Molds, Marketing and Management
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- Опубликовано: 29 апр 2020
- Just an unscripted diatribe about some trends and patterns I have noticed about the kit model industry after doing this video series,
Link to Freewing video courtesy of Motion RC
• Freewing Factory Tour ... 
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People that never grew up building model kits,will never understand on how it became a part of our lives,while growing up.thank you for taking us back in time....
Monogram going under was a knife in my heart. Just as much as Freddie Mercury passing away. Totally appropriate music and a wonderful video. Thank you.
I really like these video histories of the model companies. I was 5-years-old in 1959 when plastic models first became a thing. Even before I could build these things, I would see models that older kids and adults (my Dad used to like to build plastic kits. He liked the era of about 1925 to 1942) would build. It was like magic for me to see a shelf full of well-executed plastic models. I currently have about 100 ship and airplane models from all these companies. I like certain themes. I've built all the U.S. carrier planes from WWII starting with 1941 and ending with about 1955. For a while I was building all the Airfix de Havilland Vampire models in all their different configurations and export variants. They even made an Iraqi Air Force version; I've got about a dozen different Spitfire variants; all Airfix. I have a HUGE model of the B-36 SAC bomber in 1/72 scale. I like how it looks next to some other planes I have in the same scale. (F-89, B-10, etc.)
We rode our bikes to Bob's Hobbies on Capital Avenue and my brother bought me an Aurora Wolfman kit. Happy Birthday!
Before the UK lockdown, all big model shows I went to as well as the air shows which also always had model sellers there, Airfix would have a very large area where they would give youngsters a one of their smaller kits plus glue, craft knife and sanding strips. A very wonderful effort to get the next generations in to kit building.
Great video. I remember a kit company called Life-Like. They made or branded some kits of early aviation pioneer airplanes. I think they switched over to HO trains at some point, because I remember having a train set and some accessories they put out in the early 70s.
In my parents car as a kid while on weekend shopping trips, we would often pass by the Monogram plant in Morton Grove, IL. Eyes fixed on the building logo as we drove by, my imagination would run rampant thinking of all the "magic" that took place in there. In the mid-90s while working on my Masters degree, I was asked to write a paper on production assembly lines, and immediately I thought: Cool, this was my way in to Monogram! They never flinched at my request and we agreed on a date to visit. On that day I got a personal tour of their production lines, they were running a lot of car models and they gave me some scale Ferrari tires just out of the injection molding process. In the mold storage room, I marveled at the aisles of steel molds, and I tried quickly to identify the ones that produced some of the many models that I had built from them. We concluded in the Designers' room, where gorgeous Monogram historical and personal art hung, and where I likely-awkwardly professed my admiration of their work. That was a great day for me, I was very appreciative of them opening their doors for me like that, and getting an inside view of a hobby that was so much part of my childhood.
That story is totally AWESOME!
Lucky you... I cut my teeth on half of those Monogram models, and would have loved to see how it was done...
Great music choice. I couldn't agree more regarding box art/photographs. To me, a photograph shows a product. But as a kid, making models was more about stepping into an imaginary world. Good box art does a way better job of sparking the imagination beyond the afternoon's activity to the dynamic world that plane, car, tank, etc. actually inhabited.
GREAT WORK MAX!!! I find it personally ironic that you placed the credits for the music and song, "Who Wants to Live Forever" with the Accurate Miniatures logo. I was privy to and had an early influence on the second genesis of A-M. In the early '90s, I met a gentleman by the name of Thomas Myers at the Winston-Salem airshow. At the time, Thom was a car guy and owned an aviation art and motorsports gallery called Walter Mitty Art & Framing. During that time I was a partner in a local web-development company called Gryphon Media Associates. What began as a business interest became a brotherly and familial relationship between our families. Thom was a creative type who loved music and model building. That love saw him return to school and become a commercial artist much like I was. The funny thing was that I was the plane guy and Thom was the car guy -- by the time he was finished with school his elder brother held a management role at Accurate Miniatures. Soon Thom (the car guy) would be the Art Director of A-M drawing planes! As envious as I may have been I was so happy for and proud of Thom for his new role. Thom brought great creative expression to A-M and we talked hour upon hour of ideas and projects and how to move A-M forward creatively. In the early 2000's Thom said he wanted me to do the box art for the company. The first project was the Vindicator, a kit that I bet him would not come to market. I obviously lost that bet and paid-up in a bar-b-que lunch at one of Thom's favourite places in Clemmons, NC. Time goes by and we continued to talk about creative ideas and how to make models worthy of buying. Creativity was our way of trying to sell models. Decals and history were one of the ways that we expressed that creativity -- and that led to us starting Possumwerks out of the decal sheet he created based upon Mackie Steinhoff's Bf 109. At that time, Thom was the muscle behind the production, I was the idea guy working in the background. Things like the new URL for Accurate Miniatures, "www.accurate-miniatures.com" were my idea because the old URL was owned by the old owners of the company who didn't want to release the address.
