discussion BarryW's 1/48 'multi-engine aircraft' Review Thread

[AlanG]

Dave. That auction had ended. Doesn't say what price it went for

PS. Sorry to Barry for going off on a tangent

 

[Gern]

Dave. That auction had ended. Doesn't say what price it went for

PS. Sorry to Barry for going off on a tangent

I can't copy the original listing, but I got a picture:

 

[BarryW]

Just a heads up, I see that Tamiya are producing a 1/48 Phantom II F4B and, well, it does have two engines and so qualifies for this thread. Watch this space as I suspect I won’t be able to resist. One other I have a mind to get on the same theme is the AMK Foxhound, I cannot find one for a reasonable price at the moment but I do believe they are re-releasing a ‘special’ so that is another to add!

Incidentally - no sign of an exchange/completion date on my flat yet! My modelling stuff is now packed in boxes awaiting the move to the new man-cave….. I cannot wait to get sorted and on to my next build. At this rate my stash will be over 20 when I do!!

 

[BarryW]

In-Box Review No15 - 1/48 Tamiya McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II

Now what did I just say about not resisting this one? Well, I didn't and here it is...

I remember back to when the original 1/72 Airfix Phantom F-4B was released, I believe it was 1965 when I was 10 years old. I loved that model and I have loved the business-like appearance of the Phantom ever since.

More recently I have resisted the old raised panel line Tamiya 1/32 Phantom to await the promised 1/32 HKM Spey Phantom, will it ever appear on the shelves? But I did succumb to the 1/48 Academy Phantom after reading some great reviews, which was a really nice kit, this was also, by coincidence, a B version. Thanks to that I have, so far, also been able to resist the excellent series of 1/48 Zoukei Mura Phantoms as well. However, Tamiya, my favourite brand producing a kit of one of my favourite jets in my 'second favourite' scale and, on top of that, one receiving simply amazing build reviews as well. That really is too much to resist, so here we are....

1/48 McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II Tamiya 61121 (scalemodelshop.co.uk)

Wingspan 244mm
Length 370mm

The box and packaging are typical Tamiya.

The highest quality as usual.

The instructions are in the usual Tamiya style. A few example pages.




There is a very nice fold-out history of the F-4 in Japanese on one side, English on the other.


There are two separate large fold-out colour sheets with 1/48 scale pictures.
On one a stencilling diagram


The other side of that and on both sides of the other sheet the three kit marking schemes.






The aircraft might be plain old grey/white but the marking schemes really are colourful.

There is a double-sided sheet of 'tech Tips' to help with the build. It might be basic for most of us but I am sure novices will appreciate it.



There are two closely packed decal sheets



They look nice but I don't hold up much hope for how they will perform. Decals are Tamiya's one real weakness.

And a set of masks. These are not pre-cut so they need cutting out. It is not a hard job but it would be nice for Tamiya to provide them laser cut.


I will just provide a few shots of the plastic. All I can say is that they are all Tamiya's normal quality and it does not get any better than that.








I am not sure why these were moulded as above.... I am sure there is a good reason.

Clean, crisp and perfectly formed.

Very Highly Recommended, a rival for the best kits ever offered to modellers.

I should add that Quinta Studios have released a 3D decal detailing set that I am likely to get and I will most certainly get some aftermarket decal markings.

 

[BarryW]

In-box Review No 16, 1/48 Zveda Mi-24P Hind Attack Helicopter.

Box top
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Nice box art.

As you can see from a couple of pages from the instructions they are a little basic but adequate.
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The colour profiles for painting are OK with Tamiya and Zveda paint call-outs. Excuse my notes from when I assessed what MRP shades I will need.
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The decals and transparencies are nicely packed in resealable bags to keep them safe.
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The decals are nicely printed but perhaps a little close together so you need to take particular care when cutting them out. The transparencies are nice and clear but far from the best.
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The sprues are packed into two bags, rather than individually, not ideal but I have seen worse.
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Some pics of the sprues, they are cleanly molded, no flash that I have seen. The detail is a little basic, particularly the surface detail, not really worthy of modern 1/48 scale kits.

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The rotor blades have a nice droop to them.

The internal detail needs something of a boost so I have bought a Quinta set, as well as some masks.
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It is worth a closer look at the Quinta set
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If you have not used them yet it really is worth getting. These are far better than flat etch detailing sets, far more effective and they are also much easier to use. Note that the Quinta sets include seatbelts.

These, so called, 3D decals really are catching on and are now being produced by more companies including Kits World. The only thing they have in common with decals is that they are carried on paper backing and are released by immersion in warm water. They have no carrier film to worry about. They need to be glued into place with pva type glue or c.a. The only issue might be colour matching but, in that, they are no different to coloured etch. I thoroughly recommend them.

