Darren Howie

On the subject of Pheon did he ever release he Gotha sheets? It's been well over a year since announced and have not heard anything about them. With Wingnut releasing per sized lozenge des anyone know if Pheon are "working" with WW in the decal section?

Ordered my two today...awesome..

Interesting to read the other side of the story. Here I think most people where quite open minded on what at happened but at other nameless locations the pitchforks where out. Two sides to every story and I'm glad we will\may get 2 B25s now..

Exactly be picking a couple up...

Happy to agree to is agree Brian. Having spent a lot of time in Japan and seen instances of 60 copies of one new 32nd release kit walk out of one shop in Tokyo in one afternoon ZM can quite comfortably survive off the home market when competing against Revell. That does not mean they have no interest in the rest of the world which would be crazy to ignore. in fact as you said ZM are going to great lengths to woo western modellers. Good luck to them as I have quite a few of there kits. The point is ZM like Hasegawa pick up the cream on top with sales outside Japan but they survive by sales from home. If the rest of he world was the number 1 market for instance Hasegawa would of released a new tool P-51 long ago..instead they focus on big money spinners in there main market..Japan. New tool..Ki61.ki-84..ki44 etc. What Revell do really will not effect ZM except outside Japan so don't expect a change of Tac anytime soon. The Japanese market is massive..way more massive than people who have not been to large Japanese shops can appreciate..the Volks shop in Osaka for instance is 5 stories high..it is one of 7 shops all multistory within 500m. Anyway I'm sure a Revell He219 will affect sales in Europe and the States but as for home..doubt it massively..

It's funny how western guys think about their own world as a reflection of the rest of the world. There is an enormous modelleing community in Japan and ZM will happily thrive on sales from Japan alone. Given the massive import taxes on items going into Japan even if the Revell kit is half the price of the ZM kit in the West it will still be the same if not pricier on Japanese shelves. Hence you can buy a ZM kit with all the bells and whistles for the same price as a maybe basic Revell kit. Given Japanese loyalties it will outsell Revell in Japan 10-1. ZM has made a decent splash in the West but the home market is what pays their bills. On the other hand i think they are going to struggle to move Mustangs!

The Trumpeter kit is from my perspective a great launch point for an amazing model. From the box it will give you an excellent result. With some effort and resin you will get a far better result Han an equivalent amount of work with the Tamiya kit. Both kits have minor faults the Trumpeter kit the non parallel intakes the Tamiya kit canopy is off not being true omega shape and wrong fuselage sides. Either will still give you an awesome build and wonderful Cat but for me he Trumpeter kit is a no brainer choice irrespective of price difference.

Wow superb work..having been a huge Argue fan for ages I can feel a large dent approaching my credit card..beautiful work..

Yep same here I'd be in about 4 of them..a new tool 32 G would be brilliant!

Hi guys It's interesting on he availability of big Revell kits as down here once they re gone thy are very rarely seen in re-stocks. I'm sure you will get a good conversion either way but personally I'd take a Tamiya kit anyday over Revell. An F-4G will be a welcome addition based off either kit however!!

G'day guys Just a small point but you may want to think twice about he Revell F-4F as a basis of the conversion. And that is availability. The Revell kit is rare as hens teeth in comparison to the Tamiya F4 Series. There is more work in the Tamiya kit with slats being required etc but I would far rather tart with the far superior Tamiya kit as a base that is far easier to find than try to track down a poor quality start point. If someone knows where to find a good supply of Revell F-4Fs please let me know as I havn't seen one in years.

G'day Be looking forward to tracking the progress on the F-4 conversions. Be into a couple of B's and several RAF/RN birds as well. Glad to see you using the Tamiya kit as where I am the Revell kit is impossible to get where as the Tamiya series is better in every respect and easier to purchase. Out of several Chinese based good quality traders they are around 110-130US shipped. As for the B I'd love to see the cockpit included or available seperately. Remember a small market may exist alone for those who bought the Cutting edge set which lacked a cockpit. So you could pick up some extra sales. Great work Derek!