Tag Archives: plastic

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1/144 Boeing 777: Eastern Express v Minicraft

Image

I’ve been able to get some 1:144 scale Boeing 777-200s (United Nations-International Civil Aviation Organization B772) for cheap; some Minicraft kits (made in China) being offered in an ‘as is’ grab bag sale (turned out they were complete, but one had a broken fuselage), and a two-for-one sale that got me Eastern Express issues (made in Russia) in both the -200 and -300 versions.

My biggest complaint about airliner kits is how much they cost versus what you get, that’s why I buy them only when I see them offered at great discount (and It’s really amazing that aftermarket decals can cost more than the kit, depending on the manufacturer).  Airliner kits are basic, and even the nicer Revell Germany kits have fit problems.  While the Minicraft airliners have fit problems the Eastern Express kits take the cake.

The Eastern Express Group kit requires a lot of pre-assembly sanding down of parts due to the amount of flash and other problems.  You must dry fit the parts in order to avoid nasty surprises, such as the lower wing trailing edge needs to be thinned down to size in order to fit, however, the trailing edge of the flaps/ailerons are molded as part of the upper wing, giving a nice sharp trailing edge. The Minicraft Model Kits’ wings have blunt trailing edges, you’d have to spend time thinning down both wing halves to get a sharp trailing edge.  The wings of the Eastern Express and Minicraft kits are very close in shape, size and detailing.  Eastern Express has no mounting points to attach the wing to the fuselage, you’ll have to make your own spar.  Minicraft uses interlocking fingers, apparently their engineers thought it was a good idea but the fingers actually interfere with getting a tight fit against the fuselage, they have to be thinned down or removed.

The Eastern Express fuselage is in three sections, allowing for different length mid-sections to model the -200 or -300 (you only get the sections described on the box). I lined up the competing kits’ fuselages starting at the tail end, the vertical tail tip on the Eastern Express is more angled, the overall diameter and length of the Minicraft kit’s fuselage is larger.  The Eastern Express nose section is smaller than the Minicraft kit, but it looks more Boeing-like to me.

The horizontal tails/elevators look similar in shape and detail, but Minicraft’s are noticeably larger.

While the Eastern Express fuselage is smaller than Minicraft’s the opposite is true for the turbine nacelles. I’m considering swapping the very large Eastern Express nacelles with the Minicraft nacelles, the size difference is painfully noticeable when you compare the diameter of the intake lips.  Minicraft’s nacelles will need just a little work to fit them onto the Eastern Express wings, but the Eastern Express nacelle pylons will need to be thinned down to fit into the Minicraft slots.

Here’s some pictorial evidence, which you can see more of the image by clicking on it:

I didn’t mention landing gear, most airliner kits do a bad job of representing them anyway (example; the Minicraft’s doors don’t come close to matching the wheel well openings, as if they were meant for a different aircraft), plus I normally build airliners wheels up and condemn them to eternal flight by hanging from the ceiling.

Update, December 2022: I finally finished building the Minicraft Boeing 777.  I marked it with aftermarket decals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The aftermarket decals look good from a distance, up-close you can see how thick they are. I had to remove a couple of the smaller markings, because they curled-up and refused to lay down, no matter how much clear I coated them with.

It was going to be a gift for the couple who had spent big money reserving airline tickets, hotels and tickets to various Olympic venues.

The Minicraft turbine nacelles definitely look too small.

Of course, due to The Pandemic hyperbole, first the Japanese government delayed the games by a full year, then banned foreigners from coming into Japan altogether!  The highly disappointed couple did get their money refunded, and this year they finally get their very own 777 Tokyo Olympics airliner.

1:72 F-100 SUPER SABER KIT KLASH, OR MORE REASONS WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS

VEHICLE I-D: NEW KC-46A PEGASUS (Boeing 767)

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:72 F-100 Super Saber kit klash, or more reasons why you can’t trust scale drawings

Image

As far as I’m aware I’ve collected every North American F-100 Super Saber (I prefer the U.S. English spelling versus the Queen’s English spelling Sabre [for some unknown reason preferred by North American]) kit in 1/72 scale, I feel confident I can honestly direct you as to which F-100 kit to spend your hard earned cash on (please don’t make the Too Big to Jail banks rich by using credit).

