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Minibase Su-33 1/48


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Just got my first Minibase Flanker.

Nice kit but maybe the hype train has built it up to way beyond expectations.

Directly comparing it to my Kinetic kits to my eye the surface detail on the Kinetic kit is not only finer but far more restrained.

Minbase has a swarm of small parts that im sure if you can get them off the sprues intact will add hugely to how busy the kit looks.

Decals in the MB kit are a bit thick where the Crossdekta ones in Kinetic are superb.

Landing gear etc looks fantastic.

Overall lovely kit but one will be enough as comparing it to the Kinetic kits which I already own plus resin seats etc im not getting much more and the surface detail i prefer in the Kinetic kit.

If anything the MB kit shows just how nice the Kinetic kit is and at under half the price i cant justify swapping them out.

Great kit never the less..

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19 minutes ago, dehowie said:

Just got my first Minibase Flanker.

Nice kit but maybe the hype train has built it up to way beyond expectations.

Directly comparing it to my Kinetic kits to my eye the surface detail on the Kinetic kit is not only finer but far more restrained.

Minbase has a swarm of small parts that im sure if you can get them off the sprues intact will add hugely to how busy the kit looks.

Decals in the MB kit are a bit thick where the Crossdekta ones in Kinetic are superb.

Landing gear etc looks fantastic.

Overall lovely kit but one will be enough as comparing it to the Kinetic kits which I already own plus resin seats etc im not getting much more and the surface detail i prefer in the Kinetic kit.

If anything the MB kit shows just how nice the Kinetic kit is and at under half the price i cant justify swapping them out.

Great kit never the less..

 

 

Kinetic Su-33 is a great model. I love GWH Su-35 but next to GWH, Kinetic surface details do make me happier. I just do not like matt surfaces on models and prefer polished plastic and Kinetic is just sharper. The only significant upgrade (for me) of both GWH and Minibase flankers is the single large piece engine nacelle + intake parts over Kinetic. 

 

Having said that, I will most probably buy J-15 because of the new armament. 

Edited by foxmulder_ms
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On 3/27/2021 at 11:06 PM, dehowie said:

Just got my first Minibase Flanker.

Nice kit but maybe the hype train has built it up to way beyond expectations.

Directly comparing it to my Kinetic kits to my eye the surface detail on the Kinetic kit is not only finer but far more restrained.

Minbase has a swarm of small parts that im sure if you can get them off the sprues intact will add hugely to how busy the kit looks.

Decals in the MB kit are a bit thick where the Crossdekta ones in Kinetic are superb.

Landing gear etc looks fantastic.

Overall lovely kit but one will be enough as comparing it to the Kinetic kits which I already own plus resin seats etc im not getting much more and the surface detail i prefer in the Kinetic kit.

If anything the MB kit shows just how nice the Kinetic kit is and at under half the price i cant justify swapping them out.

Great kit never the less..

 

With Minibase kit, you dont need to think of photo etch, resin aftermarket for cockpit, wheels or exhausts. You also dont need extra decals. However, you will need some of these details for Kinetic. Also, Kinetic kits seems to be a kit that was in development when released. 

 

For me, Kinetic cost me $85 shipped on a slow boat mail (2 to 3 months). Minibase cost me $120 shipped from eBay and it arrived in 3 weeks. Minibase out of the box is a complete kit with no aftermarket needed at all. 

Edited by stalal
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On 3/29/2021 at 12:32 AM, stalal said:

 

With Minibase kit, you dont need to think of photo etch, resin aftermarket for cockpit, wheels or exhausts. You also dont need extra decals. However, you will need some of these details for Kinetic. Also, Kinetic kits seems to be a kit that was in development when released. 

 

For me, Kinetic cost me $85 shipped on a slow boat mail (2 to 3 months). Minibase cost me $120 shipped from eBay and it arrived in 3 weeks. Minibase out of the box is a complete kit with no aftermarket needed at all. 

Totaly agree with you, that why I get two for this kit and I'm not sure having time to build one. We must encourage this manufacturer to offer us new models, they have spent so much time developing their Su-33 and their effort deserves recognition.

