tempestfan

At least the Victor has been reissued quite frequently, I think, and as releases of those kits from the 70s and onwards are not eminently collectible, I'd expect them to be available on ebay for a lot less.

Well I know what Thorney Island is (IIRC it had a large FAA airfield ) and have a general idea about its location. My intent was to point out that error in the instructions shown above which is no typo as it is repeated twice. While the actual decal research probably was done by someone not responsible for that error, stuff like this always casts some shadows of doubt upon the care with which the job has been done. I admit this may be viewed as nitpicking.

I fully agree that H-33 was very remarkable for a Revell kit back then - if one compares it to the 1/48 F-15 that was released around the same time, one wouldn't necessarily believe they are from the same stable. I'd say the next kit of their own origin as remarkable was their 32nd F-15 some 5 years later, but I'm in danger of veering o/t. Probably the G-10 benefitted from being a "from scratch" project, whereas the Spit and P-40 appear to have some 32nd kit ancestry. Still I wonder why they didn't go the easy way and scaled the 48th kit down, as this appears to not have been the cas. And yes, I'm well stocked with the 72nd one as I bought a half-dozen or so of the original small box release for DM 3,- each when Revell decided to use a larger box and up the price by 80 %

IIRC the Hasegawa FG.1 and FGR.2 have recessed panels (unlike some of the US versions).

Duncan, I take your comment to apply to the smaller kit - I don't recall any rivets on the 48th one. Does the u/c problem also affect the larger one (just curious, there are so many 109 experts in Germany already that I'm not keen on becoming another one)? To clarify, with the "it" in "it being called" I referred to the 48th kit.

So do I, but apparently the link should lead to the Lindberg Vulcan. No Vulcan expert, but it is a kit of a straight leading edge proto and IIRC has problems even for one of those. I seem to recall the Frog 1/96 B.1 was much better as a kit and as a model, but then you'd need to rob a bank to buy one.

In this specific instance, a natural port of call would be Jochen Prien and Peter Rodeike, though there may well be some recent discoveries/views not contained in their works or shared by them. I guess my approach as a model company would be to gather as much information from as many sources as possible, see in which aspects there is a general consensus (which of course may still be wrong...), and try to sort out the disputed issues by validating each differing view. I admit that it probably would be naive to expect a manufacturer to undertake such a semi-scientific approach as it likely is much too expensive and their object is simple - make a profit. In the good old days of my childhood, it was a standard feature of Matchbox kits to acknowledge their research sources on the instructions. Perhaps that would be an idea to pick up for Trumpeter etc., so everyone knows who is responsible for the latest piece of inaccurate research

I am surprised to read the 1/72 Revell G-10 is regarded fairly lowly. It was my assumption it is directly based on their 48th kit, and I recall it being called "best late 109 in any scale" for a long time.

# 4357 is the Italeri kit - one dead giveaway are the pilots. # 4236 (the Lufthansa version you linked to on the following page weren't there KLM decals included, too ?) indeed is the Esci. After Revell ceased to distribute (and rebox) the complete Esci line, they reboxed only a small number of Escis (F-5A, DC-3), and I think that stopped around 1986 or so. The DLH boxing is a couple of years earlier than the Luftwaffe one. On the other hand, Revell has for a long time cooperated with Italeri and reboxed a substantial number of Italeri (and in later years Italeri-née-Esci) kits.

To add to the confusion: There was a boxing of Esci kit 9014 including Eastern Airways markings (the UK regional operator). Was kit 7005 (Airfix) actually released ? If it was the Italeri, it would have entailed a remarkable price rise against the preceding Series 5 release.

That IP decal doesn't actually look all that bad. I should buy one of those kits.

Possibly that cockpit has been designed by the same person who designed the Academy 48th Hunter cockpit ? I suspect there's a giant plot by some kit manufacturers with the aftermarket industry to include at least one completely inacceptable major inaccuracy in any given kit.

I expect to get stoned for the suggestion, but the old Matchbox 72nd E used to be well regarded for the shapes (OK, that was thirty ys. ago), main neg being the oil coolers more resembling those on the F and later, while their 32nd kit was the benchmark in this scale for some 30 years ( and I think not only relative to the Hasegawa competition, but also in absolute terms). As I don't think either one has been reissued much in the past 20 ys., their collectors price may be at a point that they can't seriously compete with newer kits, though. May I hasten to add I'm not a 109 expert...

Where exactly is "Torney Island" ?

As "ground role" unfortunately has GR as initials, your explanation "GR (ground role)" could be read as being the words behind the abbreviation, which, as has been stated, are actually Ground attack/Recconaissance.

Your approach assumes the drawings are correct in the first place. Reading some of Mr Rittgers posts elsewhere, I read him that he doesn't hold the drawings in very high regard - what that may or may not mean regarding the kit's accuracy or otherwise I don't know. The fact is that checking kits against drawings is dangerous - there are a lot out there that look beautiful and have appeared in well-respected publications but have serious ("fatal") errors (and yes, I have done quite a bit of checking of drawings against photos and could back up my claim if necessary). Some reviews say "looks good against drawings" or even "well respected drawings" but do not tell which they are. Many people won't care anyway, but it would be nice if the reference is stated in such cases. Probably it's wiser for any reviewer not to check against drawings at all and to state this, as he may be in for instant stoning if he dares to pick a set whose accuracy is proven or disputed. My impression is that the mood would be much more relaxed if people didn't perceive a somewhat arrogant attitude by Eduard. Anyone who has his mouth wide open for an extended period and fails to live up to his claims must expect a whipping, even if the model as a kit is absolutely perfect.

Parts of the E-Type here, instructions for the DB-5 here.

There was also a DB 5 and Mercedes 280 in that range.