DSC_0063 (1)

I also have several books with scale drawings, and once again the ‘authoritative’ drawings themselves don’t match-up.

DSC_0065

Detail & Scale Number 4 (1980) uses drawings by Rockwell/Ed Moore/Terry Smith.  Detail & Scale Volume 33 (1989) uses drawings by Dana Bell and Terry Smith. Bunrin Do’s Famous Airplanes of the World Number 22 (May 1990) uses drawings that look like 1:72 but no scale is given.

Revell: According to Detail & Scale, this kit first came out in the 1950s and is a piece-o-crap (photos confirm this), it’s much larger than 1:72 scale.  It’s supposed to represent a ‘A/C’ version of the F-100.  According to Detail & Scale-33 it was last issued in 1987.

Detail & Scale-33 also talks about other ‘1:72’ scale F-100 kits issued by different companies in the 1960s-70s, apparently all actually being scales that are not 1:72.

IMC/Lindberg:  According to Scalemates, the IMC kit was the first 1:72 scale Super Saber, out in 1965. Lindberg currently issues it.  IMC marketed it as a ‘D’ version yet it has the wing of a ‘A/C’ version (Lindberg wisely dropped the reference to the ‘D’ version). The surface detailing is spurious.  Detail & Scale-4 doesn’t mention it, and Detail & Scale-33 simply calls the kit a “gimmick with battle damaged parts”.   I was surprised to find the wing, elevators and canopy matched dimension and shape of the Ed Moore and Terry Smith drawings! The vertical tail is too skinny, tall, and set too far back on the fuselage.  The fuselage is a little long at the ass-end.  The extra long external fuel tanks are too fat and the fins are grossly over-sized.  You get separately molded air intake mouth and exhaust/afterburner butt-hole (this is the part that makes the fuselage too long).  No weapons come with the kit. Compared to the Dana Bell drawings the fuselage and wing measures out the same as the previous drawings, but the elevators are narrower in span.  The same can be said about the Bunrin Do drawings.

Hasegawa/Frog:  According to Scalemates, the Hasegawa kit was issued first by Frog in 1970, then Hasegawa in 1971.  According to the reviewers in Detail & Scale, it’s accurate shape-wise, but represents the F-100D before all the field mods were applied by the USAF, so it can’t accurately represent a service aircraft.  Never-the-less Hasegawa continues to re-issue the thing, and people continue paying too much for it.  Compared to the Ed Moore/Terry Smith drawings the fuselage, wing and elevators are a close match.  The one piece canopy/windshield is smaller than in the drawings.  Compared to the Dana Bell drawings the wing/elevators have too great a sweep-back. You get separately molded air intake mouth and exhaust/afterburner butt-hole, but the fuselage is too long at the air intake and afterburner. The canopy is even smaller compared to Dana Bell drawings.  According to the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is very slightly narrower in chord, but good in span. The elevators have too great a sweep-back. The fuselage is too short and too skinny, the canopy is still small. The old kit comes with two styles of external fuel tanks, but not the extra long ones, plus what looks like napalm bombs and Bullpup missiles.

ESCI/AMT-Ertl:  Scalemates says this kit first came out in 1982.  Reviewers in Detail & Scale-33 praise the kit for being the most accurate F-100D at that time (yes, better than Hasegawa).  ESCI was also the first to release a two seat ‘F’ version.   It has detailed landing gear, extra long external fuel tanks, separately molded intake mouth, two styles of IFR probes and two styles of after burners.  The only weapons are Bullpup and Sidewinder missiles. The wing is a close match to the Moore/Smith drawings, but the elevators are too narrow in span. The fuselage is slightly long at the mouth, the vertical tail is too tall. The canopy/windshield (molded as one) is the closest to matching these drawings.  The wing is also a close match to the Bell drawings, but the elevator is not only too short in span, the sweep-back is too great.  The fuselage is even longer, yet the tail is only slightly taller.  The canopy looks good, but the windshield area looks small.  Going by the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is just slightly narrower in span, the elevators match the shape and sweep but are slightly undersized in overall dimension. The fuselage is shorter and narrower, yet the tail matches the height of the drawing.  The canopy/windshield looks like a good match.

