so I just saw 3 snipes from the new paint schemes go on ebay auction. one finished at 6.50, the other two barely made it to 7.50 doesn't look they're selling amazingly!
how are the others going? I actually haven't managed to buy any of them yet..
Pretty predictably - the D.VIIs are selling well, the others not really - the composition of this series was always badly flawed, and bringing it back with an unchanged line-up just confirms nothing's changed on that front....
ARES badly need to get their tooling sorted out so they aren't hampered by having to stick to releasing in fours. They also seriously need to sort out their continually woeful choices of colour schemes that is often mind bogglingly bad. However, I think if they sort the former that latter would follow.
I also think they should use this forum for some market testing of colour schemes, e.g. let us vote on their choice of say six schemes. No obligation for them to follow the research findings but the model railway makers in the UK pay a good deal of attention to market research and what folk want to see most.
I got the feeling they do pay attention to this forum..
Do we know if all the new releases they have been doing come in that same tooling configuration of 4's like Nexus the minis were?
Oh I'm sure they do read the forum but I maintain that any one of us or the forum as a collective could come up with a set of twelve colour scheme that would sell as well or better than those they choose.
ARES stated a long time ago that they wanted to move to a position of having new tooling to enable them total flexibility with what they release and when. The implication being that they weren't in that position. IIRC they made this statement about the time the reprint of S1 came out.
No Snipes for me. Bought one each of the Fokkers, DH4s and will buy 2 Rolands (no MVR).
I only bought the MFJ DVII. I might pick up a couple of Gorings for repaints at some point but I have much of what I want now so can pick and choose. I'm mainly just waiting for the SE5a to come out again – that's the real gap in my collection that I want to sort out. I hope ARES gives us a couple of Western Front RFC/RAF options and doesn't decide to do something 'Snipe like'!
Personally, I wish Ares had stuck to WWI, and done the various Eastern Europe wars of "aftermath" as a separate set. That way people who want to play with the Red Menace would still have it available, and there'd still be a chance of two slightly-more-useful Western Front Snipes. (I can understand some of why they did it, since Ares tends to look for "colorful" and "different"...)
I agree, I think they should shave stuck to Western Front 1916/17/18 and anything outside of that could have been made available in duel sets.
Sometimes they go for colourful and different and other times like with almost the Albatros models they just go a bit nonsensical. If they wanted different why do two Jasta 15 SSD? I understand colourful and different as good qualities but if such oddball models don't sell as well as the key Western Front models why do them as part of the main release?
I think I can figure out ARES release strategy---both types of planes and color schemes selected...and I think they are doing a pretty good job of it.
I think their biggest problem is, trying to keep a variety of the miniatures on the shelf to be AVAILABLE on an on going basis. You can introduce/recruit new players until the cows come home, but if they can't go out then and buy a set....what's the point?
As far as the Snipes and post (intra) war color schemes: Two points: 1) Late war 'superplanes' dwell there. I fully expect at some point, to see a wide variety of schemes for them in the post-war period. Why? That's when they were deployed in numbers that matter...or 'survived' the war to go on. 2) The itty-bitty wars after WW1 are largely unknown. I like the way ARES is putting a flashlight on that era.
Duplicate post, so I'll add a WW1 'selfie'.
Last edited by Grey; 09-15-2014 at 10:32. Reason: Duplicate post
Part of the problem of keeping the product range on the shelves is that the range has been shown to be very patchy – the desirable parts sell out quickly leaving the also rans hanging around for far too long. That is a dreadful strategy and why bother continuing to make stuff that simply doesn't sell very well. If ARES got it right we'd see all the models sell at roughly the same rate. All three models of a type should be equally desirable.
I wonder how many people are really honestly that bothered about minor air wars in bi-planes when they can be the Red baron et al instead. I'd say the mass appeal of the game could primarily be based around the Red Baron and his adversaries and would probably sell better. Do people really care that the RAF flew Brisfits in Iraq and who were they flying them against anyway? If ARES wanted colourful why not go for a Home Defence operated one – then there's a really attractive (read highly desirable) plane to fly against the lovely Gotha model. This stuff is so easy and so basic yet they keep messing up. Why? It's comically bad. Then we get two almost identical black DVa's when there are just so many other more colourful different ones to choose from. If they have a remit I can't fathom it out and the patchy sales don't suggest to me that they've yet got it right.
