IRMA©SM®TM Interview with President and Founder Zane R Nobbs

In response to those of you sending questions in regard to how this site and organization came into existence, why certain kits are chosen for production and specifically wanting to know more about the person who runs it, we have selected a few questions to answer from our IRMA Members©SM®TM and site visitors.

Why are your first IRMA kits jet aircraft from China?

Because globally China has been overlooked as far as their achievments in aviation (please see Articles 10: Why Chinese Jets for First IRMA Kits?). Everyone knows about the contributions of Germany, Italy, Great Britain, America, Russia, France and Japan to general aviation and as the first nations to field their own jet aircraft during the 1930s and 1940s. After that things get a bit sketchy but those more dedicated know about the early jets of Sweden, Argentina, Switzerland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Australia, Canada, and others through the late 1940s and 1950s. And a few know about Romania's contribution. However, no one seems to be aware of what China has done.

Initially we selected the Gloster CXP-1001 because no one has ever done it in 1/72 scale, or any scale that we were aware of, before. Initially I thought it was a British project done for the Republic of China, but totally British. Imagine my surprise after doing research back to the 1940s to discover that the design team included Chinese engineers, that the design was specific and unique to China for building in China. What’s more, the United Kingdom didn’t even want to be associated with it any more than necessary. In this light it was a unique jet specific to China. It could have had a real impact in the Chinese Civil War if it had been completed as scheduled. Pity.

The first jet for the People’s Republic of China was the Shenyang JJ-1 of complete Chinese design and building. This too is an aircraft overlooked globally and is yet another major achievement as far as China becoming independent for its aviation industry. Although using a Soviet version of a British engine, Chinese engineers still built the fuselage, wings, cockpit and landing gear of their own initiative. Some will say they used parts supplied by the Soviet Union, however, this is like saying the U.S.A. used parts from the U.K. or Sweden used a British engine. Both the U.S.A. & Sweden still receive credit for their own intial jet flights. Same goes for China.

This does not mean that IRMA is exclusive or partial to China. Indeed, our third kit is the Coanda-1910 of Romania. As you can see from our production list, the emphasis is on nations that have not had their first jet aircraft modeled in kit form before, or at least not in 1/72 scale. This is in combination with our kit requests put forth by IRMA Members and site visitors.

How do you select kits for the IRMA production list?

That’s a good question! We look at three aspects. First, has the subject ever been done before? Second, is it from a nation that has been overlooked in the industry? Third, is it based on a substantial number of requests or suggestions from IRMA Members and/or site visitors? We must make sure it is feasible to the resin manufacturer too, financially and physically.

Our reasoning on the first aspect of avoiding kit duplication is because in resin if two companies are doing the same subject in such an exclusive niche, both tend to lose at this time because demand is small. This is due to the majority of modellers choosing to remain with plastic-injection moulded kits. The resin builders are typically those seeking some hard-to-find or extremely rare subject that most major model companies cannot afford to consider. Typically the major manufacturers cannot do a run for a kit of less than 200-500 versus a resin kit maker who can do a run of as little as 10-20 kits. The down side is that resin kits cost more because the kit makers need to justify production. The upside is that the collector has a very unique piece to add to their collection.

The approach behind the second facet, nations that have been overlooked, is because after IRMA Member sales, the majority of buyers are from the nation of that particular aircraft. So we look at the patriotic element and pride in the aircraft in order to make the buyers happy and to help sell out the entire run. This helps the kit maker and IRMA pay the bills.

Third, our goal is to promote the hobby and the industry for resin kits. We remain true to that goal by listening to kit suggestions and putting them on the Wish List!©SM®TM. As our IRMA Members pay for their memberships, their suggestions take priority over site visitors. We do need a minimum number of requests before a subject is added to the production list because we must have a subject that is going to sell good so that we at least break even and in the case of profits we can fund the next project. At this time 100% of IRMA profits, membship dues and sales go back into the site and funding for new kits. I have also made substantial contributions personally because of my dedication to our hobby.

What drew you to model building initially?

It was introduced to me as a physical therapy at four years of age along with piano playing. At about six-months old I was taken to the hospital with pneumonia and while there contracted an illness which left me with advanced rheumatic arthritis and destroyed my motor skills. Model building helped rebuild the coordination and kept the finger joints active. After a few years my skills were good enough to start showing my accomplishments and even place in a few contests.

