December 2010 has been a really great month for all modelers. Our good friends in Wellington have given us 6 new releases and three of them just showed up at the door this moring. Dec. 22,2010 Bless you gentle folk at WNW.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I think that top one got misdelivered...send it back its mine

Oh the perks of being the boss Stephen.

Hmmm... I had two boxes turn up.. there were FIVE kits in them...


Didn't take much notice of the sticker did they...


Et voila! This was the contents of the two boxes. Looks like the Gotha won't get here until after the holidays..

Santa definitely came early to Casa Inman this year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sounds like Warren is volunteering to do some kit reviews!

What nice boxes of treats from Santa in Wellington NZ

I'm currently debating with myself which one of the RE.8 or DH.9a to get – can't really motivate the cost of buying both at the moment... I do like the quirky looks of the RE. 8, and the exposed engine. On the other hand the Ninak is large and very ugly/cool in my eyes – choices, choices

Oh and the Hansa is a given – I have wanted this one since they made the announcement last year...

Mikael

Well I poured over the RE 8 myself before plumping for the Roland... It has a wealth of deails begging for attention and yes its got that quirky look I like, so if it were me I'd plump for the RE.. though my next choice is the pfalz unless WNW release the DVII before I get ready to buy.

Speaking of news... I was just looking over at WNW, and there it was!

– Another decal sheet for the Albtaros this one entitled "Flying Circus" – sheet nr 30015, this is the fourth release in this new line of products.

Link here: Flying Circus

Mikael

Finally made it down to the hobby shop and placed my order for the Pfalz D.IIIa once that comes in I will order the Roland

Merry Christmas

A question

On page 7 of the W29 instruction in the photo at the bottom of the page ... What is the stove pipe sticking out of the cockpit next to the Tachometer???

It is not on all the aircraft. It is attached to something in the cockpit, as it is on the cockpit side of the firewall.

Any Answers?

Thanks Happy New Year

Captn Tommy

I'm actually very excited by the colorful new decals they're releasing that give us a variety of build options beyond the half-dozen included with the kits.

But one question troubles me: a majority of the options include lozenge-style wing markings. Yet the decals shown on the site don't seem to include lozenge-style markings. Are they, in fact, included?

And if not, what then????

Greetings Bill,

Yes the Roland and the Pfalz include lozenge.

But the decals for the Albatri do not include loz, which will be available early in the new year.

But up til now the kit schemes for the Albatros D.V & Va have all required the 2 toned upper surface Camouflage.

Hi Bill,

You're rigt that there are no lozenge included in the aftermarket decals. Out of twenty new profiles, that WNW have given us – ten will require lozenge to complete, altough some of them will only require a partial cover of the wings.

Richard Alexander of WNW has hinted that there will be new sets of lozenge coming eraly in the new year, and they are mentioned in the instructions for the new profiles as decal sheets no 30001 (5 colour upper), 30002 (5 colour lower) and 30005 (rib tapes).

The sheets I had sent to me together with the first three Albatros profiles, were of a pre-production make (I think they were of the LVG batch) and they are not the finished product. This probably means that they are still refining the colours, as there were some debate on the accuracy of the earlier Lozenge that was included with the LVG.

In the profiles by Ronny Bar, the lozenge does look very much spot on to me, so lets hope this is what WNW are aiming at.

I'll be doing a review on the first three Albatros sheets as soon as the Christmas ham has settled a bit.

Best Regards, and a Merry Christmas

Mikael

Mikael,

I certainly hope I don't have to buy a separate set(s) of lozenge decals to complete kits using the first AM sets....

WNW have been very good at including all you need in a box, and their prices are fair IMO. But the new decal sheets are $19 which is more than what Eagle Cals sells their AM sets for, for example. Now looking through the instructions, you will need lozenge decals to complete many of the builds. This seems like an unfortunate development IMO, or am I missing something?

Stephen, we are talking about the new decal sheets, not the ones included in the kits.

To be more precise, the "Flying Circus" sheet referenced in this post has 5 aircraft options; three of them require some form of lozenge wing camoflage. Unless WNW is expecting us to paint the lozenge pattern, then this will mean:

1.) Waiting until their lozenge pattern AM decals are available;

2.) Paying an ADDITIONAL fee to complete the builds referenced in these decals.

While I'm not busting a gut to complete my DV build, I have been anticipating purchasing at least another DV and perhaps a Va because of these very coloroful new options. But it fries my toast black to think I'll have to pay an additional $38 ($19 for the decals and presumably another $19 for the lozenges) to have that privelege.

Up until now, WNW hasn't made a misstep in their program. But this sure is looking like one unless I'm missing something. I don't consider lozenge camoflage a "no brainer" to do myself, so I would most definitely be looking for decals to replicate the intricate (and precise) patterning. Or if not decals, then some form of masking.

Am I missing something here? Are y'all OK with this development? Modelers howl like stuck pigs over a 1mm difference in the Eduard Bf 109 E canopy, yet I don't hear any griping about these decals. Hmmmm.

Bill, I feel your pain. Some of the most spectacular profiles have the Loz, and those are the ones I want to build also. I imagine the cost of putting these decals in a kit, along with the loz would hike up the price substantially. Maybe this is why nobody has complained. I dont know how the Loz is going to be marketed yet, or how much will be present on a sheet, or how many sheets will be in a packet, or the shipping costs, so getting upset may be premature.

