Giorgio N

Unlikely as the Modelsvit kit really fills a different market niche compared to what SH is most likely to offer, that is something similar in quality and price to their Mirage F.1 Even with the Modelsvit kit around, there is still room for SH to do theirs

What a load of stuff that I'd rather not mention on a family-friendly forum... Annoying people of every kind exist in all communities while the vast majority is friendly and only glad to help. Just have a browse through the many pages and posts of this forum and you'll see it ! Now back to the Revell kit, since this thread is supposed to be about this kit and nothing else....

The kind of low visibility stencils used on RAF grey Phantoms is always hard to see, not surprisingly of course... For this reason I consulted the two old Aeroguide titles on the F-4J and the FGR.2, that include plenty of clpse-up pictures, and indeed the F-4Js in original US scheme seem to feature a very limited number of stencils, lacking the multitude of stencils that the Spey engined aircraft featured. Aircraft repainted in British colours however seem to show more stencils than in the original scheme, it may well be that in the US they received only a minimal set and this was then brought to RAF standard after repaint in the UK

Yellow codes were used by second line units and 718 was one of them, reason why codes on these aircraft are usually represented in this colour

Cost of the new tool Hasegawa Tomcat kits (where new is a relative term, the "new" tool dates from 1988...) varies a lot depending on the issue, some recent "limited edition" may easily cost £50, while the basic "Atlantic Fleet" or "Pacific Fleet" may still be found for much less. Being kits that first appeared many years ago, there's plenty on the second hand market and here it's possible to find good bargain with some hunting.. That brings me to the new Academy kit... while checking Kingkit for second hand Hase Tomcats I found that they have the Academy new tool kit for £25, new kit, not second hand. IMHO a pretty good price for this kit, higher than your £20 but not by much. The same dealer also has the Academy F/A18E for £21.60. pretty close to your budget and a kit that seems to be rated as pretty good. No connection with the dealer, just reporting prices I've seen and find pretty good. There may be dealers with similar or even better prices, always worth looking around Now since the Revell Tomcat has been mentioned, this is a kit that I find a bit disappointing, as the same company in those same years made some much better kits... panel lines are very wide and deep and mould finesse isn't great. I also feel this kit is a bit expensive for what it offers... but of course we all have our own opinion. I suggest to look at the kits being built at the moment in the F-14 group build on this same forum, you'll be able to see various kits and decide which ones offer the best value for your money

I'm afraid none of the best Tomcat kits would fall within your budget, at least not if new. I would suggest looking for a second hand new tool Hasegawa kit or a Fujimi one, these may be found in this price bracket Of the cheaper kits, maybe the Hobbyboss ones are the best, for sure they are the most modern and generally superior to Revell, Italeri or the old tool Academy kit. Cost should be around £20-22. The recent new tool Academy kit is IMHO at the moment very good in terms of value for money and if you don't mind adding another fiver to your budget is IMHO money well spent over the Hobbyboss kits. Just don't mistake the new and old tool kits from the same company, the older one is not bad for its days but the new one is in a different league Similar problem for Hasegawa, the "high visibility" and "low visibility" kits are from the old mould, so much inferior to the various issues of the new mould kit, that is vastly superior in everything (including price)

US Navy types in general have quite an enthusiastic following in the modelling community, guess that their colourful markings more than compensate for the overall poor and short careers of some of them. Not that all these have been always well treated by model companies, the Demon itself has only recently become available as a decent 1/72 short run kit (interestingly the same type has been better treated in 1/48...) but at least kits have been around for some time, even if not all good.

Special Hobby issued a 1/72 Ajeet Mk.I not too many years ago, that is sure a cool subject but not a Marut... There was a resin Marut kit in 1/72 years ago, never seen any in 1/48 though Yes, the Marut was designed by Kurt Tank, so this alone should make it an interesting subject. The type also saw combat and served for a decent number of years, it was not considered a huge success and the project was seriously hurt by the availability of a suitable engine but still the Marut served its purpose for quite some time. Actually its service was overall more interesting than many better known types

Prediction based on something you may know ? If so, then I'll be happy to see it happening ! I do own the Xtrakit 1/72 offering but should something better appear, I'll gladly wait before starting this kit...

Tamiya and Hasegawa would be impossible, but other manufacturers may actually be more likely. Afterall Trumpeter offers more 1/48 FAA types from the era than Airfix. Yes, I know, the trumpeter name sends shiver down the spine of those enthusiasts who also want accuracy as not all their products fare well in this department... Other Chinese brands have also issued kits of less common subjects, so who knows, they may do a Scimitar before Airfix. In 1/72 scale on the other hand I would bet on the various Czech companies to offer one more than on Airfix, and considering the quality most of these companies have achieved it wouldn't really be a bad thing.

An obsession that I've been suffering from for many years... and I'm not even British !

Oh I remember those discussions, that sure showed how there's a strong affection towards the type. Nothing bad with it, I would personally love a proper modern kit of the Scimitar, even if this would likely be a modern short run since I can't see any mainstream manufacturer doing one today in the same way as I was not expecting this to happen 4 years ago or 7 years ago or whenever we had these discussions. Of course the fact that I'd like a kit of the Scimitar does not necessarily mean I believe that the Scimitar deserves a kit more than other types for any particular reason. Actually I feel the HAL Marut was a more significant aircraft than the Scimitar and yet nobody here asks for a kit of this aircraft Of course I would personally also love to have a kit of the Marut... although I don't believe this will ever happen from any mainstream manufacturer either... and now I wonder how many will have to look on the web to find out what a Marut is...

Can't add anything more to what others have already mentioned but I'd like to say that I love your idea since this was my first "conversion" many years ago, starting from the same Airfix kit and adding hook and spools from brass and plastic rod, with some rudimentary addition in the cockpit, brush-painted with Molak enamels (an Italian brand very popular in the '70s and '80s) and with decals cobbled together from the spares box (I remember the Royal Navy titling coming from an Airfix Swordfish... There are times when I feel I should try the same conversion again today, starting from the same kit but with the benefit of an additional 20+ years in the hobby... Edited: actually it's 30+ years in the hobby... built that in the mid '80s and it's now... no, I don't want to think about it...

Sounds like a politically motivated article rather than one with any serious technical merit, an attempt to counter the rumours about the Pakistani aircraft by telling how good the Indian alternative would be. That is something quite common whenever these two countries are involved in anything,,, Political moves apart, I can't see how anyone may be interested in the Tejas today, it's a type that is only now entering full production and does not have any particularly special record. Such a purchase could only be the result of political agreements, or some particularly good offer.. but must be very good !

I have several Hasegawa 1/72 Spitfire IXs, that share the same shape issues with the 1/48 kit, and IMHO it is not worth bothering with correcting these kits ! Not because they aren't wrong, the thin and short fuselage is quite noticeable and also gives problems when using aftermarket decals not specifically designed for these kits. I would not bother for the reason that bringing the fuselage to a more accurate shape would need a lot of work that I find hard to justify when there a much more accurate and detailed kit in the shape of the Eduard Mk.IX series, a kit that is also available at very good prices (at least in Europe). The Hasegawa kits on the other hand are very nice kits to build and I prefer to build mine without modifications every time I want a relaxing build experience, using them to represent those subjects that I consider interesting enough to build a kit but not as interesting to me to deserve a more accurate kit