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Modelcollect 1/72 B-2


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I recently bought the kit and I’ve been pretty impressed. It’s expensive, I got mine from SprueBrothers during their sale but it’s light years ahead of the old Testors kit. Accuracy wise, it looks spot on. My Dad used to work the B-2 SPO at Tinker and from what I can remember from the open houses, the bomb bays and cockpits are accurate. Plastic is a little thick and there are not mounting tabs for the cockpit module. I did a dry fit and it goes together rather well. It’ll need filler but not too terribly much. The only con that I see, is that the plastic is a little thin on the forward leading edge tips of the wings and mine have bent due to the foam packing. Oh and they forgot to mold the Astro Inertial lens that’s on the pilots side. I’m not sure if there’s a door when it’s not in use, but there’s definitely a lense that’s supposed to be there and it’s not on the model. 

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As their first kit in a foray into aircraft its better than any other first aircraft attempt i have seen.

Id say its better than the first edition AMK Kfir.

Bodes well for the Buff and it looks like these guys know what they are doing...

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Hi Guys! :) Yeah, i got it started (at least the topic) and my thougths are basically the same as with every kit - if you love the plane - buy it - build it - turn it into the best model. Otherwise the kit is just like every kit - just a kit, a template. When we talk about this specific kit - well yeah, it has its flaws. But is it worth it - of course it does. Its price a half of a typical 1/32 kit price, while its size is comparable (and even greater) than most of the 1/32 kits. This kit is one hell of a kit - the wing span of more than half a meter will make it my first and only kit of this size in my colllection. :) Well, everything else is of a 1/72 kit.... tiny pilot seats, simplified landing gear..... I have no real idea (only watched a couple of video reviews) about the Testors kit, but this Modelcollect kit looks better in many ways - such as the fit of the parts, details of the bays, and range of display options. Each and every control surface can be displayed angled/neutral; each and every door - too. The first thing i did with my kit was to testfit/tape all the parts so to enjoy the true dimensions of the B-2. Meanwhile i noticed and i was upset by a few really intriguing mistakes of the kit, which i plan to correct, but that`s just me. 

1st - the very tip of the nose - the conjunction of the leading edges that first meets the air: its shape needs a litle edit;

2nd - the entire profiles of the aft area from wingtip 2 wingtip - they're just too thick. The trailing edges themselves are sharp as hell, and the plastic itself is very sturdy so the edges will stay sharp. But the point is that the real plane`s rear portion appears to be quite thin overall:

 

8868563_orig.jpg

 

And it should look like that no matter the scale. Well this kit is slightly fat on the rear side if you know what i mean :) But this should be easily editable by reducing the margins around the gluing areas of the half pieces (everything is made out of 2 halves) instead of scratching and sanding the surfaces;

3rd - the panel lines - i`ll definitely fill and make them flush with the rest of the surfaces. This plane is smooth as baby a$$. No panel lines at all. The visible panel lines are diferenciations from the different colors of the RAMs. It`s stealth after all. Well, this opinion is just my 2 cents worth, but i`m not afraid of the overwhelming masking... after building 2 Lightning IIs :P

4th - the canopy. I`ll cut it in 4 pieces and will try to make the appearance of the three vertical 3D frames inbetween more noticeable. Just painting the frames from the outer (and even the inner) sides will be not enough.

5th - each and every edge will receive a PE reinforcement, and i`ll sharpen them as much as possible. And hopefullly they should stay sharp for a longer time than just leaving bare plastic edges. The size and weight of this kit will make the edges very vulnerable during transporation, touching, moving, etc.

 

That`s what i could add at 2nd/3rd... glance :) Btw I have a thorough review prepped for Aeroscale and when/if they publish it - i`ll share the link...

Edited by my favs are F`s
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On 2018-03-05 at 2:58 PM, F4DPhantomII said:

I saw it at locl dealer for  $135.Decided to pass till I hear more about it in reviews. Anone have a review? Thanks.

 

I haven't seen the kit first hand myself, but here's a summary of the complaints I've seen so far:

 

1. The shape of the leading edge in front of the windscreen is a little off. I can't really see the problem myself, and it's not like the Testors kit was any better whatsoever, but it's been pointed out so I'll mention it.

 

2. There are no color callouts for the interior whatsoever. Either do your own research, or find a scan of the Testors instructions if you think you can trust them (I wouldn't.)

 

3. The provided armament are under-detailed Mk84 bombs, possibly intended as BSU-50 practice bombs. Not something the B-2 would fly with operationally. And since you need sixteen 2000 lb JDAMS to fill both bomb bays, you either need to have a very deep spares box already, or six Hasegawa weapons sets (either Set VII, which has three Mk84-based JDAMs; or set IX, which has three BLU-109 based JDAMs, or a mix of the two. Or lots of resin bombs.)

 

Note that in one of the earlier threads here, where representatives of Modelcollect were actively participating, it was mentioned that the final for-sale version would come with a set of JDAMs in the box because people had been pointing out that the plain Mk84 shapes were inappropriate. This idea appears to have been dropped. 

 

I have yet to see a finished build with comments on the fit and finish, but the molded in interior detail appears suitably gorgeous to my untrained eye, and the dry fits I've seen seem to be much, much better than the Testors kit.

 

So all in all, it's an expensive kit that if you want to arm it properly will double in price and overflow your spares box.. But it's the best thing we're ever going to get for this particular subject and scale, because I don't see *anyone* else taking up the gaunlet for something this big...

Edited by SebastianP
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First review i have ever read which levels criticism for having to much detail in the cockpit!

Nice review but i disagree the panel lines are “way to wide and way to deep”.

if you want way to wide and deep go look at a Revell 48th B-1 lol.

Good job on the review..

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Well, i didin`t build it yet and don`t exactly know what will be visible inside the cockpit, but at least it looks like that to me... :) Btw I plan to put pilots in, and to dim the canopy significantly. 

Whilst for the panel lines - ooh yeaaah, i wish one day i could build a 1/48 B-1... it would be a real monster undoubtly. I`ll check it out now....

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