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Interview with AFV Club/ Hobby Fan

It seems that you really have a talent for finding the niches in the market that aren’t being filled by the other model companies.
AFV Club: That’s exactly why I’ve produced the Churchill and Centurion kits you now see. Tamiya made one of each, over thirty years ago, and then: nothing.

What is your favorite AFV and aircraft?
AFV Club: That’s obvious: The Centurion is of course my favourite tank of all time. The F4 Corsair would have to be my favourite aircraft –it’s so menacing, and mean-looking. The Mosquito, too. It was actually flown by the Taiwanese air force after the war.

There is some confusion about whether Hobby Fan and AFV Club are different companies. How do you achieve the level of realism we modellers so love in your Hobby Fan products?
AFV Club: They are the same company. Actually, my main company has nothing to do with this industry, but specializes in producing tactical gear for police and military agencies around the world. That company really supports my first love and main passion: producing scale models. We are very fortunate to have commissioned a master sculptor, an artist who also does sculptures of sports figures, to create all the figures for Hobby Fan. Each figure is dedicated to exactly match the kit for which it’s intended. That is why all of the Hobby Fan figures have such realistic poses and really enhance the AFV Club kits.

How do you attain the level of detail we see in all the brass and aluminum accessories, such as the brass ammunition and rivet sets?
AFV Club: Again, we subcontract the work to someone else; the machine work to a local manufacturer which specializes in making parts for Swiss watches. They produce quality workmanship.

How do you manage to stay ahead of the competition?
AFV Club: We stay competitive by constantly improving our kits. With the introduction of our Centurion kits, for example, we included working suspensions. When we developed the suspension for the new Churchill Mk. 3, we tirelessly searched for a suitable metal we could use in the springs that would allow the assembly to be flexible, but not so strong as to present problems when installing the tracks.

I have a question about the styrene that is used. I’ve always wondered why some manufacturers’ plastic looks different. Is there a difference?
AFV Club: Yes, plastic differs greatly in quality. There is also a reason why different manufacturers use different colours. We use green because the detail stands out better in this colour, as opposed to light grey. One can definitely see the difference in quality between ours and Dragon’s grey styrene. Of course they will deny it, but our styrene is of a much higher quality. Tamiya’s styrene, being Japanese-made, used to be good quality also. Many people forget, however, that Tamiya products have not been manufactured in Japan for a long time now, so I can say that our plastic is the best quality in Asia.

What can we expect to see in future releases from AFV Club?
AFV Club: Again, everything has to remain a secret because of the competition. I will say that fans of Allied armour should be very happy as we continue to release variants of the Churchill. Many people will be very surprised to see the direction this company takes in 2009 as we release diverse subjects in different fields of interest, not just armour. We are currently working on many projects, including 1/48th scale subjects, that will be a complete departure from what we’ve offered until now. It’s very exciting.

Link to part 2: Part 2.