Some Advice Please

[Bill Cross]

I'm on my second Tamiya Phantom, and I would not suggest this one unless you're looking to do some major surgery. The intakes will need to be replaced, and the burner cans, too. The cockpits are OK at best, even with extensive PE, but the good news is GT Resin has a large and growing stock of AM replacement sets. I would definitely get their intakes, burner cans and cockpits.

 

You'll also need resin wheels, as the Tamiya rubber tires suck. The Double Ugly guys here can advise you on other add-ons, including the Zacto Sidewinders which are AWESOME!!

Edited September 11, 2015 by Bill Cross

[sspit62]

May go the Academy FA18 D with Verlinden seats and Eduard Interior - thoughts anybody???

[David66]

Hi sspit62, welcome aboard, the Academy F-18D is a great kit. things to be aware of are the intakes can be 'problematic' to fit and, on my one, the decals were prone to silvering, even over a hi gloss finish. Micro Sol and Set helped. Also, be aware that the seats are not correct for any of the kit decal options, I only found out after closing up the 'pit on my one.

 

  If you build it with the cockpit closed and the aircraft shut down, I don't think the Eduard interior is worth getting (I find the Eduard pre-coloured p/e stuff to be a bit 'flat' looking and sometimes the colours they use are not quite correct) just use what's in the kit, with a bit of washing and dry-brushing, the detail will really 'pop'

 

  I think I'd go with Aires seats over Verlinden as they're crisper and better detailed (this is just my opinion). If you make it with the cockpit open, it would probably be worth going for the Avionix / Black Box resin cockpit set and maybe the Eduard placards set. The Aires U/C bays are worth a look as well but be prepared to do a fair amount of filing/cutting to get them to fit.

 

If you can find them, the Rhino Modelworks resin intake set is definitely worth getting as it corrects the intakes and, as far as I remember, it also includes some very nice resin wheels. I'm not sure if there's much in the way of aftermarket decals but I might have some spare Flying Leathernecks ones you can have.

 

 For reference, get hold of the Daco, 'Uncovering the F-18 Hornet' book.

 

 I'm sure there's more but I'm cream crackered and I have to be up in a couple of hours for work, so I'll leave it here and see what everyone/anyone else suggests.

[LSP_Ron]

Hi there, I can only comment on what I've built

 

Tamiya F-16 is top notch

Tamiya F-15E is very good

Tamiya F-4 is not recommended for the same reasons others have stated

Italeri F-104 is a decent build with lots of AM availible for it and endless marking options

Italeri F-86 is good and lots of quality AM for it. First impressions of the kit it that it's clunky but it builds into a really nice F-86

Academy F-18 is very good although I agree the intakes do take some work to fit

[amurray]

Welcome back to the hobby! I know you will enjoy the hobby in general and LSP in particular.

 

The overwhelming urge to super-detail a kit is a psychological condition known as AMS - Advanced Modelers Syndrome. It afflicts many here on LSP and may even be virtually contagious, spread by reading too many posts here on the Work in Progress Forum.

 

A kit ripe for the detailing you seek is the Revell Hunter kit. It is an excellent kit with numerous national paint schemes available. But if you really want to super-detail the kit there are resin cockpits available and Reheat makes a photo-etch sheet for it that is almost 8.5" x 11" in size! The PE sheet is one of the largest for any kit made.

 

And speaking of AMS there is a detail company of the same name: www.amsresin.com

Go to his site and look over the available 1/32 resin sets available. That will give you an idea of some kits you may wish to consider.

 

Enjoy!

[sspit62]

I've had an about face and am going to build a 1/35th Academy Super Cobra with Verlinden Set. Cant seem to find one anywhere - any suggestions?. There is one on ebay but he wont ship to New Zealand - why do they advertise on ebay if they don't I thought it was a worldwide site!!! There are MRC kits but they don't look as good. 

[BloorwestSiR]

The MRC and Academy kits are one and the same. It's also available in an AFV Club boxing too. Hopefully that might make it easier for you to find one.

 

Carl

[Lee_K]

"I am wanting to build a 1/32nd post war jet and load it up with aftermarket stuff I don't care how long it takes to build or frankly how much it costs..."

 

I'm curious about this statement.  Are you wanting to use aftermarket because you've never worked with it before and are therefore want to see what it's all about, or do you feel that you want to use aftermarket items because you want to make the most accurate model possible?

 

The reason I ask is that almost all aftermarket items, from resin to photo-etch require a corresponding increase in effort to integrate into the model successfully.  For me, I use aftermarket when there is no alternative to egregious accuracy issues or ordnance exclusions with the kit.  The one exception is with ejection seats -- resin aftermarket replacements are a welcome addition for such a visible part of a modern jet as they provide detail that is very difficult to do with injection molding.

 

I agree with the posters above: the Tamiya F-16C and Academy F-18C kits are some of the finest examples of the state-of-the-art in this scale.  I suggest letting the subject sway your decision rather than the kit: pick an airplane that you really like and then research what kit options are available.