stalal

If it just the looks only, then to me these are the aircraft that stand out - F-16 - Mirage III & V series - Rafale - F-4 Phantom F-14 looks great but only from certain angles. It looks like a serious and daunting aircraft.

If these sets were available few years ago, Italeri Wessex build wouldn't have been so frustrating. Beautiful cockpit details indeed @hendie.

Now published in Air Modeler latest issue. https://www.afvmodeller.com/product/air-modeller-issue-113-out-march-21st/

Strangely, one of their famous helicopters is showing as 'in stock' 3 years after completely disappearing. https://www.hobbylinc.com/kittyhawk-mh60l-black-hawk-combat-helicopter-plastic-model-helicopter-kit-1:35-scale-50005?utm_source=scalemates&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=marketplace Is it possible KH is back in business? Or as some members have said, its a case of some stock in warehouse being released now.

I remember @Hendie when you were building Italeri Wessex. I followed it and it was an inspiration. I could not detail it as much as you did, but I still followed and tried to copy your work. With these superbly detailed parts, anyone can build a super detailed Wessex in Hendie style That beetleback vent looks fantastic. So do other parts.

I built M1 Abrams from Tamiya and Meng. Meng has some great details. Their kit has non slip surface detail. There are other details too which add quality to the kit. Tamiya kit is easy to build but its details are very basic.

I dont like Tamiya armor models in any scale. Their fit quality is great but their details are not. A comparable model from Dragon for example, gives you tons of great detail to work with and fit quality is also superb. But, as you know, opinion is always subjective.

The molding looks very sharp, notwithstanding the issues mentioned by members.

That USAAF star and stripe insignia is so wrong, even a non-expert like me picked up the issue at the first sight. In the correct design, the stripes touch the top edge of the horizontal side of the star. This is a fair criticism. Because the kit maker should get such a basic detail right, out of the box. With the price of the kit and if I were to add an aftermarket decal sheet, the price will easily go above $200, considering how expensive aftermarket decals are these days. The other criticism I have as a non-expert is the engine detail. Its not correct even in its very basic detail. As modelers, the first thing we tend to see are the engines on these WW2 planes. I cant figure out cowling shape issue. However, people say thats a wrong shape. Having said all this, I still commend HobbyBoss effort. It looks like a great kit with a lot of detail and the surface detail looks very sharp. If I had space, I would have bought it too.

The aftermarket will take care of the engine nacelle and other issues mentioned by @Steve N, I m sure. But he is trying to point out that there is abundance of material, lots of other kits available in the market, to get the things right out of the box. HobbyBoss has put in a commendable effort in this kit. Its those little things that take the shine off.

Tamiya Japan's preview of F-35B

The kit has parts for F-4J or C/D. I m no Phantom expert. But there are parts for more versions. After 3 years, if they haven't released a new version, I m afraid, we are going down the path of their F-16. F-16 kit detail up parts had 2 sets of seatbelts. The top fuselage was molded in 2 halves too as if to accommodate another version of forward fuselage. But we never saw a 2 seat version. Sorry, I dont mean to derail the thread.

More recently, no new versions of F-4 beyond the only version they issued.

Lucky model showing it in stock. https://luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=TA 61125

I have avoided building Luftwaffe aircraft because of their complex paint schemes. The painting on this model is just superb. Very inspiring @Mottlemaster