Fokker D8 kit for sale

[supercruiser]

I found a Guillow Fokker D8 kit for sale at www.enginetender.com .

They have one in stock. http://www.enginetender.com/292i.htm
I already have one so I thought I'd pass this information along to others.
Sale price is $5.46. They go for about $20.oo on Ebay. If you go to the main page of their web site and then the product page look at the manufacturer alphabetical listing, then look way down in the P's for: Paul K. Guillow. It's not in the "G" list.

[svaughn]

Thanks for the shopping tip!

A friend of mine was at a flea market in Avon NY this weekend and came across what must have been the SE-5A from Guillow's defunct WW1 series. The kit had been started and then abandoned. The vendor wanted $15 and my friend thought that was too much.

I mentioned that I would pay $10 for the plans in the SE-5A kit.

Your post is an interesting coincidence because in addition to the Folker, the Engine Tender showed and old SE-5a kit in-stock too. Both marked $5.46.

I called the Engine Tender and ordered both the Folker Triplane and the SE-5A. The man I spoke with took my order, but apparently their inventory system is completely manual, so I'm a little afraid these kits may have been sold already. Hopefully not.

That is the wonderful thing about hobby shops in general and OLD hobby shops in particular. Every once in a while an item that was put in to stock 20 or 30 years ago surfaces. They are like time capsules.

So I have my fingers crossed!

By the way, has anyone see where Guillow every sold the plans to the old WWI kits? I know they don't sell the kits anymore. I've seen the parts list page for Guillow kits, but it only includes models that they currently sell.

[svaughn]

Oops. I see I typed '...Folker Triplane and SE-5A.' in my last post. I should have typed '...Folker Monoplane and SE-5A'.

[supercruiser]

I am glad you brought that up about the plans. I have been considering emailing Guillow's and asking if they will sell the plans only for their WW
kits on the kit parts listing page. Maybe if enough folks on this forum email Guillow and ask for the plans for the WW kits maybe they will start selling them again.

[SteveM]

I know the AMA sells many of the plans as does Aerodyne, but Guillow's does not sell old plans directly. I have suggested the idea elsewhere but never in a way that would actually reach the eyes or ears of the people at Guillow's. I wonder if they would consider it.

[supercruiser]

I just emailed Customer Service at Guillow. Suggesting that they sell the WW series plans on their kit parts listing page. I suggested a retail price of $5.00. What do you think? BOOO HISSS??... ENCORE, ENCORE!??

Perhaps a little more prodding and they might do it.

[SteveM]

Did they reply yet? My guess would be that they have no interest in doing it as it is not likely to be a big money maker. Though it would help atone for those foam ARFs they started selling.

[thymekiller]

Seems like a no-brainer to me. If they still have the rites to the old plans, stocking and offering just plans should be a cheap way to increase the product line. I have offten wondered why they dont offer a "premium" line with contest wood. Most folks love the planes, hate the wood. If its just for display, pine is cheaper.

To be fair, I have to say that I dont know the whole Guillows story. They must be a fairly smart bunch to have kept the name alive for so long. I'm sure they have their reasons. Seems curious from the outside, looking in. Also wondered about laser cutting?

thymekiller

[thymekiller]

Should also add...
I have no problem paying 5-10 $ for complete plans. Would need a printed paper of the parts.

thymekiller

[SteveM]

I'm sure that what it comes down to is them making and selling the products that they expect to be most profitable. If you search this forum for discussions of the wood quality you will see that there are some various thoughts and opinions on why the wood is of poor quality.

As for laser cutting, the 200 series are laser cut. And I think as dies wear out we will see more kits become laser cut, as long is the change is profitable for them.

Even if they didn't care to sell old plans or kit components, it seems like they could license the rights to some one like Easy Built Models who could assemble short kits. DPC Models used to make a fairly large line of WW1 kits but they also seem to have scaled back considerably.

[thymekiller]

I agree. I think that a large issiue is that people arnt modeling as much any more. Walmart and Toys R Us no longer sell even plastic kits. Theres 2 full isles of vids and vid games.
I would like to read some of the comments on Guillows wood. Would you be kind enough to point me in the correct direction? Is there a specfic thread? Thanks.
Also, Is there a thread on Guillows history? How old is the name? Thanks again.

thymekiller

[SteveM]

Too bad they no longer sell models, it would be convenient to purchase my models and video games in the same place.

The discussions of wood quality are a bit scattered but here goes:
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1280
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1126
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1335
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1217
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1208

A little info on discontinued kits:
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1332

I don't know much about the history of Guillow's except what they have on their web site. You'll notice that they had a complaint of wood quality in 1959!
http://www.guillow.com/GuillowInfo.asp?UID=8325154

[svaughn]

I love looking at model airplane plans. I'm sure why. I love finding old plans on the internet or old modeling magazines. If my wife would let me, I'd hang them on the walls of in our house.

The kits and the plans seem like separate products to me, but I'm not sure kit builders see it that way. Often plans included in kits do not show all the parts needed. The wood in the kit is often the only place where the outline of certain parts is available (printed, or die-cut or laser-cut).

This may be a way of protecting the kit builders. It is easy to copy paper, but not as easy to copy wood.

A complete set of plans for the WWI series might need to include more that what was originally printed on paper.

However, I'd still be happy to pay $10 for some of the original plans for these models (even if some of the parts were not in the drawing).

If anyone at Guillow is listening, I'd also love to see packages of plans (complete or otherwise). It would be great to be able to purchase all the plans for a particular series (100, 200, 300 ...) in a single transaction.

[supercruiser]

Here is the reply from customer service:

"I'm sorry we no longer carry the plans for the 100 series, When they were discontinued so were the plans."

Maybe, I just don't understand the situation. I was thinking that they could get copies of the original plans. That is easy to do. Get a printing company
to print a few thousand copies of each of the WW kits. How much would that cost?? $1.00 each, maybe less. Roll them up, put them in a small cardboard tube and sell them for $5.00.

[thymekiller]

Somewhere, someone owns the rites to those old plans.
The "comet" guys have a good plan. They have archived almost every kit and you can get a pdf of the plans and parts for free. I just glue stick the parts pics onto a sheet of balsa and use my scroll saw. [ I love my scroll saw.] I will do the same to a certain tri-wing this winter so it will be lite enough to fly. Maybe enlarge it.
We cant do that type of thing with existing product, however, maybe the discontinued stuff? Buy an old kit, scan it, archive it. Here on this site. It depends largely on who owns the rites and why they arnt for sale. Perhaps they ARE for sale under a different name.
If Guillows still owns them, do you think they would mind us doing that? The comet guys are dealing with a defunct company. We are not. We would need permission.


thymekiller