Big10
Well-known member
Stimulus money well spent.That must have put a dent in the budget!!
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WNW and TVAL closing? The End
- Thread starter jknaus
- Start date
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Too many. I would have to go and do some counting. A few Trumpy kits, a few Zouki Mura kits, a handful of HPH, Revell, and a bunch of Eduard Me109s.
Tankbuilder
Active member
I rode by an old country store that had a "Going out of business sale" sign up. I stopped in and got some stuff, ate a hotdog (or 3). Couple of weeks later they still there, bread truck was restocking. I stopped in and asked. "thought you were going out of business?" old fella laughed, "Nope, that sign said going out FOR business."
I don't know if it did or not but he was in business for another 3 years.
There's a shoe store here in town that does that. they frequently put up a GOING OUT OF BUSINESS sign with a very faint bar through OF and a tiny for under it. I figure if they're that sneaky that I don't wantt o do business with them.
Cheers
Hey Peter, glad to see ya!
jknaus
Administrator
This is from a well respected WWI modeling site.
"
Inside Wingnut Wings – what went wrong within the dream model company?
By Dave Wilson
On Sunday March 22 the staff at Wingnut Wings’ office in Wellington, NZ, received a phone call telling them not to go to into work the following day. They did not know it then but their jobs had just evaporated.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister was implementing a nationwide lockdown to combat the global coronavirus pandemic and the eight staff at Wingnuts’ Miramar office assumed they would be working from home.
A few days later they knew the truth. Staff received a phone call followed by an email from Wingnut Group Chief Executive Officer Clare Olssen outlining a plan to close down the business permanently and dispose of the assets. Staff were allowed to submit their feedback.
A week later, their views and business rescue ideas submitted, the Wingnut staff group were stunned when the employers advised staff they were all redundant. They were now unemployed. All model kit projects in development would be abandoned. All assets of the company would be sold/ disposed of. Wingnut Wings was closed. Permanently.
More than a month on, several of the former staff, still in shock and “gutted” by the speed to permanently close and dispose of the business and a claimed total lack of communications from their senior management, are trying to get their heads around what went wrong, and why?
Several of the former staff have shared their thoughts exclusively with the WW1 aircraft models Forum, speaking on condition of anonymity due to non-disclosure clauses in the employment contracts.
"
"
Inside Wingnut Wings – what went wrong within the dream model company?
By Dave Wilson
On Sunday March 22 the staff at Wingnut Wings’ office in Wellington, NZ, received a phone call telling them not to go to into work the following day. They did not know it then but their jobs had just evaporated.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister was implementing a nationwide lockdown to combat the global coronavirus pandemic and the eight staff at Wingnuts’ Miramar office assumed they would be working from home.
A few days later they knew the truth. Staff received a phone call followed by an email from Wingnut Group Chief Executive Officer Clare Olssen outlining a plan to close down the business permanently and dispose of the assets. Staff were allowed to submit their feedback.
A week later, their views and business rescue ideas submitted, the Wingnut staff group were stunned when the employers advised staff they were all redundant. They were now unemployed. All model kit projects in development would be abandoned. All assets of the company would be sold/ disposed of. Wingnut Wings was closed. Permanently.
More than a month on, several of the former staff, still in shock and “gutted” by the speed to permanently close and dispose of the business and a claimed total lack of communications from their senior management, are trying to get their heads around what went wrong, and why?
Several of the former staff have shared their thoughts exclusively with the WW1 aircraft models Forum, speaking on condition of anonymity due to non-disclosure clauses in the employment contracts.
"
jknaus
Administrator
Readers who assume this article is “fake news” because it does not feature an official statement from the management of Wingnut Wings or WingNut Films, and does not identify the former staff by name, can be assured the comments featured in this article come directly from inside the highly secretive surroundings of the Wingnut Wings office.
Wingnuts’ former General Manager Richard Alexander was approached for comment on this article but has declined to comment on the closure of the business, therefore he does not feature in this article.
