Posted by Scott R. Andrews on August 30, 1998 at 15:56:59 in spider-to024.proxy.aol.com:
In Reply to: Re: Attention modelers interested in a large scale hull... posted by Jason J on August 30, 1998 at 13:31:00:
Mark, Jason and who ever else....
If you don't ask for something, who will know if
you want it? Lee Upshaw works in a number of
scales depending on the subject; his primary
thing is 1/96 scale. If you want something in
1/192 (1/16"=1"0") however, it can't hurt to
ask. If Lee isn't interested, maybe someone else
is. There are other makers out there building
hulls and kits. They are mostly warships, but
warship models are popular, so warship model-
ers have a powerful voice. The big commercial
companies really don't give a rat's a** about
what smaller groups of hobbyists want; it was no
minor miracle when Entex built that first Titanic
kit. Tamiya makes several nice warships in
1:200 scale and I,m sure they could do a great
Titanic at that scale, but just try to get their
attention! People like Lee Upshaw, however,
run small businesses which are more accessable
to their clientele. If enough people ask for some-
thing, it will at least receive serious considera-
tion. To them several dozen potential buyers
looks like a potential marked. To the big com-
panies, those kind of numbers don't even
warrant a form-letter response. The fact that Lee
is even considering this model when his biggest
sellers are warships says something about "our"
ship's popularity, so instead of sitting back and
waiting for someone to produce the kit or hull of
your dreams, start asking around! And, should
you find someone who sound even vaguely
interested, pass the word around to the rest of
us so we can get together and voice some sup-
port to encourage them to go ahead. Also, don't
be stingy with your information; lack of sufficient
info can crush a budding project as fast as lack
of interest.
Reagards, Scott