Click the pics to make bigger:

Pioneer-PM:  This monstrosity was unleashed in the early 1990s by British empire company Pioneer.  It’s made by a company called PM, based in the NATO country of Turkey.  The air intake mouth is molded as part of the fuselage halves.  It’s marketed as a ‘C’ version but has the wing of the ‘D’ version.  It comes with extra long fuel tanks, Bullpup missiles, blobs with fins that’re supposed to be bombs and an IFR probe that’s missing the receptacle end. Oddly the wing and elevators are a close match with the Detail & Scale drawings, yet the fuselage is too small in overall size (as is the canopy/windshield).  Bunrin Do drawings show the wing to be slightly smaller in overall dimension, the elevators having too great a sweep-back, and the fuselage is even smaller, so small you’d think it was a different scale.

Italeri/Revell Germany/Tamiya/Academy:  Time to set things straight.  This kit is not a re-box of the ESCI kit, it is a re-tooled/so-called improved version of the ESCI kit, first coming out in 1998. The surface details, and the wheel well/air brake well details, are exactly the same. The sprue layout is different.  The external fuel tanks are much shorter than the ESCI tanks. You get optional IFR probes and afterburners. For weapons you get two ‘dumb’ iron bombs and two rocket pods. For some odd reason Italeri added a spurious frame to the canopy, about two thirds of the way back on the canopy, rendering it useless.  The most noticeable change (besides the canopy guffaw) Italeri made was to the length of the fuselage, which now matches the Moore/Smith drawings. The tail is still too tall. The wing is slightly shorter in span to the Moore/Smith drawings, but the elevators are a close match (the opposite of the ESCI kit).  Compared to the Bell drawings the wing is a better match, still slightly short in span. The elevators match the shape but are also slightly short in span.  Interestingly the fuselage is too long for the Bell drawings, at the mouth, and the tail is still slightly too tall.   For the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is too short in span, slightly narrow in chord. The elevators match.  The fuselage is too short, yet the tail matches the height of the drawing.  Revell AG (Germany) re-boxed the kit at the same time Italeri first issued it.  Beware, Tamiya re-boxed the kit starting in 2001, and I’ve seen it command prices over $20 U.S. (just because it has Tamiya’s name on the box), Academy re-boxed the kit in 2017 also commanding a high price for it, don’t do it!

Trumpeter:  And the winner is! Starting in 2009 Trumpeter issued what every Super Saber builder wanted; super detailed kits in the ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘F’ variants. The kit comes with separate flaps and slats for the wing. Optional IFR probes. Detailed exhaust/afterburner section (only the early non-f-102 style of afterburner). Air intake trunking (but the mouth is molded as part of the fuselage halves and is narrower than the other kits).  Optional factory air brake or field modified air brake. Optional extended or folded nose pitot.  Boarding ladder.  Highly detailed interior parts.  The instructions make it look like the canopy suffers from the now ubiquitous ‘parting line’ syndrome that most Asian kits are infected with, but the canopies that came with my kits (the ‘C’ and ‘F’ versions) were free of this parting line.  For the ‘C’ version the instructions want you to attach the tail hook which, according to my references, the ‘C’ version did not have a tail hook. The weapons load is extremely limited (as is with all the kits reviewed); Sidewinders and ECM pods depending on the kit version.  The external tanks are about the size of the Italeri kit’s. Detail & Scale-4’s drawings show the wing to be much too short in span, the elevators are a match.  The fuselage is almost a direct hit with the tail being slightly too tall.  The canopy and separately molded windshield both look slightly small.  Compared to the Bell drawings, in Detail & Scale-33, the fuselage is almost a direct hit with the nose being too long.  The canopy looks good, but the windshield still looks small.  The wing is too short in span and slightly narrow in chord.  The elevators look like a match.  With the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is good span-wise but way too narrow in chord.  The elevators are too long in span. The fuselage and tail are too short.  The canopy is slightly small, but the windshield looks good.