Since its surprise launch in April 2009 Wingnut Wings re-defined the global plastic model market with its unique combination of Hollywood superstar director Sir Peter Jackson creating a niche business to produce the world’s finest 1/32 scale WW1 aircraft models. From WingNut Films, he created Wingnut Wings.
Sir Peter Jackson with a Wingnuts Pfalz D.IIIa
Kits were designed by digital modellers in Wellington but tooled in China and Korea. The company was innovative and drew on expertise around the world. For example the decals were designed in Wellington but printed in Italy.
In its 11 years Wingnut Wings created a catalogue of unique scale models of WW1 aircraft, some famous, others obscure, and re-energised a faltering model aircraft hobby sector. It drew modellers from the mainstream modelling world to make WW1 subjects popular with thousands of mainstream modellers who would otherwise shy away from the era they regarded, at best, as just Snoopy vs the Red Baron.
The glory days of Wingnuts have been well catalogued, but the public rarely got a glimpse behind the veil of secrecy.
As one observer has summarised – Wingnuts was not a commercial venture and was not ostensibly designed to be market or profit-driven. WnW produced the models that its owner wanted. He owned the business and chose what was produced. The customers enjoyed the ride. With luck, their purchases would fund future projects.
Observers think that unique business structure may have been an underlying weakness to the Wingnut dream. It relied on the whims of its wealthy benefactor and produced more and more expensive and esoteric subjects that did not generate enough revenue to offset the high costs of developing and producing high detail large scale model kits for a very niche world market.
There’s a perception that Wingnuts closed solely due to the coronavirus lockdowns in New Zealand. Former staff say this is not so. The Covid-19 pandemic was a useful trigger for a plan underway before then to restructure the Wingnuts operation.
While one staff member says the coronavirus was cited as the reason this person’s services would not be required in the foreseeable future, others knew different.
“We were told it (the closure reason) was financial, and the owners didn't want to fund it anymore. It was known by staff, and some were in the know for a while,” says one former staff member.
Another remembers the financial issues dated back well before the closure.
“I don’t know how bad it was but there was a huge push of selling everything we could. One staff member said we were in the red and the new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer would look at us after the TVAL issues were dealt with,” he says.
This refers to the former chief of Sir Peter Jackson’s aircraft manufacturing company The Vintage Aviator, Gene DeMarco, who was imprisoned after a high profile trial last year where he was found guilty of fraud charges involving the sale of TVAL aircraft.
Staff say power players within the WingNut group viewed TVAL as a financial drain and a management changeover at the WingNut group changed the dynamic of the place.
“After the new management came into power, Wingnuts didn’t feel like the Wingnut of previous years,” says one. “It got very corporate and impersonal”.
One former staff member recalls discussions with a colleague who questioned the wisdom of having the two Lancaster and Handley Page bomber projects in production at the same time, given the enormous costs involved in the parallel projects.
Questions were raised at the decision to produce multiple version boxings of esoteric subjects like the Gotha G.1 and UWD and the Handley Page O/100 and O/400 kits. Some staff argued that the strategy did not work with the two Felixstowe flying boat kits, as most customers did not want to buy two large and expensive models of the same subject.
While the Albatros and Fokker D.VII kits were Wingnuts’ biggest sellers, projects like the DFWs and Gothas did not perform well while other big ticket kits such as the Felixstowes started well then slumped. Wingnuts seemed to be fixated on two seater subjects and biased against French aircraft. The place became a sales rollercoaster.
After the Sunday night bombshell call, staff waited for days for some update on what would happen next.
“No one contacted us during that week. We asked about working remotely, but no answer was received. We were contacted around a week later and received a document regarding changes to the company,” a staff member recalls.
Wingnuts’ former General Manager Richard Alexander was approached for comment on this article but has declined to comment on the closure of the business, therefore he does not feature in this article.
Since its surprise launch in April 2009 Wingnut Wings re-defined the global plastic model market with its unique combination of Hollywood superstar director Sir Peter Jackson creating a niche business to produce the world’s finest 1/32 scale WW1 aircraft models. From WingNut Films, he created Wingnut Wings.
