Phil, Matt, My interest in the hobby returned with gusto like many during lock down and for me being honest it was when I stumbled upon you guys doing your daily shows which like so many at the time I looked forward to and then got seriously back into the hobby. From there I found other You Tubers and to this day love the catch ups, builds and tips and regular updates from yourselves and those I personally follow whilst appreciating fully the hard work and effort you put in in order to produce them. Kit updates and product reviews are a major stimulus for helping me part with my monies and your ‘down the line’ fair and honest reviews are a great help in that. I tend not to get too hung up on manufacturer’s promising releases that fail to materialise as unlike yourselves my livelihood is not tied into such things but I can see the frustration from your side. Keep up the great work as you don’t always remember the positive impact you’ve had and continue to have on the hobby….👍

I got back into the hobby during covid after a 30 year hiatus. You Tube played a huge roll to get me back up to speed with techniques, supplies,and kits. Still learning alot in my endeavors and have improved alot imo. Keep up the good work guys and HAPPY SCALING 👋.

I think companies should only announce a new kit once it's in stock and ready for release and sale. It then goes into there next catalogue and is available until at least the end of following years range .

I absolutely hear you gentlemen. Personally I want a 1/48 Halifax…but not the one you have Phil!

All a bit doom and gloom. Compared to my childhood there are way more manufacturers today. The hobby will always evolve and it is also fine to be traditional too. It’s a hobby to be enjoyed in whatever way you like else it’s pointless. It will never die - if all kit makers folded tomorrow we would just start scratch building. This hobby is great and always will be.

Also think the variety of kits manufactured is getting more and more limited. For example, we are crying out for more than one option for a 1:48 viggen, or 1:48 super stallion that isn’t rare as hens teeth and mega bucks. Do we really need more ME109, F16, spitfire’s??

I'm here for the rant. I've just made a cuppa and then realised that I'm out of assorted cream biscuits! The negative vibe is strong with this one.

the newer Airfix kits are very slow to trickle in to the states. I still have to find an in stock Gannett or the air force Buccaneer!

I can only speak for myself, and my buddies at the modeling club. The one and only reason why we have GREATLY reduced our purchases is because of the RIDICULOUS price hikes of kits and accessories. I, and most of my club-friends, are in the fortunate position that we can basically afford anything that is offered today. However, what we do not like is the wool being pulled over our eyes by manufacturers, distributors, and resellers alike! The price hikes are WAY beyond what is reasonable in terms of inflation correction and increased cost of manufacturing / doing business. And don't get me started on that! I know EXACTLY what the cost of manufacturing and shipping is currently! Some brands have increased their prices by 100%. That is just ludicrous. And there is simply NO WAY that I am going to pay those idiotic prices. There are only a few brands left that are still pricing their kits, new and old, reasonably. And those are TAKOM and Trumpeter/HobbyBoss, for instance. They are also manufacturing NEW TOOLS, and their CAD Designs are NOT cheap either. They make great, modern tooled, well detailed kits. So, how come they are not suffering the same "increased costs of doing business", ey? A TAKOM Tiger I kit costs €35 to €30, especially in their boxed editions, while a Dragon Tiger I kit costs in the €90's. And the Dragon ones are very old tools to boot. So, how come TAKOM can manufacture, ship World Wide, and sell these modern new tool kits, while others are complaining about "the costs"? Hmm? Don't answer that. I know the answer. Nah. I'm getting closer and closer to calling this hobby done. I am just not liking the fact that I seem to be taken for a fool. I have an incredibly large stash anyway. 1500+ kits in 1:35, 1:48, 1:32 mainly, and countless accessories, tools & paints. I'm good for the rest of my Life. Maybe purchase a kit here and there, if the subject is interesting enough and the price is right. But other than that... meh... Anyway, just my point of view.

I am not sure it has been mentioned but this is just my opinion, downloading model kits seems to be gaining traction

Phil & Matt, not really a rant - more like a discussion. Regarding the the lack of new releases during this time of the year, perhaps look beyond the main stream manufacturers like Tamiya, Eduard, ICM, Hobby Boss & the many others. I know that your main interest is military aircraft & vehicles but one that comes to mind is @round2models , especially retooling & re-releasing some of the AMT/ERTL Star Wars, Star Trek & other Sci-Fi kits. They also have a good selection of car kits, new tooled & re-releases. Broaden the spectrum a little & do a few as a test to gauge the potential interest from your audience.

Brilliant show. Loved the rants because they are not really rants but a chat about the other side of the hobby…. It’s survival depends on companies and influencers taking a note of chats like this one. More please.

kinetic 1/72 c-17a...

Eduard is the only company I can think of that puts something out every month.

You want to know why our hobby isn't evolving. Matt it's all Matt's fault he hates the Tomcat and loves building the old moldy, dusty boxed kits 🤣🤣🤣.