In late fall 2008, we lost Thom almost overnight and on cold, clear and windy Monday afternoon in Clemmons, NC we laid Thom to rest with full military honours. Who wants to live forever? I do and my brother Thom lives forever. Through Thom and his family, we came to faith in Christ by which I became an ordained minister and do the work I do today. Through their prayers and the work of The Master mould-maker of all creation, we are given to live forever. This story barely scratches the surface of many treasured and personal memories -- all a life that is wrapped up in time and will endure forever. Unchangeable and written in stone as a special piece of model making history that I occupy with my eternal brother Thomas E Myers.
Richard, thank you for that wonderful and heartfelt post. I am afraid the website was a dead link (at least form my PC). You are correct, I put the A-M logo there intentionally, glad you caught it. And one last note, the Vindicator is the only A-M kits I have made....so far. God bless.
@@maxsmodels Yes, the website will be a dead-link as A-M fell apart soon after Thom passed sometime around 2009 to 2010? (I believe the domain may be had for a price). I enjoyed my time in the A-M circle as my associations with them were always pleasant. Yes, there were problems but none of that matters today. They had some unique talent in a small organization that is still remembered by many as makers of excellent and sought after fine-scale models -- designed in the USA, moulded in Korea with decals from Cartograph. (At least for the second spin of the company!)
With thanks! Blessings.
Awww man, you kicked me right in the feels, from beginning to end.
So much my grandkids won't get to experience.
Very interesting and if you don't mind, I will be a little longer now, regarding the marketing part.
For a while i have the feeling that internet is both a blessing and a curse for the kit makers. Review sites and review videos provide tremendous information about the kits, showing all of their details. This is a huge help to the buyers, as none of us has an endless budget to buy everything what seems juicy. These sources are usually managed by "pros", people who have a great deal of experience and practice in modelling and they are usually very keen about the details. Which is good in general, but not always.
Take a hypothetical example, a new P-51 kit in 1/72. The kit has very crisp molding, clean fine panel lines, excellent fit in the neauralgic areas, like belly intakes, very beginner friendly. However, it has a simple cockpit, low part count, a wrong kind of instrument panel, no PE and the - otherwise good quality - decals are for a different version of the aircraft.
The general verdict will be that this is a mediocre or below mediocre kit, because if you want to build it correctly, you need a lot of work or extra AM parts. Which is true if you are an experienced modeller, seeking to make perfect replicas of a specific machine. However for everybody who only starts building kits and want to have a Mustang which truely and really looks like nice shiny Mustang this would be a perfect introduction - nice result even with limited skills. But it has a really good chance that the company which makes this kit will quickly go down and quit because the reviews will tank the kit from the first moments. (Mind you: of course they could and should have done a better research and carving the instrument panel right, picking an appropriate decal choice - those are justified blames, but in the end the potential buyers don't matter.)
I'm very happy with this new era of high quality kits, with details I wouldn't have dared to dream about twenty years ago, but sometime I feel that the modelling community forgot how they themselves started. As if any car below a Testarossa would be meh. That's why I loved your P-51 side-by-side video.
thanks
I am primarily a figure collector. 1/72 1/76 started 1970. Eventually built armor kits but started with ROCO/MINITANKS I know it's not your thing but some of us might enjoy your take on it
Last year I commented to one of the historic hobby shops still viable in Los Angeles that they might be okay for another 20 years based on the average age of people in the hobby. At that time I would be almost 80, and many of the other fellows in my IPMS club are considerably older than I am. A few are 30 something, but they are the exception. Keep up the videos, and I like your music.
same here
One of your best vids. Very educational.
The Queen song at the end was a sweet add. Great work, Max!
Thanks, that means a lot.
what version is it? a kind of magic is my all time favourite Queen album, but I've never heard this before. and i also built a supermodel of italy CR 32 kit years ago, that i still get compliments on the way i airbrushed the colour scheme!
I must be getting old: I recognize too many of these logos and remember building too many of their products over the decades. It’s like Googling old friend’s names in early December to see if you should keep them on your Christmas card list...but with models we have one consolation: the internet. As long as there are kit hoarders dying and their estates selling off these stashes on eBay, Craig’s list, etc., then these kit manufacturers will still be alive in the hearts and minds of those who eventually fulfill their products’ ultimate purpose: to be built and to teach the history lessons of whatever they represent and portray.
I have an interesting anecdote regarding management. A little under a decade ago I was at the local game/miniature store and a young lady enters and she just got hired by Games Workshop, but other than a degree marketing she has no clue what the figures and models and asks what it's all about, she spent about an hour taking notes, thanked us and from what I understand did the job for a year and moved into something completely different.
I liked box photographs of the models as a kid. It gave me a better idea of the quality of the kit. If the professional builders could only make the plastic look so-so on the box, I was in for a tough time. And that was true of a lot of kits. Their 1950 roots showed through. They could make the box art look as if you were getting something great. There were no hobby shops where I could open a kit to see what it was like before purchase.
