1/48 - Grumman F-14A & B Tomcat by Great Wall Hobby (GWH) - F-14B released

[Homebee]

No it's not a joke. Great Wall Hobby (GWH) is also preparing a 1/48th Grumman F-14A Tomcat kit - ref. L4823

Sources: 

http://www.moxingfans.com/new/news/2018/0928/5025.html

https://tieba.baidu.com/p/5896435363

 

 

 

V.P.

 

Edited August 8 by Homebee

[B.sin]

Any hint of the projected release date?

[Ka-Efka]

F102, F105, F106, Mig23, Mig27... no, let's do a F14, that's what we need. 🙄

 

(no, I don't want to start the usual 'oh but it doesn't make money for xyz' discussions, just disappointing to see the same over and over again...) 

[Stephen]

This isn't a co-operative release with AMK is it? 

 

[Homebee]

57 minutes ago, Stephen said:

This isn't a co-operative release with AMK is it? 

 

 

You're right Stephen. A quick look at the very specific canopy design in two parts (frame+clear part) as well as the unusual wings detail level could indicate such a cooperation work.

A AMK/G.W.H. nearly common kit would be a first.

So AMK is still soon to release its F-14D kit while G.W.H will release the F-14A variant ?

To be followed.

 

V.P. 

Edited September 28, 2018 by Homebee

[Laurent]

44 minutes ago, Homebee said:

You're right Stephen. A quick look at the very specific canopy design in two parts (frame+clear part) as well as the unusual wings detail level could indicate such a cooperation work.

A AMK/G.W.H. nearly common kit would be a first.

The CADs are different. Take the detailing of the spoiler bay. It's on a vertical part in AMK...

 

It's horizontal on GWH.

[Tiger331]

Sorry but......apart from the obvious difference (the 'deployed' flying control surfaces') ....I think the Tamiya kit will be an extremely hard act to follow. I know the Avantgarde kit is tipped to be considerably cheaper than the Tamiya kit which could give it an advantage but if there is a tie-in with GWH on a F-14A variant, it will be interesting to see how they (GWH) price it since comparable kits in the current GWH range (F-15C and Su-35S) fall somewhere between the two (Avantgarde and Tamiya). Like others, I can think of at least half a dozen other types (with equally good selling potential) that could benefit from modern tooling. I do wish manufacturers would co-operate more closely. Yes, I have little doubt someone will trot out the age old phrase and chestnut 'Tamigawa's F-XX doesn't make any money for Greduard or Trumpboss' but I am positive the Tamiya F-14A and -D release WILL have an impact on Avantgarde (and now GWH) sales.           

[Mike]

29 minutes ago, JimF said:

However, I can understand the negative comments, as a kit released of something a modeller does not want, or care about, means a kit he does want isn't being announced.

2 minutes ago, Mike said:

That sounds like a recipe for being upset a lot of the time.  Personally, I try not to get upset about what isn't being released, and just enjoy what is.

I'll quote myself from the WNW Lanc thread, cos it seems appropriate too

[Homebee]

I've emailed AMK which denies strongly any cooperation or agreement with G.W.H about its F-14 project. 

 

V.P. 

[Laurent]

26 minutes ago, Homebee said:

I've emailed AMK which denies strongly any cooperation or agreement with G.W.H about its F-14 project.

Chinese producers fight each other, they don't cooperate.

[Dudikoff]

3 hours ago, Ka-Efka said:

F102, F105, F106, Mig23, Mig27... no, let's do a F14, that's what we need. 🙄

Well, it could have been worse (an F-14D)..

[Ad-4N]

4 hours ago, Ka-Efka said:

F102, F105, F106, Mig23, Mig27... no, let's do a F14, that's what we need. 🙄

 

(no, I don't want to start the usual 'oh but it doesn't make money for xyz' discussions, just disappointing to see the same over and over again...) 

You see F-14s over and over and over and over because they are POPULAR with the masses.  Believe me if a movie made 30 years ago with Tom Cruise flying a F-106 had grossed 1/3 of a billion USD we’d have F-106s from everyone.  Model companies want to make money.

[Ka-Efka]

1 hour ago, Homebee said:

I've emailed AMK which denies strongly any cooperation or agreement with G.W.H about its F-14 project. 

 

V.P. 

Too bad. Would've been a cool move. 

[ICMF]

Ha!

 

Wonder what the odds are that this will be out before AMK's kit.  (okay, zero, but god that would be hilarious!)

 

And there's clearly no relationship between this and the AMK kit.  Most obviously, this wing has pivots; AMK's doesn't.  Which should please the people who are unhappy about the AMK kit having fixed wings.

[Masinissa]

Wow, the cockpit details are far superior to the Tamiya offering. Tamiya's cockpit is very basic, however it can be improved with either the Aires or Eduard Brassin sets. The GWH kit offers fully deployed wings too. As an added bonus you know that if there are any mistakes GWH will step up and retool their parts.

 

The price will probably be comparable to the Tamiya kit. They biggest losers in this cat fight are Hasegawa and Hobby Boss, and KASL with their super detailed deployed Tomcat wing for the Tamiya kit.

 

[DaveJL]

Could maybe do with a B model amongst all this A and D tomfoolery!

[fjdsouza94c]

I believe AMK's kit front fuselage is in one piece ( just like the Mig 31 ), while GWH's kit images do suggest it's divided in left and right halves.

[Nocoolname]

Is anybody 'not' making a Tomcat? Should 'I' be making a Tomcat?

[Thomas V.]