Conclusion: Avoid the odd Pioneer F-100, with its 1:72 scale wings and 1:80(?) scale fuselage.   If you want something cheap that you can assemble and paint in less than a day, then hang from the ceiling, then Lindberg’s re-issue of the ancient IMC kit is for you (sometimes you can find the Hasegawa kit for less cost than the IMC/Lindberg kit so go for that then).  The old ESCI kit is still good-to-go for building something you want to proudly display on the shelf, but don’t waste your time and money on aftermarket detailing sets.  If you want the most detailed F-100 kit available (and you were thinking of buying an ESCI kit plus detailing sets) then it’s the Trumpeter kit hands down, no need to buy aftermarket detail sets (but you can if you’re obsessive and rich ).  Even with its flaws the Trumpeter kit is still better than all the other older kits available.

P.S. The most needed aftermarket item for these kits is a good variety weapons set.

Gate Guards:  F-100 Super Sabre

1/600 MOSKVA: AURORA VS AIRFIX

BLACKLIGHT REVELL DEAL’S WHEELS

HEINKEL HE-51: HASEGAWA VS. ICM

GEORGIA’S MUSEUM OF AVIATION MODEL SHOW, 2017

RED DEVIL AWARDS 2017, ARE THEY REAL OR ARE THEY MODELS?

GROCERY STORE USES MODEL PLANES TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS!

IDAHO CAT CAUGHT INSTRUCTING HUMAN HOW TO BUILD CORVETTE!

1:48 F-105G WILD WEASEL SHOWDOWN, HOBBYBOSS VS MONOGRAM

1:72 SHOCK & AWE LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER, OR, WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS! 

FUJIMI, ESCI, AIRFIX, HASEGAWA, MATCHBOX, REVELL & HOBBY BOSS. MORE REASON NOT TO TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS?

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:600 Moskva: Aurora vs Airfix

Image

One of the first ship kits I built was the 1:600 scale Aurora Moscow helicopter anti-submarine ship (not to be confused with the Moskva of the Atlant class of missile cruisers, aka Project 1164).  I also built the Airfix version, and there are differences.

Back then it was the final two decades of the Cold War (unbeknownst to both NATO and Warsaw Pact) and we average kit builders in the United States didn’t have access to reliable information on Warsaw Pact vehicles.  Most publications in English would only say that what we now know was Project 1123 Kondor couldn’t handle rough seas, and that production was halted after only two ships were launched.  I always doubted such NATO propaganda because if the ships were so bad why were they in use until the mid-1990s?

Today we do have access to reliable info (including Kagero Top Drawings #55 book, with detailed scale drawings of things like missile launchers, for those of us who read English), and we have at least one aftermarket detailing set for the 1:600 scale Moskva.  I spent a lot of money on a Russian magazine supplement before learning about the Kagero book.  I also got a hold of the photo etched set #618 by White Ensign.

The Aurora Moscow was first issued in 1969, and for some reason last issued in 1972.  Airfix issued their Moskva in 1973, and as far as I know last issued it in the late 1990s.  In the early 1980s it was issued in the U.S. under the MPC brand.

The Aurora and Airfix hulls are just short of 13 inches (33cm) long, the Aurora being slightly shorter than Airfix.  The Aurora hull is also taller and skinnier than the Airfix hull.  The anchors are molded onto the Aurora hull and both kits have different shaped hull openings and portholes.

Both kits have chunky plastic for the radar antennae. Both kits do not come with missiles for the missile launchers.  Both kits do not have the massive retractable sonar dome located towards the front of the bottom of the hull.  It was this massive dome that was probably the reason the tall ship reportedly nose dived into the water during rough seas.  Apparently NATO was unaware of this dome during the Cold War, or for some reason it was never mentioned in publications made available to the general public.

The Airfix Kamov helicopters are molded in two halves and don’t look good.  The Aurora helicopters are molded in one piece, they look good but not quite like Kamovs (more like Kamovs than Airfix).  The plus with the Aurora kit is you get optional retracted/folded rotor blades.  The Aurora deck is one piece with more detailing than Airfix, and even has optional position hanger doors and space in the superstructure/funnel (molded in two pieces) area.  The Airfix deck is in three pieces, it has optional position hanger doors but the space in the superstructure/funnel (molded in three pieces) is blanked off.  The Airfix helicopter deck has recessed spaces to represent elevators.

