New Models from Occre and Artesania Latina

[RossR]

Occre sent out an email today that said there are only 50 of the limited edition HMS Victory models left.  That means that 949 have been sold.  Unless I missed it, I don't think we have seen a single build log for this model or the new Artesania Latina version of the Santisima Trinidad.  With 949 of the HMS Victory sold, it is hard to believe at least a few weren't purchased by a Model Ship World member.  If anyone is building either of these models, please consider starting a build log.  I would love to see one of these being built and I suspect there are others that feel the same.  If I missed a build log that already exists, I apologize.  

[ccoyle]

12 hours ago, RossR said:

With 949 of the HMS Victory sold, it is hard to believe at least a few weren't purchased by a Model Ship World member.

 

OcCre and AL make most of their sales in non-English-speaking parts of the world, and 1000 kits is a small run. And MSW, though large, represents just a fraction of the greater ship modeling community. Now add to that the fact that most MSW members do not actively post at our site. When these facts are taken together, it's little surprise that relatively few examples of any kit on the market are depicted in build logs here. So, I too wouldn't be surprised if one of those kits was purchased by an MSW member -- but I wouldn't be surprised if it never shows up in a build log.

[Morgan]

 

Some interesting Market Data can be inferred from the assumption that Occre are approaching their ‘limited 1,000 sales’, and Artesania Latina seem to be hot on their heels, which shows the kit market to be buoyant.

 

Pricing - with these both retailing for circa €1,400 / USD $1,700 / GBP £1,200 then price does not in general seem to be a barrier to sales. Albeit here in the UK with no suppliers to negate the import duty costs for the end consumer at present you can add 20% customs tax, which may be a reason for not seeing any UK builds as yet.

 

Quality - Certainly the AL kit imitates much of John McKays Anatomy of the Ship, or possibly the Bugler works, these being largely indistinguishable from each other, however, having watched several of the build video’s both kits exhibit some really good aspects, and yet simultaneously are lacking in other areas and naïve in their execution.  Their skeletal frame style is analogous to that which Chris Watton first piloted on his Bellona and Victory a decade ago, but not as refined, they both remain behind Vanguard Models, but they are moving forward.  It seems to me that their main competition is with each other, and within that narrow market segment their offerings can be considered as ‘premium’.

 

Scale - both are small scale by todays standards, with Syren at 1:48 and larger, Vanguard at 1:64, then models of 1:87 and 1:84 seem small in comparison.  Also consider scale to price as a factor here, all of a sudden Vanguards Indefatigable and Syren’s Winchelsea are right in the competitive mix, especially given their qualitative edge (in my view).  Of course, what you are able to do with your wooden behemoth if you ever complete it may outweigh pricing considerations.

 

Product attraction - given the pricing point for these products coupled with the perception of them being ‘premium’ products then price is not an actual barrier, it is probably the individual subject (Victory) that in a large part sells itself, and for something perceived as new, then Occre and AL seem to have hit a sweet spot.  Yet Amati reportedly shelved their 1:64 Victory for now as they perceive it only serving a predominantly UK focussed market, it shows how companies can have wildly varying views of that same market, for Amati the consequence seems to be that they missed the boat (sorry, ship). 

 

In general good news for the hobby, if Occre can generate something approaching €1.4m of sales in such a short space of time for a single kit then it shows demand is there to sustain the developers and manufacturers.

 

Gary

 

 

Edited December 5 by Morgan

[mtaylor]

In addition to all the points in the above posts, it's possible that no build logs will show up until after Christmas.   About all any of us can do is sit back and wait to see.