Sir Peter Jackson with a Wingnuts Pfalz D.IIIa
Kits were designed by digital modellers in Wellington but tooled in China and Korea. The company was innovative and drew on expertise around the world. For example the decals were designed in Wellington but printed in Italy.
In its 11 years Wingnut Wings created a catalogue of unique scale models of WW1 aircraft, some famous, others obscure, and re-energised a faltering model aircraft hobby sector. It drew modellers from the mainstream modelling world to make WW1 subjects popular with thousands of mainstream modellers who would otherwise shy away from the era they regarded, at best, as just Snoopy vs the Red Baron.
The glory days of Wingnuts have been well catalogued, but the public rarely got a glimpse behind the veil of secrecy.
As one observer has summarised – Wingnuts was not a commercial venture and was not ostensibly designed to be market or profit-driven. WnW produced the models that its owner wanted. He owned the business and chose what was produced. The customers enjoyed the ride. With luck, their purchases would fund future projects.
Observers think that unique business structure may have been an underlying weakness to the Wingnut dream. It relied on the whims of its wealthy benefactor and produced more and more expensive and esoteric subjects that did not generate enough revenue to offset the high costs of developing and producing high detail large scale model kits for a very niche world market.
There’s a perception that Wingnuts closed solely due to the coronavirus lockdowns in New Zealand. Former staff say this is not so. The Covid-19 pandemic was a useful trigger for a plan underway before then to restructure the Wingnuts operation.
While one staff member says the coronavirus was cited as the reason this person’s services would not be required in the foreseeable future, others knew different.
“We were told it (the closure reason) was financial, and the owners didn't want to fund it anymore. It was known by staff, and some were in the know for a while,” says one former staff member.
Another remembers the financial issues dated back well before the closure.
“I don’t know how bad it was but there was a huge push of selling everything we could. One staff member said we were in the red and the new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer would look at us after the TVAL issues were dealt with,” he says.
This refers to the former chief of Sir Peter Jackson’s aircraft manufacturing company The Vintage Aviator, Gene DeMarco, who was imprisoned after a high profile trial last year where he was found guilty of fraud charges involving the sale of TVAL aircraft.
Staff say power players within the WingNut group viewed TVAL as a financial drain and a management changeover at the WingNut group changed the dynamic of the place.
“After the new management came into power, Wingnuts didn’t feel like the Wingnut of previous years,” says one. “It got very corporate and impersonal”.
One former staff member recalls discussions with a colleague who questioned the wisdom of having the two Lancaster and Handley Page bomber projects in production at the same time, given the enormous costs involved in the parallel projects.
Questions were raised at the decision to produce multiple version boxings of esoteric subjects like the Gotha G.1 and UWD and the Handley Page O/100 and O/400 kits. Some staff argued that the strategy did not work with the two Felixstowe flying boat kits, as most customers did not want to buy two large and expensive models of the same subject.
While the Albatros and Fokker D.VII kits were Wingnuts’ biggest sellers, projects like the DFWs and Gothas did not perform well while other big ticket kits such as the Felixstowes started well then slumped. Wingnuts seemed to be fixated on two seater subjects and biased against French aircraft. The place became a sales rollercoaster.
After the Sunday night bombshell call, staff waited for days for some update on what would happen next.
“No one contacted us during that week. We asked about working remotely, but no answer was received. We were contacted around a week later and received a document regarding changes to the company,” a staff member recalls.
jknaus
Administrator
That document was an email from WingNut Group Chief Executive Officer Clare Olssen, outlining radical changes to the Wingnut Wings structure.
In it she wrote that with production at TVAL discontinued, and with other matters, a major restructure of Wingnuts would happen.
“It is now proposed that there be greater focus on the strategic management of Wingnut Wings assets and where appropriate, their disposal to realise best/ fair value. Responsibility for and administration of the strategic management of Wingnut Wings assets, including existing stock, be moved under the CFO and Assistant Accountant positions within the WingNut Group Finance function,” Ms Olssen wrote.