The big open ass, I mean aft end, I mean stern of the ship is plane Jane in the Aurora kit, with two life boats.  There’s some kind of blocky details in the Airfix kit.  Aurora gives you davits to hang the life boats on, while Airfix gives you upside down ‘U’s to set them on.  The propellers, I mean screws are different in shape and size between the two kits.

The ship has two large cranes, Aurora uses chunks of plastic to represent them while Airfix gives you a better looking multi-part system.

Click on the pics to make them bigger:

The White Ensign photo etched set has thin brass parts for the radars, railings, davits, cranes, hanger doors, missile launcher detailing, much better details for the ass end, ship name plates (Moscow & Leningrad) and parts for the Airfix helicopters (including tini-tiny landing gear parts which’l probably bend under the weight of the plastic).  A major problem with White Ensign’s instructions is that they leave out where to use the differently shaped hand rails.  Also, you get PE rotor blades in the extended position, but not retracted.

If you love 1:600 scale ships the best way to get a good looking and close to accurate Moskva/Leningrád is to kit bash the Airfix and Aurora kits, use the White Ensign Models PE set, and scratch build missiles, as well as the sonar domes under the hull.

Note: Research is also key to making as accurate a Project 1123 as you can.  The ships had numerous different hull numbers and even different ‘paint jobs’ over the decades.  You’ll need to find color photographs of a specific hull number, especially overhead views which’l reveal what color/colors the decks were painted.

 MOSKVA CLASS SUBMARINE HUNTERS, STOP CALLING THEM AIRCRAFT CARRIERS!

1:600 USS IOWA CLASS KITS: AURORA, MONOGRAM, OTAKI, REVELL. AN APPEAL TO AIRFIX!

1:72 HEINKEL HE-51: HASEGAWA VS. ICM

Kit Bashing, Reviews

Heinkel He-51: Hasegawa vs. ICM

Image

Is it time to kill-off the old Hasegawa Heinkel 51 kit?

ICM (aka ICM Holding of Ukraine, I’m not sure what ICM means as even in Cyrillic the company uses ICM as its identifier) has made great advances since its early days of chunky low pressure injection kits, and is producing the most accurate (so far) version of the German biplane in 1:72 scale.

The main improvements are detailing and the upper wing.  Overall the ICM kit has better detailing and a main wing that has the correct dihedral (upward sweep).  The ancient Hasegawa kit (first issued in the 1970s) has no dihedral.  However, it seems the ICM wingtips are questionable as they taper back, they should be more evenly rounded.

Click on the pics to make them bigger:

Rare Plane makes a vac-formed kit, the packaging photo looks to have dihedral in the upper wing but I’ve seen completed kits with no dihedral and oddly shaped horizontal tails.  The problem with comparing vac-formed kits to injected kits is that a lot depends on the skill of the builder in cutting the parts from the plastic sheet and then shaping them to form a good join.

A drawback of the ICM kit is subtle, or no, attachment points.   The old Hasegawa kit is easier to build.  My conclusion in comparing the Hasegawa with the ICM He-51 is that while both can be built to look good the ICM has the better detailing and correct dihedral of the upper wing.

There are no major visual differences in the A, B or C versions of the Heinkel 51 (except with the float-plane version).

WORLD’S LARGEST C-141B STARLIFTER MODEL?

GROCERY STORE USES MODEL PLANES TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS!

ITALERI 1:720 DEUTSCHLAND, LUTZOW, SCHEER & GRAF SPEE

Kit Bashing, Reviews

Italeri 1:720 Deutschland, Lutzow, Scheer & Graf Spee

Image

Italeri recently re-issued its old but nice looking Deutschland class heavy cruisers (they are not battleships) in 1:720 scale.