Some folks do prefer them
I'm ok with smaller pics on tbe box edges, or the rear/bottom panel. The box top paintings were a true artform.
Probably the saddest pics are those where the builder makes obvious errors, like the Lindberg Zero with the landing gear attached backwards!
Your comments on how mold making as a mixture of art and engineering reminded me of the plates that were made for aerial navigation charts such as World Aeronautical Charts. I remember looking for a particular chart only to be told that only two plates had been created and both had been damaged in accidents. No one was going to make a third.
Yes model enthusiasts are getting up there in age but we're all big kids at heart !
yes we r
I'm 57 ... no use growing up now. I still love my toys!
I'm a industrial designer & have been working in the toy industry from 2007 to 2012 at Mega Bloks. I've been participating in the developpemnt of orginal prduct lines as well as licenced product for Need for speed, Power Ranger & Hot wheels. You're video as a lot of good insigths on how the torys business works.
Mega BLoks was public but familly owned at that time (was since then sold to Matel). Our mangers were the kids of the founder. At the end the 3rd generation was starting to managed us. Meaning they where very hand on with the design but aslo ment they felt intiteled and would pass theee own opinion as market insgith . I was unwise for you career to go agaisnt managenent wills, even if teh proposed design changes wher logical.
Marketing is marketing. Usually nice looking people (a lot of very beautifull young women some reason). As a designer, marketing can some time (not always) be your worst enemy because they would ask you to split a nice toy that you spent hour designing with 5 features into five toys with one feature each. That way we make more money; but the kid get less of a good toy. Sometime the ask that you intgrate a trendy feature (ex glow the dark) into a toy line that does'nt fit with said trend. But sometime they can be very helpfull with dealing with the licencer.
As for mold making we would sub-contract specialized companies in Montreal fo our local mold and delt with chinese suppliers for oversee production. We would manufacture and package our won produce ourself (ecxept I China were you NEED a chinese company to partener with you sonce as a foreign entity, you can not own anything in China). Canadian Mold where aroud 50 000$ each as China one were around 10 000$. The canadian mold would last a lot longer & were used to prouduce basic block (2x4 brick etc) as the chinese supplier would be use for specialized parts where were used a smaller amount of building set. The Canadian one would last a lot longer but the chinese one would have more detail per buck spent. With canadian mold maker you give them your spec and 3d models and get what you want.
Mold making with chinese supplier was a nice sport since they always try to have you approuve a sample that was subpar with your request. It was a way for them to make more money by spending less on mold finish or design. You had to politetly tell them to start over and after 3 or 4 try you would end up with whaty you wanted. Lol one time the suplier camme to see our installation and was telling me that my request (a having a sliding parrt in the injeciton mold) was impossible. Guess what, trun out it's the mold end up with a sliding part.
Finaly the resin is very important. Some of you may hate Mega Bloks beacuse at time we used some very bad resin or would struggle with molding opration. We had green blocks that would pop out of the toy the air by them self because of bad tolerences and somr gray block taht would requierd a stroke woith an hammer wo separated them. This was all due to bad resin. When I left around 2012 we good plastic supplier and our fit was quite good. Even better taht some lego on some buildong kit.
Dragon Models history would be a welcome addition!
Interesting OP ed piece. You should submit it to Fine Scale Modelers or a similar publication.
You should do videos on die-cast metal models like Armour, Franklin Mint, Hobby Master, Road Signature, BBR, Danbury Mint, Sunstar, Yat Ming, Lucky Die Cast, Norev, Solido, Corgi, Kyosho, Exoto, Autoworld, GLM, Maisto, CMR, Acme, GMP, Motormax, iScale, Bburago, Ertl, Code 3, 1st.Gear, AUTOart, GT Spirit, Shelby Collectibles, Road Legends, Jada, Tecnomodel, Unique Replicas, Minichamps, JAC GALLOP, Greenlight, Hubley kits, etc. These should be interesting..
Ageing myself again but the thing that struck me about the closing sequence was just how many of those manufacturers were once part of my youth, tip of the tongue names almost, and which I had forgotten; a real eye opener. And yes, the fad for photos rather than decent box art was a real backward step. Love these informative trips down memory lane, (music included). Once again, thanks and keep going. Regards from the UK.
I freakin wanted to cry at the end!!!!!
Me too
So Max, I ordered a custom tee with the Monogram log on it after I saw your history vid. Long live Monogram!!!
here here!
Agreed!!!!!! Long live Monogram. There have never been such a fantastic company making such beautiful and accurate models. I was extremely sad when Monogram died a few years ago. Happy to know Atlantis is recovering some of the Monogram classics. My favourite model of all times, well, check the photo here on my RUclips Channel. Hope Atlantis has the moulds and will release it once again.
@@Edubarca46 The tripacer, what a great kit. Still have a couple of them.
I really miss Monogram, and their affordable kits.
@@joeshmoe9978 me too😟
Great history lesson on the hobby I have loved for 60 years.
