# Revell Germany to Reissue FineMolds Star Wars Kits?



## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

It's looking likely that Revell Germany may be about to release some of the FineMolds kits under their own label. Although Bandai have the license for Japan, Revell Germany have it for Europe so can rebox the FM kits.....so far it looks like they may be releasing the 1/48 X-Wing (described as a Snap-Fix which the FM one is although much superior to your usual snap kits), the 1/72 TIE and X-Wing, and what appears to be the 1/144 Falcon judging by the parts count.....all good news particularly if the prices come down and they provide new decal sheets as they did with the reboxed Moebius BSG kits....

http://www.rebelscum.com/2015-Toy-Fair/2015-Toy-Fair-Revell-Star-Wars/image8.asp


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

I hope this is the case and Revell Germany is releasing the Fine Molds kits. It'll be better than paying the high prices for the FineMolds branded kits on E-Bay.

Here's some more news on CultTVMan's site.

http://culttvman.com/main/star-wars-kit-news-from-revell/


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

Note that this announcement was made at the New York toy fair. Hence, I believe these kits will be available from Revell USA, not just Revell Germany.


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## JeffBond (Dec 9, 2013)

It looks like CulTVman confirmed this--be interesting to see what the cost will be. I might be up for a second FM Falcon if it's not $200...


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

It makes sense. Fine Molds put up serious money for the tooling, and making a deal with Revell lets them still generate income from that expense, and I *think* it shifts the cost of the license to Revell. Revell, OTOH, gets to expand its Star Wars catalog with zero additional investment in tooling. 

It would be like letting Moeibus sell the old Aurora Irwin Allen kits under their IA license while subcontracting R2/Polar Lights for production from the tooling they own. 

Which would be very interesting, wouldn't it?


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## Fiver (Aug 30, 2002)

Hmm...

Well, you're not likely to see any of the designs from the new movie out until shortly before it premieres in theaters next Christmas... I certainly hope they don't wait that long to release the Fine Molds kits. I never did get any of those as they were way too cost prohibitive. Can't wait until someone gets a preorder up so we can see what we're looking at price wise. This is VERY good news!


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## tedkitus (Jun 19, 2008)

Steve H said:


> It makes sense. Fine Molds put up serious money for the tooling, and making a deal with Revell lets them still generate income from that expense, and I *think* it shifts the cost of the license to Revell. Revell, OTOH, gets to expand its Star Wars catalog with zero additional investment in tooling.
> 
> It would be like letting Moeibus sell the old Aurora Irwin Allen kits under their IA license while subcontracting R2/Polar Lights for production from the tooling they own.
> 
> Which would be very interesting, wouldn't it?


They may have bought the tooling outright. I wouldn't be surprised if FM already made back the money they invested. I will say that the kits Bandai has already released are really impressive. Excellent detail more so then FM from the comparison pictures I've seen of the X-wing.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

tedkitus said:


> They may have bought the tooling outright. I wouldn't be surprised if FM already made back the money they invested. I will say that the kits Bandai has already released are really impressive. Excellent detail more so then FM from the comparison pictures I've seen of the X-wing.


Yeah, I'm very impressed. That Bandai TIE Fighter is impressive.

Which is a point of confusion for me. I know Fine Molds really went all-out on their kits, I know some intense fans did their research. So howcome the Bandai kits are looking so nice and more accurate? 

Only thing I can figure is maybe Fine Molds was given tons and tons of pictures, but Bandai may have sent an expert team to California and actually saw physical models.


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## bigobear (Dec 11, 2012)

JeffBond said:


> It looks like CulTVman confirmed this--be interesting to see what the cost will be. I might be up for a second FM Falcon if it's not $200...


I agree


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Steve H said:


> ...I know Fine Molds really went all-out on their kits, I know some intense fans did their research. So howcome the Bandai kits are looking so nice and more accurate?
> 
> Only thing I can figure is maybe Fine Molds was given tons and tons of pictures, but Bandai may have sent an expert team to California and actually saw physical models.


Based on what I've read about the Fine Molds kits, it was the other way around. Fine Molds was given complete access to the original filming models so that they could do their own research, take their own photos, make their own measurements, and so on. Unfortunately, they were only allowed a limited amount of time to do so, so that might explain the inaccuracies in their kits.

