Very sad news indeed, even if not really "/news" at this point.

Michael

This is indeed sad news. I hope someone can buy the moulds.

This is indeed sad news. I hope someone can buy the moulds.

So it all comes down to the greed of one individual?

I'm hoping once the dust from this and the pandemic has settled, PJ can recover from all this.
It's sad, but they gave us some fantastic kits and really set the bench mark for others to follow. CSM, from what I've seen and heard, are doing kits as good as WNW.

I was lucky to get the Halberstadt CL.II this weekend from Modelkitsforless. Paid a little less than RRP, which given the circumstances and rise in prices I was very lucky and grateful for. This one is likely to be my last.

I have what I need from WnW as well— a total of 18 kits since 2009. The only one I don’t have that I’m suddenly coveting is the new Halberstadt late, but I can live without it too. I agree, I have a stack of Roden and Special Hobby kits too, that “cover the bases“ for those kits WnW didn’t produce, and although not WnW quality, they are totally adequate for the purpose. And the Hobbycraft SPAD is quite a nice model— I have three of those in my stash as well.

On another note, I wasn't aware PJ had been defrauded by others, including “The Michigan Toy Soldier Company” owner — who I thought was a reputable dealer, but I guess not, fraudulently charging $190,000 against Jackson’s AE account. I guess scammers will try to scam, even from the famous:

https://www.candgnews.com/news/business-owner-serve-time-scamming-‘lord-rings’-director

I can imagine all of this “defrauding” has left PJ with extremely bad feelings about folks taking advantage of his hobby, and his money. Who can you trust anymore?

VR, Russ

I agree with Gary that the fact that no one official has said anything to counter all these rumors and reports speaks pretty loudly. I can't imagine a company seeing all these things about it shutting down without issuing some sort of statement if they aren't true.

As for the molds, we don't know how far along the Lancs or DR.1s were. I don't hold out much hope for the Lancs, there is already a pretty good one on the market and a 1/32 scale Lancaster is a pretty niche product. (By the way, I'll bet those HK Models kits have seen an uptick in sales!) Hard to say with the DR.1. They're much more likely to sell than a Lanc and the Roden kits are harder to find these day. But again, I agree with Gary that if they do sell off the molds they're only likely to find buyers for the more mainstream, "lower" price items. I'm not holding my breath that we'll see re-releases of Gothas, AEG's, Felixtowes, etc. anytime soon.

By way of modeling, and if anyone's interested, Bob R. is putting together a WWI campaign in honor of WnW.

Michael

Stephen,
I too bought the Roden Tripe, and find it’s not a bad kit at all, along with Roden’s Nieuport 28, which is also nice, and very simple. The HC SPAD “Aces” was one of Hobbycraft’s last, along with their Camel “Aces” offering, which should not be confused with the abysmal Academy kit, but often is, because HC originally boxed that kit. The later HC “Aces” Camel has some very nice features, but lacked cockpit detail (But WnWs offering is so much better). Some of Roden’s kits have difficult fit, their Fokker Dr1 and Siemens Shuckert are good examples. I only model 1/48 WWI kits where there are absolutely no offerings available in 1/32 scale, so I’ll miss the selection afforded by WnW. But with over 35 WWI kits on shelves or in the boxes, I’ll somehow muddle through I suppose.
VR, Russ

Since the new management did not understand modeling, they were not able to see that had the Dr.I been issued, the value of the entire range would have been significantly higher.

In response to Russ, the release of the DrI would not have saved the day. However, it would have upped the value of the WNW portfolio and hence the price they may get for the assets. Likewise, the HP 0/100 was apparently ready enough for a modeler to build from pre-production sprues.

I am still baffled by the closure to extent that this was a passion project of Peter Jackson's and he had simply handed it over to the Philistines and this was done with items in the pipeline.