I look forward to you covering Lesney ( UK ) famous around the world for Matchbox Models
( also made the small children cars ) - they were also pioneers for creating readymade dioramas for their 1/76 Scale Tanks ( and were inspiring to make and paint ) still have a few at home .
I worked for 12 years for Revlon as a maintenance supervisor in the blow molding department and was eventually placed in charge of developing some molds and tooling for a few new bottles. Getting a mold manufactured is a tedious, expensive and time consuming process. One mistake in the design or machining can cause an entire mold to get scrapped so extreme attention to detail and skill in workmanship is tantamount but mold making is only the start of the process. The materials that molds are made from are typically soft (aluminum) and they tend to wear over time, requiring a skilled tool and die maker to fix them but another issue that gets a lot of molds is heat expansion. Temperature control is critical to not only making a good product but to keeping a set of molds last. I have seen almost new molds crack from poor heating and cooling regulation and be completely destroyed. Often I would get a call because someone went to put a new mold in the machine and found it dented or even bent (!) because someone dropped it and didn't tell anyone, just put it back on the shelf. Repairs to things like that are not only expensive but can sideline your mold for days or weeks while it is sent out and repaired. Finally, many of the molds use exotic metals, such as Beryllium and many a mold just seemed to 'disappear' off the shelf, stolen and sold for their metals.
Interesting article. Thanks for that.
yup
Another great video, Max! IMO the change from box art to photographs was a plus as I could get a feel for how accurate the kit would be... Not that artists took license with their depictions, but the box art creation was mostly divorced from the actual kit.
From the comments it seems about 10% prefer photos. It is all personal preference.
Thank you for all the mini-docu's you made. And great to see a few fragments of the mold-making, something I haven't seen often.
good song choice. I recognize it from the first Highlander movie.
This issue has happened throughout the hobby industry. I remember, when I was young, being infatuated with all those brass Japanese import steam locomotives. Of course, i had no idea how poorly most ran, but they looked great. All facets of the hobby have been hit by internet sales, but it is more than that. When young, we would build the balsa and tissue RC models. It would take us weeks. And there was always the first flight. We would check all the servos on the ground, take off, and hope we had no fuel leaks and go up in flames, or dead batteries and lose control. Or that we did not fly beyond the range of our radios. And then there was the dreaded lunkhead who flipped on there radio to check on the ground, not checking to see if someone was flying on that channel. We have become very much an instant gratification society, on all levels. How many people today crash and pick up all the pieces they can find? Or have dug engines out of the ground? Now I see tutorials by those who build everything out of foam. Everything is digital and electric. And most just buy shaker box kits. Attach a few items, and you can fly today. Model trains? We have a computer program for that. Slot cars, well they have RC cars. Most of us cringed when the snap kits came about in the 70s. Now even finding a kit is a challenge. The plastic glue change affected us, as did the change in the model paints across the hobbies. When I go to train meets, we go out of our way to attract the young. We put Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel on the tracks, We animate. We run the Hogwarts Express and colorful passenger trains of the 1950s. Things that keep a kids attention. Giant Homer Simpson at the nuclear power plant. Miniature Disney characters among the other figures. Amusement Parks, and zoos, and circuses. Anything to keep their attention. Often it works a bit too well, and parents are fighting to get the kids away. But we know as modelers, that's what keeps the hobbies going. i had my mentors in the 60s and 70s. We all went through the learning curve, and learned to pass our knowledge to others. It is our turn to do the same. Encourage them. i was just thinking about a RC Ugly Stik built back in 72. That plane probably would cost us $750 complete in today's dollars. How many are willing to spend that much change today? Time to get off the soap box. Take care my fellow modelers.
Some good thoughts and memories. My friends had fun watching me crash radio control planes with cheap radios.
Your videos made me want to get back into Modeling.
I think in some countries they had to change the box art because the box art apparently made war look exciting, hence boring photos of finished models. Britain was one, I'm not sure about Australia as we seemed to get both types of art through the 80s.
Love these vids max, keep it up
I'll agree the shift to photos on box covers was a bit sad. As I recall at the time it was the Ralph Nader consumer advocacy flavor of the mid '80s that caused it. The box cover had to accurately represent what the contents produced, though I always thought is was a bit of a stretch in modelling because the skill of the builder played a significant role. After a bit of time the manufacturers started putting artwork on the cover and photos on the box edges which I think was the best of both worlds.
There is a lot of confusion about that. It may be worth its own video.
Great video! The challenges you talk about are the same for all businesses. The balance between profit and passion. Keep 'em coming!
Very nice! The patterns you picked up on are certainly valid, self-evident after you point them out. I strongly agree with you regarding switching from box art to photographs! Extreme changes in a product's appearance (or, in this case, packaging appearance) all too often lead potential buyers into wonder if other radical changes will be found INSIDE the box.
Love your choice of music ,at the end! Very nice.surcribing..