These kits represent the class before the 1939-40 rebuilds (refit).  They were first issued in the late 1970s, and have excellent detail for the scale (which made some of the larger scale ship kits look even worse than they were; 1:600 Airfix, Aurora, 1:570 Revell, etc).  In the 1980s Testors issued them in the United States.  Italeri issued them again in the 1990s.

Deutschland: Parts distinct to the first ship and prior to the 1939 update and name change.  Deutschland originally had ‘exposed’ torpedo tubes, but the Italeri kit comes with the armored tubes.

Scheer: Parts distinct to the second ship of the line, prior to its 1939-40 rebuild.

Graff Spee: Parts distinct to its final year of life, 1939, with one exception; the kit does not come with the ‘mattress/bed spring’ radar that should be mounted on the front of the tower range finder.  Note that prior to 1939 Graf Spee was fitted out similar to Scheer, so if you want to model an earlier Graf Spee just buy the Scheer kit.

Lützow: Parts distinct to the 1939 update to Deutschland (when its name was changed to Lützow), but prior to its 1940 rebuild.

Click the pic to make bigger:

For decades these ships were called battleships by the victors of World War Two, which is ridiculous since battleships ranged in the 30-thousand to 50-thousand tonnes standard displacement range.  It’s the result of official British empire government backed news media propaganda (today called Fake News) coming up with the Fake News phrase Pocket Battleship. It was an attempt by the British government to rile up their subjects to support war with Nazi Germany.  Nazi and Blitzkrieg were also Fake News terms made up by the British main stream news media, they were not German terms, although the Germans liked the word Blitzkrieg and used it themselves.  What should be noted is that the Deutschland class of ships were not constructed by the ‘Nazis’, but by the western imposed Weimar government in the early 1930s, before the NSDAP (National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei) was democratically elected to power. While these ships violated treaties limiting warship sizes, the violation was initiated by the Weimar government, not the NSDAP (incorrectly called Nazi by the British Fake News Media).

Under treaty cruisers were limited to 10-thousand tonnes (metric tons) standard displacement.  According to some sources we will never know the true displacement because Weimar bureaucrats altered the official data. Today it’s generally accepted that Deutschland was just over the 10-thousand tonnes limit, Scheer was closer to 13-thousand and Graf Spee closer to 14-thousand tonnes.

The differences in weight between the ‘sister’ ships is due to subtle alterations in the hulls of Scheer and Graf Spee to accommodate extra armor protection.  Official suspect data give the same length and width for all ships, but hull height for Scheer and Graf Spee is 0.2 meter shorter that Deutschland.  I would assume that with the extra armor the hull side thickness was greater than Deutschland’s (naval researcher H.T. Lenton says Spee/Scheer were about 1 meter [3 feet] wider than Deutschland-Lutzow).

Knowing that official data for the ships are suspect it’s no use getting knit-picky about accuracy.  The best thing is to use photographs of the ship you want to depict at the time period your interested in.

Graf Spee was the first to go, sunk by its own crew in South America in 1939, after being damaged by three Royal Navy cruisers.  During its South Atlantic adventure Graf Spee underwent attempts at deception, making itself look like a full fledged battleship with extra gun turret and exhaust funnel, and even painting the name Deutschland on the side of the hull.

Lützow and Scheer lived longer than anybody expected. Not only did the British want them sunk, but, at the protests of the Deutsche KriegsMarine (DKM), Adolph Hitler ordered them scrapped in 1943.

Scheer ended up being used as a training ship and artillery platform against Soviet ground forces.  Scheer was sunk in April 1945 by Royal Air Force bombers, a month before Germany surrendered.

Lützow was disabled and used as an artillery platform against the Soviets, supposedly destroyed by its crew as the Soviets overran the port. Western news sources reported that the Soviets had raised Lützow for the purpose of scrapping it.  In 2000 it was discovered the Soviets used Lützow for target practice, sinking it in 1947.