As for Bandai, I have no idea what their arrangements were. Bandai and Disney have had a working relationship for quite some time, so they may have been granted access to the filming models with no time limitations. So far their X-Wing still looks too "toy like" in the photos I've seen because of the engraved panel lines, but all of their other kits do indeed appear to be an improvement over the Fine Molds kits, and their AT-ST is a huge improvement over the AMT version. Just when I thought I was done adding more Star Wars kits to my already-too-many pile of unbuilt models...


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Zombie_61 said:


> Based on what I've read about the Fine Molds kits, it was the other way around. Fine Molds was given complete access to the original filming models so that they could do their own research, take their own photos, make their own measurements, and so on. Unfortunately, they were only allowed a limited amount of time to do so, so that might explain the inaccuracies in their kits.
> 
> As for Bandai, I have no idea what their arrangements were. Bandai and Disney have had a working relationship for quite some time, so they may have been granted access to the filming models with no time limitations. So far their X-Wing still looks too "toy like" in the photos I've seen because of the engraved panel lines, but all of their other kits do indeed appear to be an improvement over the Fine Molds kits, and their AT-ST is a huge improvement over the AMT version. Just when I thought I was done adding more Star Wars kits to my already-too-many pile of unbuilt models...



FWIW, I've watched Bandai as a company for decades now, and I think it's safe to say they've got some OUTSTANDING people for design and prototyping and research. Whatever they had access to, regardless of the time limit, they poured 100% into it. I mean, cripes, they plaster the front inside of the TIE Fighter with decals that you can't even see. Unless you take the back off the model to take photos out the front window.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Bandai is a big company with huge resources. FineMolds on the other hand is a relatively tiny company by Japanese standards...that they even pulled off getting the license is remarkable, to have then gone on to produce such exquisite kits is truly astonishing.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Steve H said:


> So howcome the Bandai kits are looking so nice and more accurate?


Advances in technology. The Fine Molds kits mold masters were created the traditional way. The Bandai Star Wars kits are made by 3D computer scanning the actual studio models at the Lucasfilm archive. Those 3D computer scans are then worked into a file that Bandai can use to made highly accurate molds. Little guess work is involved when you go straight to the source, so that's why they look so nice and accurate. Of course it's alot more work than that, but it's the gist.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

PixelMagic said:


> Advances in technology. The Fine Molds kits mold masters were created the traditional way. The Bandai Star Wars kits are made by 3D computer scanning the actual studio models at the Lucasfilm archive. Those 3D computer scans are then worked into a file that Bandai can use to made highly accurate molds. Little guess work is involved when you go straight to the source, so that's why they look so nice and accurate. Of course it's alot more work than that, but it's the gist.


While I'm not so sure Bandai has scanned the actual filming models, I AM sure they're very heavy into cadcam and digital prototyping, and tooling cut from digital models. I've seen quite a bit of that in bits and chunks, a pic here, an article there. One obvious example is a short-lived line of Space Battleship Yamato characters 'gashapon', or vending machine collectable figurines. These well made hunks of ABS and PVC only had 5 figures make it to retail, but an entire line of the whole 'main crew' were prototyped, and these digital masters were re-purposed and became 1/350 scale figures for that big and expensive Yamato model from a few years back. 

(and I keep hoping the Gashapon line would be revived, but given all the focus is on the wildly successful Yamato 2199, I would expect a new line to use those designs. Heck, they have a 'trading kit' line of the main bridge with figures all ready to go and it got canceled at the last minute. bah.  )


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## seaQuest (Jan 12, 2003)

So...a Revell FineMolds repop or a new Bandai kit...which will be least expensive?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

seaQuest said:


> So...a Revell FineMolds repop or a new Bandai kit...which will be least expensive?


HA! It all depends on what kind of middleman you source the kit from, huh? Kits sold by Revell USA *should* have an edge but they may well impose some kind of B.S. import internal corporate VAT and what should be a $20 kit would now be $40, because, fanboys. (niche market, implied 'for the fans' nonsense, blah blah).

Meanwhile, I don't think Bandai is 'supposed' to sell their kits in America as their license is probably tied to some region or another. But their unofficial official 'gray market' importer Bluefin will make the kits available.

Right now importers are going about $25 for the Bandai kit, HLJ has it for around $16 (plus shipping of course). That's feeling like the normal markup rape to me.


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