tempestfan

But if they show it to someone with a bit of knowledge, who then points out 20 glaring errors/inaccuracies in two minutes - I wouldn't want to spend a holiday home equivalent on something that's, well, slightly less than perfect.

Do not forget the Mk V oil cooler...

They suit some planes rather well, e.g. F-105 (which certainly is ugly on just about every count). If you restricted this to F/G/K, I could see where you're coming from, but seriously - the Emil looks like a Cybertruck with wings (but performs better and burns only if shot at), and is no aesthetic match for a Spit I or II. You started on the wrong foot (no bubble Griffon Spit comes close to a Merlin one, even though I like the 24 - low back IX or XVI is as elegant as it gets), but got back on track with Hunter ADV, Sea Hawk and Sabre. But Swift...? Next post you claim the Scimitar (which I really, really like) is attractive....

If you like blisters on your feet, you are bound to love the FRS 1's bugeye canopy. No contest that the GR. 1 is the best looking one for its pure clean lines. Beg your pardon about the F-5 - take a close look at the A, its haute couture spine texture, the delicate area ruling, and the fairing of the front fuselage into the belly. All beautifully crafted. If you are looking for compound curves, google Sam Fox, but you may not consider them "flowing" (rather more compound). The wings are just right, and the tailpipes the understatement antithesis to the F-104's showy-off J79. Size doesn't matter all the time. The Coronado was an awesome-looking plane, but so was the DC-8. I think I can cure that disease. Has someone called the taste police?

Teddy Petter killed the Pterodactyl.

She also looks to have a nose-high stance. "Please note we'll bill another couple k € for packing and sending this oh so huge model." Priceless...

...and considering the fact their Vb from 50 years ago had the same mistake (or possibly the chord on the top was the same broad chord as below) which the corrected in their 1978 Ia...

Note that the Airfix kit has alternative parts designed in to allow three or four versions - however, the original 1983 release only contained two (B & D - ??), while the concurrent MPC release for the US had different alternatives. The Academy is based on the parts as sold by MPC (at least the initial photobox issue was). IIRC the Airfix had a rather long pause until reissued either at the end of the Humbrol era or in the early Hornby period in that "swoosh" box style, I think with all multi-version parts for the first time.

As the Academy is one of their early moulds, it has a lot of "similarities" to the Airfix (read: it is essentially an engraved-panel line copy of the Airfix with some other slight modifications).

The Heller it is based on was a Vb, so I'd suspect this boxing has a new/modified wing sprue. Interesting, I don't recall having seen this variant before.

Had you asked for an Okapi, you may have been in for a surprise... Those Otaki/Arii/MicroAce kits have aged rather well. A small pile of them was in an estate of kits I acquired a couple of years ago, and I had a closer look at them not long ago. The Spit and 109 probably are at the lower end, but for the Spit mostly because it lacks the gull wing and tries to cover VIII and IX without fully realising the differences. Regrettably none of the Japanese kits were in that stash...

They made at least three original aircraft moulds, the Spit, a T-6 and a Gina, all in 1/48. The Spit has (repeatedly?) been issued by Italeri, who may own the mould these days. Gina and T-6 were reboxed by Heller some 20+ years ago. They also made some historic ships, I remember a Nao and possibly the Portuguese Navy's sail school ship.

One more point, the E always (?) has auxiliary air inlets on the rear fuselage flanks, venetian blind style, but these were already present on the CF and NF-A.

The spine behind the canopy is one of the main visual differences between the two, it is noticeably "waisted" on the A and smoother on the E. Not sure the wing is so different between them, apart from the longer/broader LERXs on the E (which I think exist in several styles). Re the fin tip, the horizontal cap was on the A but not the E, I think? Intakes are larger IIRC as the E had more powerful J85 requiring more air, but it would be hard to spot the difference if not side by side.

No, but those Chandos' are kind of "Classic reloaded". I was fortunate to get the last each of the Hs 129 and He 115 books at a certain Aviation and military book shop. The Kauz was gone already.