The only disappointing thing I find about these Italeri kits is that no decals come with them.  It would be nice to have each ship’s bow shield/crest and the Coronel nameplate on the front of Graf Spee’s tower.  (you can adapt 1:700 aftermarket decals to these 1:720 scale kits, as well as PE sets)

1/1 SCALE F-4 PHANTOM-2 MODEL

MORE PROOF INSTRUCTIONS ARE WRONG: AMT WILLYS VAN RETRO ISSUE

Kit Bashing, Reviews

More proof instructions are wrong: AMT Willys Van retro issue

Image

Click (or tap) pics to make bigger:

REVELL 1937 FORD PICKUP OR WHY MODEL ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE WRONG!

MULTI-MAVERICK OR WHY MODEL ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE WRONG!

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:48 F-105G Wild Weasel showdown, HobbyBoss vs Monogram

Image

When it comes to the new high tech produced Hobby Boss F-105G Thunderchief Wild Weasel, versus the old-but-gold classic Monogram kit, price is the deciding factor.

I swear I had some 1:48 scale drawings for the F-105, but, despite tearing apart my decades old collection of modeling and aircraft magazines, I can’t find them.  Oh well, I did discover with my F-104s that scale drawings can be inaccurate, as well.  

Click on the gallery pics to make them bigger and read the comparisons of the kits:

Monogram first issued their F-105 series of 1:48 kits in the late 1970s early 1980s.  Believe it or not they’re still viable and available today, currently issued by Revell (which took over Monogram in the 1990s).

Monogram Plus: Generally accurate, good details. Price buster; if you shop on the internet, and are patient, you can get one for as little as ten bucks (or less, not counting shipping cost)! I once saw Revell’s new Thunderstick version in a brick-n-mortar shop for $15! The Hobby Boss kit will cost you anywhere from $35 to $65 USD depending on where you get it (also not counting shipping cost if purchased on the internet or old fashioned mail order).

Hobby Boss Plus:  Generally accurate, good details.  Extra parts like an engine, radar, 20mm Vulcan and an extended inflight refueling probe (F-105s had both refueling probe and receptacle. Oh no, not a hermaphrodite!?).  More decals.

Cold War: GOING ‘GANGBUSTERS’ WITH TEXAS F-4C & GEORGIA F-105G!

1:72 SHOCK & AWE LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER, OR, WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS! PLUS MASSIVE HISTORICAL CONFUSION ABOUT REVELL-MONOGRAM!

1:72 COMPARISON F-86 SABER FUJIMI VS HELLER, OR, NOBODY IS PERFECT!

1/48 SCALE COMPARISON A-7 CORSAIR 2: AURORA, REVELL-MONOGRAM, ESCI, HASEGAWA & HOBBY BOSS.

1/72 REVISED COMPARISON A-7 CORSAIR 2: FUJIMI, ESCI, AIRFIX, HASEGAWA, MATCHBOX, REVELL & HOBBY BOSS. MORE REASON NOT TO TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS?

HOBBY BOSS F-5E TIGER II, NOT ONE OF THEIR “EASY ASSEMBLY” KITs, BUT WELL WORTH THE LITTLE BIT-O-MONEY IT COSTS!

Model kit politics: IRAN TO DISPLAY LIFE SIZE MODEL OF CAPTURED U.S. STEALTH DRONE, SENDS OBAMA A SMALLER HOT PINK VERSION

Review out of box:  ITALERI P-51 MUSTANG 1 OUT OF BOX REVIEW

KIT BASHING & EDUCATION REFORM: IDAHO STUDENTS BUILDING MODEL KITS

Out of box: HELLER, FUJIMI & HOBBYCRAFT F-86 SABRE KITS COMPARED

Kit Bashing

Model-land ‘deaths’, 2013-15!

Image

Incomplete list of hobby shop shutdowns.

California: After 67 years a hobby shop I loved to check out whenever I was forced to visit my child hating Oma, Dave’s Hobby Central, in Santa Barbara closed down: “It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I must to tell you that today we have closed the doors for good! After a long and fruitless year I have no choice but to fold up the doors.”-store statement on Facebook

Hawaii: Toys N’ Joys shut down after 30 years in business.

Idaho:

Current location, in Chubbuck, Idaho. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, November 2014.