To return to a very old thread: Airfix released the TR.7 twice, first in 1980 in Series 6 and later in 1992 (or thereabouts) in S. 5. We have been discussing the origin of the Airfix 1/24 rallye cars at length at the Airfix Collecting Forum, and came to the conclusion that both of the TR releases are the Gunze kit (concurrent with the 90s release, they also released a Merak which appears to have been also Gunze, while their 1980 Merak was Tsukuda's). Those were our conclusions/findings (the Tsukudas are definite because they feature the Tsukuda trademark) 06405-9 Lancia Stratos, 1980, Gunze, never re-released 06406-2 TR.7, 1980, Gunze, re-released 1992 06407-5 Ferrari 365 GTB, 1980, Gunze, never re-released 06408-8 Porsche 934, 1980, Gunze, never re-released 06409-1 Datsun 280, 1980, Gunze, never re-released 06410-1 Mustang Cobra II, 1980, Gunze, never re-released 06411-4 BMW M-1, 1980, Eidai, re-released 1992 06412-7 Lamborghini Countach, late 1980/early 1981,Eidai, re-released 1992 06413-0 Maserati Bora, late 1980/early 1981, Eidai, re-released 1992 06424 Alpine, 1981/2 post Palitoy takeover, Eidai, re-released 1992 06425-3 Boomerang, probably late 1980, Eidai, available as USAirfix ca. 1979, re-released 1992 06426-6 BMW 3.5, probably Eidai, available as USAirfix ca. 1979, probably first released 1992 06427-9 Pantera, source unkonwn, probably first released 1992 07401-0 Merak, 1980, Tsukuda (available as USAirfix and German Airfix ca. 1979), never re-released 07402-3 Lotus Elite, 1980, Tsukuda (available as USAirfix and German Airfix ca. 1979), never re-released 07403-6 probably reserved for Lambo Ital, Tsukuda (available as USAirfix and German Airfix ca. 1979) 07404-9 BMW M.1, probably Tsukuda (available as Lambo Ital by USAirfix and German Airfix ca. 1979), probably not released 07405-2 Ferrari Dino, 1980, Eidai, re-released 1992 The 1992 kits were: 5401 BMW M.1 ex 06411-4 5402 Bora ex 06413-0 5403 Alpine ex 06424 5404 Countach ex 06412-7 5405 Pantera announced 1981, probably not released then, probably ex 06427-9, probably ex Eidai 5406 Ferrari Rainbow 5407 Boomerang announced 1981, probably not released then, probably ex 06425-3, ex Eidai 5408 Lotus Esprit probably ex Eidai 5409 Lambo Jota probably ex Eidai 5410 Custom Corvette ex Eidai 5411 TR.7 Gunze 5412 Merak Gunze 6401 Dino ex 07405-2 Ferrari Dino, ex Eidai, 6402 BMW 3.5 ex 06426-6 BMW 3.5, probably Eidai I have most of the 1980 boxings that are confirmed to have been released, but none of the 1992 versions, so have not been able to check the earlier against the later issues. The 1981 catalogue also included a range of 8 SnapFix kits of assorted Corvettes, Mustangs etc. that were released before by USAirfix but apparently didn't make it into UK (or French) boxings. Lindberg later (?) released a very similar range - we have not been able to establish whether the USAx and Lindberg kits are the same, nor whether they may have been tooled by Lindberg in some mould sharing agreement. Anyone who can add to any of the open questions is very welcome ! Entex reboxed that kit - IIRC it was a Gakken original that later was also reboxed by Revell and finally went to Minicraft (though Revell may have had leased the mould from Minicraft, as they had quite a number of kits of Japanese origin in their range in the early 80s that were reboxed for the US by Entex before and are with Minicraft today). The Jaguar SS100 was also a Gakken mould originally.

If the 109 is actually as bad as it seems, it gives them the opportunity to offer an update & correction set consisting of a full newly tooled kit.

The 2nd mould P-51D (02045) was released in 1974 or thereabouts so precedes the 2nd mould Spit I (01065) by a couple of years. You are probably referring to the B (02066) which must have come out around the same time the Spit I did, and was indeed a bit oversimplified in places (especially as it was clearly designed as a S. 1 kit but released as a S. 2). The 2nd mould D incidentally was one of the very few attempts by Airfix at recessed panel lines (the Do 17 being the other - if we discount the Gladiator, BT-K, 109F and original Albatros), and obviously benefitted in the cockpit from the research for the Super Kit.

I second that !!!

A most interesting thread - the 47 was the last kit I managed to finish, way back when it was new...The kits (22/34 and 46/47) were likely heavily based on the Argus/MAP drawings of the 22/24 - I used them too, and IIRC almost everything matched up perfectly, so any error in the drawings would have been faithfully replicated in the kit. I would have said that the kit included Seafire-specific u/c doors, as now that this thread has come to my attention I seem to recall reading about them in a piece by Eric Brown on the 47 in Air International. I also think that I read somewhere that these were retrofitted to Spits as they were much better on soft ground. But obviously my memory is wrong regarding the inclusion of the Seafire doors in the 46/47 kit. Seems I have to look up my kit and the review I wrote if I can find either.

This seller has a quote of € 15,90 for shipping to Norway (click on "Versandkostenrechner" in the panel to the left, section "service), payment with PayPal has a 1.5% surcharge. I hasten to add I have no experience with this seller, it's just to give you an idea. Looking around a bit may pay, and it'd probably be wise to check on s&h beforehand via an enquiry.

You may be better off ordering from a continental seller. The RRP here in Germany is 25 €, I think, but on amazon.de the cheapest is 18.20 plus s&h, so it may pay to look for a seller via amazon who ships to Norway.