WW2 over done?

[Gil]

Pulp Fiber Layups

I did that for aircraft cowls Charlie..., Return on investment is not a good spreadsheet exercise; also vendors aren't that interested in stocking the items till there's a demand.
It does make good looking compound curved parts though, but does require a certain amount of "secret sauce" to get it to come out right (as usual).

+Gil

 

[Stev0]

Also keep in mind that platforms are or rather seem to be very transformable or even long lived.

What I mean is take a look at the M113 platform. Fielded in the early 60's it's still being used today over 40 years later.

Just one example of many. A vehicle that created once with the addition of some modifications could produce many variants.

Modern armor is produced not for infield demand like say a Tiger Tank to combat a T34 tank but a vehicle which will provide service over a long time and be made to change or upgrade to accommodate the service requirements.

Design the model once and with some addons you have say 15 variants or whole new vehicles. A personnel carrier, an anti-tank platform, an anti-aircraft platform, an engineering vehicle and so on.

As for curves. Not very many vehicles employ curves in their design. T55-T90 turrets for example. Many are flat faced panels. I think as far as designs go modern stuff is somewhat more profitable because your always going to have new designs to create where we are pretty much limited.

We have like 6 different designers making Panzer IV's. I think one designer is enough to be honest. Everyone wants a piece of the pie. It just seems like everyone's making 'apple pie' and face it, there's more out there than apple. If it tastes good then people will eat it up no matter what the flavor.

 

[sr5nm]

While I agree that the post-WWII armor is under-represented, it doesn't seem to hold the same interest among people. People today just don't care enough to know ZSUs, BTRs, LeClercs or any of the myriad other AFVs. The vehicles just aren't the heroes and villains that the Sherman, Panther and Tiger were. How many of you have bought the available modern armor pieces that are in print? If we don't buy what is there, how will GPM, Modelik, Halinski and the others know what we want?

 

[paperpanzer]

I do agree that WWII does seem to overshadow any other era and the European theater overshadows everything within that era. Whether this is because these are the models that current designers find most interesting, or because they are the most commercially successful I can’t tell. Or maybe it’s because most of the large card models are produced by eastern European companies and WWII was such a pivotal moment in European history. Card models are not alone in this; plastic is very focused on WWII, I’ve lost count on how many companies make or have made a Tiger tank model.

It is sad to see that other eras are not as well represented; so many wars or conflicts go unmentioned. But I think what this thread would point out to model manufactures that - “If you make them we will buy them” . I would hope that once in a while the model manufactures would throw in a curve ball every now and again if not to keep people’s interest in card then to encourage others into this modeling medium. How about a French AMX13 or a British Humber pig or a Chieftain in Iranian colours or an Archer in Egyptian colours or … or… or… you get the idea.