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Best 1/144 Fighter Kits?


PIPboy

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Hey everyone,

 

I'm thinking about building a few 1/144 kits for the first time in my life. I did some random googling and I was pretty disappointed due to the inaccurate shapes of the kits. Some looked more like cartoon drawings of the airplanes than realistic models of it.

 

Which are the most accurate kits in 1/144? I prefer Vietnam era fighters but I'm okay with bombers (as long as it's something like an Intruder, not a B-52) and later eras as well.

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If you're looking for Vietnam era fighters in that scale, you're not exactly spoilt for choice and most of your kit options are on the old side and have likely been through a few hands in the industry already.

 

I don't know if you've seen this article in your searches, but it gives an overview of the pros and cons of 1/144 Century Series aircraft kits from Arii and Revell. the F-105 and F-106 fair pretty well:

http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2001/centurydwa_1.htm

 

The old Arii 1/144 RA-5C Vigilante was pretty decent from what I remember of it when I built it from a Revell box in the 1980s. One needs to do a bit of research to get some details correct, but it isn't a lot of work:

http://modelingmadness.com/scott/viet/previews/arii/4.htm

 

If you do decide to try one of the older kits, RetroKit makes several aftermarket resin sets aimed at the old Arii kits thatcan help you bring them up to scratch:

https://retrokitonline.net/product-category/aviation/retrowings-1-144/

 

I'd say these days, Platz is definitely one of your better bets. They have a very well reviewed 1/144 F-8 Crusader series as well as Vietnam era A-4 Skyhawks and F-4 Phantoms:

http://www.modelingmadness.com/scott/viet/us/usn/f8k.htm

 

 

 

Eduard make superlative MiG-21 kits in 1/144, but they were 3rd and 4th generation versions. With a bit of research and work, I imagine it wouldn't be to hard to backdate them to 2nd generation types that were prevalent in the Vietnam era.

 

I would warn you against buying kits by an outfit called Miniwing. They made a bunch of 1/144 resin kits, including the A-7 Corsair II, but the quality was pretty sloppy and the shapes all wrong.

 

I would also warn you against buying any 1/144 F-111 kit. that plane has never been done justice in 1/144.

Edited by upnorth
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2 hours ago, upnorth said:

If you're looking for Vietnam era fighters in that scale, you're not exactly spoilt for choice and most of your kit options are on the old side and have likely been through a few hands in the industry already.

 

I don't know if you've seen this article in your searches, but it gives an overview of the pros and cons of 1/144 Century Series aircraft kits from Arii and Revell. the F-105 and F-106 fair pretty well:

http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2001/centurydwa_1.htm

 

 

 

 

The F104 in that is the old Crown kit, Revell have a much more recent (and better) one

 

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/rm/kit_rg_4060.shtml

 

Revell did a reasonable 1/144th Lightning F6, which is Vietnam era

Edited by Dave Fleming
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upnorth: Haha, yeah, I love the Corsair II so that was the first aircraft I googled and the first results were pictures of the Miniwing kits. They look like toys for children.

 

Thank you, those Platz Skyhawks look amazing! I think I'll start with them. The Vigilante also looks really tempting

 

Dave: Thank you too. To be honest, I would prefer a metal colored version but I guess in this scale I can't be picky. Maybe I can find aftermarket decals for it.

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3 hours ago, PIPboy said:

Dave: Thank you too. To be honest, I would prefer a metal colored version but I guess in this scale I can't be picky. Maybe I can find aftermarket decals for it.

 

Here's one aftermarket option for you if you want your 1/144 F-104 in metal finish:

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Rev8/7801-7900/rev7825-Balkan-Models-BM-14403/00.shtm

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There is the F104G from Revell, with a conversion for an F104C from Retrokit.

Platz A4 or F8 are superb, if you can find them

Eduard MiG15 is a lovely kit too.

Don't forget the gashapon premade/painted kits you can get.

Japanese produced and cover F8, F105,F5, MiG21,F4,A6

Have a look on evilbay and search for F-toys or Area88

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I forgot to mention in my previous posts that 1/144 MiG-15, MiG-17 and MiG-19/Shenyang J-6 kits have been made by Attack Models and are currently in the range of Mark 1 Models:

 

One of their J-6 kits even comes with Vietnamese markings proper to the era:

http://www.4pluspublications.com/en/scale-model-kits/mkm14402-shenyang-j-6

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Interesting, I wasn't Aware Revell tooled a new F-104 - probably with some Family resemblance to their 72nd kits ? Most if not all of the kits in the Revell line up should be recent toolings. Beware of older ones, as many of them were ex-Crown (moulds probably with Minicraft These days). One of their own Tools from the mid 80s is their Prowler (not quite a fighter), which apparently was tooled by Heljan and therefore is somewhat crude. It doesn't seem to have been reissued for a very Long time...as apparently their F-106. I remember doing this as a quick-build some 25 years ago, and IIRC it built quite nicely.

Arii should be a good bet, but beware that they took over moulds both from LS and Otaki. The LS moulds generally were rather excellent and hold up quite well. The P-3 has an excellent Reputation (again, no fighter), and their F-4 is Ages ahead of the Crown. I think the A-10 also is an LS original like the RA-5. The F-100 and 101 built by Dave Aungst look to be ex-Otakis. From what I've read, the series is a "nominal" 1/144, with the kits scaling out in a large ballpark. Others in the series include e.g. an F-8, F-5A and "MiG-23" (Flipper, would have to Google, Ye-266 perhaps ?). Apart from the scale, the 100 and 101 seem to suffer from bugeye disease, and I think the F-5 also has an oversize canopy. No idea when the ex-Otakis were reissued by Arii most recently, they may be somewhat tricky to find.

