Thought Experiment no 1 - mutton vs lamb

[silverburn]

Hi all,

This is going in work in progress because it will be a practical experiment - but I thought I'd kick off the topic first before beginning.

While daydreaming in the bath I pondered whether a cheap kit can be dressed up to rival the top-of-the-range OOB kit, within the confines of the skill of a merely average builder such as myself.

In particular, I'm thinking of the Revell Supermarine Spit Mk1B (1:32 & £15) or the Pacific Coast MkIX (1:32 at £30). Plus all the aftermarket detail gubbins I might need. My theory is that it might be possible to build an equal or better Spit than something like the new Tamiya Mk IX (1:32 at £85) for less net cash.

This won't be a rivet-counting exercise - they're two different manufacturers afterall, and frankly my skills are not great - merely an exercise to see which is best "bang for buck" for a relative newbie to undertake (I've only been modelling since the summer). They will be built as identically as possible (cammo, a/c numbers etc), with little or no scratch building unless specified by the instructions of the kit(s) themselves - the only constant being my cr@ppy modelling skills. They will be built side-by-side, and progress posted here.

I think it'll generate some interesting results for the pro's/con's of each approach.

So...any thoughts and opinions everyone before I go ahead and kick this off? Are there better kits to compare, for example? I chose the Spit because a) every modeller has/should have one and there are cheap and expensive versions of the same plane, even down to the version.

Obviously this is thought experiment 1...no 2 is in the wings, but you'll all have to wait on tender hooks for that one...it's gonna be good

[Seahawk]

Hi all,

This is going in work in progress because it will be a practical experiment - but I thought I'd kick off the topic first before beginning.

While daydreaming in the bath I pondered whether a cheap kit can be dressed up to rival the top-of-the-range OOB kit, within the confines of the skill of a merely average builder such as myself.

Good luck: will watch with interest.

Have done something similar myself. Dressed up a Hobbyboss F4U-4 with seatbelts, an IPMS USA instrument panel transfer, Superscale transfers and pylons, tanks and rockets left over from a Tamiya F4U. When it was displayed alongside the Tamiya kit, most people had trouble working out which was which. Mind you, the Hobbyboss F4U-4 is one of the best in their range.

Nick

[gareth]

ive thought of doing the same thing never got round to it though