Black Box vs Aires

[kellyF15]

Just a quick question on which is the better replacement cockpit. I have no experience with either. Thanks,

Kelly

[11bee]

Aires is notorious for very poor fitting cockpits. Never used BB. I stay away from Aires. Great looking resin but.....

[falcon20driver]

The only black box cockpit I used fit great. The other times I used Aires and the fit was less than stellar. That being said, Aires parts are beautiful.

[skyhawk174]

Even though I have many, many (I think all of them :() of the Black Box sets I have only used the Strike Eagle cockpit set for the Revell kit. It fit great. I had read that others had lots of trouble fitting it but no issue here. I will try and post a picture tonight.

I started that kit so long ago and somehow got stalled as I was not happy with the way the seats turned out. I really should get back onto it and just get it done.

Have not really used any Aires sets as yet but the couple I did dry fit I found that I know I was going to have to do some grinding to get the sets to work with the kit.

[Alpagueur]

I prefer Black Box cockpits... lots of detail and relatively easy fitting. The only drawback is the lack of any PE parts (unlike Aires does), but you can make up with Eduard ones.

"Tomcat Cockpit" F-14A, The Black Box Cockpit Close Up

Edited April 28, 2016 by Alpagueur

[Parabat]

I personally think the Aires is better, it has more detail from what I've seen of both and the PE parts are good. They do fit ok, though some judicious sanding and dry fitting is necessary. They are not shrunken though, so good news there. There's a guy on Britmodeller, DaveJL, who uses them all the time with no problems.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Parabat

[kellyF15]

Thanks guys. Choices choices...

[HS-4Grandson]

If you decide to go with Aires....here is a link on how to install the Aires pit on a 48th Hasegawa Tomcat

Aires Cockpit and Wheel Wells

I am tossed between Aires & Black Box....Black Box you are able to build a more accurate later Tomcat....like "A" VF-41, 211, & 154, or "B" VF-32, 103, & 143...just some I can think off the top of my head. As for Aires yes their detail is more crisp but you have to do some Mods to make it a Late "A" & "B".

Plus with Black Box you can get the set that gives you the Bombcat like bomb racks, BOL rails, a better rendition of the TCS chin pod, and other antenna's that are needed to make a Late "A" & "B"....

Stanton

[Aigore]

I simply love Aires pits, they're crisp and detailed with complements of PE. Sometimes you need to work on them to remove casting blocks and thick spots but with a dremel the work is done in mere seconds.