My first kits were rockets, cars and jets. Kind of a hodge-podge until near the end of elementary school. At that age I had built several combat ships from the Second World War as well as sailing ships from the 1700s. At that point, with a growing interest in early aviation, I completed as many 1/72 World War I aircraft as I could find. By high school I had finished many Golden Age aircraft and began the well known airplanes of World War 2, along with the occasion foray into automobiles, trucks and armored fighting vehicles.

By college I had started studies in aerospace engineering and this was when I turned to the early jets. By graduate school I had made everything available in plastic in 1/72 and that is when I discovered resin kits. I bought a few and waited and waited to build them. Basically it was a new format and a bit challenging compared to the well known plastic realm. In fact, in preparation, I even did a few vacuform kits. Finally I took the plunge into resin because it was the only way to find those missing aircraft for my personal collection. The Victoria Products Sukhoi Su-9K was my first resin kit build.

In my early professional career I discoverd the Jet Genesis project on the internet, long-gone now, which documented most of the early jet aircraft from the 1930s and 1940s. It was at that time that I decided to complete the first 1/72 collection of every early jet from this period. So far the collection is 2/3 completed (and will be donated to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum when completed or upon my demise). As I continued my search in the resin realm, I discovered that the majority of resin kit builders were also interested primarily in the early jets.

During this period model building also helped me to cope with the World Trade Center Attack when I lived in New York City and was consulting for a company located there. An intentional act is much more devestating than a natural disaster. While going through this time of isolation and unsurity, the company of Aviation Usk rushed my latest order to me at their expense. It was an RS Models Regianne Re-2007 which I still refer to as my "9/11 coping model" and it got me through! Sure was thankful to those guys and for having something positive to focus on!

As we networked together discovering the kits from Eastern Europe and trading kits from there for kits or books from the U.S.A. I watched my collection grow beyond all expectation. Finally it reached a point where no one made the kits we needed. At the same time, most modellers still avoided resin and were willing to wait years and years, often in vain, for the major kit companies to produce the ones they wanted most.

This was when the idea for the International Resin Modellers Assocation©SM®TM occurred to me. The goal was, and is, to promote the hobby in resin format to the general model builder, help the one- and two-man resin kit maker operations and start finding out what kits the resin model builders wanted and find a means to get them on the market.

After the site had been registered, copyrighted, trademarked and established, it seemed like a good idea to start accepting memberships of those who thought in a similar fashion. This would bring like minded hobbyists together globally as well as help to provide funding to keep the site up and running and expand into our own kit production.

Now we are reaching a point where the organization is on the verge of self-funding and even rapid growth as we become established internationally. In fact, we are on virtually every continent except Antarctica (any one there wish to join?) and still growing!

Where do you see the organization going?

Well, I am seeing continuing interest, we are taken seriously by the resin industry and now the model industry in general. We keep a constant roster of 100 kit suggestions on the Wish List!©SM®TM. Of these we have over 30 being produced by resin kit makers and we receive inquiries from resin kit manufacturers in this regard and for other kits. So our list has already become an industry standard.

In addition we also maintain a multi-page listing of resin kit makers with contact information and links to their home pages. This helps members and site vistors find who is where and hopefully leads them to the kits they are looking for.

We have also started to work with some kit makers by selling their kits through our web site to help them defray advertising, shipping and marketing costs. Soon we will be opening an on-line store to further accomodate collectors and manufacturers. This also ties in the IRMA produced kits. So far we have managed to work with existing kit makers to help them and IRMA.

With a constantly growing membership we hope to be able to do much more soon to keep this format going and introduce more hobbyists to resin kits.

I would like to conclude by extending a deep and heartfelt "THANK YOU!!!" to all of our IRMA Members because your memberships, ideas, suggestions and contributions keep this site and our organization going. Each and every one of you are most appreciated!

Keep sending in your questions and I will be happy to answer them in future articles like this one! You can also pose questions to my wife. We are both happy to provide answers and interact with you.

-Copyright 2010 by the International Resin Modellers Association©SM®TM