Further, the General Manager position of Wingnut Wings would be disestablished with the responsibilities absorbed into the Wingnut Group finance function with management of residual business relationships being picked up by the Wingnut Group CEO.
Staff grasped that the document spelled the end of Wingnut Wings as a standalone entity. They were given several days to make submissions on the proposed changes.
“We provided feedback, all of us did individually and as a group, this included ideas to save the company and inject some quick cash in the account and ways we could try to release some of the kits that were ready or close to being released.
“We were pretty disappointed with the document presented by management and the owners’ response to our proposals as we believe we never had a chance and their minds were already made up,” a staff member says.
When the axe fell it was wielded by Wingnut CEO Clare Olssen.
“Clare Olssen, advised us. Sir Peter Jackson and senior management never contacted staff in any form either before, during or since our employment ceased,” a former staff member recalls.
Since the shock news, hobby forums have been awash with reports and counter claims on whether Wingnuts is just hibernating due to Covid-19 or gone forever. The management has maintained a solid silence with no official comments made. Approaches from the Forum for comment from the management and Sir Peter Jackson personally have drawn no response.
So could the place just be in hibernation?
“No, not at all. Clare stated that Wingnut Wings is permanently closed and assets are to be sold/disposed of,” one of the redundant staff confirms.
Staff feel the timing of their redundancies was horrible.
“Due to the pandemic many places are not hiring at the moment and the situation does not make it easy for us to seek new employment” one says.
The closure has also focused renewed attention on the role Sir Peter Jackson played at Wingnuts. He created it and funded it but the perception that he was always closely involved with the kits is a myth, those who were there say.
“We never saw Peter in the office. He had little to no involvement in the day to day running of Wingnut Wings. Maybe he only suggested the subjects of the kits that were produced. Richard Alexander provided a weekly report to Peter, but we were never allowed to know what was in those reports”.
Another recalls: “At first Peter maybe had a bit more to do with the day to day running of things, then he just got too busy and couldn’t find the time for us.
“That was why a lot of things never got released like the Figures and the Special Edition kits. I think he still had some say in the subjects that were produced.”
Wingnuts also had a full slate of future subjects lined up for development. These now form part of the assets up for disposal but observers note there’s no guarantee the Wingnuts assets will be sold to any rival model kit companies.
The full reasons for Wingnuts’ sudden and unexpected closure may emerge one day or maybe not. It was a privately owned unique entity whose only directors were Sir Peter Jackson and his wife Dame Fran Walsh.
When the company closed it was on the verge of releasing much anticipated 1/32 scale kits of the Fokker Dr.1 and F.1, the Handley Page O/100 and O/400 bombers and 1/32 scale models of the Avro Lancaster and Dam Buster variant. A Hansa Brandenburg D.1 Starstrutter was also in advanced development.
So close...Render of the abandoned Wingnuts Handley Page O/400 kit
Development of these and many other projects in the pipeline were cancelled. Mixed reports state all assets, stock, tooling (the moulds) are to be disposed of but no deals have been announced. None are known to be underway, fueling speculation the Wingnut moulds may just vanish into a warehouse storage facility and never be reissued.
Fans hold a fond hope Wingnuts may be revived in better times. If this happened would the unique team responsible for designing and producing its catalogue of world class model kits be willing to return?
“There would have to be many changes before I consider returning if Wingnut Wings was to reopen,” says one.
“There would have to be changes at all levels. End of the day, this business was treated as someone's hobby and wasn't run like a business. Wingnut Wings had the potential to make a profit,” this person says.
“There would have to be changes,” says another. “A business plan and someone running it that treats it like a business and not a hobby/side business and with accountability”.
There’s a sense of irony in the fact that Wingnuts, which teased its global fan base of loyal customers with obsessive secrecy, should suddenly end without any official statement or explanation to its customers.