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i have both kit !kinetic is less busy then minibase  some problem around the nose for kinetic ! but minibase aimed at a product with an high levels of details and i hope don't lose any of the little pieces ! in fact i have solded my kinetic ! i hope to buy another minibase 

 

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After looking long and hard jumping in with another 3 Minibase kits ordered.

If i get time im starting up the first one and really hoping the fit and build is as good as the rest if the kit.

Having spent quite a bit of time looking closely its certainly a step up from the Kinetic kit and happy to say that very clearly now after my initial impressions.

Great work from Minibase and looking forward to jumping in neck deep into this SU-33.

It really does take a close eye and a few days to take it all in.

Thats 4 ill have so hopefully we see more from Minibase.

Well done.

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On 3/28/2021 at 6:24 AM, foxmulder_ms said:

 

 

Kinetic Su-33 is a great model. I love GWH Su-35 but next to GWH, Kinetic surface details do make me happier. I just do not like matt surfaces on models and prefer polished plastic and Kinetic is just sharper. The only significant upgrade (for me) of both GWH and Minibase flankers is the single large piece engine nacelle + intake parts over Kinetic. 

 

Having said that, I will most probably buy J-15 because of the new armament. 

 

Here is some comparison video between GWH Su-35 and Minibase Su-33: G.W.H Su-35 vs. Minibase Su-33 comparison

 

I think GWH has some edge over Minibase as details look more pronounced and more likely not to totally disappear under paint and the build is much more simpler.

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On 3/21/2021 at 4:58 AM, ijozic said:

 

As nice as the GWH kit might be, Minibase one would expectedly have a higher level of detail and would be somewhat cheaper. Thus, I'll buy their Flanker if they release one.


A quick look at this video will show the GWH kit has better surface detail than the Minibase kit.

Not a fan of reviewers and the hype on “unmatched surface detail” etc.

Just be realistic yes its fantastic but”revolutionary” ir “unmatched” is pure hype.

Excellent comparison shows we are spoiled for superb Flankers

 

 

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On 4/11/2021 at 7:10 PM, dehowie said:


A quick look at this video will show the GWH kit has better surface detail than the Minibase kit.

Not a fan of reviewers and the hype on “unmatched surface detail” etc.

Just be realistic yes its fantastic but”revolutionary” ir “unmatched” is pure hype.

Excellent comparison shows we are spoiled for superb Flankers

 

 

Totally agree with you

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2 hours ago, regylum said:

Preview: Minibase add more firepower to their Sea Flanker with the w/Kh-41 Moskit(P-270) anti-ship missile https://www.themodellingnews.com/2021/04/preview-minibase-add-more-firepower-to.html

The Subject - Su-33 Flanker-D(Su-27K) wKh-41 Moskit(P-270) Anti-ship missile (1).jpg

I'll waiting for this release, not that interresting for the J-15.

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  • 7 months later...

I have no problem with a range of Flanker alternatives, provided they come with price scaling and show a genuine differentiation of quality/options.

 

When every kit is 80-100 dollars, yet the Kitty Hawks do not build easily and have separate wing/fuselage elements and very shallow detail that doesn't allow for sanding cleanup of clumsy joins, something is wrong.  It's also wrong when Hobby Boss provides an excellent build on a monobody set of fuselage/wing pancakes for around 60 bucks but includes such stupid-error (because it is a repetition of other scales and has long been noted) mistakes as angled wheel wells and very bluff upper fuselage details that look more like a sculpted composite than the actual Flanker's discrete, tubular, spine.  Added to which, the cockpit/canopy area is completely wrong with a tiny, bulbous, canopy and micro-IRST.

 

Then you have kits like the GWH which, while not a perfect build by any means, at least tries to get the basic shapes correct.  Yet has gone six months without market access as their Su-27 followon to the Su-35 presumably languishes in a container stack on some pod ship off San Diego.  Hobby East? 132 dollars, last I checked.  You can literally buy the 1/32nd Trumpeter for that (Scale Hobbyist, $119.99 + $9.99 shipping...).

