Round2 Producing a 1/350 Star Trek TMP K'Tinga

Yes, I will be retiring my REL K'Tinga or donating it to charity. The sag on these heavy resin kits is insoluble. But it was great in its day.
 
R2 cancelled the Galileo. But the K'Tinga was a long-rumored project that finally came to light so there's always hope for the Galileo. My understanding is that the planned Galileo would have been something like a 1/24 kit almost a foot long which to me seems like a tough sell for that subject--maybe something in the 1/32 range like the original kit but more accurate would be possible at some point.
 
a foot long would have been perfect. I'm not interested in non-federation ships so I'll be sitting this one out.
 
The good thing about finally getting the K'Tinga is that it moves other wish list items, like a 1/350 Reliant, 1/1000 E-D, and the Galileo, up on the list of next in line.
 
JeffBond said:
R2 cancelled the Galileo. But the K'Tinga was a long-rumored project that finally came to light so there's always hope for the Galileo. My understanding is that the planned Galileo would have been something like a 1/24 kit almost a foot long which to me seems like a tough sell for that subject--maybe something in the 1/32 range like the original kit but more accurate would be possible at some point.
Click to expand...
The Galileo was pretty far along when the plug was pulled- biggest issue was trying to fir the interior into the exterior which finally had been resolved and the job was blueprinted and ready for the master to be started.
I am very happy with the K'Tinga- lots of great surface detail and while it is big it will be easier for me to display than the 1:350 TOS/E & Refit.
 
Hunk a Junk said:
The good thing about finally getting the K'Tinga is that it moves other wish list items, like a 1/350 Reliant, 1/1000 E-D, and the Galileo, up on the list of next in line.
Click to expand...

Well, the last "big kit" we got was the TOS Enterprise in 2012. We are getting the K'Tinga in 2018. Maybe we'll get one of those kits in 2024.
 
DanielB said:
Well, the last "big kit" we got was the TOS Enterprise in 2012. We are getting the K'Tinga in 2018. Maybe we'll get one of those kits in 2024.
Click to expand...

We were told that a big reason Round 2 was unable to release any kits during this period was because an employee had embezzled a bunch of money. We can assume that they won't have that problem again and that the company's books are back in order. So maybe we won't have to wait so long.
 
That excuse is getting old- the money was stolen over a period of time and nobody noticed it was missing. The company I work for had a major client go bankrupt and leave us with a greater loss than R2 had and we managed to keep everything going- and we only have half a dozen people working here.

Personally I think Round 2 looks upon car/truck models as their core business - the Trek stuff just does not make as much money for them so it gets back burnered.
What really encourages me about the K'Tinga release is that it shows a sizable commitment to the Trek franchise- with a couple of exceptions we mostly got tweaked repops and some small box kits from them before. IIRC they even told us that the upcoming 1:1000 Defiant was going to be the maximum sized box kit from now on. With the K'Tinga Round 2 has shown us that they can commit a significant amount towards a big box kit (along with the 1:48 Eagle)- that is the best part of this for me.
 
I think you're right, Richard, but I'm giving R2 the benefit of the doubt for now, which is why I said, "We were told..." Their Eagle kit was an unqualified home run, IMO, and their Hawk and K'Tinga kits look like they'll be winners. If they continue to put out good stuff, I know I'll be a customer.
 
Richard Baker said:
That excuse is getting old- the money was stolen over a period of time and nobody noticed it was missing. The company I work for had a major client go bankrupt and leave us with a greater loss than R2 had and we managed to keep everything going- and we only have half a dozen people working here.
Click to expand...

It may be getting old, and unless we may know more details on the matter, we may never find out what really happened. Unfortunately, embezzlement happens often. Large or small companies, and even the Mom and Pop shops.

Whatever the reason, Round 2 has been a model builder's savior. Kits we built as kids (poorly) can now be built nostalgically by our older selves (less poorly). R2 has released a lot of upgraded and new kits and they really should be commended. I'm surprised as hell that they did the K'Tinga, but I am sure I will purchase at least two. Storage be damned. I know the large models don't please everybody, but we all know the old adage about pleasing everybody....

Let the car guys purchase their car models and funnel some of those dollars into the sci-fi basket. Thank you Round 2....and the car model buyers too, I guess. :lol

TazMan2000
 
DanielB said:
Well, the last "big kit" we got was the TOS Enterprise in 2012. We are getting the K'Tinga in 2018. Maybe we'll get one of those kits in 2024.
Click to expand...
I miss the old days in the 90's
When AMT was releasing a new trek kit like every other month it seems back then
 
scifiguy67 said:
yes ..but it was fun!
Click to expand...

Was it? Was it??? :lol One of the lessons, for me, from the new Bandai PG Millennium Falcon kit is that having an accurate kit is WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY more fun than one that requires major surgery just to get its basic proportions right, or that requires heaps of scratch building to add or remake details that are poorly done on the kit. Instead of spending months re-sculpting the model (and usually still not getting it quite right), with the PG I'm able to invest my time on painting and super detailing to bring the model surprisingly close to the look of the studio original. In fact, that's the only thing that worries me about the new K'tinga kit. Thanks to Bandai and the PG, I now EXPECT that kits will faithfully recreate the kitbashed details on the original and that when I compare the model to reference photos I'll see the same shapes. I certainly hope Round 2 is paying attention to what Bandai is doing, because that's the bar now, for me, when it comes to sci-fi kits.
 
I would say try to keep expectations realistic. Bandai, Tamiya, Fine Molds, et al use very expensive production processes to achieve that level of detail. Injection molding has little or no flexibility when it comes to undercuts. Therefore, getting really sharp, complex details often requires some very expensive tooling like slide inserts, etc. That sort of thing is likely far outside the budget of companies like R2. I'm sure they will deliver a beautiful model. But, I doubt it will look anything like what Bandai would produce.

Then again, I can't see Bandai making a 2-foot long model like this. It seems their target market (Japan/Asia) prefers small models.
 
This thread is more than 5 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

Necronaut
Meng 1/350 Spice Harvester from Dune
Replies
5
Views
521
joberg
joberg
edge10
Round2 Star Trek Release Schedule
Replies
3
Views
1,659
Fett_Ish
Fett_Ish
MARK M3
1:350 TOS second Pilot, TOS uniform and Beaming Aboard!
Replies
3
Views
517
MARK M3
MARK M3
RossW
My PL 1/350 TOS Enterprise
Replies
11
Views
1,393
RossW
RossW
Chrisisall
Polar Lights 1/350 TOS Enterprise build resumed
Replies
11
Views
1,410
Chrisisall
Chrisisall
Back
Top