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General Aircraft
This forum is for general aircraft modelling discussions.
trip to the dark side..
godfather
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Canada
Joined: June 26, 2002
KitMaker: 817 posts
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Posted: Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 09:43 PM UTC
I got three model aircraft kits for my birthday and Christmas, given that I did armour and figures exclusivley , I have caught the aviation bug and now find my self on the dark side What I would like to know is, generally, how do the model manufacturers stack up. I am interested in WW 2 planes and modern jets.
brandydoguk
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England - North, United Kingdom
Joined: October 04, 2002
KitMaker: 1,495 posts
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Posted: Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 11:23 PM UTC
Generally I've found Tamiya and Hasegawa aircraft kits to be very good quality with good fit of the parts and good detail. Airfix can be good but more basic with less detail. I'm nearly finished building the Airfix 1/48 sea harrier FRS1 and it is a real pig compared to the Tamiya one.
shonen_red
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Metro Manila, Philippines
Joined: February 20, 2003
KitMaker: 5,762 posts
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Posted: Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 11:58 PM UTC
Good for you to join us! As for me, I'm having a land combat bug. The good thing is, I bout myself a Hasegawa F-16C and Hasegawa F-14D to keep me "in" aviation. I don't know much about WW2 planes but for modern ones, new Hasegawa and Tamiya kits are way to go. Excellent fit and good details just don't go much for the rebox. Airfix and Academy can also be good models.
HastyP
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Ontario, Canada
Joined: April 23, 2003
KitMaker: 1,117 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 01:39 AM UTC
I am recently making the trip myself. Partially for the first one which is a Hobbycraft Huricane Mk 1. My father built it and I am painting. Secondly I received a Revel Huricane Mk 2 for Xmas and I will begin building today.

HastyP
Wad_ware
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Illinois, United States
Joined: September 09, 2002
KitMaker: 537 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 02:28 AM UTC
Hi Godfather..welcome to the dark side..and let me give you some advice you cannot refuse...

I second, third, and forth the opinion on Tamiya and Hasegawa. Both brands put out high quality aircraft and a lot of WWII. Also check out Accurate Miniatures. Their prices are a little higher and don't have the inventory of the other brands but their quality and detail is EXCELLENT. They have a couple Dauntlesses, three versions of B-25's (one of Dolittle's and his squad that raided Japan), a couple version of Yaks (I am pretty sure of that anyway).

Here are the home sites for the three manufacturers if you want to check them out.
http://www.accurate-miniatures.com/html/home.htm
http://www.tamiyausa.com
/http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/e-w/E-index.htm

Be sure to check out the online builds at the Accurate Miniatures site. That really shows off the kind of detail they put into their aircraft. The Tamiya site has pretty good pics of all their models. The Hasegawa site has a list of all their models but they don't involved with having good pics or stuff like that but their models are excellent quality and detail.

Good modeling,
Wayne
alpha-1-7-0
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England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: April 18, 2003
KitMaker: -2 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 05:35 AM UTC
hey godfather

my son (alphas son2 on here0 is nearly finished with the airfix 1/72 scale harrier gr3, which i think has been a bit of a pain for him to build - i agree with the 'basic' detail comment by brandydog, and some slightly dodgy fits, which have been fun to try and correct.

alpha
Holdfast
Staff MemberPresident
IPMS-UK KITMAKER BRANCH
#056
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: September 30, 2002
KitMaker: 8,581 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 06:26 AM UTC
:-) Welcome to the light
I have to agree, you can't go far wrong with Tamiya and Hasegawa, certainly their newer kits anyway. There are plenty of other good kits out there as well though. Accurate minitures has been mentioned and they are probably the best for detail, you really don't need any aftermarket stuff with their kits. Some of the later Airfix kits are good, EE Lightning and Spitfire Mk 24/Seafire FR46/47. Revell have released some very good WWII kits over the last few years. The Hurricane the hastyp mentions, I think, is the Hasegawa kit and is a very good buy, I have built 2, one is in my gallery :-) If you want simple builds then the Hobbycraft late 109s are pretty accyrate and easy to build, but the decals aren't that good. However there are plenty of decals out there. One of the biggest differences, between armour and aircraft models, apart from the number of wheels Is the amount of decals.
Before buying any aircraft model ask here, someone may be able to give you the lowdown on it :-)
Mal
godfather
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Canada
Joined: June 26, 2002
KitMaker: 817 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 02:00 PM UTC
thanks for all the info, you guys aren't as scary as they say you are in the armour forum
flitzer
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England - North West, United Kingdom
Joined: November 13, 2003
KitMaker: 2,240 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 10:18 PM UTC

Revell do some decent stuff at a reasonable price and cover many aircraft types from WW2 to modern days. One thing Revell don't do is provide swastikas with their WW2 German stuff, so extra decal sheets are needed.
Also if you feel like resin....Try Planet, A&V or RS Models.

Good hunting
Peter
Holdfast
Staff MemberPresident
IPMS-UK KITMAKER BRANCH
#056
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England - South West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, January 05, 2004 - 07:39 AM UTC
:-)

Quoted Text

thanks for all the info, you guys aren't as scary as they say you are in the armour forum


GodfatherTake a look at my sig line :-) Guess what Beware of the Few means
Mal
Merlin
Staff MemberSenior Editor
AEROSCALE
#017
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United Kingdom
Joined: June 11, 2003
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Posted: Monday, January 05, 2004 - 09:50 AM UTC
Hi godfather


Quoted Text

you guys aren't as scary as they say you are in the armour forum



Well it's nice to know, despite being outnumbered (so far ), that we've got the Armour guys running for cover!

I agree with what the others have said re- manufacturers; you can't go too far wrong with modern kits from Accurate Miniatures, Hasegawa, Revell-Monogram or Tamiya...

I would also add Eduard to the list... their latest stuff - such as the P-39 - is giving the "big boys" something to worry about!

All the best

Rowan
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