Albeback58

😁 F-4s look wicked in ANY camouflage!!

No! Because, Tamiya's prices make their large scale aircraft kits largely unaffordable. On the other hand, if it was priced at the same level as the new Revell F/A-18E kit (£69 /$90) then I might be persuaded to buy it!😉

😁 That would look nice. You might be interested to know that Revell has just reissued the A-400 kit. This time with official markings. I actually don't do boring,dull,overall grey so, if I may suggest an alternative for the future, you might like the Royal Air Force "sand and stone" finish. Dark Earth over Mid Stone with black underside.Scheme was used in the 60s and 70s. Very retro!😁. I have one A-400 which I intend to do in a splinter type camouflage and markings for Independent Scottish Republic (Air Force).OK, we aint yet Independent but,who's worried about mere details!😃

😁 Your " what if" sounds good! I have an idea for stretched version (using two AN 124 kits) ,the RR Trent engines salvaged from a Revell A380 and either twin tails (like the AN 22) or, a T tail - the Antonov/Airbus A450!😁

I have no problem with kit "variances". Everything I build is straight out of box. If I cannot see anything that stands out as obviously wrong just by looking at the bits then, it is as accurate as I want it. I work on the TLOKTM (That Looks OK To Me) principle.I have experienced at first hand a certain amount of snobbery and elitism among modellers who seek to draw a distinction between "Enthusiasts and Modellers" (them!) and, "kit builders" (us).I get really narked with that sort of attitude. We are all MODELLERS!! We all enjoy the same hobby.How we pursue that hobby is our own individual af

Hmmm! Well, it's good to see Lucky Model is paying attention. Wonder how many other retailers will follow suit. Certainly, in good old rip off UK, the only prices I have seen are well over the £100 mark.$79 (£61) is still excessive (in my view) for this kit but, it's a lot more sensible. Allan

Good morning! (At least it's morning here!!) Lol! Am not a big believer in letting the market decide - unless it's MY market!! But, in this case, I definitely think it will be a hostile market. Whining and whinging about prices will not make a manufacturer lower or,rethink same. However, very poor sales might and, as ever, the customer voting with his/her wallet will be the final arbiter. To put this into some sort of perspective, $140 would buy me four bottles of my favourite whisky (that's single malt Scotch whisky!!). I know what I'd rather have! $50 is about £38. Roughly at the upper l

There is the school of thought that suggests Roden's bean counters had (1) estimated relatively low demand for this kit which is, after all, very much a "niche" subject and, the retail price was set accordingly at a level that would recoup their investment based on these estimated sales. Or, (2) that they had based their price on what second hand examples of the Otaki/Testors/Revell/Entex incarnations of the kit were fetching or, (3) that they were banking on hordes of eager modellers who had been waiting 30+ years for a new kit rushing out eagerly with wads of cash in their hot sweaty paws

Might just have been worth a UK price of £120 (roughly $145) IF it had been 1/72 but, no 1/144 kit is worth that. Even if the price was reduced by 50% I'd still call it overpriced. I personally wouldn't pay more than £35 - £40 for any 1/144 kit - especially one as basic as this appears to be. Might be worth a bit more IF it had a detailed cockpit/fuselage interior and front/rear ramps as well. Be interesting to see how the forthcoming Kinetic 1/72 C-17 pans out price wise. Allan

All kit builders are model makers surely? We all enjoy the same hobby. Why draw an artificial distinction?