In Chubbuck, at the end of 2014, and after 23 years the iconic local Dapco Hobbies went up for sale.  Employees said the current owner was selling everything off and wants out of the hobby business.  But at the beginning of 2015 Dapco Hobbies relocated to a much, much smaller place in Pocatello (across the street from Bamboo Garden Chinese buffet), apparently to pleas from customers (and the employees) that it not shutdown.  Dapco Hobbies was originally located on Garrett Way in Pocatello (according to the BBB, that was beginning in 1991).  After Corey & Melia took over Dapco relocated to Chubbuck around 2007-08.  For a very brief time Dapco Hobbies had a shop in Ammon, then Idaho Falls (apparently they left about the same time the ‘big box’ Hobby Town left Idaho Falls), and they even had an internet website.  Dapco Hobbies started out focused on trains, then shifted to RC when that got big.  I went there for the plastic model kits (and I still do, unfortunately they got hit by RC burglars right after they moved into their current Pocatello location off Yellowstone Avenue).

Illinois: Plastic model kit company Testors laid off 107 employees at its Rockford plant!  Testors has operated out of Rockford since 1929, they also make paint and other model building supplies.  Company officials say the bad economy is forcing them to eliminate some of their model supply brands.  This means closing their 84 years old Blackhawk Park Avenue building, and moving operations into a smaller building.

Kentucky: In Louisville, model train store L&N Trains and Things shut down after 32 years. The owner blames health problems (just in time for Obama Care).

New York:   In Fairpoint, after 30 years Toy Soldier shutdown.   In Farmingdale, Model Power, a major internet model railroad retailer, is being killed off by Too Big to Jail banks: “After nearly 50 years serving the hobby industry, our 3rd generation family business will be closing effective immediately to the public. We will be reaching out to our clients over the next few weeks to settle any demand needs that they may have.

In 2007, our banks began an aggressive deleveraging process. They no longer approved of a profitable and paying client such as ours, which had been reliant on inventory. This is why one of the industry’s most extensive lines, had begun to see much of its products unavailable on the market. Now it will no longer be seen at all.

During these past 7 years, we had made changes to the business in order to accommodate and adjust to the changing nature of the business relationship with our lenders. We had offered multiple solutions to our lenders in order to ‘fix’ our situation, all were rejected, came with different restrictions, or offered too little too late. In all our efforts, no arrangements by our lenders would allow for Model Power to arrive at a position in which we could get back to fill our customer needs.

We would like to take the time to thank all of those whom we have worked with the past 50 years. To our customers and competitors within the industry, we thank you.

Sincerely,
The Model Power Family”

I’ve been reporting on the deleveraging conspiracy by the Too Big to Jail banks, read the articles and weep: De-leveraging will continue until the economy improves, and that means you!,  it’s called Deleveraging and it’s a sign we’re in a “Terminal Downturn”!, 4,000 people stranded when….airline is suddenly deleveraged, All part of the IMF’s orders to deleverage!, IMF pushes for U.S. consolidation, code for even more drastic deleveraging!

Ohio: In Lakewood, after 67 years Wings Hobby Shop shutdown.  The owner blames lazy young people: “We peaked out, volume-wise, in 1995.  Little by little it started to go away, because we weren’t getting any young people……Society has evolved into a mode of instant gratification…….They want to have a collection to look at, but they don’t want to build anything. “-Al Cicerchi

Wisconsin: In Wausau a 50 years old hobby store shutdown.  The owner of Pope’s Hobbyland said it was time he retired.   After 50 years iconic Greenfield News and Hobby store shutdown.  The store was up for sale, with no luck.   “A lot of kids aren’t picking up these hobbies either because they’re being priced out … or because they’d rather go to online or home video games, and it’s hard to counteract that.”-Jeff Reich, editor of Model Retailer,  Kalmbach Publishing

Obama regime using 2011 financing order to shut down successful ebay model kit sellers! 

If you like building model planes, then you are a terrorist! 

Styrofoam containers, boards or sheets, we model builders have been recycling them into diorama bases for years. 

Hot Wheels, Matchbox & other toy cars are the new way to protest your corrupt local government!

Iran to display life size model of U.S. Stealth Drone, sends Obama a smaller hot pink version 

Kit Bashing & Education Reform: Idaho Students Building Model Kits