I think cost of living has kept people looking at their stash vs adding to it with new releases. The resin world is going good look at Alpha Models and other resin car kits...Also remember the new generation of modellers we want aint interested in WW1 or WW2 from their perspective its probably a footnote in history classes...so manufacturers need to bring the kits up to generation, even if it upsets us oldies

I got to my local hobby shop in widnes, merseyside. Even though the items cost a little more I don’t mind paying to keep the shop going. If they don’t have a particular item I want I go to Pm models obviously

1/72 modelcollect B-1

My big gripe is with the no show with Kinetic’s 1/48 Gina (Fiat G-91). Promised last year but still nothing!

Trumpeter and their 1/350 HMS Rodney/Nelson........ they announce it every few years and its never appeared! and im a ship modeller so all we ever get is...oh look....ANOTHER Titanic.... yay 🙄

Trumpeter & Takom indicated 2 years ago that they were going to manufacture the South African produced Rattel 90 AFV in 1/35.

I agree completely on the influence of KZfaqrs on our hobby. My interest was revitalised by people like Night Shift, Plasmo, and particularly for me Scale Hanger 182, with who I am good friends with now. Don’t underestimate your influence too. Maybe more collaboration between these channels and yourself could be a good idea?

Late to the party. When you go to an airshow here in the US, there are sometimes in excess of 100 thousand people attending a particular airshow. There are vendors selling t-shirts, memorabilia, paintings/pictures and more. What you do not see are the model manufacturers there promoting our hobby. Why in the world do the manufactures not attend these events to promote their products and sell them there? Obviously, the people who attend airshows are interested in aircraft and it makes sense that many would get involved in the hobby. I retired two years ago and people ask me what I do for hobbies and I tell them that I build scale models and they have no idea what I am talking about. I blame the manufacturers for not getting out there and promoting our hobby, showing the public what our hobby is. Can you imagine if all the manufacturers showed up at Oshkosh to promote their products? I think another problem is that people are not exposed to our hobby. Before the advent of video games, you could walk into any drugstore, craft store and they would have a pretty decent selection of models. Kids are not seeing models any more in these stores.

I think historically we were brought up with airfix, and it was predominantly aircraft and ships,the armour was 1.76 or 00,that's what it was aimed at railways...tamiya were for me were the armour Boys, this is from the 1970s,I think most new modellers are like me..coming back after 40 odd years,so for us it's moved on leaps and bounds

Most countries with a model-making culture are in population decline. Manufacturers are altering their product line to account for this. Nevertheless, companies like ICM are a breath of fresh air to us traditional plastic modellers.

Kinetic announced a 1/48 F2H-3 Banshee that never materialized as well as a CT-114 Tutor that keeps getting pushed back.

GWH A10 C ! Although I’d prefer a new A model .

Meng Model Scud SS-007 announce in 2014 never came out. You get less people into hobby because they too many older modellers putting use younger modellers off hobby but I battle through and stuck with it

How can you argue that modeling isn't evolving when the most esoteric subjects and conversion parts are available now thanks to 3D printing?

you didn't mention that most of these kits are coming from India and China - extra 3 or 4 week journey time as they are not going through the Canal

this might look weird, but i am very interested in 2 DBMK kits, and simply can´t get them ! i live in Portugal but i have a cousin in Birmingham and even he can´t get the kits...

For me - and I think many other modellers - you're attracted into the hobby by the subjects; many of us grew up with plenty of WW2 films etc and maybe Korean war, Vietnam etc to get us interested in what was a cheap hobby. Also, local hobby shops and newsagents etc sold kits, so plenty of ways to view and buy kits. Also, other that Top Gun films we don't get much modern footage of planes, tanks and ships in combat, do we? Longer range fighting and stealth etc means I suppose less of that about now. Not sure what will attract new generations into the hobby now, this is the key, and with bl**dy Amazon and such like taking the life out of local hobby shops and the destruction of town-centres, it looks gloomy on that front also. Don't see an obvious answer; maybe printing kits is the future?

Scale modeling has benefited greatly from the advent of the internet.

It was star wars that killed Toys R Us.

Slightly off topic, but I wonder why Airfix never re released the EH 101/ Merlin as I missed out on getting that kit when it was released a few years back?

Even with umpteen billion kits being produced in China of so many types and subtypes there are still many major subjects that have been ignored. Like the Douglas A-20 Havoc/Boston family in 1/48 scale and far too many larger British WW2 subjects, e.g. Halifax, Sterling or Sunderland. Economics may be the problem there. If I'm not mistaken the sales of some of the large 1/48 Monogram kits in the 90s flopped such as the Ju-52. Hasn't dissuaded the Chinese from producing large scale kits though. I'm dreaming of an injection 1/48 scale Victor K2 or an injection P-2 Neptune family in 1/48. Limited run resin is a wee bit too expensive. 🤪

I have been to Shizuoka and would say the hobby is in doing well over there, because of the diversity. Also they have special days for school kids only and the Japanese companies encourage children with pocket money kits.

It's a real head scratcher as to why kit companies make new kit announcements and then never or rarely follow through. My guess is that they have a fear that if they're not talked about on social media on a steady basis, they will fall into obscurity. Kudos to Tamiya in that when they make an announcement, they follow through in a reasonable time with a release. Not that I need another F-35, but there you go!

Phil. and. Matt. Rant. Show. !!! 21.may. 2024

Good ranting!