Ultimate Soldier 1/18 kits

[airscale]

Hi folks

 

I am looking around for my next subject and I can't seem to get hold of Mirek at HpH (hope all is well with them) so googled 1/18 kits and came up with these Ultimate Soldier kits. I assume these are the 21st Century moulds, but I don't know anything about them either

 

Anyone got one? are they just built up plastic kits? ie lend themselves well to chopping around and re-detailing - are these the kits seen in some of the WIPs JayW has been doing?

 

 

As a canvas, I quite fancy an all metal P40C

 

thoughts?

 

Thanks

Peter

[easixpedro]

I believe those are indeed the kits that he modifies. Have been toying (pun intended) with getting one and attempting the same. Can sometimes be found rather cheap-ish on craigslist or FB Marketplace vs. Ebay, as I've found that folks either aren't aware of their value or are just trying to offload them. Either way, I'd love to see what you do with a P-40!

Peter

[Captain Boogaloo]

Hello Peter, 

As a volunteer with a Duxford organization, I was lucky enough to get quite a few of these ( Spitfire, Corsair, P 38, bf 109g, fw 190d, p51d, p 40, p47 Thunderbolt razorback) at various displays over the years for reasonable prices, but since they stopped production the prices have gone bonkers!! If you can find any, they can make a goodish starting point for 1\18 models, or look equally good hanging in the proverbial man cave\ workshop.

I have a long term project to modify their Spitfire 1a to a Mk IX: I think the basic shapes are a good starting point, although often things are a bit too thick. 

Btw, been rereading your inspirational Hobbycraft Sea Fury build again, and managed to find one plus some Fisher upgrade bits, and couldn't resist the awesome CMK  1\32 Centaurus ment for the Special Hobby Tempest II , I don't suppose you still have any of the etched sheets you did for that build? Or a (ahem) tail less fuselage? Totally love the parts you do, too! Don't stop!!! 

Interestingly, the Merit 1\18 SBD and Focke Wulf 190 are kit versions of these models: could be worth a look - I'm interested in the forthcoming Me 262!!

Hope that helps

Captain Boogaloo