Tiger331

Mike, Yep…thanks…..I didn't really want to pile more misery on the poor fellah by suggesting I was looking for a refund etc so I thought I would leave direct contact out and ask via this medium just in case anyone had heard anything via other means. I'll give it another month or so and see if anything appears on the official website. Mark

Hi there, Tried to add a question to a previous thread but it was locked for some reason ?. First and foremost, I am aware of Jennings Heilig's terrible loss (House fire) just before the holiday season and suspect that this awful event could have had something to do with the non-delivery of the recently released Fundekals T-38A Talon decals. Of course, I fully understand if this is the case but I just wondered if anyone else has experienced similar issues or if there is something posted elsewhere to the effect that all of the decals and any orders placed for them were lost in the fire and will not now be delivered ?. As I say, I would fully understand if this was the case. Thanks Mark

Me Too !…… Lovely kit, though I suspect GWH will attract some criticism over the '2in1' nomenclature on the box ……others use it to clearly indicate there are two kits in one box…..I always understood that this was one model kit with two options but I'm not sure that other buyers will grasp the subtly of the language, which could be deemed misleading. Mark

Lovely job.......been following this one avidly. BTW, where did you get the stand for the kit ?.......ive seen it before but cannot seem to find it on the internet. Thanks Mark

I can confirm that the Mustang, Fw190, Gnat and P-40 are all the new moulds....not 100% sure of the Spitfire or ME Bf-109 although I understand they may be new moulds too....

As others have intimated, its a bit of a minefield out there with new vs. old Airfix kits.....I think the various Red Arrows boxings of the Hawks and Gnats are by far the most confusing but there are others.....The new mould Airfix P-51 has, if I recall correctly, now been issued in at least three guises....the starter set has one decal option for an RAF machine and there is a 'slimline' box edition with USAAF markings and a fuller box version marketed as a F-51 with decals for Korean War era and Dominican AF variants.....but the old mould still lurks in both the starter set and box version.....with a green nose IIRC ?. I would certainly consider the P-51 along with the Typhoon and Gladiator......both show signs of the huge improvement that Airfix have made in recent years.......slightly off topic but their 1:48 Javelin is up there with the very best that Tamiya and Hasegawa can come up with....and a hundred percent more original to boot !. Y

Lovely work.........inspiration for my own project Mark

So does this mean I can make a fabric winged Hurricane with a three bladed prop ?.

Mike, The book I referred to in my earlier post shows RNoAF in later life (i.e. after they started sporting the overall light grey scheme) carrying a pair of AIM-9s on the wingtip pylons. This would suggest that some modifications took place mid-life to accept the AIM-9 and the photos show at least two different variants of the missile….one with 'pointy' forward fins and the other with the 'double delta' type forward fins….sorry, not an expert on these but I think one was the AIM-9L…not sure of the other mark (AIM-9P perhaps ?) HTH

The vast majority of photos that I have seen only show RNoAF F-5As with drop tanks......quite often three together with the 'coke bottle' wingtip tanks as well......all for long transits. There are one or two nice photos on one of the Norwegian websites showing F-5As with the wing tip tanks, drop tanks on the inboard pylons and what appears to be a single SUU-20 practice bomb dispenser (in white) on the centreline pylon. I do also recall seeing photos of them with Zuni type rocket pods (flat faced) on the inner pylons too. There are some excellent photos in the book on the Luftforsvaret in the Nordic Airpower Series (No.3) with '208' (in its natural metal days) carrying an unusual asymetric load with one AGM-12 Bullpup AGM on the port wing (inboard) and a standard 150 gallon drop tank on the starboard pylon, together with a centreline tank in dark green. Two other photos show F-5As carrying A-38N chaff dispenser pods on the underwing pylons, again with a centreline tank. These latter pods are quite big and, at first glance, look like drop tanks. HTH Mark

Take your first point but I'm not sure I would necessarily agree with you on your parting shot. As someone who works on the periphery of the industry, a large percentage of the overall production costs of a kit go into the R&D, production of the mould, marketing and advertising, decal design and packaging. Given that the original kit does not appear to have been modified or added to, and that the decals and packaging are the same as before, Revell only have to worry about reproducing the actual content and you would be surprised at how much (in actual fact little) the basic plastic parts cost to produce. Rest assured they are making a tidy profit on this re-issue but good luck to them (see my other post).