Well done sir! these videos have been uplifting and melancholic. Been looking back at my life through the kit brands. As a modeler who’s been on again off again it’s bittersweet to see how the hobby has been intertwined with my journey around this star. Thanks again!
As a kid I really liked the photos much better. I could see what I was getting. As an adult I appreciate the box art a whole lot more.
There are a number of things one would build if there were kits in both the right scale and with good detail , perhaps one day .
WOW ... so many companies have come and gone. Awesome reference to Motion RC. I am a machinist and have worked on industrial plastic molds. Great video showing the entire process ... even EDM machining. I now find myself checking you channel a few times a day eagerly awaiting the next video. Amazing job you are doing !!!!!!!!!!
Just watched the video on Motion RC again ... check out 23:00. I came from a steel town. I watched as all of our industries moved off shore ... John Deere, Atlas Steels, Stelco, Inco, Union Carbide, ...I can go on and on ... all gone from our little town. Was this because we could not produce products here? NO ... it was to save a buck or two. Was it the companies fault? Was it our fault? IMHO ... both. Companies know the cheaper they can produce a product the more profit for them. And consumers always want to save a dollar or two.
I personally am always willing to pay a few dollars extra if I have a choice of an American made product of one built somewhere else. This means the money is staying in our country and providing jobs for American workers ... who in turn spend their money here. When we pay foreign workers, money does not go back into our local economies.
Sorry ... just a bit of a sore spot. After watching my town as well as many others die these words really hit home.
Almost forgot ... my mom said not to complain just to hear myself, come up with a solution. Again, IMHO, and international tariff board. This would be fair to all. Set a scale of workers benefits and standard of living. This would include things like wages, retirement benefits, medical benefits, cost of housing, cost of schools, ..... In most cases we would come out on top. Items from China would have a very large tax on them until the Chinese worker is brought up to our level. On the other hand, we would probably have to pay a tax to ship items to a country like Canada. With a single payer health care system, a government supported education system, a federal retirement system, .... in general, their standard of living always rates higher than ours.
Sorry again ... really strayed away from models. Did I mention I loved your video :-)
Thanks for the reply. I know when people take time to write such long and personal accounts that it is important to them. Keeps me motivated.
@@maxsmodels Thanks for understanding. I just tend to be very pro American. I want to keep our jobs here. I actually used the Motion RC video to prove a point to my "green" friends. Nothing wrong with being green but just putting more and more regulation on US companies without preventing "dirty" companies off shore to produce our products will not save the world. Alpha mentions the EPA. So polluting the USA is bad but it is OK to pollute China? Cause that won't come back to bite us in the butt. Sorry ... I'll get off my soap box now. Thanks again !!!!
I remember for 7th grade English class we had to write a business letter....I sent mine to monogram.
Had the misfortune to become a Tool Maker ( "Plastic Injection Mold maker") in the plastics industry during the early 70's. Was "trained" by "machinists" who had been too young to be drafted for WW II. They never advanced because they either never bothered to look at the overall plastics industry, or were prevented because employers didn't want to risk educating a person who might become a business rival. "Trade schools" in the larger cities were a laugh, students is small country towns were educated by relatives, while those of us in cities were "a dime a dozen w/ little proper training" as mold makers, Etc.
I worked for the company that made the molds for AMT's 2nd set of drag slicks, the ones that displayed out of scale Goodyear lettering. Why did those look like toy's? That's what the older machinist thought of plastic models, they were toys, not detailed scale models.
When I started work in the plastic idustry I had some "training" in gas & arc welding. The older machinists had no welding skills, common for those who had learned their trade pre WW II, and they took measures to prevent me from being given raises because of my skill. But then younger men, straight from high school came to work w/ welding training from high achool: MIG, TIG welding. These men thought everyone had welding knowledge. I, being born post WW II, was stuck in the middle between the two groups.
Next, computers entered the scene. Myself and one of the boss's sons were the only employees that used 4 function calculators ($250+ per unit at first, $29 a year later). When younger men gained emlloyment became employees they did not know why the older machinist still did long math and had no trust in calculators.
Quickly following the calculators was CNC machining and once again I was the only employee who had experience w/programming thanks to the above mentioned trade school. Needless to say my "knowledge" cost me my job...
So many mistakes were made by people who "ran" the companies during that time period. Add to this the poor education being offered by public schools/trade schools/colleges. and people my age had no future.
My venture into the plastics industry came about because of the national model making contest that the GM Tech School ran each year ( the entries from "8th graders" rivaled the skills of craftsmen in their 30's). My dream never came to be.
I now accept retirement and never bother to look at plastic kits anymore because of too many bad memories.
Priced a re-released AMT kit the other day at $35. Original cost was $1.39 and my pay "back then" was 85 cents per hour...
wow
I’m a retired tool and die maker with 26 years mold making experience..most of it pre CNC..One of the most difficult things to explain to someone, including other machinist is how to build a injection mold
Could you tell me? :)
maxsmodels over a beer or 2
Look at it this way...you'll never misspell "management" again! I used to spell it "mangement" pretty often myself until the tool I worked for made a big deal out of it one day. Anyway, keep up the good work!