As for the Hind, it is a nicely produced kit that will benefit from added detail. Recommended.

 

[BarryW]

In-box review No.17, 1/48 Revell PV-1 Ventura

The box

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Some pages from the instructions.
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As you can see the instructions are somewhat improved from Revells previous efforts. Two sets of markings included though just about every build I have seen of this has been of the one with octopus tentacles.

They have also split the sprues between a few bags rather than, as in the past, having them all pushed into one bag.

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A look at the parts
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All seem to be well molded, no flash or sink holes that I have seen. Much crisper than I have seen before from Revell.

The transparencies are nice and clear too.
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The decals look good
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Here are the aftermarket’s that I have
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And I found some rather nice decals as well. Revell decals tend to be rather good but I cannot resist this set.
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All in all this look like a really nice kit probably the best I have ever seen from Revell. Recommended

 

[Dave Ward]

In-box review No.17, 1/48 Revell PV-1 Ventura

The box

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Some pages from the instructions.
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As you can see the instructions are somewhat improved from Revells previous efforts. Two sets of markings included though just about every build I have seen of this has been of the one with octopus tentacles.

They have also split the sprues between a few bags rather than, as in the past, having them all pushed into one bag.

View attachment 438747

A look at the parts
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All seem to be well molded, no flash or sink holes that I have seen. Much crisper than I have seen before from Revell.

The transparencies are nice and clear too.
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The decals look good
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Here are the aftermarket’s that I have
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And I found some rather nice decals as well. Revell decals tend to be rather good but I cannot resist this set.
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All in all this look like a really nice kit probably the best I have ever seen from Revell. Recommended

Barry,
I have this in the stash in the RAF Ventura Mk.II boxing (04946 ) . I agree that it's a crisp looking model, and I wonder if it was tooled for Revell by someone else? - it's almost ICM-ish!
Dave

 

[Guest]

Check the side of the box to see where it was actually made. If it says Ukraine, for example, that might mean it does indeed come from someone like ICM.

 

[BarryW]

In Box Review No 18, 1/48 AMK MIG-31 Foxhound BM/BSM

This will be my first AMK kit and it looks very impressive. There have been about four versions of this kit released.

The box:
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Some pages from the instructions. They look clear enough.

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Sorry, I corrected the pictures on the phone so they are the right way up but the site swaps them back again. This never used to happen. What a pain.

Some shots of sprues. Very clean, nicely moulded using the latest slide moulding techniques with fine surface detail. As good as you can get anywhere.

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There are two sets of transparencies, one with smoked glass.
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Some etch included
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The decals look very nice, well printed.
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I have some Eduard canopy masks and a beautiful Quintas 3D decal set for interior detailing. View attachment 440430
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This kit looks superb in the box and I am looking forward to it. Highly Recommended. These kits are hard to get so if you find one snap it up.

 

[Dave Ward]

Barry,
I have a couple of 1/72 AMK models in the stash - they look very nice indeed! Not actually made one yet!
Dave

 

[BarryW]

In-Box Review no19 - 1/48 Kinetic Sea Harrier FA2

This is my first Kinetic kit.

The box
View attachment 441015

The instructions clearly have not been printed in the right format, as you can see from the pictures. The diagrams are too small and difficult to read without magnification.

The front sheet is fine, portrait filling the page.
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But look inside
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The plastic is a reasonable quality hard type and should be easy to work with. The parts seem well moulded and crisp with a reasonable level of surface detail.
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As you can see the transparencies look fine.

Decals look nice, I have no idea how their decals perform but there is no way I will do the version that needs the large upper wing decal, unless there is a mask available to paint it. I suspect I will use these decals but a more ‘normal’ scheme as just about every FA2 flown by the FAA can be done with this decal set.

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No aftermarket yet - I will get some canopy masks and seat belts at least.

Recommended

 

[BarryW]

In-box Review no20 - 1/48 Mirage Hobbies PZL 27B

Yes this is an unusual one for me, a Polish WW2 aircraft from a short run manufacturer, Mirage Hobby. This was actually quite a capable bomber with only about 90 built. After the collapse of Poland some were used by the Luftwaffe but most served with the Romanians.
The box
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The instruction book is small and in both English and Polish. It could be clearer.

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Decals look fine
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The plastic is the hard type similar to Special Hobby.
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As you can see below it’s a typical short run kit and has no location tabs.
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Well we all know that short run can be ‘interesting’ and to be frank I am not expecting much from this. I got this for ‘something different’ and have low expectations. I may be pleasantly surprised. I am not going to give this a recommendation.

 

[Nicko]

Thanks for these Barry. I think it's the wing-to-fuselage joint that would worry me most on that PZL....

Nick

 

[Tim Marlow]

Not an aircraft I’ve heard much about, but the kit looks OK, an the aircraft has a bit of Henkel 111 about it.