Bladerunner wrote:
Good morning guys,
Glad you are excited about the 707 set
MARS wrote:
Would you consider producing SAAF weapon sets (missiles, bombs, rails, and pods)?
Hmmm... I have started making some minor ordonance for some of my newer sets.
Is there really a market for SAAF weapons, that justifies researching, deciding on a scale (1/72; 1/48; 1/32), building masters and making moulds?
If there is enough interest, why not
Cheers,
John
Hi John
To answer your question, yes I believe there is.
SAAF Weapons are unique and I would argue that the weapons are as interesting as the aircraft if not more so. Building a SAAF model without a weapon load-out is like building half a model, or telling half the story. For example what is a F1AZ without its 14 bomb load out, or a Cheetah without its missiles, or an impala without its rockets ,etc. SAAF weapons are what make SAAF subjects truly unique.
We now have a good spread of SAAF aircraft and decal options, the next area of development is accessories. Perhaps the term 'weapon sets' should be replaced with the term 'accessories'.
Using the Mirage F1AZ as an example. There is not much point in building a F1AZ if you can't load it out in a border war configuration or its later 14X MK81 load-out with V3C's. As a modeller if I wanted to build a F1 with 14X MK81's my options are as follows:
-Buy third party weapon sets (eg Hasegawa) or scavenge them from other kits.
-Or making scratch built masters and produce resin copies.
-Scratchbuild rails and missiles etc.
The above is time consuming and expensive to produce just for one model and would be limited to research available. Further the above would have to be repeated everytime you wanted to build a SAAF subject, say a Cheetah for example.
A further benefit of producing weapon sets/accessories is that it allows you to expand the range beyond subjects that require conversion. For example, there could be a interceptor set for the F1CZ with two Pythons and two V3's plus SAAF upgrades.
In terms of the weapons that could be produced one has to look no further than this website...
http://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/weapons/out-of-servicehttp://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/weapons/currenthttp://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/weapons/in-developmentThe argument to the above is that the modeller's should scratch build and modify weapons and accessories as they wish. Which is a fair point, however the counter to that is that there are are very few shake and bake SAAF subjects. Building weapons and accessories is like building another model in its own right, its like putting in twice the effort for one model. As a result this is one area SAAF models tend to fall short, but also what makes them standout if the modeller puts in the extra effort.
Anyway, just my 2c's.
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