Kit recomendations...

[Captain_Carisma]

Hi all,

I'm looking at taking a trip up to Hendon on Saturday, and was thinking if I do that I might pop next door and visit Hannants whilst I've got the opportunity.

I'm still trying to ease myself back into the modelling game after a 10+ year gap; admitedly my skills were never brilliant to start with, but I'm trying to build my confidence & standards up a bit before (ultimately) attempting the Nimrod kit I've got stashed on top of the wardrobe (I really want to make a good job of it; sentimental reasons!). I'm currently working on an Italeri 1:72 F-51D Mustang, which hasn't got off to the best of starts ! (will post some pics when I've made some reasonable progress).

Anyway, what kits would you kind folks recommend as good kits to start off with? I'm thinking a budget of £20-£30 ish for the kit(s) plus any additional paints etc. Also, not sure whether to stick with 1:72 or perhaps go for a bigger scale? Doesn't really matter what vintage the aircraft are, although the other half would probably tell me to go for something with some decent nose art!

Any ideas or advice would be really great.

Thanks in advance.

Martin

[Takamota]

If it's n ose art your looking for as well as ease of build the any of the Hasegawa or Tamiya 1/48 Mustangs and Thunderbolts would be ideal. Really well engineered and assemble with the minimum of fuss. All come with great colourful decals too.

Hope this helps

Tom

[Seamus]

Anything by Tamiya is likely so simply fall together. Though I can't speak for 1/48, I'm currently building a 1/72 Tamiya Skyray and the fit is superb, as is the detail.

If nose art is your thing, I can recommend the Revell B-25 (hasegawa reboxing)- here's my attempt at it. Revell's 1/72 Hunter and Tornado kits are also excellent kits, and you'd have plenty of change from your 30 quid as well

HTH

Shaun

[Captain_Carisma]

Thanks for the advice fellas.

Those are some real gems Seamus; I can only dream of achieving something that good!

Like I said, I still need some practice, especially when it comes to the smaller details, which is why I perhaps thought of a larger scale kit. Of course, that said, it'd probaly be easier to make a real hash of things!

Any other recommendations would be a real help.

Martin

[mattlaker]

If you want something that falls together nicely, i would recommend Tamiya- as Tom says, the 'stang and P47 are lovely kits- I would say tho, that the 1:48 Spit mkVb kit is a real beauty! Have a few more bits of theirs in the stash waiting for me to get round to them. for price tho, if you are going to be looking at £20 for a kit and paints i'd say stay with 1:72, and get the P-51D kit. then all you'll need is a couple of metallic paints, some for the tyres, some black and some interior green. If stretching to £30 i would say go 1:48 scale. Some of the hasegawa stuff can be a bit fiddly in any scale, and requires real careful handling. Don't rule out the 1:72 Revell hunter tho- it was the kit that got me started again!

[Captain_Carisma]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I was pondering whether or not to have a stab at the Revell Hunter. Might just have to give it a go. Will also have a llok out at the other kits suggested. Will let you know what I go for.

Thanks Again.

Martin

[phantomdriver]

If it's n ose art your looking for as well as ease of build the any of the Hasegawa or Tamiya 1/48 Mustangs and Thunderbolts would be ideal. Really well engineered and assemble with the minimum of fuss. All come with great colourful decals too.

Hope this helps

Tom

I'm with Tom
Tamiya
1/48 Skyraider, Mig 15( which I'm curerently WIP)

Hasegawa's stuff is reasonably bomb proof too
Ed

[Deacon]

Martin,

Like yourself I have recently returned to the hobby.

The way I got back into the swing of things was to buy cheap, but quite well produced 1:72 kits. Now, Tamiya and Hasegawa are the best, as people who know a lot more about these things have said, but how about a Hobby Boss, just to get back into it, when you find your niche again then off you go.

You can buy Hobby Boss 1:72 fighters (jets or WW2 props) for under £4.00. Or, in 1:48 a Hobby Boss Fury for around £12.00. This way, your outlay isn't high with the kit and if things go a little pear shaped then you haven't lost much. With the 1:72nd however the cockpit is very basic, but if you are looking at almost practice kits, then perhaps that's enough.

Recently I have realised that Revell can produce some cracking stuff for about the same price as Hobby Boss. Their Fw 190 A-8/R11 as well as the Me 109G-10 for instance. No nose art though. Then, as Shaun has already mentioned, there are the Revell Hunters which I have got but not built. These are around £10.00.

Let us know how you get on.

Deacon

[Captain_Carisma]

Well, I've made it back from Hendon, absolutely cream crackered, but had a very good day.

I had to do my kit shopping "by proxy" in the end; somehow I don't think letting my 2 year old "mini-me" loose in there would've been a good idea

I went for the Taimya 1:48 Spit Vb "Trop", as well as Revell's Hunter FGA.9/Mk.58 & Tornado Gr.1 to the tune of 1:72.

I'll probably go through the kits in that order (once the Italeri F-51D's finished), but had a good look at the Spit already, and I have to say the detail in the kit is quite good, and looks like it'll be a good build.

Thanks again for all the advice. Hopefully, I'll be able to do them some justice now!

Thanks again.

Martin

[Seamus]

You made some fine choices there

When you get round to the Tornado and Hunter, feel free to ask any questions and/or have a look through my build threads on here should you need to

Look forward to seeing how you ge on