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What recommendations for my next build in 1:48?


Skyhunter66

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Ok so I'm about a year back in to modelling and have made in 1:48 so far - Revell Phantom FGR2, Airfix Lightning F6, Revell Tigermeet F104. I have also made various WW2 aircraft at the same scale - Airfix Spits and one Trumpeter Sea Fury.

So my question is what other kit manufacturers are out there I should be trying?? I like British cold war jets and WW2 and 1:48 is my favourite scale

Who are the new/better manufacturers and what RAF gems should I be making?

I figured this was the best place to ask!

Thanks guys

Chris

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Eduard FAA Hellcat for the WW2 stuff, lovely kit but the FAA dual-combo boxing can be a little hard to find. Tamiya's F4U-1 Corsair is another must (and a good option for using your first aftermarket sheet, FAA decals are available).

I'd agree on the Sea Vixen as a good next step, or get a Hasegawa or Academy F-86E and do a RAF Canadair Sabre Mk.4.

Generally the best manufacturers are Tamiya, Hasegawa and Eduard. Revell's newer stuff is also excellent as are many recent Airfix kits. Trumpeter & Hobbyboss are always a crapshoot, some nice stuff, some trash, hard to predict in advance, Italieri's the same but with less good stuff. Other options tend to be somewhat more challenging (MPM/SpecialHobby, Sword, AZModel) or more basic (AMT/ERTL)

Edited by Adam Maas
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or get a Hasegawa or Academy F-86E and do a RAF Canadair Sabre Mk.4.

As a sabre fan I could not agree more. If you get one of these kits shoot me a PM I have some spare RAF Sabre decals. Dont pay the extra people want for the RAF Sabre 4 boxing from hasegawa its just a F-86F-30 with different decals.

Julien

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ok thanks guys - some great suggestions here and I would love to be able to make one a week! I know Airfix is doing a 1:48 Javelin but can you get jets such as the Gnat and jet Provost in 1:48?

Its such a different world from when I made them as a teenager - fantastic really. So far my favourite builds have been the Revell Phantom FGR2, Tamiya Beaufighter and the Airfix Seafire... plenty of others fit in the category 'oh dear' and 'what a shame'.

Chris

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ok thanks guys - some great suggestions here and I would love to be able to make one a week! I know Airfix is doing a 1:48 Javelin but can you get jets such as the Gnat and jet Provost in 1:48?

The only 1/48 Gnat is the aeroclub vac one, hard to find but I believe John @ Aeroclub might be looking to re-release it.

There is a 1.48 Jet Provost by Fly Models.

Julien

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Academy Hunter is a must for you then. Or the Italeri re-boxing (same kit but with FGR.9 alternative parts and a lovely big decal sheet.

Trumpeter's Sea Hawk is supposed to be pretty good.

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If you've enjoied the Revell (nee hasegawa) FGR.2 then I'm sure you'd like kits of that quality...

Unfortunately there aren't many good quality mainstream kits of British cold war types and several are only available as short run kits (late meteors, venom, attacker). Others only as older kits (harrier, buccaneer).

Fortunately there are some and I agree with the suggestions already put forward by others.

Trumpeter has recently released a Vampire that has several accuracy issues, but if you don't mind them it is a good modern kit. If you can afford it and don't mind resin then Alleycat has a great Vampire... but I can see that if you've got back in the hobby recently, you might not want a resin kit.

A bit more recent but still a cold war type to me, Hobbyboss has a 1/48 tornado that suffers from some accuracy issue but is again a good quality kit. Alternatively italeri has a more accurate but simpler kit. However I'd wait, as revell has announced a new tool tornado in this scale that could be the best option. It's worth waiting for the Jaguar too, as Kitty Hawk is following the french version with a british one very soon and this kit is much more modern than any other Jaguar done before.

Not a jet, but the late Spitfire/seafire by airfix are very nice kits. And again not a jet, but the trumpeter wyvern makes for an impressive model while being a very good kit

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mmm - ok I am liking these suggestions! Funnily enough it is my birthday in a couple of weeks so will give the family the following list:

Italeri Hunter

Fly Models Jet Provost

Trumpeter Vampire

Sea Vixen

I will only probably get one out of that list but it worth a try!

WW2 - there seems a lack of Typhoons and Tempests at 1:48 from what I can see. I got an email from Eduard yesterday about their new Spitfire Mk9 - looks good but I suppose its early days with that one!

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WW2 - there seems a lack of Typhoons and Tempests at 1:48 from what I can see. I got an email from Eduard yesterday about their new Spitfire Mk9 - looks good but I suppose its early days with that one!

There may be a lack of good Tempests, but the Typhoon is decently made by hasegawa in both car-door and bubble canopy version.

The tempest has been done by eduard and AMT, but I understand that none is particularly good

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There may be a lack of good Tempests, but the Typhoon is decently made by hasegawa in both car-door and bubble canopy version.

The tempest has been done by eduard and AMT, but I understand that none is particularly good

Revell/Monogram's Typhoon is actually quite good as well. Simple and with raised detail, but still a lovely kit.

Eduard's Tempest by all reports is quite good aside from being short in the tail.

Edited by Adam Maas
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Ali at A2Z does a replacement tail for the Eduard kit. I seem to recall DeanFlyer had an excellent build thread on here for it.

Watch out with the Hunter as it does have some well publicised issues. The cockpit is closer to 1/72 scale and the undercarriage is wrong. The tail is wrong as well, but I don't recall exactly how at the moment.

