Andre Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Any SP 480th FS, around? Or in the works? Astra ASD7214. HTH, Andre Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bdt13 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 any SP 480th FS, around? Or in the works? Try Wolfpak 72-048 Tac Air as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) Any SP 480th FS, around? Or in the works? Can't believe it is more than two years now since the 480th has been reactivated and nobody has done any decals (line jet) yet. Jeff, if I find some over here, I'll get a set for you, too. Edited April 26, 2014 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Oh yeah, I forgot about the Astra sheet. Despite being 22/23 marked aircraft, they still are closer to what I'm after than the stock Tamiya sheet. The Wolfpack sheet is good too, as I remember seeing that jet post-strike, but it's a Commander's jet and I prefer a line aircraft. Dennis, if you find something, let me know. I'll probably go with the Astra sheet for my first jet. BTW, I picked up a second kit this afternoon. Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 I am planning to kit-bash this kit with the Hasegawa F-16E kit. So I will use the [Academy] kits' weapons & pylons for the Tamiya kit. Which is the best kit from which to get pylons and loads for the Tamiya kit - Hasegawa, Academy, Revell, Fujimi ...? Are there pylons, tanks and stores in those other kits that are not appropriate for the Tamiya -CJ? Thanks, Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
achterkirch Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Which is the best kit from which to get pylons and loads for the Tamiya kit - Hasegawa, Academy, Revell, Fujimi ...? Are there pylons, tanks and stores in those other kits that are not appropriate for the Tamiya -CJ? Thanks, Gene K revell in my opinion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zkalos Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 revell in my opinion. [/quote I think too, that Revell is the best and the cheapest one. Because Tamiya contains the inner wet pilons, You can choice any Revell boxing. I will take it out from my F-16A boxing, because for the Belgian Spitfire paint shema I dont need any pilons. I like to build a clear, stripped look Falcon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Thanks achterkirch and kalos for the recommendations - Revell it is. Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
achterkirch Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Thanks achterkirch and kalos for the recommendations - Revell it is. Gene K no problem. I have built the revel kit ever since it came out and I have accumulated a nice stock pile of pylons and missile rails over the years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I wonder how hard it would be to graft in a Revell two-seater forward fuselage.... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959369-f-16d-viper-bahraini-af-tamiya-172-conversion/?hl=%2Btamiya+%2Bviper Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Revell it is [for spare parts]. Well, I changed my mind after digging out my "old" Viper kits: the Revell pylons have significant dimples that would be a pain to fill given the panel line restoration that would be needed. The Academy mouldings are perfect, however, so will go with those. Such a shame that the Academy kit suffers so many problems, especially the nose and intake shapes -- were there any correction sets released? Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ruud Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 the airframe might be all wrong, but some many parts are so nice. Mine will surely be used on a few other Vipers. Wolfpack has a resin nose in some of their 1/72 conversions... not sure if they actually correct anything. IIRC when i compared the Hasegawa, Revell, and Academy fuselages, the cockpit of the Academy one was further back. Hard to correct that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alex Sidharta Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Got mine yesterday and wondering which scheme should I put on this CJ to make it nice without any gasbags and armaments hanging? I mean a CJ without HTS and HARMs or GBUs.... :bandhead2:/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pollie Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Got mine yesterday and wondering which scheme should I put on this CJ to make it nice without any gasbags and armaments hanging? I mean a CJ without HTS and HARMs or GBUs.... :bandhead2:/>/> I was in the Tamiya HQ two weeks ago and saw two 1/72 F-16C models with all external stores in place. When I asked they told me these were 'prototype' models and one of the factors for not including the stores in the finished product was cost...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mario krijan Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I hope they will, after all, make one box with full armament, so everyone can choose which boxing wants Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I was in the Tamiya HQ two weeks ago and saw two 1/72 F-16C models with all external stores in place. When I asked they told me these were 'prototype' models and one of the factors for not including the stores in the finished product was cost...... Did they elaborate on what the other factors were? I mean, how much could they have possibly saved? The moulds have apparently been made anyway. It looks like some parts were just gated off from the other sprues, which means Tamiya doesn't even save time by handling fewer moulds/sprues. And they even include decals for the non-existent parts. It seems the only money they saved would be the raw plastic. And that can't possibly be worth more than a few yen/cents at most. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 And that can't possibly be worth more than a few yen/cents at most. And Tamiya is shooting itself in the foot IMHO. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alex Sidharta Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 or at least, Tamiya includes the pylons only (and the locations) without the weapons which can be obtained from other sources.... :soapbox:/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) And that can't possibly be worth more than a few yen/cents at most. x 10 000+ kits. Plus added shipping costs, with the cumulative weight. It adds up. I'm not saying I agree with the decision (at ALL), but I can understand someone making the decision for the business. I can also understand them wanting to have a certain perceived value for a certain price-point. Retail is what, 15,000 yen? So you get "this much" kit for that price. If they include a bunch of ordnance and sell it at the same price, suddenly the other kits at that price-point don't seem like a decent value, and the impact ripples out from there: this 30,000 yen kit is a ripoff - their F-16 is only 15,000 yen, and look at all the stuff you get in that box! If they decided they wanted to hit a certain price-point - that they would be able to make a better return selling the kit for 15,000 yen than for 20,000 yen - if you're afraid you might upset your pricing structure, the only options are to bump the price or reduce the apparent value in the kit. Except that, since most modellers *know* they've stripped some value from the kit, it feels like a ripoff, which runs a decent risk of reducing sales. It'd be interesting to know what impact the missing ordnance has had on sales. I know I'm not buying one, and I suspect I'm not alone. Edited May 29, 2014 by MoFo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pollie Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) Did they elaborate on what the other factors were? No, they didn't, and I didn't ask any further questions since the guy was struggling with speaking english. As mofo points out, leaving out the weapons sprue means shipping is lower, the box is smaller etc. Retail for the Tamiya F-16C is 1900 Yen, the Hasegawa F-16C Block 50 retails at 1200 Yen in Japan....... Before I learnt of the lack of ordnance/stores I wanted three but left Japan with only one in my suitcase... Edited May 29, 2014 by pollie Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Good points, MoFo! Saving on shipping, smaller box, value at certain price-points, numbers across the production run, I didn't factor in those points. But like Laurent, I'm afraid they shot themselves in the foot with this one (and that's really sad as the kit's a real beauty). Especially since Tamiya themselves highlight that shortcoming by including decals for the missing bits and even pointing out all the stuff you can hang on it in the documentation that comes with the kit. I guess they would've fared better with a fully equipped kit, even had that meant a little higher price (I certainly would've paid a little more for a "complete" kit). As pollie points out, they're competing against the 1200 Yen Hasegawa's F-16, a kit that's still decent and includes a full complement of stores. Wouldn't a fully equipped Tamiya F-16 at, say, 2000 Yen fare better than a cut back kit at 1900 Yen? Especially as the most viable option to rob stores from comes in the form of the Hasegawa kit at 2/3 the price. I mean, they lost two sales from pollie. I actually bought three of them (got enough spare parts from a host of Revell, Hasegawa and Academy Vipers), but unless possible future releases come with at least the fuel tanks and pylons, I won't be buying more, beautiful kit or not. And I don't even feel I've been ripped off. I knew what I'd get and the 1520 Yen I paid at HLJ were an absolute steal for a kit of that quality. I just think that they could've sold quite a lot more with a "more complete" kit, even at a higher price. Interesting the size of the box came up, as I was quite surprised to see the kit come in such a small box (when compared to Revell's F-16 boxes). Just for curiosity's sake, I measured the boxes (okay, now we've gone off the deep end, measuring not only the kits, but also the boxes :lol: ). Revell: 4690 cm³ (TMOTA 2003 boxing) or 4890cm³ (first boxing) Tamiya: 2370 cm³ Hasegawa: 2142 cm³ Turns out Hasgeawa does really smart packaging and Revell sells you a lot of air. :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TunTavern6541 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 A 1/72 Tamiya F-16 in the box weighs 7.8 oz. A 1/72 Tamiya F-16 with the ordnance/pylon/fuel tank sprue from a Revell F-16 weighs 8.8 oz. Sorry, but I'm personally not buying the 'added weight/cost' argument. It's irrelevant at this point, but less than an ounce of plastic would not have made a significant difference. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Considering most of us in the US are paying closer to $30 for this kit in its current form, it will affect overall sales. With the breakdown, I have no doubt we'll see this kit used for the different Blocks. Maybe even with weapons. IIRC, it was said that the US market is not Tamiya's focus. So maybe buyers over there don't care for external hardware?! I'm just guessing. - Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
polar bear Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) Attack Squadron saves our lives. Edited September 2, 2014 by polar bear Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Attack Squadron saves our lives. What's the best source for these products? US Source? Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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