If there is enough Loz to do 2-3 sets of wings, I don't think there will be many people complaining. If we need to buy an upper loz set, a lower loz set, and rib tapes for $19.00 each, plus the set of decals we want to do for another $19.00, and can only finish off one aircraft, I think a lot of people will pass. It would be very cost prohibitive to spend $57.00 to do each decal option after the initial investment of $59. 00 for the Aircraft, and another $19.00 for the decal set.. So lets just wait and see what WNW is going to do. These decals may even appear in upcoming Albatros kits.

WNW has marketed their kits at a very reasonable price and has been very conscientious of the needs and desires of the modeler. I dont want to be hateful towards them based on conjecture regarding decals that haven't even been released yet. If it costs too much, I will just buy a kit and do the kit options. I do love their kits.

But these decals HAVE been released, and do not contain any lozenge options (at least none are shown on the website), though you need lozenge camo to complete a goodly portion of them. I don't think I'm being hateful by asking whether these decal sheets are, in fact, worth the money.

I have some cash coming in over the next few weeks, and I was thinking about ordering some new WNW kits, including at least one of the optional decal sheets, which include some gorgeous painting options. I hope their management will clarify the situation to Aeroscale, and let us know what's going on. Several of their new kits contain lozenge decals, but I don't know if Pfalz lozenges, for example, can be used on DVs?

Bill – I hear you loud and clear – but like Carls says, wait and see what quality lozenge WNW will release and what they'll cost, then decide what action to take.

I agree that the price for these A/M may seem a bit costly at first glance?

– I may be wrong, but I also think a pretty big chunk of what you pay for the original kits is going towards the cost of putting high quality decals in the box. So $19 is probably more or less what they cost to produce and ship + some profit to WNW for the trouble of getting them done and, hopefully, develop new ones in future.

Also – as far as I know (please feel free to correct me) no other A/M manufacturer in this scale does whole package sets of lozenge and profiles in one set – probably just becuase of cost – And perhaps not all want to do a loz covered version and therefore don't want pay extra for them?


Just my two pence worth.

Mikael

Hello Bill C:

I agree with you. When I looked on the site and saw the three new AM Sheets for the Albatri collection, and saw the Lozenge application instructions in the instruction sheet, and then no lozenge decal I was curious as to why not. Like has been posted here and at the Aerodrome, apparently, and this isn't Gospel, WNW got some flack over the color of the LVG lozenge, so they have been investigating the proper color for the Albatri Collection. It may be a bit premature to jump to conclusions regarding pricing. If you look at Rowen Broadbents offerings at PHEON models, he too does not offer Lozenge Decals with his decal sheet, that is left to the modeler. I see the logic, if the lozenge is perceived to be the wrong color, the modeler wouldn't use it, complain with the cause and effect of reduced sales. If the lozenge is left off, the modeler can elect to use what the modeler perceives to be the correct color of lozenge. Doug Bauman (sp) produces several lozenge pattern decals in 1/32nd at reasonable prices and ultra fast delivery, the modeler is required to put some sort of covering over the decal to retain decal integrity, but the colors have been researched to death and most would agree are spot on.
As a caveat to this rambling, it would do WNW well to release some lozenge soon at a reasonable price so the decals can be used on the kits for which they were inteded.

To digress a bit, Carl is correct in that WNW has offered a great product at a great price. One modeler calculated what shipping would be to his address from New Zealand, and it came to more than the price of single seat fighter, so there is little or no profit for WNW at this juncture. I think that is part of the uniqueness of the WNW saga.

These are just my controversial and verbose thoughts on a post Christmas Monday.


Best

Mark

Bill, You are not being hateful towards WNW. I did not mean to imply you had been. I was saying I personally do not want to be hateful towards them. I guess my wording could have been better. I am pretty sure that all your posts concerning WNW have been positive. Sorry about my poor wording. Just the hill-billy in me coming out.

I also stated I can feel your pain if we have to make numerous costly purchases to do one particular scheme. If there is enough loz to do 2-3 aircraft upper or lower surfaces in a single packet, I think the cost would be justified. I seem to have rib tapes left over from my LVG, and probably wont be needing those. I do love the schemes they are providing. Great choices. I imagine there will be many Bavarian aircraft being built in the coming months. The loz will be useful on many aircraft. I am thinking this will be handy to keep laying around. We might even see a Loz Triplane sometime in the future. I think the loz will be in demand as soon as it is available. It is a great time for our little corner of the the modeling world.

As an aside, wouldn't it be cool to get decals for the Crocodile and the Brisfish. I can see numerous opportunities for this company to provide cool things.

I just checked the News page on the WNW site. It was blank except for the Red "X". Maybe we will see an update soon?

OK, so the deed is now done. Staff of WNW will find an order from me for the RE.8 and the Hansa when they get back from their holidays. (Yup – the Harry Tate beat the Ninak this time, but it was a tough call).

Reckon I'll have to start watching the postbox about the 20th january for any parcels I am looking forward to these very much now!!!

Mikael

I think there are many orders that were placed in front of yours, including a very large box for me, if you care to believe the whispered rumors going around my house. You might want to start watching for yours on the 21st.