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2014 - Hits and Misses ?


Tiger331

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Hi,

I have scoured the BM website to see if there was a better location for this - apparently not although I'm obviously happy for the Mods to move it if there is somewhere more suitable. I thought it would be good to gauge members views on the new kit releases for 2014 as the year draws to a close and whether they considered the new releases to be a hit or a miss.

I'll kick off proceedings with my own assessment. Appreciate its aviation biased…..armour, ships and other genres please feel free to chip in...

My own list is by no means exhaustive but is based on subject, value for money and overall quality. I am not a rivet counter but nor do I tolerate major errors or omissions.

2014 Hits

Airfix 1:48 Folland Gnat T Mk 1

Airfix 1:72 Douglas C-47 Skytrain

Airfix 1:48 Supermarine Spitfire Vb

Avantgarde 1:48 Aero L29 Delphin

Great Wall Hobby 1:48 F-15C Eagle MISP II

Kinetic 1:48 BAe Sea Harrier FA-2

2014 Misses

Eduard 1:48 ME Bf-109G-6

Must Have ! 1:48 A-26B Invader

Kittyhawk 1:48 F-101A Voodoo

Kittyhawk 1:48 SEPECAT Jaguar T.2

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My personal list:

2014 Hits (I had to buy them all...)

Airfix 1:48 Folland Gnat T Mk 1

Revell 1:48 Tornado (even though some RAF parts miss and despite the fin issue)

Airfix 1:48 Supermarine Spitfire Vb

Special Hobby 1:48 CA Walrus repop

AlleyCat 1:48 Spitfire Prototype (if resin kits are allowed here)

2014 Misses (I really wanted to buy these but rejected when details became clear)

Italeri 1:32 Starfighter

Must Have! 1:48 A-26B Invader

I think there are more - but I thankfully forgot these...

Rene

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Personally, I'd put the Airfix Blenheim as a hit, though because I'm waiting for a Mk.IV I've yet to get my hands on one. The ship kit that is most tempting is the Niko SS Ohio, famous for the Malta convoy Operation Pedestal. The outstanding military kit is the MMS Crossley Fire Tender.

Having cleared the heads of the three categories, I'd add the Airfix Tiger Moth.

Overall, not a great year, but no significant misses either. The odd quibble but no sad disappointments.

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My hits for 2014 (so far)

Kinetic 1/48 Sea Harrier FA.2 (About time we had a new kit )

Kinetic 1/48 Fouga Magister (Lovely detail and two kits in the one box)

Eduard 1/48 Bf109G-6 (I know there's a discrepancy with the wings but it goes together beautifully)

Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Vb

Tarangus 1/48 JA-37 Viggen

Trumpeter 1/48 F-106

Freedom Model Kits X-47B

Misses

GWH 1/48 F-15B/D (a mismatch of details and open access panels spoil this)

Trumpeter 1/48 Whirlwind (lots of errors here)

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Great Idea!

Hits all 48th

Airfix Gnat, Special Hobby Walrus, Tamiya Daimler Dingo, Airfix Spitfix Vb, Kitty Hawk Twogar, Freedom X-47B, Eduard Mig-21R, Tarangus Safir

Misses

Thanks to the lovely people on BM I avoided several stinkers...

Trumpeter Whirlwind, KittyHawk F-101, Eduard Bf-109G even with the fantastic build quality it sticks out among any other Bf109 :weep:

Generally 2014 was a good year IMHO , not too mad on new stuff but plenty of after-market to get.

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2014 Misses (I really wanted to buy these but rejected when details became clear)

Italeri 1:32 Starfighter

What is wrong with the F-104 ? Due to the high price, i've only drooled over it in my LMS and not searched for any 'issues' it may have.

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Hits have got to be most of the Airfix new tools, the new Swift looks excellent as long as you don't get one with the ejector pins the Indian QC let through. The Academy F-35A is not too bad although we suffer from not having a definitive set of drawings and references to determine which producer has got the size and shape correct.

Notable misses would have to be the Italeri Stirling bomber, as they missed it out in 2013 & 2014 completely and went with the Transport/glider tug version instead. Their F-35A Lightning II is a lemon too, let down by the raised panels that are actually different paints not levels !!!.

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What is wrong with the F-104 ? Due to the high price, i've only drooled over it in my LMS and not searched for any 'issues' it may have.

The price is the firt thing but I already saw it for a round 50 Euros and I was almost willing to buy it. The main problem for me is that most of all the panel lines are too wide and inconsistant (and the quality is different on either side of the fuselage halfs). They may be OK for camouflaged Starfighters but for NMF these will look pretty bad. Then the PE parts are - well I would bin at least 90% of these and would prefer the kit to be without them and cheaper. Some other areas are not so super detailed for this scale either regarding it is a new tool kit. I will wait some more years (probably) and hope AFV Club will release their F-104 and do it better. How ever I have not heared anything about it for quite a while.

Rene

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Hits for me:

Italeri 1/72 Sterling

Sword 1/72 EE Lightning

Tarangus 1/48 Viggen

Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk.Vb

Misses:

Trumpeter 1/48 Whirlwind

Airfix's quality control on their clear parts

The fact that Tamiya haven't done a P-47N yet!

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I've been mightily impressed with the Airfixe releases this year but apart from the panel lines the Italeri stirling stands out. It's pretty near spot on

John

Ah but its not the Bomber that was originally announced last year and its failed to appear this year in that format so that why I class that as a fail. The Glider tug was a nice idea and timed for D-Day, but I bet you would have preferred to have had the Bomber.

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Ah but its not the Bomber that was originally announced last year and its failed to appear this year in that format so that why I class that as a fail. The Glider tug was a nice idea and timed for D-Day, but I bet you would have preferred to have had the Bomber.

The Mk.I is due before the end of the year - it's understandable that they want to do the tug first for D-day, but it's never a fail if kit turns up late to me, I'd rather they not rush it like a Trumpeter kit ;)

Edited by Tbolt
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Hits for me:

Italeri 1/72 Sterling

Sword 1/72 EE Lightning

Tarangus 1/48 Viggen

Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk.Vb

Misses:

Trumpeter 1/48 Whirlwind

Airfix's quality control on their clear parts

The fact that Tamiya haven't done a P-47N yet!

Give that man a Drink !

Totally agree your sentiment regarding a Tamiya P-47N !!

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Ah but its not the Bomber that was originally announced last year and its failed to appear this year in that format so that why I class that as a fail. The Glider tug was a nice idea and timed for D-Day, but I bet you would have preferred to have had the Bomber.

I'd have like to have the bomber first but a Mk IV was on my to do list anyway and it's consigned the Heritage conversion to the surplus list. If the Mk I/III is anywhere near as good I'll be well pleased, after all we can be patient for a while longer yet can't we? :hmmm::D

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