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New Revell F-14D


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Just got the new Revell F-14D on a special at Hobby Town USA. All I can say is wow....wow. Revell is freakin awseome to me. I know...I know it doesn't have engraved panel lines (and yes that does suc) but ALL of the new stuff you get is freakin amazing. It retails for around $28-30.00....and it's worth every penny.

Just the new Instruction Booklet...new decal sheet and box art are worth a few dollars more. But the new TARPS pod, new bombs & missles...options for 2 cockpit consoles....new fuel tanks...not to mention the freakin Bullwinkle pod all make it a super winner to me.

Yes...I know it's probably not all completely correct. And there's probably inevitable mistakes in the kit/new stuff, but I'm not a rivet counter. For 28 bucks...you just ain't gonna do any better.

I'm interested in what other people's perceptions are of this venerable kit that never seems to go away. lol...

What say you?

Paul

Edited by pminer
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I almost got that kit at my LHS today.... I bought my 5th Revell F-15C instead... You make me wish I had got the Tomcat instead! I hope Revell revamps the eagle soon! Could you post some shots of the new booklet, decals and weps spews please? Thanks!

Curt

P.S. I love Revell!!!! The Revell Tomcat is awesome!!

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Trust me Hasegawas kitties are MUCH MUCH Better. A lot more money though. I will never buy another one of Revellograms T-Cats.

I know..and I hear ya. But Has. is seriously expensive. That's what has always bugged me. And from the recent happenings with Has raising prices....it ain't gona get better anytime soon. Besides...I do the hobby for fun. I like a model that I feel I can make a mistake with and not feel like I just blew $50.00+. For the money...you can't beat the Revell offering. (IMHO)

But the biggest thing to me is that they have improved and improved this product to the point of it kicking some serious butt now. No other F-14 offering has the Bullwinkle pod. That blew me away. That's really what I applaud. What the kit offers now...for the money...is I think the best bang for the buck.

Paul

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I know..and I hear ya. But Has. is seriously expensive. That's what has always bugged me. And from the recent happenings with Has raising prices....it ain't gona get better anytime soon. Besides...I do the hobby for fun. I like a model that I feel I can make a mistake with and not feel like I just blew $50.00+. For the money...you can't beat the Revell offering. (IMHO)

But the biggest thing to me is that they have improved and improved this product to the point of it kicking some serious butt now. No other F-14 offering has the Bullwinkle pod. That blew me away. That's really what I applaud. What the kit offers now...for the money...is I think the best bang for the buck.

Paul

Don't let the prices of the new hasegawa reboxings fool you. Check ebay and you can find some pretty good deals. I once got a 1/48 hasegawa atlantic fleet boxing for only $20! That is extreme, but usually they can be had for $30-40 on ebay. Combine that with one of the awesome FTD decal sets and you have a cheap(er) hasegawa tomcat

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I'm sorry, but those new parts are inexcusably pathetic. The level of detail on the bombs is laughable, especially compared to the bombs in the Rafale B kit. And the LANTIRN? The laughably shaped adapter pylon aside, the LANTIRN has only one panel line and next to no detail. Again, even the basic F-15E kit comes with a LANTIRN that is far better. Dragon's 1:144 LANTIRN is better.

:cop:

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I applaud your enthusiasm and agree mostly with your observations. I'm working on my 70th R/M Tomcat since I began building oh so many years ago. They have cleaned up the molds, which is worth the money to me. The Bullwinkle pod and TARPS pod are great additions. However, I have to agree with sv51 about the other new parts. Compared with the crispness of the orignal parts, the new ones are seriously lacking in detail. It was a half-hearted attempt by Revell to update the kit. Their marketing department is one of the most clueless ones I've seen in a company. They are a day late and a dollar short on just about every decision they make. They don't know their true market for aircraft models, and base their decisions on their car model market, which is a completely different demographic. It may sound like I'm a rivet counter, and this case I might actually be leaning that way. But they had a chance to really bring a nice, affordable alternative to market and they missed the mark. It's still a great kit, but for those that want a decent looking LANTIRN pod and pylon, along with some other bits that are missing, will still need to go aftermarket. In regards to the Hasegawa kit, it has much better detail, but takes longer to build because of the over-engineering. My view has always been that if you want to build multiples, the R/M kit great for that. But if you only want to build a couple of really nice Tomcats, the Hasegawa kit is the way to go.

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I applaud your enthusiasm and agree mostly with your observations. I'm working on my 70th R/M Tomcat since I began building oh so many years ago. They have cleaned up the molds, which is worth the money to me. The Bullwinkle pod and TARPS pod are great additions. My view has always been that if you want to build multiples, the R/M kit great for that. But if you only want to build a couple of really nice Tomcats, the Hasegawa kit is the way to go.

Yep...I hear ya. But I'm coming at it from a fun perspective. And yes...I do build multiples too. But I guess money and overall appearance are my main issues. Has. rocks...definitely. I have many of theirs also. But this particular "upgrade" of such a venerable old kit is what is so awesome to me. Yes....they could've done it better I'm sure. No doubt. But I have about 8 or 9 old, old RM F-14A's in the stash. This one blows the others away. Like I said...just the Instruction Booklet and decals are worth some extra money. Plus...the clean up of the molds was very surprising also.

I applaud RM for this one...although their other F-14A offerings have been annoying and disappointing at best in the past. But you can even still build those up to look really good. It's just a PITA that you don't have to go through so much with Has.

At least it's an improvement over a mediocre "A" kit we've labored with for sooooo many years.

Thanks! I love the opinions!

Paul

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Not to hijack, but are the Revell 1/48 F-14D's easier to construct than the Hase kit. All I know is that I would love a Grim Reapers CAG D-model on the shelf but I've heard so many horror stories about the construction of the Hasegawa kit.

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Their marketing department is one of the most clueless ones I've seen in a company. They are a day late and a dollar short on just about every decision they make.

It may not be the fault of the Marketing department per se. Marketing can only advertise and promote products. Marketing can also let other departments know what the consumers want. Unfortunately, Marketing can't make the decision on what gets produced, when it gets produced, or how it is produced. Those decisions are made by other departments within a company. I agree with you whole-heartedly that Revell-Monogram has missed so many opportunities -

- F9F-5P released a full decade after the F9F-5, only after Hobbycraft announced their F9F series

- 1/48 Ryan NYP released after the 75th anniversary of Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight

- the rather disappointing quality of the F/A-18E/F which will be in the US military for decades while producing the really nice Rafale M for which less than 50 were built

- the really late update for the old F-14A/D kits, they would've sold so many in 2006

Marketing is responsible for the crappy quality of the models on some of their boxtops, but they are better than some. (The Testors 1/48 F-18 springs to mind. Look closely at the nosegear.) Maybe R/M will have the foresight to take advantage of other opportunities - 100th anniversary of naval aviation, pending deployment of the EA-18G, and a good opportunity to re-release many kits with colorful Bicentennial markings. I'm not holding out much hope for that though. R/M never misses an opportunity to miss the boat (or miss the PLANE).

That said, I will affirm that the parts replacement program at R/M is OUTSTANDING!

Back on subject - I'm thinking I need at least 2 Bullwinkle pods.

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