9 hours ago, Tiger331 said:

Sorry but......apart from the obvious difference (the 'deployed' flying control surfaces') ....I think the Tamiya kit will be an extremely hard act to follow. I know the Avantgarde kit is tipped to be considerably cheaper than the Tamiya kit which could give it an advantage but if there is a tie-in with GWH on a F-14A variant, it will be interesting to see how they (GWH) price it since comparable kits in the current GWH range (F-15C and Su-35S) fall somewhere between the two (Avantgarde and Tamiya). Like others, I can think of at least half a dozen other types (with equally good selling potential) that could benefit from modern tooling. I do wish manufacturers would co-operate more closely. Yes, I have little doubt someone will trot out the age old phrase and chestnut 'Tamigawa's F-XX doesn't make any money for Greduard or Trumpboss' but I am positive the Tamiya F-14A and -D release WILL have an impact on Avantgarde (and now GWH) sales.           

I find Tamiya kit to be superlative in fit, but mediocre in finesse, in fact compared to almost 30 years old Hasegawa and decade old Hobbyboss it lacks detail, upon first opening the box

it was more like 2008 kit issued decade late, than what in my opinion it should have been taking into account Tamiya's 32nd jewels.

All mentioned not taking into account often cited positionable surfaces.

Taking Tamiya's 32nd scale Corsair and Mosquito into consideration, where they utilized current slide molding techniques to the fullest, cockpit should have been both more detailed and detail sharper, surface properly scale riveted and all flight surfaces positionable.

AMK seemed to offer everything mentioned, but first pics do show panel lines comparable to their MiG-31 kit, making them both too deep and wide( disclaimer-have special sensitivity towards heavy panelling)

Given quality of GWH,  aside from P-61, each of their release is in my opinion current benchmark for the given subject, we will finally get the ultimate Tomcat, which will

take the same place Hasegawa( compared to Italeri and Monogram) had for 20 years before Hobbyboss.

 

Today plastic kit production has never been cheaper, if one entity( without in house production) can outsource tooling production for kit complex like Tomcat for as low as 15-20000$( without subsidies), its no surprise that there are many new names and lots of duplication, and I can see only positives that stem from current and hopefully same future state of plastic kit production.

 

[Dudikoff]

8 hours ago, Thomas V. said:

I find Tamiya kit to be superlative in fit, but mediocre in finesse, in fact compared to almost 30 years old Hasegawa and decade old Hobbyboss it lacks detail, upon first opening the box

it was more like 2008 kit issued decade late, than what in my opinion it should have been taking into account Tamiya's 32nd jewels.

Agreed, Tamiya certainly doesn't feel like an upgrade to my Hasegawa kits, except regarding fit and assembly.

 

I expect much better detailed kits from GWH and AMK, though GWH might be prohibitively expensive for me (e.g. their MiG-29 is damn expensive for the size of the kit, while having IMHO unacceptable amount of fit issues regarding intakes for such a pricey and hi-tech kit).

Edited September 29, 2018 by Dudikoff

[Tiger331]

14 minutes ago, Dudikoff said:

Agreed, Tamiya certainly doesn't feel like an upgrade to my Hasegawa kits, except regarding fit and assembly.

 

I expect much better detailed kits from GWH and AMK, though GWH might be prohibitively expensive for me (e.g. their MiG-29 is damn expensive for the size of the kit, while having IMHO unacceptable amount of fit issues regarding intakes for such a pricey and hi-tech kit).

 

Glad to see someone else out there finally calling out GWH kits for fit issues. I have both the GWH F-15B/D and MiG-29 on the bench right now and the fit is appalling when compared with the Tamiya F-14A. I also take issue with the 'mediocre' moniker attached to the detail in Tamiya's Tomcat kits. I do not find the GWH or any of the AMK kits (and I have all their kits) any better......Yes, they are very good but I would not categorize them in a class above...sorry.

[Dudikoff]

26 minutes ago, Tiger331 said:

I also take issue with the 'mediocre' moniker attached to the detail in Tamiya's Tomcat kits. I do not find the GWH or any of the AMK kits (and I have all their kits) any better......Yes, they are very good but I would not categorize them in a class above...sorry.

Well, let's wait till the GWH and AMK kits are out, but from what I've seen in the build threads, e.g. Tamiya cockpit and wheel bay detail level is more or less on par with the Hasegawa kits IMHO, while the detail provided in the GWH MiG-29 kit in those areas makes me expect a higher level of detail in their Tomcat.

 

I have the MiG-31B/BS kit from AMK, but not at hand and didn't have a chance to analyze it more and compare it to the HB MiG-31 which I also got.

Edited September 29, 2018 by Dudikoff

[colin]

Wheel bay detail is on par with Hasegawa, which lets face it is fine imho as I don't tend to keep lifting my kits out of the display cabinet to show someone how great the wheel bay detail is on any of my kits.

Sorry but once a kit is built on most aircraft that part of the model doesn't get seen that well anyway

[Tiger331]

1 hour ago, colin said:

Wheel bay detail is on par with Hasegawa, which lets face it is fine imho as I don't tend to keep lifting my kits out of the display cabinet to show someone how great the wheel bay detail is on any of my kits.

Sorry but once a kit is built on most aircraft that part of the model doesn't get seen that well anyway

 

Hurrah !

 

A voice of reason in the wilderness......I could not word it any better. The Tamiya kits I have seen completed on this website (and others) are, for the most part, stunning.

[Dudikoff]

4 hours ago, colin said:

Wheel bay detail is on par with Hasegawa, which lets face it is fine imho as I don't tend to keep lifting my kits out of the display cabinet to show someone how great the wheel bay detail is on any of my kits.

Sorry but once a kit is built on most aircraft that part of the model doesn't get seen that well anyway

Fair enough, but I'm just saying that for the asking price of a Tamiya kit, I simply expect a higher attention to detail than what Hasegawa offered almost 30 years ago.

 

It's a matter of preference, of course, but it's always nice to have more detailed options as well.

Edited September 29, 2018 by Dudikoff