Max, good video on an aspect of model companies we usually don't consider. I am surprised there were so many companies I never knew of, in my fiftyplus years of model building. The loss of so many is sad, but this happens in all industries. Some seem to live forever, but so many come and go, even if their product line is top notch.
Back. In the late 60's there was a line of 1/3 scale rifles offered by Best. These were later rebadged as Aurora I believe. Do you have any information on Best Plastics?
I hate to see this hobby fade away, thanks for the info...
It's not fading away.
It's just that the age demographic has changed but with the prices of kits nowadays it's understandable.
What parent is going to spend three hundred dollars for a kit for their child.
Even eighty dollars is a lot especially when all the sundaries are required too
Round2 and Revell seem to be doing well and the Japanese market of
Gunpla has never been better. I would buy my self bankrupt on Japanese
kits alone if weren't for the cost. I have had to stop buying kits as I
haven't been able to build any in a while do to weather and personal
reasons and my inventory is bordering on hoarder status, lol.
@@MartintheTinman. thank you for the comment, you speak the truth, I tend to look at it as the hobby is morphing into a new Art form. in the sculpture area maybe, we must admit that some/most modelers creat works of art. and it should be recognized as such. true masterpieces with hundreds of hours of man-hours invested. I am retired, and have been building models my whole life.. it steered me in a career in aviation. I have written in my will that a 1/48 scale Monogram P-40c kit be placed in my coffin, that's how much this hobby means to me.
@@MartintheTinman It's the other way round. Adults don't like the high price points either, but being adults do want the detail in a replica in miniature and are capable of paying it. The model companies are just adapting to the market. Adults are now where the demand is, particularly older adults. Kids who once bought models as toys less concerned with anything other than it roughly resembled the object in their imagination they'd seen in a picture in a book in the age of make your own fun, have today been seduced by the myriad of other zero effort instant gratification cooler distractions delivered by technology and materialistically indulgant 'parenting'.
And, modelers /expect/ more, too. Slide-moulding is one of the most complicated sprue shot techniques around. It's the only way to remove seam line on certain geometries (a/c canopies, Tamiya's new Yamato hull, and so on). But, modelers don't often appreciate that expense. Or that tool steel wears out. It's a complicated business model by any measure.
Slide-moulding introduces seam line: see the 1/48 Tamiya F-16 canopy. The real use of slide-moulding is to manage undercuts. Modern jets often have a canopy with a capital-omega cross-section. It's not possible to obtain a rigid plastic part with such shape without using slide-moulding.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge i love your channel the music is always a plus thumbs up stay awesome and have a great day.
Thanks, that means a lot.
Well done!
I am one of those old timers who remember the 60's onward with great warmth and memories. I remain a big fan of Adams, Snap Plastics, revell, Life -Lke . UPC etc. that kept the 1/40th scale military kits alive. Would love to know the lineage and fate of those old molds. I noticed that Roco Minitanks panographed down Revell and Monogram figures to 1/87th. Never saw 1/40th after that. Can yo maybe do one on that gender? Thanks for what you do, Max!
It seems a good choice of music. I the end "there can be only one"
Some ideas for you... Model centers changing from US/1/48 to Europe/1/72 etc. Now Japan and Eastern Europe. Aging buyers/builders (I started in 1954 and our IPMS club has more members in years. The importance of standard scales. The migration from box scale to standard scales. Aurora's WWI kits era, Heller's golden era, etc.
You are THE Man!
thanks
Excellent model...i mean video ! I was in doubt whether to subscribe but this video made the choice easy ;-)
Thank you and I will check out the video.
Perfect music choice.
In Australia the consumer law changed requiring honesty in marketing thus the photos of the constructed kit was required.
I like the box art but ultimately don't care whether it's a portrait or a photo
No way. Box art sells. And I love it as do the overwhelming majority. Whilst you're right about the reason for the change to ugly photos at one time, thankfully that nonsense is dead and buried.
@@theblytonian3906 sadly box art if often suggestive to put it mildly and frequently wrong.
E.g. I'm detailing an Italeri kit right now and the box art bears no resemblence to any of the decal options contained in the actual kit...
Not sure why that is, maybe they remade the kit but forgot to source new artwork, maybe the artist didn't get told what the kit would contain, but it's a potential problem.
For me personally, the box art, while a factor, isn't usually the deciding factor. Brand reputation and the exact vehicle (make and model) are what I'm after. Box are helps determine whether unit markings are the ones I'm after, so if those aren't accurate that's definitely a problem, especially if no aftermarket decal sets are available.
@@jwenting The objective of box art has never been to represent the fidelity of the contents technical accuracy. It's artistic licence applied to the subject on which the model is based the prime purpose of which intended to arouse buyer excitement to sell the kit. Tamiya's box art of their Japanese WWII types case in point as was Roy Cross' efforts of the 1960s for Airfix. To consider box art as anything else is folly. Even the obsession with scale accuracy to the last flush rivet is a relatively contemporary phenomena of both the changed demographic and moulding tools and techniques of today permit, reflected in model pricing.
