Well, Why Hasn’t There Ever Been a Book?

You're kidding right? The answers are as varied as the questions. But I'll take a shot on a few:
1) Sprue Brothers just received a Verlinden shipment-- so are they really dead?
2) Tamiya has never ceased production of AFV and soft skins-- the latest releases (within the last 2-3 years proves that). There are many others that produce soft skins-- ICM, IBG come to mind.
3) Most Resin kits are from Eastern Europe, the US, or Taiwan (Eduard, CMK, Hobby Fan etc.) not China.
4) Yes, owners have made money (Tamiya, Hasegawa, Original Revell) but most manufacturers today are owned by conglomerates or more than one individual. And yes, there are many who have lost money.
5) Modeling can be seen as Art, in a narrow view, Especially figure painting-- I've personally taken part in an Art exhibition in Newport RI, where I was surprised to find another artist entering figures. Brown University has one of the largest collections of Military miniatures in the world. I belong to a group that regularly exhibits work in our local museum of flight. You can argue that displays in historical museums count as Art. But it probably won't ever qualify as fine art, since it's not dependent on the imagination of a single artist. So yes it can be viewed as an art under certain conditions.

There are several books on the Hobby industry if you dig for them. Complete histories of Revell, Monogram, Aurora Lindbergh and Airfix are available. There are several trade publications as well. You just need to look for them. Here in the US, there used to be an association of hobby manufacturers (I think there still is, but can't recall the title). But trying to get info on Chinese manufacturers will be difficult. So, regarding your questions it's too broad to look for a single volume encompassing specific answers, pertaining to so large a question, but you can find answers.
VR, Russ

* Why is model building not seen as a museum art (and sellable) and yet some splotches on canvas can sell for $50 million? Is it because models are too fragile and break?

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You're kidding right? The answers are as varied as the questions. But I'll take a shot on a few:
1) Sprue Brothers just received a Verlinden shipment-- so are they really dead?
2) Tamiya has never ceased production of AFV and soft skins-- the latest releases (within the last 2-3 years proves that). There are many others that produce soft skins-- ICM, IBG come to mind.
3) Most Resin kits are from Eastern Europe, the US, or Taiwan (Eduard, CMK, Hobby Fan etc.) not China.
4) Yes, owners have made money (Tamiya, Hasegawa, Original Revell) but most manufacturers today are owned by conglomerates or more than one individual. And yes, there are many who have lost money.
5) Modeling can be seen as Art, in a narrow view, Especially figure painting-- I've personally taken part in an Art exhibition in Newport RI, where I was surprised to find another artist entering figures. Brown University has one of the largest collections of Military miniatures in the world. I belong to a group that regularly exhibits work in our local museum of flight. You can argue that displays in historical museums count as Art. But it probably won't ever qualify as fine art, since it's not dependent on the imagination of a single artist. So yes it can be viewed as an art under certain conditions.

There are several books on the Hobby industry if you dig for them. Complete histories of Revell, Monogram, Aurora Lindbergh and Airfix are available. There are several trade publications as well. You just need to look for them. Here in the US, there used to be an association of hobby manufacturers (I think there still is, but can't recall the title). But trying to get info on Chinese manufacturers will be difficult. So, regarding your questions it's too broad to look for a single volume encompassing specific answers, pertaining to so large a question, but you can find answers.
VR, Russ

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Where did you see Verlinden on Sprue Brothers Russ..? Its not in their manufacturer listing and last I saw on Facebook of Mr Verlinden was him smashing his master molds and "never to be seen again"....

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Well, Why Hasn’t There Ever Been a Book?

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Honestly, a book such as this wouldn't have a large enough sales volume to be worth the trouble. Modelers compose a minuscule percentage of the hobby universe in general. An even smaller percentage of those modelers would be willing to shell out the the big bucks that a limited quantity pressing would cost.

Just my low volume two cents.

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Well, Why Hasn’t There Ever Been a Book?

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Honestly, a book such as this wouldn't have a large enough sales volume to be worth the trouble. Modelers compose a minuscule percentage of the hobby universe in general. An even smaller percentage of those modelers would be willing to shell out the the big bucks that a limited quantity pressing would cost.


Just my low volume two cents.

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Amen to that. Adding my two cents ....

Sprue brothers said on their FB page someone purchased the Verlinden molds.

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Sprue brothers said on their FB page someone purchased the Verlinden molds.

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Molds are good for only so many pulls before degrading to the point of needing to be replaced. Unless the buyer has the master patterns to cast new molds, it's a waste of money.

* Is there a secret underground model industry that we don’t know about, such as those professional model makers that build for government, corporations, car industry, film, videogames, etc.? Can we buy those kits also?

You have asked me at least two of these questions in PM's, among many others as well. The answer remains the same: I don't know or care.

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* Is there a secret underground model industry that we don’t know about, such as those professional model makers that build for government, corporations, car industry, film, videogames, etc.? Can we buy those kits also?

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No. It's no secret. There are MANY companies that do just that. You can do a search and find them.
Since I live in close proximity to Lockheed Martin Missile,
I did several cutaway models of ATACMS I and ATACMS II in their pods in 1/24 scale. I have posted photos here in the past. A search will turn up the post, if not the photos themselves.

I also did beefed up MLRS desk models to be given away to dignitaries and at trade shows. This was done for a third party based in Fort Worth who paid quite well.

This, in conjunction with making a few contacts in Shizuoka City in 1996, led me to building custom kits for a couple of folks who pay extremely well for one offs, and fortunately for me not novelty paint jobs, which I don't do. (I posted a few photos of my scratchbuilt M1 240mm howitzer for instance)

So yeah, you can make money off of this, as some of those were easily worth more than a house payment, but there are far easier ways to make money. (ahem, custom motorcycle parts, or working the night shift at the local Stop -n- Rob)...

Probably because many of these are philosophical questions without a definitive answer

As for interviews, at least with modellers, Ak has a few:

https://ak-interactive.com/downloads/

Personally, The only question I have is why Hasegawa has never tried to compete in the 1/35 AFV market? That's a mystery to me.

VR, Russ

I have had some long talks with Raymond Chung of Luckymodel, and based on what he has told me, the modeling business doesn't follow the logic that we modelers try to impose on it. Without violating any confidences Raymond gave me, let me just say that the Chinese factories that crank this stuff out are not modeling companies. And the companies that put this stuff out under their brand aren't always stand-alone companies like Tamiya who focus entirely on the modeling world.

So don't expect things to work according to how they should in a classic B-school case study. It's a great deal messier, and often more opaque than you think.

Why does Tamiya do so few licensed kits under their own label? Hasegawa does anime kits, Tamiya almost never has except the kits they supply to Plaatz?