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Post by ogrejohn on Apr 17, 2020 10:38:12 GMT -6
I Saw where Wingnut Wings, makers of very nice WWI aircraft is now out of business. They made some absolutely beautiful 1/32 scale kits. Very sad news.
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Post by Beekster on Apr 17, 2020 10:46:58 GMT -6
I Saw where Wingnut Wings, makers of very nice WWI aircraft is now out of business. They made some absolutely beautiful 1/32 scale kits. Very sad news. Really? That surprises me. I've seen seen several of their kits and they are beyond fabulous and seemed to be good sellers. Not to mention the firm is owned by Peter Jackson, who can certainly afford to keep a pet project going if he chooses to do so, and anything WW1 is a passion for him. Edit: A check of their website says nothing about out of business, but does say that they are not processing orders for the time being due to COVID-19. I would expect that they will be up and running again in a couple of months |
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Post by ogrejohn on Apr 17, 2020 10:53:43 GMT -6
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Post by JCON on Apr 17, 2020 11:00:47 GMT -6
That is very sad!!! Hopefully he will sell the molds to someone so they aren't destroyed!!!  |
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Post by Beekster on Apr 18, 2020 12:14:24 GMT -6
Yes, obviously the website hadn't been updated or taken down at the time I looked. One wonders what went wrong...
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Post by ogrejohn on Apr 19, 2020 6:24:46 GMT -6
We can only hope that they can get things straightened out or someone buys up the tooling. Didn't Academy buy up some of the tooling from the defunct Accurate Miniatures? Those were some awesome kits as well.
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Post by JED on Apr 20, 2020 9:17:08 GMT -6
That really is a shame,a good friend of mine did a couple of figures for them a while back,unfortunately he has his own problems and no longer sculpts/paints
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Post by noelsmith on Jun 15, 2024 2:14:37 GMT -6
What they were doing, expensive 1/32nd scale WW1 aircraft was a very niche market.
Enthusiasts waxed lyrical about those great kits, but realistically the market was probably just not there to sustain sales to keep the business going unfortunately.I
I have come to this thread a few years on I know. I understand the Lancaster they were developing was eventually produced by a Chinese company, and I think some of their ex employees have set up another company that produced a very nice Spitfire as their first kit.
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Post by JED on Jun 20, 2024 5:34:10 GMT -6
I believe they were part owned by Peter Jackson film producer/maker, maybe he lost interest!!?
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Post by noelsmith on Jul 15, 2024 3:29:32 GMT -6
No, it lost money. Wingnut Wings made fabulous kits. No argument there, but large scale WW1 aircraft models was too much of a niche market and unfortunately unsustainable.
I don't know what has happened to the tooling and guess there is quite a lot of speculation about what is happening to it.
The big Lancaster tooling was being made in China and has since been released by a Chinese company. I believe that there was some legal wrangling going on over it at the time.
Good news is that from what I understand some ex WW employees set up a company named Kotare I think, and produced a really nice 1/32nd scale Spitfire as their first model that is getting favourable reviews.
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Post by oldjohnny on Jul 15, 2024 6:34:33 GMT -6
Kotare includes many of the original team..while there was some love lost when WNW folded, largely it had run its course..Meng took over at least in part the toolings-although the Fokker DR wasn’t to WNW standard..Kotare has the Spitfire in a few variants, and a 109 on the way..pricey, well designed..and appealing to a broader audience..Peter Jackson had a role in WNW, and is behind many 1/1 vintage aircraft projects..WNW a would never have happened without him
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Post by noelsmith on Aug 2, 2024 10:59:45 GMT -6
Spitfire, Me109, Mustang, Zero,
All usually 'bankers' for a model company to produce due to their popularity as model aircraft subjects. Expect Kotare to go down that road.
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