 

The things which are missing are almost as infuriating.  If you want to do the 10+ R-77 loadout on the Kittyhawk Su-35 box art, good luck, because it only comes with 2 in the kit.  That's fraud.  You can source the Aires/Brassin Adders for a decent price of around 10-12 bucks for four weapons but you still end up needing _three boxes_ (half the cost of the baseline model) and the missiles come with paper thin strakes and absolutely no locating slots in the rock hard resin missile bodies.  How do you assemble them?  The fins literally fall off with a breath and the finest Dremel saw in existence leaves trench like grooves in the missile body, making it very hard to align the fins, longitudinally.

 

If you want more modern weapons, like the R-77M2 with conventional fins, the R-37M with the shorter body or the Kh-69Mk2 stealthy cruise missile, good luck.  No Yakhont.  No Zircon.

 

Modernized Su-27SM all have offset IRST, some of them have AAR probes.  But most of the Su-27 kits come without the alternative windscreens with the centerline or offset IRST fairings and none have the AAR cutout.  Why not?  It cannot be a marketing ploy to get you to buy Su-30 kits on a mix and match basis because the 80+80 = 160 is more likely to be 80 - 80 = ZERO for most customers in this economic condition.

 

The J-11/J-16 are their own nightmare.  Most don't have wingtip EW pods and when they do, there is no attempt to differentiate the 'skinny' Sorbitsaya and 'fat' Khibiny versions.  This is weird because 90% of Russian and Chinese Flankers now fly, tactically, with ECM, not wingtip launch rails.

 

Windscreen IRST locations are a problem.  Fin tip configurations are wrong.  Want to do the J-11D with the slanted AESA radome and static dischargers?  Not included.  And specific, modern, weapons like the PL-10/12/15 are restricted to only certain kit releases while China specific LT/ZT based glide bombs (like our SDB) are not included at all.  Nor are the racks and pylons to support their carriage.  YJ-12?  Nope.  Modern, low viz, PLAAF star and bar?  Only one kit has them.  Not even aftermarket that I know of.

 

Even sourcing basic, Cold War era, Russian munitions is hard as a Kitty Hawk 1/48 munition set is 40-50 dollars and there are /so many/ weapons types included that you only get 2 of most.

 

I like gear up models.  I don't like fighting everything-hangs drooping control surfaces which are explicitly not designed to be inflight compatible.  This is particularly hard on the Kitty Hawk kits with their paper thin LEF trailing edges.  They don't fit well, even drooped.

 

It's not that we have an excess of choices.  It's that we lack the modern day equivalent of an (accurate) Academy kit in the 45-50 dollar range with ONE weapons load that is accurate to type.  Did they still exist as active manufacturers, Revell and Monogram would be superbly positioned to take back a huge chunk of the modern jet scale models market, for America, if they could issue a basic and well done Flanker kit.

 

Minibase is welcome to bring out a super Su-33.  Good on'em.  But it is the Su-27 and it's export/clone derivatives which is the modern F-4 potential market.  That is where the multiplicity of foreign sale money/markings/cool schemes are.  And if you say Kitty Hawk or Hobby Boss are the pen max ultra definitions of a 'modern' Su-27 kit now available, well, I giggle in your general direction.  I won't judge the GWH kit until I see it but I will say it is priced completely out of scale.

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Any plans for a Chinese J-15? They are already building it within Batch 04 and as it seems the CATOBAR capable next variant is also already in production ... ☺️ 

Even more since there are now more J-15s in service than Su-33 ever have been built.

 

 

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13 hours ago, Gwen Phoenix said:

 

Yes, there are already pictures on their Facebook page advertising kit #8002. Not my cup of tea the J-15, tho.

Cheers,

 

Gwen

 

 

Really? But I wasn't able to find them on this site...

(1) MINIBASE SU-33 build group | Facebook

Anyway this is even more interesting, since the first catapult-capable serial aircraft has been spotted this week:

 

627116711_J-15B-firstclear20211214part.thumb.jpg.313456aeae6d2264f7c03f3cf8a79b33.jpg
 

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