@@theblytonian3906 I know, but at least the major details are generally reasonably accurate...
Hi Max, can you do a video on Shepard Paine. Loved his inserts in Monogram model kits in the 70's. Great dioramas.
@3:08 Regarding switching from box art to photographs of the models, was that not also driven by "consumer protection" or "truth in advertising" legislation? I think Graham mentions that in his Monogram book, if I remember correctly. When Monogram had been acquired by Mattel, Mattel initiated the change to photos, partly to comply with federal laws that had been passed around that time.
That is debated by some but I think there is some truth in it.
I'll have to add FM MODELS AUSTRALIA to the list of dead model companies.
A one man operation with only one kit, he came very close to releasing a second kit
Short on info!!!!
As a we lad I remember car dealers having promotional models they could hand out. I remember them actually having a pretty basic interior. Of course everything was in the molded color. I wonder who produced them. The seemed to be either 1/25 or 1/32 scale
I had a couple of those from the 60s, passed down from my parents. I think 1/24th or so would be accurate. Yes, the details were very close to a real car. I sold them on E-Bay, so I couldn't tell you who the maker was.
Interesting. That's why there are so many mustangs , zeros etc.
Going from box art to photographs was a downer for sure.....it really took an appealing aspect of the hobby away...
Another good piece Max. I agree, submit this as text to Fine Scale Modelers. A question for you: did IMC's molds survive? Any idea who may have then?
Ironically this one has no text/script. Just thoughts that had formulated over time doing these videos. I will consider organizing it and sending it to them.
Max! I hope you’re working on the Testors Model Master video! Now that it’s been announced it’ll be no more! 😩
I did a Testors/HAWK video but I did not know they were stopping Model Masters. I knew they quit making models a long time ago.
maxsmodels yeah is been breaking for about a day now. A fb search will reveal the article that’s been posted about.
Revell whip fly models: sure! What could be dangerous about a model airplane attached to a string that you're supposed to use like a control line model?
I get what you're saying but I would say that Jack Besser and Bob Reder were an excellent balance of being passionate and involved with what they did as well as being savvy businessmen. Mattel's leadership realized that they didn't know what they were doing when it came to selling models and brought them back.
yup
The companies AMTech and Accurate Miniatures basically went the way of the Dodo because of health reasons, AMTech one of the owners past away while the other was in a bad car accident and AM folks lost one of their designers/illustrators past away from a bought of cancer and they ran into financial problems, but if you can please research these two companies because they almost had the same history but where on the opposite sides of the scope.
I did AM but I never found the info on the health issue. Thanks
actually, i thought it was neat-o and way cool when monogram switched to the funky white boxes with photos in the 70's, especially liked the shep paine boxes. could stand in the kit aisle at k-mart for hours while my parents shopped, ust looking at the photos on the boxes which showed what you got in the kit. keep on truckin'!
i only wished that half the time i could come even close to matching the photo of the actual build....
Have you done Williams yet ???
I love the 1/48 Pitcairn Autogyro !!!
yes ruclips.net/video/HMCQifeHTug/видео.html
Tamiya!
天皇が一万年生きられますように
バンザイ
[translation May the emperor live 10,000 years]
Hai!
They used Sinker EDM Metalworking Electrical Discharge Machines a lot look it up.
You should make a video about wing nut wings before they close down.
Also does anyone know if the parts to the mg3 are compatible with the mg42
Max, excellent.
Why don’t you make a video from Ebro, they have good and interesting kits. Also there are several companies that they make kits using the moldings from another company and they add multi-media parts or decals to make a specific or a variation of the model like Edwards. Last, but no least, resin kits like Fisher or Hiroboy.
Thank you.
Max, in all of your research, did you discover what has become of the Revell Model Railroad (1/87) tooling?
that is a mystery
@@maxsmodels
Heljan/Concor ended up with at least some of it. As I remember the Revell HO kits some of the detailing was pretty nice. Other areas such as windows were little more than printed acetate. Revell got a lot of mileage out of their HO structure kits. The Engine House, Superior Bakery and Newspaper kits are all the same basic kit. Some of the farm buildings were also repurposed. The barn and theater company come to mind. One thing that really sticks out in my mind is the quality of the scale figures that were included. I dont know are Walthers kits are but I'm not terribly impressed with the quality of the Design Preservation Models building components. They seem excessively thick to me. Today in terms of model railroading kits the action seems to be in the Craftsman Kit end of things. In the past producing these kits required making dies for cutting out the wood or faced chip board* building sides. Now it's done with laser cutters that will also emboss brick or rock patterns in the material. Even windows, doors and components are laser cut. And laser are cheap enough along with 3D printers to allow the scratch builder to design and produce his or her own components with out having to produce molds etc. Or they can make their own masters for making molds. With the proper offset on the laser cutter one can even cut brick or concrete block patterns that go together like box joints. Of course you can also do this by hand but it is tedious. As is embossing the brick courses. Dont ask how I know this
Damn you do some excellant commentary.