While Sir Peter Jackson has offered no comment on why Wingnuts has been closed, a comment he made to me in 2010 for a feature article I wrote then about the company is perhaps noteworthy.
“I’m determined to keep the hobby aspect going, which is why we are not driven by market forces and profit – it would then become something I don’t want it to be” he said at the time.
Sir Peter Jackson and Richard Alexander in a 2010 Wingnuts publicity photo"
In it she wrote that with production at TVAL discontinued, and with other matters, a major restructure of Wingnuts would happen.
“It is now proposed that there be greater focus on the strategic management of Wingnut Wings assets and where appropriate, their disposal to realise best/ fair value. Responsibility for and administration of the strategic management of Wingnut Wings assets, including existing stock, be moved under the CFO and Assistant Accountant positions within the WingNut Group Finance function,” Ms Olssen wrote.
Further, the General Manager position of Wingnut Wings would be disestablished with the responsibilities absorbed into the Wingnut Group finance function with management of residual business relationships being picked up by the Wingnut Group CEO.
Staff grasped that the document spelled the end of Wingnut Wings as a standalone entity. They were given several days to make submissions on the proposed changes.
“We provided feedback, all of us did individually and as a group, this included ideas to save the company and inject some quick cash in the account and ways we could try to release some of the kits that were ready or close to being released.
“We were pretty disappointed with the document presented by management and the owners’ response to our proposals as we believe we never had a chance and their minds were already made up,” a staff member says.
When the axe fell it was wielded by Wingnut CEO Clare Olssen.
“Clare Olssen, advised us. Sir Peter Jackson and senior management never contacted staff in any form either before, during or since our employment ceased,” a former staff member recalls.
Since the shock news, hobby forums have been awash with reports and counter claims on whether Wingnuts is just hibernating due to Covid-19 or gone forever. The management has maintained a solid silence with no official comments made. Approaches from the Forum for comment from the management and Sir Peter Jackson personally have drawn no response.
So could the place just be in hibernation?
“No, not at all. Clare stated that Wingnut Wings is permanently closed and assets are to be sold/disposed of,” one of the redundant staff confirms.
Staff feel the timing of their redundancies was horrible.
“Due to the pandemic many places are not hiring at the moment and the situation does not make it easy for us to seek new employment” one says.
The closure has also focused renewed attention on the role Sir Peter Jackson played at Wingnuts. He created it and funded it but the perception that he was always closely involved with the kits is a myth, those who were there say.
“We never saw Peter in the office. He had little to no involvement in the day to day running of Wingnut Wings. Maybe he only suggested the subjects of the kits that were produced. Richard Alexander provided a weekly report to Peter, but we were never allowed to know what was in those reports”.
Another recalls: “At first Peter maybe had a bit more to do with the day to day running of things, then he just got too busy and couldn’t find the time for us.
“That was why a lot of things never got released like the Figures and the Special Edition kits. I think he still had some say in the subjects that were produced.”
Wingnuts also had a full slate of future subjects lined up for development. These now form part of the assets up for disposal but observers note there’s no guarantee the Wingnuts assets will be sold to any rival model kit companies.
The full reasons for Wingnuts’ sudden and unexpected closure may emerge one day or maybe not. It was a privately owned unique entity whose only directors were Sir Peter Jackson and his wife Dame Fran Walsh.
When the company closed it was on the verge of releasing much anticipated 1/32 scale kits of the Fokker Dr.1 and F.1, the Handley Page O/100 and O/400 bombers and 1/32 scale models of the Avro Lancaster and Dam Buster variant. A Hansa Brandenburg D.1 Starstrutter was also in advanced development.
So close...Render of the abandoned Wingnuts Handley Page O/400 kit
Development of these and many other projects in the pipeline were cancelled. Mixed reports state all assets, stock, tooling (the moulds) are to be disposed of but no deals have been announced. None are known to be underway, fueling speculation the Wingnut moulds may just vanish into a warehouse storage facility and never be reissued.
