamiya releases, but went out grabbing Dragon and Tasca or what-not instead.

Ok, I'm getting out of these threads, man

I love that Tim was completely ignored by all the posters.
Imagine if they actually clicked on your website, and saw the fantastic tracks and conversions you offer in TOTS, rather than their scale of choice. Oh, the injustice of it all...
All the best,
Matt

I am pretty much split down the middle when it comes to aircraft and armor modeling. I split my time between both. I have noticed on whole the armor community, as compared to the guys with their heads in the clouds, tends to complain a whole bunch. Most are rather petty concerns, in my own humble opinion about the shape of bolt heads, etc. I see this on all the sites I frequent - Track Link, Missing Lynx, FSM, even this site on occasion, etc. When a new armor builder posts his work, the remarks are usually very negative, while the air guys focus on the positive. Armor builders (at least the majority of those who post) tend to take things way, way, way too seriously about a hobby to the point of I wonder if they even find it enjoyable... To me, obsessive seems the right term. If I was in a room, split down the middle with armor guys on one side and air guys on the other, I would naturally want to be around guys who are not so whiney...
My second observation is something I have posted on here before about the hatred that the 1/35th scale guys have for 1/48th... It makes me wonder why are they so threatened? Maybe if the scale continues to grow, they think their stash value will plummet on E-bay? All I can do for these folks is feel sorry for them - and suggest maybe they find a more pleasurable and lest stressful hobby. Enough of my own observations. I am no where near the subject matter that many on this site are so enough of my yakking.

Cheers,

Matt

OK Everybody! 1, 2, 3, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I get dinks like that at the hobby shop on Saturdays. I would put their attitude down to greed and an inablilty to think beyond the (1/35 scale) box. Just think how much they are missing! Someone should remind them that not everyone drives a Ford, and not everyone likes 1/35 scale. I've built in a lot of scales and while I hoped for releases in 1/48 I didn't let the fact that a model was in a different scale prevent me from trying one. As for 1/35 scale did anyone see the 1/35 Italeri S-boot? We have one at the shop and its gorgeous, no matter what the scale. I'll definitely put it on my wants list.

What I wouldn't give for that S-Boot in 1:48th :oP
Can we start a campaign or something?

This all has been rehased many times, but there are a couple of things in play here. When Clary goes to the shop and gets grief from the others....a lot is driven by envy. In 1/48th, it is quite possible to build,paint,and finish a kit in a weekend...or week. We have all mentioned how nice it is to NOT have to deal with the plethora of AM stuff. The 1/35th modelers have now been acclimated to WAITING for the improvements....unable to just build it, because there WILL be a better turret...or WILL be better tracks.....or WILL be better stowage bins....and ,of course, WILL be 16 P/e sets for it. They are driven to NOT build it.....because they KNOW there will be improvements....so why start?? This is ABSOLUTELY the mindset that the 1/35th industry wants!! And gets.
So, someone like Clary, who comes in....buys the kit...is thrilled it even exists...builds it...and tells everyone how much fun it is.........might as well have the plague. The IPMS didn't get to be known as the International Piss and Moan Society without a good reason......
Secondly, We have a new member to our club. He has discovered modeling at an advanced age(I'll be polite).....and he started with 1/48th aircraft....bought an airbrush....read internet articles....pretty much self taught himself....and IS very good for the short time he has been at it. Saw a 1/48th armor kit at the LHS....said, "Wow, both in the same scale...easy to work with....neat idea!" I met him after his first couple of kits...very nicely done. He had NO idea of Aftermarket things for either area.......and that has gotten him excited. BUT, he agrees....only a VERY few things need AM parts. A turned barrel, different tracks(maybe), and some stowage(maybe)- an interior or seatbelts or wheels for an aircraft.....and different decals for other schemes in either discipline. Otherwise, build it well....don't screw up....do a nice job building it...and HEY, it looks pretty sharp!!
THAT is what most 1/35th-ers have forgotten about. I hope we 1/48th-ers never do........
Every time I see a posting..."Gee, I can't believe that is 1/48!"" Well, Why Not?? We just happen to have superb modelers!!! It IS TOTS, you know........
Dave