With a lot of SH recent releases, I notice many are a/c, or variations of a/c, that Frog previously released. I haven't compared any, but is SH actually 'copying' old Frog kits? What's even more curious to me is, Frog kits of the same a/c that SH has can usually be found as cheap or cheaper on eBay than their SH version & are, IMHO, an easier/better build than all the work needed on a short run kit. I think Sword has a 1/72 F8F kit. Cost more than a Monogram kit on eBay & has all the short run drawbacks. I'll take the Monogram kit any day. Anyone know what the scoop is? Thoughts?
Special Hobby, MPM, Azur etc. are following the Frog/Airfix release pattern from the 1960s-70s, but are not copying the orginals in any way. For the most part the Frog and Airfx kits had zero interior, many shape and detail errors, etc., that are corrected in the new kits. The Bearcat is, indeed, one of the exceptions. The Monogram Bearcat, along with their Tigercat, '30s biplanes and others of that period, remain the best of the breed. The current huge range of after market detailing bits is a wonderful way to breath new life into many of these old kits.
Even better than following the lines of '60s and '70s kits are the new releases of injection molded kits that follow the vacuform and even cast resin kits of the past. Every time we put together a new listing in ESM 72 there is something exciting. Academy has a set of WWII American vehicles due soon. The ambulance alone is worth the price of the kit and the decades of waiting. Valom has an Albermarle coming soon, along with a XFV-1. Trumpeter has a new F-105D and a Wyvern. The huge amount of new kits alone make this the best of times for modelers. Remember, it was only four or five years back that the "experts" were bemoaning the death of the hobby. Where are they now? About the only thing dead about this hobby is the American manufacturer and that is due to a self-inflicted X-Acto #11 wound.
I agree that we may be in for the 2nd Golden Age of models. Between just Unicraft & Anigrand, I feel I can quit scratchbuilding & kitbashing. I have the Trumpeter Wyvern, but the Frog kit gives me that "warm fuzzy feeling" from 30 odd years ago, as do other old Frog & Airfix & other old kits. Of course, that feeling "may" have come from figuring out girls about then as well! I was wondering if SH was copying Frog kits & just adding resin & PE parts to take up the slack or what tho. Thanks for the info.
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