Fans hold a fond hope Wingnuts may be revived in better times. If this happened would the unique team responsible for designing and producing its catalogue of world class model kits be willing to return?
“There would have to be many changes before I consider returning if Wingnut Wings was to reopen,” says one.
“There would have to be changes at all levels. End of the day, this business was treated as someone's hobby and wasn't run like a business. Wingnut Wings had the potential to make a profit,” this person says.
“There would have to be changes,” says another. “A business plan and someone running it that treats it like a business and not a hobby/side business and with accountability”.
There’s a sense of irony in the fact that Wingnuts, which teased its global fan base of loyal customers with obsessive secrecy, should suddenly end without any official statement or explanation to its customers.
While Sir Peter Jackson has offered no comment on why Wingnuts has been closed, a comment he made to me in 2010 for a feature article I wrote then about the company is perhaps noteworthy.
“I’m determined to keep the hobby aspect going, which is why we are not driven by market forces and profit – it would then become something I don’t want it to be” he said at the time.
Sir Peter Jackson and Richard Alexander in a 2010 Wingnuts publicity photo"
I always wondered how they could do these kits so relatively cheap. If they were running in the red for 11 years, I can see why it would shut down. I really hope they at least sell the toolings to someone. I also think that if they had released more well known subjects their sales would have been higher. They never did the Newport, was about to release the Dr.1, took them years to do a Camel. Having the obscure stuff is one thing, it opened peoples eyes to the fact there were more than Newports, Dr.1s and Camels but working in the black has it's advantages also.
Thanks for sharing with us James.
Thanks for sharing with us James.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
All we can do now is wait and see what happens.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
those molds are worth a lot of money. I am sure they will be sold and we will probably see the light of day on them again. The question is "when". I also expect to see the Lancasters, Handley Paige, and Triplanes as well as there are molds for them as well. Other items that were just in the computers we might never see, but who knows.
ausf
Master at Arms
That is similar to the Aurora story compressed into a few year's time. Actually, once I read CEO, I knew where it was going. It may work with distribution, etc. but small boutique type manufacturers suffer with too much management. Aurora was three guys, they fought, had different views, but were able to change on the fly and adapt. They expanded wildly when necessary and contracted when things got lean. When they got older and sold it, it became numbers crunching and someone decided liquidation was cheaper or easier than addressing new markets.
I know it says it isn't Jackson, but c'mon, the man can reissue a new cut of one of his films and profit more than WNW probably cost during it's lifetime. It probably either became a headache, his advisors see the crashing of the world economy and advised sell while you can or he got bored with it. Or maybe he is pooling money to buy that private island.
Fingers crossed that the molds are grabbed and someone gets them out again.
I know it says it isn't Jackson, but c'mon, the man can reissue a new cut of one of his films and profit more than WNW probably cost during it's lifetime. It probably either became a headache, his advisors see the crashing of the world economy and advised sell while you can or he got bored with it. Or maybe he is pooling money to buy that private island.
Fingers crossed that the molds are grabbed and someone gets them out again.
jknaus
Administrator
I think it was the betrayal at TVAL that was the last straw. When someone so close goes and screws you over you kind of lose interest in it. Also the NZ Government was giving him problems and it probably became more hassle then it was worth. The CEO and Admin were only added at the beginning of this year.
James
Or a new project...What's he up to today?
I'd bet there's a lot to this one.
John I put my email on their list for future info, got a email from them last week to confirm my interest. Wasn't a roboemail. I'm betting they are going to clear out stock. I just hope I got some cash when they do...I have little hope that I will actually see the kit I ordered before this all went down.
sharkman
Master at Arms
John I put my email on their list for future info, got a email from them last week to confirm my interest. Wasn't a roboemail. I'm betting they are going to clear out stock. I just hope I got some cash when they do...
I'm sure it will come. Mail is really messed up right now. I'm still waiting on a package from Australia I ordered Apr 9
Jeeves
Well-known member
Isn't the Dambusters movie still in the works?