Musing out loud while the coffee brews. It would be cool if somebody molded...
1) Sets of 1/48 deck apes in poses consistent with the oft photographed scene of ordnance crews mounting missiles onto aircraft the old fashioned way - with elbow grease.2) Sets of 1/48 trucks, dollies and tractors commonly found littering hangars and decks here and abroad. I know they've done a few pieces hither and thither, but it seems they've missed a lot of pieces too.
3) 1/48 crash crew sets - what the USN uses on the CVs and the big firetrucks the USAF uses. That crash crew stuff would make for a boss diorama.4) 1/48 and civilian automobiles. Nothing elaborate or an extensive catalog, just one or two vanilla four door sedans, wagons or vans that might have been pressed into military service and would be appropriate in an air base dio.
Think '63 Fords, Chevys, etc for the bare metal/Vietnam builds '42-'48s for WWII and Post war staff car work Pickups from all eras would be REAL COOL!
They could sneak these and other trinkets into kits the way Monogram included bomb carts and tractors in their big bomber kits, or as stand alone accy packs. Whatever the bean counters sign off on.
1/35th and 1/32nd autos have their place too.5) More 1/48 civilian or commercial planes. Nothing specific in mind, just something a wee bit bigger for the scale from a Cessna or Piper J-3 civilian light. Maybe a Lear Jet, Bonanza twin engines,etc. Something without guns, bombs or missiles for a change.
6) 1/48 DEA, cop and crook figures and diorama accys to accompany the bove - in case you missed having the guns. Plus it's a good way to sneak in a 1/48 Chevy Suburban too for dual use with an F-15 or something in a modern era flight line diorama.7) 1/48 (1/35th if you're MRC) Marine One with fully detailed interior, crew, honor guard detail and if your heart desires a few figures in suit and tie. I guess one waving and smiling, a few others trailing along wearing stoic expressions and dark aviator sunglasses.
We could squeeze that 1/48 Suburban in here too. How about a limo?
8) B-50 conversion kit for Mono's B-29. Ah hell, let's be greedy and just give us a new ProMono kit of the B-50.9) Some of that neat NASA stuff that got stuffed in the belly and under the wings of those B-50s... and B-29s... and...
10) A 1/48 B-52!!! OK, you had to see it coming. Pipe dreaming now, but if they actually shot one of these into a box it would probably be the only time $200 for a single model kit would actually seem worth it to me. ;-) Honestly though, I'm having trouble finding a safe spot for a 1/48 Corsair much less a 5 foot BUFF :-(.But someday...
11)1/35th scale (or 1/32nd) joins the Navy! Think of things you might see on the deck of a WWII era CV or surface ship. The thinking being, if they can sell 88mm AA kits and crews that people will build, there might be some interest out there in building up dios of the Navy's 20mm and 40mm pom-poms and their brave crews. I'm just thinking of all those little things I hated building in 1/720 scale that I'd enjoy if I could actually see the detail. Arguably though, a Kriegsmarine AA kit would probably draw the most interest with the 1/35 crowd. :-(1/35th LCVP with figures - Oddly enough, a popular kit subject that I don't recall the Kriegsmarine having or making good use of. Surely somebody has kitted the LCVP in 1/35 already? Dragon quality?
1/35th 3" or 5" U-boat or Gato deck gun kit while we're at it. Come to think of it, just how big would the entire conning tower work out? Hell that's really the meat and potatoes of a sub build anyway. So, what does this work out to in 1/35th scale?Generally you get the picture -1/35th is not just for armor any more.
12) BIG scale figures. The biggest I can recall seeing is 1/16 from Dragon. I'm thinking military not the Aurora superhero or Universal monster stuff. Dragon makes the best mass produced 1/6th Action Figure stuff I've seen, but that art form has it's limits with out of scale cloth and necc. evils like wrist joints and rubber boots needed to maintain playability. Basically, what I'd like to see is someone take the 12" action figure format, strain all the "toy" out of it and take it to the limits in styrene kit form. Dragon would be a logical choice - the only problem is Dragon is WWII-German obsessed and I want to see stuff from other historical periods. Basically the stuff Osprey has been stuffing into Plates A thru L in their pamplets the last few decades. I want to get medieval on some styrene.Luckily - for anyone that read this far down - the coffee's ready. It's real coffee too -the spoon stands straight up when you let go of it and there's not a trace of chocolate or anything of that sissy stuff to soften the blow. ;-)
WmB