In general, I agree with your post. There are 'bread & butter' planes that should ALWAYS be available, as you said. Those "Duel Packs" for example...but the Rules & Accessories pack should be there, too.
When I was a scale modeler, as a kid. I remember buying a lot of "turds" because that was what was on the shelf. I used to envy the other planes in a series portrayed on the side panels of the box, but rarely seen on the shelf. Example: the AIRFIX He-111. Never saw that until I discovered one in an obscure variety store years after I became aware of it. I felt like I had recovered the Holy Grail.
But ARES seems to have problems with the 'basics', no?
I am sure, some of the other oldtimers remember the plethora of 'bread & butter' kits that we all got bored with as modelers: The P-51, The Japanese Zero, The Spitfire and the Messerschmitt Bf-109. Whatever the company, or scale those were the FIRST (sometimes only) planes that were covered.
That was the beauty of AIRFIX (and later Revell, Monogram, etc.); Once they covered the 'basics' they had the market and profit to branch out into more obscure planes. I can see the same pattern for the diecast (Corgi) models and such.
If WGF continues to be popular, I would wager that some of those present Asian hobby 'giants (Dragon?), will step into the vacuum and begin producing compatible miniatures...that can be stand alone static "toys" and/or be easily adapted for the game.
I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate these for a ground-attack/bombing scenario.
Yep I guessed it might be less than wholesale. I often wonder how stores make any profit sell minis for $9.95 even!
The problem is that your perfect release is a horrible release for someone else. As I recall, there were quite a few members on this site that wanted post WWI planes.
And lots of members have asked for Squadron or Jasta packs... so releasing different planes from the same unit is following the market research.
I personally would love to see some big changes made in their paint scheme selection and tooling/release setup. But it all comes down to having the money and time to do all that.
With every release we have some that are happy and some that are not.
I saw the Roland was to be out on 8 Sept. Any idea if they have been sent out? Waiting on a pre order so hope they will be out as scheduled.
I got mine last week, bought in the UK.
Wished for many, many times. And they would sell like hot cakes to the ~200 customers that play the game and repaint. The other ~5000 customers would not be interested at all. There is just not a large enough market of us repainters to make this worth while to Ares. They would have increased expenses (due mainly to logistics) and we'd want them at a discount. Just does not make good business sense
I hate painting miniatures; I'm not good at it and I don't have time; it's probably what stopped my table top gaming when I was young.
The fact that WoG comes prepainted is one of the biggest draws for me.
That probably makes me unusual on this forum, which seems populated with modellers as much as gamers.
When 3D colour printing becomes a cheap enough proposal, or Shapeways offer it as service, then I'll become a modeller, because my talents lie elsewhere.
You are not alone Fox. While I love to do repaints and am pretty decent at them, the pre-painted minis are a huge plus for me. Like you, I don't have the time or desire to paint every single plane that I want in my collection.
and while the rules set for the game is very well done, it's the pre-painted minis that has made it a success.
I love painting and I'm a modeller, but I'm also a dad and the rest, cabbie, baby sitter... So straight out of the box is also fine with me.
Is stripping them that hard?
I’d also love to get some bare minis from Ares. For me it’s not that the minis are hard to strip (I normally just paint over what is there anyway, an airbrush helps with this), it’s just another step I have to do. And sometimes that extra step could be the deciding factor in if I have the time and energy to do the repaint
Ergo: I bought a 6 pack of ares from Dom (decals) today, for this Sundays wings over the southeast, cos I just don't have the time to build let alone paint my Valom Fokker D.VII's in time, and they come with decals. They are nice models to. One day...
I looked at my one day pile the other day, it includes lots of magnetised swappable inserts for Opel blitz 15mm trucks, I even did a cut down, that was before I started collecting a Japanese army. Just before I dived headlong into wings. Seriously I love pre-painted.
Thanks for the update on the shipment. Should get them by Friday. Have some Box Tops to send to you.
Or, why not a Jasta Pack, with the basic "standard unit insignia", and cards and decals to mark the miniature as any one of several pilots from the unit?
