discussion Good Aircraft Kits?

[Guest]

Hello, everyone (and Happy Friday)
As a relative newcomer to the aircraft modelling discipline, I'd appreciate some advice on manufacturers of good 1/72 scale kits for a couple of planes.
Can people suggest where to go for a decent Dassault Mirage IV and an F100 Super Sabre?
I like Academy, and - as far as I can tell - Tamiya, but am happy to take advice. Hasegawa seem to be variable, presumably depending on when the kits were produced.
Thanks
DS

 

[Dave Ward]

Dave,
as far as a 1/72 Mirage IV goes, I'm afraid Heller is your only choice ( although A & A models have one scheduled ).
The F-100 - Hasegawa, but others have produced the Super Sabre. You have to be careful as Italeri, and others have reboxed the older Esci model, follow this link to see what's available
* F-100 *
The Scalemates website is good for finding who makes, or made, a particular model, but actually finding that model is another matter!
Dave

 

[yak face]

Daves got it bang on , the Mirage is only available from Heller and the Super sabre is a strangely neglected aircraft in 1/72. The ESCI tooling from the 70's has been reboxed by just about everyone -italeri , revell ,AMT even Tamiya ,but the esci 1/72 kits were always well regarded. The hasegawa tooling is another old timer but from the 60's! Trumpeter have done several up to date (2010 ish) toolings but they are slightly off with the accuracy of the nose intake by all accounts . So its a case of the two older toolings with reasonable shape but raised panel lines and sparse detail or the trumpeter with lots of detail ,recessed panel lines but a dodgy shape .Hope this helps Cheers tony

 

[Guest]

If the only problem is a slight error in the nose shape, then you can either just ignore it, Shirley, or correct it with some putty and/or files?

 

[yak face]

If the only problem is a slight error in the nose shape, then you can either just ignore it, Shirley, or correct it with some putty and/or files?

Its quite noticeable , a flat bottom with squared corners , it would be a major job to correct it , you would have to build up the insides and sand off the corners , perhaps it would be easier getting a cheap kit ( pm models f 100c ? )thats got a better nose section and grafting this on .

 

[Guest]

Looking up some reviews of the kit(s), it seems the intake not only has squarish corners but a flat bottom when that should be curved a bit, and there are also problems with wing thickness, tail size, and main gear wheels. More work than it seems, yes.

 

[Guest]

If the only problem is a slight error in the nose shape, then you can either just ignore it, Shirley, or correct it with some putty and/or files?

It's Dave, not Shirley. ;-)

 

[Guest]

Thanks, everyone.

Looks like I'm at the obscure end of the market AGAIN.

Rather expected the Super Sabre would be covered in duplicate, but there you go. I'll check the options suggested and take it from there.

Pace is glacial here, so by the time I'm buying again, somebody might have done a bells-and-whistles version of them both. It was trip to Elvington last summer that sowed the Mirage seed; the one they have there is lovely.

Cheers.
DS

 

[Guest]

It's Dave, not Shirley. ;-)

 

[Guest]

Looks like I'm at the obscure end of the market AGAIN.

Rather expected the Super Sabre would be covered in duplicate, but there you go.

That’s actually what I had expected too, given that it’s a good-looking aeroplane that was relatively widely used and saw active service in Vietnam, but apparently it’s not what (manufacturers think) people want to build.

 

[Dave Ward]

Dave,
Mirage IV in 1/72 https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AAM7204 from A & A Models
- didn't think it had been released....................
Dave

 

[Guest]

Dave,
Mirage IV in 1/72 https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AAM7204 from A & A Models
- didn't think it had been released....................
Dave

Thanks!!

 

[Guest]

Hi! I've just built an Italeri F-100F Super Sabre (see profile pic) for a local expo with my model group. Came up really well for me!
Decals will need seeing too as they flake a bit but some decal fix cured it.

 

[Guest]

Thanks very much.
I appreciate your advice

 

[rtfoe]

Didn't Trumpeter come up with the F100 in both 1/48 and 1/72 scale?

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Guest]

Didn't Trumpeter come up with the F100 in both 1/48 and 1/72 scale?

Cheers,
Richard

I think Trumpeter did a 1:72 F100-C & a 1/48 F100-D

May be additional kits although don't quote me on it

 

[Guest]

Didn't Trumpeter come up with the F100 in both 1/48 and 1/72 scale?

See above — these kits apparently have problems with the shape of parts and sit of the plane that may be difficult to correct.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, chaps.
I appreciate the on-going discussions on this thread, which are all useful.

Incidentally, beware of Humbrol Matt 104 (enamel). This has been a very useful shade of dark blue in the past, but the current tin I'm using is most definitely 'royal blue' and will take a lot of dirty washing to correct.
No disaster, but a pain in the nether parts nonetheless.
I like enamel because it is slow-drying and - for figures - allows easy blending. This means my paint box is almost exclusively Humbrol enamels, which are usually reliable, but this new batch of 104 is a shocker.

I have a punk Hellcat to calm down now.