Tiger331 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hi there, Having a bit of a 1:144 scale frenzy after obtaining some lovely little decal sheets recently. I've managed to research a few of the kits but I'm having trouble with a couple regarding which is considered the best option….so I'm looking for advice from Small Scale Modellers on the following subjects….which is considered the best kit in 1:144 for each ?? Panavia Tornado IDS/ECR F-16 Fighting Falcon (early A and late C models) F/A-18 Hornet - both single and two seater variants F-104 Starfighter Dassault Mirage F.1C Thanks for your help Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hi Mark, I would suggest that you try Revell for Tornado IDS/ECR, I have made a couple of the Tiger schemes that they offer and they look great when complete. I have also made Dragon's Super Hornet and Revell's F-18's both have good detail and again they make up into nice models as do Revell's F-14's if you use the later boxings. If you are looking for after-market parts RetroKit offer resin detail parts for F-18 and Tornado. HTH as a start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hi there, Having a bit of a 1:144 scale frenzy after obtaining some lovely little decal sheets recently. I've managed to research a few of the kits but I'm having trouble with a couple regarding which is considered the best option….so I'm looking for advice from Small Scale Modellers on the following subjects….which is considered the best kit in 1:144 for each ?? Panavia Tornado IDS/ECR: Revell Germany (04030 IDS, 04048, 04846 ECR). Very nice detail and sharply done. F-16 Fighting Falcon (early A and late C models): Revell Germany (03992 F-16C). Just like the Tornado. Personally, I feel that the intake appears to be a hybrid/generic tooling made to work for both 'Big Mouth' and 'Small Mouth' F-16's in the scale. The parts missing for an early F-16A are the short vertical tail insert and arguably a proper 'Small Mouth' intake. Mind you, you can still build build an early F-16A from this kit by modifying the included F-16A MLU long vertical tail insert (reduce it's length), using the Block 1-10 horizontal tail (if needed), older missile launchers and leaving off the RWR antenna on the wing leading edges. F/A-18 Hornet - both single and two seater variants: Revell Germany (04001 F/A-18C, 04064 F/A-18D, 03997 F/A-18E, 04904 E/A-18G). Again, the F/A-18C/D kits are brilliant. The only 'gripe' is that the WSO's console in the F/A-18D kit is noticeably incorrect, it should have a rectangular form, not triangular. 5min. fix with plasticard. The F/A-18E and E/A-18G kits are again the same, though some folks have noticed 'fatal' shape issues, I can't make them out in this scale... Strangely, no F/A-18F yet... Dassault Mirage F.1C: No idea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger331 Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks for your input guys (and the additional info on the Tomcat)….Any thoughts on the F-104 Starfighter ?….I missed that off the list. Thanks again Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks for your input guys (and the additional info on the Tomcat)….Any thoughts on the F-104 Starfighter ?….I missed that off the list. Thanks again Mark Mark, Again, the Revell later boxing is very good, see link for example. Revell F-104G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Mark, Again, the Revell later boxing is very good, see link for example. Revell F-104G Right you are Nimrod. Revell released the F-104G (04060) and TF-104G (04008), which was nice of them. These modular moulds have a lot of potential, Revell could kit every variant of Starfighter with the way the tooling has been designed. Bit of a shame they've stopped with just the -104G's... Dassault Mirage F.1C: The only kit I could find was the Crown 1/144 kit, at the nearest LHS. This kit was later re-boxed by Mini Hobby Models, (Academy)Minicraft and Revell. I wouldn't say it's the 'best' but more the only one out there, decent recessed panel lines and detail but the form around the nose needs refinement through the old sanding stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Beware that Revell used an older Tornado tool until they did a new one ca. 10 to 15 years ago. While I'm not enough interested in 144 to have any knowledge of any kit's qualities, I'd say that older one was decent. Possibly originated by Academy on the base of an old LS mould cut ca. 1981, which wouldn't be the worst thing as the early 80s LS kits have a reputation of being somewhat ahead of their time and competition. Anyway, the Revell new tool should be superior in all repects. As for the F.1, I don't think any other than the née Crown has ever been produced - as LeVi already said -, but judging by some other Crownies I've seen, the F.1 may have been their best mould. The recessed detail leads me to think that it may have been inspired to some extent by the Esci kit. Now follows a semi-thread hijack: About a year ago, I ebayed a junk box for next to nothing containing a number of 144 kits, including an F-16A. As IIRC it has Hill tailcodes, this would lead me to think it is an older kit, probably Revell/ex Crown. Some 144 kits simply do not look like their prototype even to someone with modest knowledge, but that one didn't look bad to me. Others may know better, though. There was also an F-14 with recessed panels and Tophatter (no pun intended) lo-viz decals. The engines look like a pregnant whale from below, the intakes are terribly thick. I assume this is the old Revell kit (also ex Crown ?) - can anyone confirm from my sketchy description ? Whatever kit it is, it probably is no contender for "best kit in scale"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirfixAndy Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Revell also released the Dragon F3 ADV kit .......code is 04026. Keep an eye on the Revell 1/144 releases this year ..... F16 MLU MiG 25 MiG 31 Eurofighter F15E EA-18G Should all be very nice kits Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Beware that Revell used an older Tornado tool until they did a new one ca. 10 to 15 years ago. While I'm not enough interested in 144 to have any knowledge of any kit's qualities, I'd say that older one was decent. Possibly originated by Academy on the base of an old LS mould cut ca. 1981, which wouldn't be the worst thing as the early 80s LS kits have a reputation of being somewhat ahead of their time and competition. Anyway, the Revell new tool should be superior in all repects. As for the F.1, I don't think any other than the née Crown has ever been produced - as LeVi already said -, but judging by some other Crownies I've seen, the F.1 may have been their best mould. The recessed detail leads me to think that it may have been inspired to some extent by the Esci kit. Now follows a semi-thread hijack: About a year ago, I ebayed a junk box for next to nothing containing a number of 144 kits, including an F-16A. As IIRC it has Hill tailcodes, this would lead me to think it is an older kit, probably Revell/ex Crown. Some 144 kits simply do not look like their prototype even to someone with modest knowledge, but that one didn't look bad to me. Others may know better, though. There was also an F-14 with recessed panels and Tophatter (no pun intended) lo-viz decals. The engines look like a pregnant whale from below, the intakes are terribly thick. I assume this is the old Revell kit (also ex Crown ?) - can anyone confirm from my sketchy description ? Whatever kit it is, it probably is no contender for "best kit in scale"... Yep, those F-14 and F-16 kits are indeed the old Crown toolings which in turn appeared to be re-boxed by everybody apart from Dragon/Shanghai Dragon... Best left for Lil Johnny's rainy day... Another option for the Revell Germany 1/144 F-14A/B/D and F/A-18C/D would be the ACE Corp. re-boxes, they have a wider variety of decals and there are a few limited edition bundles such as the F/A-18C 'Chippy Ho' set that contains x8 kits and a massive decal sheet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 How about phantoms?Lilliput Air Force (japan) does a nice conversion set, to convert a F-4E (Micro Ace etc) to a J/K/M/FG.1, and also does FAA and RAF decals for the FG.1DecalsLAF-144-01-012___Royal Navy Phantom FG.1__H.M.S Ark Royal__Microace F-4E modify required__350JPYLAF-144-01-013___Royal Navy Phantom FG.1__Yeovillton AFB___Microace F-4E modify required__350JPYLAF-144-01-01____RAF Phantom FG.1__RAF Lucas (Leuchars)____Microace F-4E modify required__350JPYConversion setHTHMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 added images of the decals Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Love that Spey Phantom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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