That way, you have a fully prepainted Combat Ready miniature (less the "personal markings", then you have the decals and card if you want to identify it as a specific pilot. Also gives a reason to buy more than one copy...
Since yesterday Rolands are available here in one of our online stores "in stock = w magazynie)" status.
http://www.rebel.pl/e4u.php/1,ModPro...y/2135/?1&p=20
"We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."
This is the case for me to. I was a keen modeler in my teens and early twenties. I made barbwire for 1:72. Did extencive remodeling when the details were missing or wrong but now, how much I want to do them, there is no time or SPACE!! I did some refitting of the topwing on one of my tripes (it was not parallell with the other wings) but that is what I are able to do wright now.
This constant beating of the poor Snipe..
I have talked aboute this in another thread but maybe the Snipe would have been more welcome if it had been paired with the Fokker DVIII. (and the DVII with the SE5a or perhaps the sop. Dolphin)
I like the Snipe. It it a blast to fly. But I agree that the choose of paintscheme for the reprint wasn't the best.
wow be away for awhile now have to buy more...always more
Kev, thank you it was an excellent idea. Just the one I needed. Snipes sitting around collecting dust and my need of Pups for Bloody April. My next buy from shapeways had a hard time fitting in Pups because of all the other aircraft needed (RFC N17s, FE8s, Be2c, Fe2bs, ect)
They are the same length, with the Snipe having a couple feet extra wingspan. The only really noticeable difference in design being the Snipe's thicker nose/front of the fuselage (and subsequently smaller space between it and the top wing) to accommodate the bigger engine. The plain-Jane schemes on Wave 1 Snipes really help them blend in with the other earlier war stuff.
Why don't we run a poll on it:
Which would you rather see?
1) ARES current varied releases of models across all theatres during and after WW1
2) A well considered range of colour schemes of Western Front aircraft only forming the key releases. The unusual models sold as duel packs to ensure the 'oddities' e.g. flying boat and Iraq Brisfit have a plausible combat adversary.
The second option makes good marketing sense to me (as it's so easy to build the marketing strategy around the enduring and popular Red Baron legend). The other seems to be a curious way to continue to run a business which has a history of very patchy sales precisely because the odd models are not to the taste of the majority. We can all name, list and spot the duds before they are even released. With the exception of the German Camel ARES still go ahead and release the models even though the broad opinion here says 'bad choices' as the Snipes have proved to be. Why do they do it – beyond me, if the so called fan-boys and girls of the game (i.e. us here) don't even want the model… etc etc.
On the matter of unpainted models, as much as I'd like them to do this I can't see it ever happening and although for a long time I really hoped they would release sprues I now don't think it would be a good move for ARES from a profit perspective. My hope is that a major plastic kit maker starts to release 1/144 WW1 models that come in as few parts as possible, like the ARES models, to make them suitable for gaming. It's the sort of thing Revell might do. The Valom kits are nice but are squarely aimed at the modeller and the wing surfaces aren't as convincing as those on the ARES models, which rather put me off them.
Last edited by Timmo UK; 09-21-2014 at 08:02.
And that's the thing, if you run that poll on this site, you will get the response you expect.. but our ~100 active players are just a very small sampling of the gamers out there. I totally agree that Ares could do a better job with their release for us, but take what I found when I went to Prague last month. The local game store there that all our Prague pilots fly at had 3 or 4 for the camo British Spitfires sitting on the shelf. You can't find those anywhere in the US, UK or Aussie. But there they were sitting on the shelves while all the other Spits were gone. Each geographical area wants different planes. Pair that with limited production volume and working capital... and it's nearly impossible to get a perfect release.
None of us old timers wanted the Snipes, we already have them and they mostly gather dust. But new players do want them, so there were sales to be had. The fact that Ares reused the old Series 2 molds, meant we got equal numbers of Snipes as D.VIIs
I'm always hard at work on Ares to break those releases up and or print more of one type then the other.
I'm always hard at work on Ares to break those releases up and or print more of one type then the other.
Thank you, for your representation.
Any date yet on the next release? I know you were asked for some input on the series 3, any feed back on what aircraft or release date?
On series 2 I bought every D.VII and DH4 and bought 2 of the 3 Halberstadts (not the MvR because I already have it).
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