The Trumpie Seahawk is a cracking little kit and the Sea Vixen is about as good as Airfix have ever done.

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I'd say make the Vintage Pair. Vampire and Meteor, is it? Or Vampire and Jet Provst as seen at Air Shows last year (well, Little Gransden anyway).

Or if you want WW2 (ish), how about the Spitfire AND Hurricane prototypes?

Wish I needed suggestions as to what to make next. On the bench for customers currently I have 1/32nd Alfa 158, Shadow DN5, Ferrari 312, Toyota Corolla Levin and Huck's Starter, in 1/48th, a Leopard 6 exec. jet, Grob Viking glider and Ju 188/388 conversion set and in 2mm scale , a Neilson and Kitson locos in brass.

Not to mention the stuff for my own ranges, an XJ13 and a Waco ZQC-6!

Me busy? Nah<G>

Martin

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I'd say make the Vintage Pair. Vampire and Meteor, is it? Or Vampire and Jet Provst as seen at Air Shows last year (well, Little Gransden anyway).

Or if you want WW2 (ish), how about the Spitfire AND Hurricane prototypes?

Wish I needed suggestions as to what to make next. On the bench for customers currently I have 1/32nd Alfa 158, Shadow DN5, Ferrari 312, Toyota Corolla Levin and Huck's Starter, in 1/48th, a Leopard 6 exec. jet, Grob Viking glider and Ju 188/388 conversion set and in 2mm scale , a Neilson and Kitson locos in brass.

Not to mention the stuff for my own ranges, an XJ13 and a Waco ZQC-6!

Me busy? Nah<G>

Martin

Inspirational Martin!!

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Well I had to go up in the attic early this morning and whilst shifting around suitcases and God knows what else I found a Matchbox 1:72 Victor! I vaguely remember buying it years ago but bizarre that I forgot about it! On first inspection it looks to be ok except the canopy I think is split - is there any after market for this kit any more?

Otherwise its Hunter, Vampire, Vixen, Meteor, SHAR, and more Phantoms - just need to find the time to do them I guess....

Chris

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I have no info about issues with the Matchbox/Revell Victor. I suppose the fitting will not be exactly great and the level of detail will be as can be expected from a kit of this age. There are a few detail sets out there for it: Flight Path does some sets, Master casters and Resin Art are doeing replacement wheels. Then there are some Decal sets available. The kit is a tanker, so if you want to do the bomber version I suppose you need to enlarge the wing span - there was a set available from Modell Alliance but I bet it will be hard to find and quite expensive if you do so.

If you go for the Hunter you should search the forum here for what changes to do (Heritage does a correction set and conversion sets as well). It is a nice kit which will build up well. But you should attach the wings before you close the fuselage - it will be much easier and saves you from using filler at the wing roots.

How about the new Eduard Spitfire. I bet it is shake and bake and looks very nice.

And if you want to try a resin kit have a look at Alley Cat Vampire. The price was lowered and it will be way cheaper than the Classic Airframes kit - which requires a fuselage correction set from Aeroclub if it should be correct.

Concerning the Aeroclub Gnat it is likely to be re-released this year - best to ask John Aero himself. I am waiting for this too.

Rene

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Have to pretty much agree with my co-respondents.

For Post-War RAF/FAA I'd go with the Airfix Sea Vixen, A2ZEE Models Vampire and Fly Models Jet Provost T.5 and then wait a while for the Kittyhawk (or Italeri) Jaguar GR.1/3, Revell Tornado IDS and Airfix Javelin....All of these manufacturers are trending towards the production of high quality kits at fairly reasonable prices.

For WWII, the brand-new Eduard Spitfire Mk 9 will probably be the apogee of Spitfire kits in 1:48 scale (Hopefully). The Eduard Tempest is also pretty good but you will definitely need the A2ZEE correction set for the tail....In fact, I think Ali does a special deal on the combo. The latest Hasegawa Limited Edition re-issue of the Typhoon, whilst pricey, includes new resin parts to correct the inaccurate tailplanes of the original issue.

I can also endorse SaintsPhil's recommendation for the Eduard MiG 21....I'm half way through one and it's great. Another great kit, which is also on my workbench right now, is the brand new Great Wall Hobby MiG 29 Fulcrum. The kit is pricey but you simply do not need anything else to create a great looking model....the detail is superb as Spencer Pollard has alluded to in his RFI thread on BM.

We've never had it so good in spite of what the ne'ersayers often spout on this website and others so good luck with your quest !

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Or if you haven't built it already, there's the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire PR XIX. OOB you can do a mid 1950's scheme and looks a beaut in the box (haven't actually built mine yet)

Sean

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Ok thanks gents - like the idea of the Mig 21 and Spit PR XIX - what does 'Weekend edition' mean - or is that a daft question!

So I decided I am going first to do the Victor and in the desert scheme of 'Lusty Lindy' which is at Elvington - a mere 5 miles or so away from where I live. Hopefully some of your suggestions will then turn up on my birthday (given my lovely wife a list!) and I will report back on what I got. My back up plan is to buy them myself if she gets it wrong!

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Eduards Weekend editions are their normal kits but without the etch and resin, and usually only have one paint scheme included in the boxing. I think the theory is that you should be able to complete one in a weekend, but I'm buggered if I can complete one in a weekend and I haven't seen anyone else do one in a weekend either. They're still nice kits though!

Sean

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