Don't get me wrong.....I have been a long term fan (and defender) of Revell and do often wonder how they manage to bring out such masterpieces as the Arado Ar-196 and Westland Lynx family at such a low price when compared with some of their Far Eastern competitors...which is why I was more than a little surprised with the standard UK RRP......I did not imagine, for one minute, that they would maintain the UK RRP of the original issue but just felt it was a little 'steep'. I am in the fortunate position of having two of the original-issue kits so I'm not really in the market for a third but thanks for the helpful advice on shopping around. I'm sure others will find it useful.

It looks as if this kit is going to be of similar or better quality than their first - the IAI Kfir C2, in which case I will have no hesitation in saying that I will almost certainly opt for this kit over the Kinetic version. The Avantgarde Kfir is a far simpler kit ( in terms of parts breakdown) than the Kinetic and whilst the latter is also very good, I think the Avantgarde kit has the edge. It appears to be a similar story with the Fouga Magister but the proof, of course, will only be obvious when we open the respective kit boxes !.

It may just be my opinion but I was rather surprised by the 49.99UKP price tag for the recently re-issued Revell 1:32 scale Tornado GR.1. I cannot help thinking that they are trying to capitalise on the so-called EVilBay effect where this previously hard to find kit regularly commanded 70-75 pound price tags. IIRC the original kit retailed for 29.99 and even taking into account inflation would not now command a price tag of an extra 20.00, particularly since there were very few pre-production costs involved; same mould, same decals and same box art. Given their normally excellent pricing structure with, for example, a highly detailed and complex 1:32 scale kit of the Westland Lynx coming in at less than the Airfix kit in 1:48 scale, I just cannot work out why they priced the Tornado so high. It will be interesting to see how well it sells initially - they are not exactly flying off the shelves at the Big H website and I suspect most will wait until the kit comes down in price through the excellent discounting structure that Revell seem to offer a multitude of retailers but I do feel they missed an opportunity here. It would be interesting to see what others think ?.

It does seem strange that Airfix would 'drop' the kit down to another series (Series 1) without a serious drop in the parts count. It cannot simply be down to supplying one rather than two decal options in the kit unless its a marketing ploy to get it into the true 'pocket money' range - those new thin Series 1 boxes do appear to be the 21st Century equivalent of the header card/plastic bag of bygone days.

J, Yep.....I think they got their fingers burnt with the "PR disaster" that followed the MiG-21MF vs. Bis fuselage issue and have been very cautious ever since - hence the delay with the 1:72 MiG-15Bis release and now this extra effort to provide accurate wings for the 'R' variant. Mark Sam, Yep........I have that too !.....I'm really torn now Mark

Just got one of these through the post to join my growing collection of Eduard Fishbeds. I got a very pleasant surprise with the inspired decal options in this particular kit issue. I had intended on only doing one 'R' variant but the inclusion of colourful Cuban, Soviet (Afghanistan-era) and Yugoslav examples almost certainly lead me to consider two projects !. Well done to Eduard. Check it out ! Mark

Hi Folks, I've just purchased the new Techmod 1:48 Decal Sheet with markings to complete the Polish AF GD single-seat F-16C Block 52+ in NATO Tiger markings from 2012. I am planning to use a Tamiya 1:48 F-16CJ Block 50 and some CMK resin conformal tanks for this project.....am I on the right track or do I need to look at something different ?. I know Hasegawa do Block 52+ variants of the Viper but I would prefer to use the Tamiya kit as a basis for the project. Thanks in anticipation Mark

Wingman Models marketed two Tamiya acrylic colours at SMW13 Telford for the GEAF F-4F Phantom Pharewell. Evidently the GEAF Unit used standard automobile paints for the two primary colours applied to the F-4F Pharewell Phantom and Wingman marketed these accordingly. The Blue is Honda Vivid Blue Metallic and the Gold is Peugeot Heliodor Metallic Gold. The paint pots were labelled locally by Wingman Models. I was reliably informed that these two colours were closely matched to existing Tamiya Paints and, having checked their catalogue, assume they are based on TS54 (Light Metallic Blue) and TS75 (Champagne Gold) but I would double check these references to be absolutely sure. Unfortunately there are now visible references on the Wingman Models paint pots (which I have). Hope this Helps Mark

