"Parts & Recreation" A pretty neat look inside Revell--worth the read I think!

[Art Anderson]

http://craftsmanship.net/parts-recreation/

Art

[drball]

Now we got the names of the people so we can blame them directly for the mistakes. (BSA) - being cynical again.

[Bill Eh?]

Thoroughly enjoyed this article. Thank you very much for posting it Art.

[cobraman]

Very interesting .

[1972coronet]

Thanks for sharing , Art !

Very comprehensive look inside the operations at Revell (et al.) , and more importantly , the folks behind the operations .

I remember when Revell was in Venice (California) ! I actually wrote letters to them when I was young (ages 6-9 years ; 1976-1979 ) , mostly --and firstly-- thanking them for their hard work , and then critiquing their fidgety quality ! Ha ha ha ... the good old days . They certainly responded in kind ; very good P.R. , especially to a geeky auburn hair brat .

[ChrisBcritter]

Thanks for posting this one, Art - I wonder if there's been a full inventory of those molds, so we could get definitive answers as to what's gone? Wonder if there are any remnants of the '62 Mopar annuals? Maybe I should go sell a kidney and buy a '62 Lancer or Newport which would ensure those would turn up...

[charlie8575]

I know the molds for the Newport are still around, but it's missing the tires, and apparently they don't want to get new ones made. I'm also wondering that where Chrysler is being extra-nasty with licensing again that that might be an influencing factor.

I saw that article on Facebook, and found it quite interesting. It's absolutely worth reading.

Charlie Larkin

[Danno]

Terrific!

Thanks, Art.

[Art Anderson]

I found some things that should lay some of the criticisms of how model car kits somehow "don't exactly make it" nowadays as opposed to say, that so-called "classic period" of 40-50 years ago. If you really read closely, it's pretty obvious that in so many ways, the old adage "You can't go back home again" very much describes why model kits are developed in the manner which they are today--along with a bit of the hassles that can create.

The bottom line, for me at least, is that unless one has been either directly, or indirectly, involved, exposed to the development process--it's really pretty hard to grasp just how difficult it is at times to communicate exactly what is expected in a new tool for a new model kit, especially in light of having to deal with such limited resources that are available in researching a vehicle that was produced well before any sort of digital drawings etc. were even a dream in a designer's eye. Not only can that be (as it often is!) going in for the first time on a new project, but even more importantly, getting the needed corrections done after that first proposed tooling mockup has been reviewed by those in charge of the project--and that set of problems would exist regardless of a common language, or the "language barriers" which can exist when dealing with technicians fully half the planet away.

Note too, that there are very few traditional pattern makers around any more, in most any industry requiring masters for any sort of molded products from metal foundry patterns to intricate injection molding patterns--that is a skill set from now a completely different era--those that had those skills by and large are either retired, or have passed away.

It's also interesting to read just what the demographics are of our hobby (and thus, the market for any model company's products)--most of us who frequent this, and any other model car message board or forum aren't getting any younger--thus the need to find that key to bringing new, younger modelers into the customer base--something that no model company (at least based here in the US) has really managed to quite break into--but Revell is giving that a pretty strong try, it seems to me. Hobbico isn't in the hobby products business to have it end when the last boomers fade away--Hobbico has been around since about 1970, and hey've been quite successful in most all of their ventures for now 45 years.

Art

[ChrisBcritter]

I know the molds for the Newport are still around, but it's missing the tires, and apparently they don't want to get new ones made. I'm also wondering that where Chrysler is being extra-nasty with licensing again that that might be an influencing factor.

Aw, man... Gotta be some other tires they can put on it. Wonder whether they'd sell or lease the molds to someone else (Moebius, are you out there? Your Jo-Han '59 Dodge needs a garagemate). The kit is definitely of its time in the chassis but it was the next best thing to Jo-Han in looks.

[1930fordpickup]

I noticed that the 29 Roadster will have a Coupe to go along with it soon.

[Guest]

This looks fascinating, thanks Art!

[Deano]

Aw, man... Gotta be some other tires they can put on it. Wonder whether they'd sell or lease the molds to someone else (Moebius, are you out there? Your Jo-Han '59 Dodge needs a garagemate). The kit is definitely of its time in the chassis but it was the next best thing to Jo-Han in looks.

I know there were some other issues; the glass, for one. I had loaned the glass from my mint Newport Convertible and waited with bated breath for the outcome then, one day, my kit glass came home. No explanation, no acknowledgement; it just came home.

[carrucha]

Awesome article! Thanks for the link.

[henry57]

I didn't know they were going to make a model a coupe, but it's a 30 or 31, not a 29

[Roadrunner]

I was rather stunned at the 70% car sales figure, I would have assumed it would have been much lower than that.

[Tonioseven]

This was an excellent article! Thanks for sharing this!!!

[dragcarz]

Wow that was eye opening!

[kruleworld]

and sends revised schematics back to Guang Dong. And so it goes, back and forth"

Sounds like a lot of pain to get anything done. add to that a 12hr time difference, it must be frustrating.

I wonder how those toy companies are getting on that had their tools seized by the chinese government.

the fact that we no longer have those types of skill sets in the States. There are still some highly detail-oriented pattern model makers, sure. But they’re retired—or very hard to find.”

so they didn't train up apprentices and now don't have any choice of how they do business.

Edited May 14, 2015 by kruleworld

[Lownslow]

Sounds like a lot of pain to get anything done. add to that a 12hr time difference, it must be frustrating.

I wonder how those toy companies are getting on that had their tools seized by the chinese government.

so they didn't train up apprentices and now don't have any choice of how they do business.

Why i just point fingers nowadays

[Nova-ss]

I enjoyed the read...thanks Art.