BTW: I built a cnc router and work with wood and plastics and I can tell you, some of my more complex 3d shapes? Can take 12 hrs to cut and they are about 1/100th as complex as a model airplane mold.
It's amazing what you can get in a CNC router today. Of course a really good one costs more but quality costs. Now pretty much everybody who has a computer has a CNC machine in their home. Only they call it a printer. In reality you can use an inkjet or laser printer as a 3D printer. Take the solid model and slice it into layers equal to the paper stock plus the glue layer. Print the layers. Cut them out and do the glue up. There are commercial ones
newatlas.com/mcor-iris-paper-3d-printer/32903/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminated_object_manufacturing
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lom+printer+&&view=detail&mid=99D45AFD0E8E0A94A60E99D45AFD0E8E0A94A60E&&FORM=VRDGAR
I've looked into the process of doing it by hand as a means for producing patterns for home castings. Mostly as a thought exercise. Specifically for a 1/4 or 1/5 scale aircraft engine
enginehistory.org/Piston/Junkers/Jumo222/Jumo222.shtml
@@mpetersen6 The easiest way I found for castings is cut the shape out of pink foam house insulation, pack it with green sand in a flask and pour in molten aluminum.
If you want accuracy you have to account for shrinkage but it's far faster than machining out of billet aluminum.
@@muskokamike127
But when you need multiples of the same casting 🤔 As I said it was more a thought exercise at the time. The crankshaft would have been the really hard part. The master rods would have needed to one piece so the crank would need to be a built up type. Locking the pieces together would be an issue. I did get the point of starting to do general drawings. The crank was around 250 to 300mm long.
@@mpetersen6 Is this an operational model or are you casting in plastic? That's just it: you cast the mould in aluminum, then resin pour the plastic parts making it repeatable.
There's no real easy repeatable way to cast metal. Even mass produced engine blocks (Ford GM etc) use sand casting. What they do though is make a wax pattern using an aluminum mold, then use that to form the sand.....the wax is removed in a heated vacuum chamber.
@@muskokamike127
Operational. It could be worse. I could have thought about a Wright Tornado. I mean it's only 42 cylinders with three crankshafts.
is mark martel the guy who does the incredible Queen covers??
Yes
Excellent
I confess: I am one of those old kit..erh..kids: I am 52 and still into it. But also, into virtual modelling as well.
Well things change , and are no more , I'm a car person when another 50 or 60 years I'd say there won't be none , car kits will be gone ! Just me and I won't be anymore unless I live to be 168yrs old .
👍👍👍👍👍
Depressing to see so many iconic model companies just vanish!
Never realised that The Fonz took over the Monkeemobile !!!
Re the change from proper boxart to actual model photos I once heard that it was down to government inteference insisting the box showed the true contents, either way definatley a bad move.....
That Fonz Monkeemobile is perhaps the stupidest re-box ever. If offends my senses yet I cannot quit using it....JMHO
@@maxsmodels That just reminded me that I've got a "Happy Days" boxed Palmer 1/32nd scale '40 Ford somewhere, the search begins....
From what I understood, the big companies switched from box art to photos of the assembled model due to a lawsuit filed by some angry Karen, when her kid was disappointed over his finished model not looking like the box art. Given how Americans will file suit for 20mil if they get a hangnail, it's not outside the realm of possibility
Have you done a video on Halcyon?
I actually was working on it last night. Might record today
How about a look at Moebius Models? Original product.
This is another interesting entry, but is it my imagination or have some of your historical overviews vanished off of RUclips?
Ok , I built a few kits as a kid.
But war thunder the game made me very interested in building kits again.... I even have a stash 🤣
what is going on right now with revell and heller ?
Revell/Monogram operated by Round2 corp and Heller kits are owned by Airfix
@@maxsmodels Round2 from US ?
Why don't you wanna talk about the William Brothers?
I did them already. short but all I could find. ruclips.net/video/HMCQifeHTug/видео.html
Please excuse me, but I always found the snap together "models" rather offensive, and I think I saw the first one on a store's shelf, LONG after I quit building models. Well, for a while, anyway.
No box art was better then Revell in the 1970s
The fragile processing contemporaneously battle because diamond molecularly interfere midst a scattered font. axiomatic, troubled school
Model building is a dying hobby. Nobody builds models except us old goats. Go to a Hobby Lobby and it's only old coots looking at models. No kids. And when we all die off, the hobby of model building will die with us. Today's kids don't give a crap about model making. They'd rather play Fortnite on their smartphones, or play their Xboxes, PlayStations, and Nintendos. They will never have the fun of building a plastic model kit, a stick & tissue airplane, or flying a Estes rocket.
Well, he managed to butcher that song. I suggest you listen to Sarah Brightman's version.