Pure Brilliance ! Can you tell me where you sourced the Ground Equipment and pilot figure ?....I've been looking for the former items but cannot find any (wheel chocks/cart etc).... A GREAT start ! Thanks for sharing

The predictability of ARC continues.....more kit bashing....suppose it makes a change from Chinese-originated products but I get so tired of this constant 'whining' about new kits......I may consider listening more when the domestic market actually starts to produce something of its own (and I'm not talking about re-pops of a 25+ year kit with a new fuselage etc). As modellers, we have never had it so good and particularly in the larger scales with kits we could only dream of a few years back. So you need to do a few corrections here and there ?...big deal.....thats what modelling is meant to be about...taking a kit and building it to your own standard.....if it does not meet your 'exacting' standards out of the box then do one of two things.....don't buy it or buy it and do something about its 'faults' with your superior knowledge and modelling skills......leave the rest of us mere mortals to enjoy the simple fact that a manufacturer has taken the brave decision to actually produce a kit of our favourite, long-awaited subject.

For now, the Hasegawa kit in 1:48 and unless someone like Great Wall Hobby does one (highly unlikely!) I will stick with this. I have just started work on a -D model for my boss - He retires from the US Army next year and flew the Apache.....I also have plans to do an AAC version and bought the Isracast conversion set for this.....Heritage also do a WAH-64 set so there are several options. as others have said, its a great kit and if you combine it with the Hasegawa upgrade set and one or two of the Eduard sets, it will look really good...just check out the examples on this website.

There can be little doubt that Italeri kits have crept up in price in recent years and I suspect much of this is to do with the ups and downs of the overall Italian economy. Italeri kits have always been expensive in their 'home' country..I lived there between 2005-2008 and always found it interesting and frustrating that the kit prices were anything between 15-20% more than I paid with the BiG H. I must admit the UK RRP for the F-104 is a bit more than I was expecting - I thought it would come in at the £60 mark so £89.99 is a bit steep. On the plus side, if the rumour about a tie-in with Danny Coremanns is true then we can expect nothing more than fantastic accuracy (within the bounds of economic reason). Danny has a fearsome reputation for accuracy when it comes to anything F-104 related and could have been relied upon to provide the very best references to Italeri.....so, I for one, will forego the 'pleasures' of the Hasegawa kit with a mass of aftermarket correction sets and opt for the Italeri kit.....just requires a little 'shopping around' (as is usual these days) to secure a slightly better deal.

Tony, Like I said.....Kinetic are one of the newer manufacturers......They may have been around for 4-5 years but this is still relative when compared with the likes of Airfix, Hasegawa, Tamiya and Revell-Monogram. I know they have had some problems in determining the best way to get their kits distributed in a marketplace where distributors are coming and going at regular intervals in a still turbulent economic environment and I imagine this is one of the reasons why the UK Marketplace is not receiving its 'fair share'...I've seen the kit in sale in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands for some months now. Hannants do seem to have encountered problems obtaining this particular kit in spite of having had few issues with the rest of the range - puzzling. One of our LMS has had to deal with three different distributors over the last 18 months in trying to obtain Kinetic kits.....Its still very hit and miss so I my advice would be to scan the web and once you have ascertained a reliable stockist, established a good price and weighed up the risks associated with import duties etc (assuming a non-EU stockist) go ahead and buy. Cheers Mark

Nicely done and an aircraft I can readily associate with. We have one of these in our local museum here in Stavanger which, although in RNoAF markings was actually rescued from a Danish farmyard !. Folowing an extensive restoration it now sports the markings of 333Skv which operated them from the very hangars in which the aircraft currently resides - the Sola-Stavanger aviation museum is housed adjacent to the slipways on the NW side of the current airport. 333Skv continued to operate the aircraft until replaced by the HU-16 Albatross and, of course, is still operational today with the P-3C Orion although based much further north. Mark