Jump to content

sroubos

Members
  • Posts

    1,125
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by sroubos

  1. I'd say a no-brainer from a commercial perspective. The market for this kit is massive, it has broader appeal than any aircraft I can think off apart from a Spitfire, because it will cross way beyond the traditional boundaries of our hobby. This will not just be stocked by Hannants and your corner model shop but in toy stores, museums and supermarkets as well. Making it a simplified kit emphasizes Airfix see it that way, the target market for this is not looking for something with a 200+ parts count that will be eaten by the carpet monster but something little Johnny can put together the night after his birthday party.

     

    It's a smart move. If only Airfix would offset it with some 1/72 kits for the 'professionals' as well but hey, we've got loads of other companies for that, it's not as if we're short of stuff to build.

    • Like 5
  2. I have been using Perfect Plastic Putty for years and I love the stuff. Excess can be wiped off in seconds with a damp tissue and as such it is perfect for filling gaps without destroying surrounding detail. 

     

    Unfortunately my supply is running dry and here in the Netherlands it is like unobtanium; I'm therefore looking for an alternative that has the same characteristics. Is anybody aware of such a product?

  3. Looks to me this Sword kit is at the same level of the Hasegawa G4M2 kit, apart from that one transparency it looks pretty good with nice surface detail. I don't know about fit of course but my experience with Sword kits is very good.

     

    Over here in the Netherlands it's 40 euros, against 35 for the Hasegawa kit, but Sword gives you a masking set as well so really nothing between them pricewise.

     

    I'm looking forward to this one, I'll be looking for it at the end of this month at Euro Scale Modelling.

    • Like 1
  4. The thing with the RAM panels is that they are far less visible on newer airframes, which is why I prefer the recessed approach Hasegawa has taken. They give you the option also then to use decals to avoid having to mask them if you do want to make one of the earlier versions.

     

    But we haven't seen the actual box contents. I wouldn't put it past Tamiya to cater for both tastes by providing the RAM panels as shown in the photo as separate 'stickers', sort of the way some 3rd party manufacturers created the strenghtening panels for the F-16A MLU updates.

     

    But 1/48 is not my scale so I'm not too bothered by this, I wish everyone whose scale it is a great experience building what is sure to be a fantastic kit :)

    • Like 3
  5. I'm building it with my son now, it's a bit start and stop as his attention wanes at times.

     

    I really can't have any complaints about this kit. It's aimed at youngsters and caters to them very well, although at six years old my son is maybe on the young side still to build it without help. 

     

    - Parts breakdown is very good, not too many to make it fiddly, not too few to make it look too toylike.

    - Fit is pretty good although we're not sanding and filling in our build. If you do go that route I doubt you'll need much filler though.

    - Paints are fine in our kit. They need a bit of water but go on well, we are applying two thin coats rather than a single thick one and with the hairy stick included the paint dries up very nicely, very little in the way of stripes or marks.

    - Instructions are very good and indicate clearly where to apply the glue which is really useful. Even I found it helpful, it's a feature every kit manual could do with.

    - Ok so one little issue, the tube of glue is of course not the best suited to apply glue accurately. I recently emptied five or six of these tubes into an empty Tamiya glass glue jar so they still get use. The glue itself is fine, if a little bit thick.

    - Price is right too for such a complete package.

    - It's an accurate model of a Mk V!

     

    Haven't tried the decals yet and we won't be using the stand as my son wants it to hang off the ceiling (he's careful with his toys :) ).

    • Like 1
  6. I did a check at Aviationmegastore.com, which is kind of the Dutch equivalent of Hannants and a decent benchmark for what kits costs in the Netherlands where I now reside (I miss Norfolk :( ).

     

    Prices vary a bit between kits as you'd expect but in general you pay between 17 and 20 euros for the basic kits. It's not more than we've had to pay for an imported Hasegawa or Tamiya product in the last 10 years to be fair and Arma's kits are definitely at least as good. It's a bit more than Eduard's kits were until a few years ago, that's true, but those prices have gone up as well.

     

    Then there is the 23 to 28 euros you pay for the expert sets. Just getting a mask for your basic kit will boost the price right into that price bracket and that's negating the other stuff like the PE. So really not that crazy.

     

    In the end it's everyone's own money to spend and it's an unfortunate reality that things are getting more expensive, but then again that is nothing new either. Arma makes some of the best kits around and you pay an, at least for me, reasonable premium for that.

    • Like 10
×
×
  • Create New...