Dragon models announces new 1/350th Scharnhorst

[rtwpsom2]

Okay, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I can finally announce why I did the CAD Scharnhorst model. It was commisioned by Dragon Models in order for them to create a 1/350th scale kit, which they have just annonced on their website. You can view the announcement here:

http://www.dragon-models.com/Committed_to_the_Modeler4/Committed_to_the_Modeler4.htm

Any questions or comments, feel free to contact me or post here.

[lwd]

Congratulations.

[Bgile]

Congratulations!

[RF]

The image shown is excellent, well done!!

[Karl Heidenreich]

When do you think that model will be available?

I think that 1:350 Repulse and PE are already available. Schanhorst will be a nice adquisition.

By the way: congratulations. I can´t even handle AutoCad and you produce a 3D of one of the greatest BB´s in history...

[RF]

Next stop - a CAD design for Bismarck?

[Karl Heidenreich]

I think Dragon do not have a 1:350 Bismarck. Tamiya, Academy, Revell have. Curious: no Trumpeter.

[rtwpsom2]

Thanks gents, I appreciate it. Karl it is tentaively scheduled for very early 2010. RF, sorry, there won't be a Dragon Bismarck until they get a lot of other under-acknowledged ships done. Ships have kind of languished in oblivion for a while, and the big companies are looking for new territory to expand into, so they are focusing on all those ships that have never been done right.

[RF]

What are these under acknowledged ships? Surely producing the best known and infamous would offer the best commercial returns?

[rtwpsom2]

Well, just to mention the Kriegsmarine ships, there would be Emden, Schleswig-Holstein, a K-classe, zerstorers, a liepzig class, etc. The Bismarck has been done already, the Prinz Eugen and Graf Spee are in the works, which means that all the hipper class and deutschland class are probably going to show up from the companies doing them. And that's just the KM.

In the Royal Navy you've got all their carriers, the Queen Elizabeth class (especially a Warspite), the three different sub-divisions of the County class, etc.

Then there are the Italian ships, which no one has done in plastic. A bunch of U.S. carriers are being asked for.

There are just a ton of ships people want that haven't been done yet. People won't buy another Bismarck kit like they have in the past right now, not with all these new untouched subjects coming out. I think Dragon might eventually put one out when the untouched subjects finally slow down, but that is going to be limited to how fast 3D modellors like me can churn them out. It will be quite a while before you would see it.

[RF]

It would be interesting to see how these models do sell, as some of them I wouldn't have thought would have that much demand. But of course I could be wrong.....

[Karl Heidenreich]

Don´t worry for me, I´ll buy them! But don´t say it too load because my wife will have her own idea about this gung ho conduct of mine...

[Olaf]

Don´t worry for me, I´ll buy them! But don´t say it too load because my wife will have her own idea about this gung ho conduct of mine...

Yeah, it's not easy to keep domestic harmony in balance when the stash-fleet is growing faster than you can turn it into a model-fleet ...

Happy modelling ~ Olaf!

[Nelson Ott]

What are these under acknowledged ships? Surely producing the best known and infamous would offer the best commercial returns?

I think the pre-Dreadnought and Dreadnought era vessels are definetely "under-ackowledged ships". Can mainstream plastic manufacturers bring profitable kits of the Von Der Tann, Seydlitz and others ? Hasegawa has already produced a 1:350 kit of the Mikasa... Even in 1:350 those ships would not turn into excessively large models.

Regards,

Nelson

[Karl Heidenreich]

Nelson Ott :

Even in 1:350 those ships would not turn into excessively large models.

Right. I have now 1:350 Mikasa and Konig and both of them are not that big. 1:350 models are big for vessels as Hood or USS Enterprise CVN 65. But the pre dreadnoughts or WWII BBs are not that big.