 

@upnorth, I wasn't Aware of an RA-5 rebox by Revell - was that for the US market ?

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There is also the fantastic Revell F-14 kit.

the Tomcat flew after all over Vietnam, no ?

There is also a Revell F-5 that could be used.

later era hets that are good Revell Tornado, all versions ; F-15 A,E

pit road Draken models are fantastic little kits.....

I will think a bit more...

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42 minutes ago, tempestfan said:

.

 

@upnorth, I wasn't Aware of an RA-5 rebox by Revell - was that for the US market ?

 

I think it must have been because I was still a teen in Canada when I bought it.

 

Revell released it in 1988 with box art based on the Arii release. According to this, the kit goes back to mid 1970s Otaki toolings:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/1016169-revell-4046-ra-5c-vigilante

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Ahhh, thanks for that, most interesting ! Revell US and Revell Bünde did quite some different things way back then. Also most interesting to learn the Vigi was actually Otaki. Those Otakis I have are at least a Generation older and really not up to par, though the RA-5 seems to be in a different league, more that of the LS's.

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On 3/2/2017 at 5:29 AM, PIPboy said:

Which are the most accurate kits in 1/144? I prefer Vietnam era fighters but I'm okay with bombers (as long as it's something like an Intruder, not a B-52) and later eras as well.

 

Since you mention the Intruder, and no-one mentioned the Dragon/DML (Italeri) so far, here's my Dragon 1/144 A-6E straight from the box.

 

a6e-11.jpg

 

Full build report here:

 

https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/a6e.htm

 

At the end of the page there's a link to a forum explaining how to correct a few errors.

Rob

 

Edited by Rob de Bie
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4 hours ago, tempestfan said:

 One of their own Tools from the mid 80s is their Prowler (not quite a fighter), which apparently was tooled by Heljan and therefore is somewhat crude. It doesn't seem to have been reissued for a very Long time...as apparently their F-106. I remember doing this as a quick-build some 25 years ago, and IIRC it built quite nicely.

 

Somewhat crude is something of an euphemism; it's horrific.

Shapewise (from what I  remember; built in when it first came out in 1988-89?) it's not bad.

 

The F-106A kit on the other hand (also released at the same time) is excellent, featuring recessed panel lines, basic cockpit detail with a reasonable ejection seat and a weapons bay with two AIM-4s (which by the way are the same size as Genies :huh:).

 

No idea where you could find one in 2017 though...:whistle:

 

Edited by Panoz
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  • 3 weeks later...

Don't write Miniwing off completely - a lot of their later stuff is really excellent, and you have to ignore the fact that the chap who does the test builds on their website has a penchant for ludicrously crude panel washes (presumably to show off that they are there). The Corsair, Sukhoi whatsit and a bunch of others that are a bit off-looking were also from moulds bought from FE Resin in the mid-2000s; all the later ones are computer designed and more accurate. I've built quite a few Miniwing kits and have especially loved the Banshee, Thunderstreak, Sea Vixen, Tigercat, Skyray and have their Meteor on pre-order. The later-gen kits have excellent decals as well (early ones not so much). A bit of work but all the more satisfying for it, I think.

Edited by ajmm
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Although not a fighter, Miniwing has recently produced the O-1D Bird Dog in USAF markings which was very much evident in Vietnam.  There is also a South Vietnamese AF version.  The kit is in clear plastic so there is opportunity to detail the internals, especially as there is so much visibility in there; it's like a flying greenhouse!

 

Mike

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Having just yesterday finished the bird dog in another scheme, I can vouch for that kit. Great fun and looks the part, I reckon.

 

1AEAD220-3B9C-4AE1-A085-B809EE0ABA28_zps

 

Miniwings next in plastic is a Trojan so also 'Nam friendly. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by ajmm
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/3/2017 at 8:19 AM, exdraken said:

There is also the fantastic Revell F-14 kit.

the Tomcat flew after all over Vietnam, no ?

 

 

VF-1 and VF-2 embarked in USS Enterprise for the F-14's first cruise in September 1974. In the course of this cruise the air wing participated in providing air cover for Operation Frequent Wind, the final US withdrawal from Saigan in April 1975.

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On 15. 4. 2017 at 0:27 PM, T7 Models said:

 

VF-1 and VF-2 embarked in USS Enterprise for the F-14's first cruise in September 1974. In the course of this cruise the air wing participated in providing air cover for Operation Frequent Wind, the final US withdrawal from Saigan in April 1975.

 

Be careful with the Revell Tomcat kits. They have their own very nice Tomcats, but they also have boxings based on the older Otaki kit that dates to the mid 1970s.

 

Both of these kits are Revell's own, much better and more recent F-14A toolings:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/103272-revell-04029-f-14a-black-tomcat

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/111389-revell-04021-grumman-f-14a-tomcat

 

These ones have the Otaki DNA in them:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/949658-revell-4043-f-14a-tomcat

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/944765-revell-04004-f-14a-tomcat

 

This aftermarket sheet featured a VF-1 Tomcat in markings from the late Vietnam era:

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/decals/star/decal_star_144202.shtml

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