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Best 1/72 jet kits by subject?


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About the F-104 family Hase is slightly better than Revell (but it doesn't really offer a real Italian "S"), obviously Revell remain the best option for a Charlie. ESCI/Italeri in the hands of a good modeller can still be a good alternative.

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Gentlemen, present your arguments - why is the Fujimi E-2C better than the Hasegawa or vice versa. Why should someone pick one over the other? I will try to summarize for inclusion on the list when you're done. 

Edited by SebastianP
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I think a common place to get a consensus on “best kits” is a good idea but, again, this post is proof you are trying to cover Mount Everest with a bedsheet. I hate to sound negative but the reader is forced to digest a nebulous post for info on the one aircraft type they are researching. Think about it - if someone wants to find info on the best F-14 Tomcat kit they will search on a string like “best F-14 kit” or “best Tomcat model”, and probably will never find this thread. 

 

IMO a separate thread for each aircraft type (possibly covering all scales) would be much more user friendly and easier to find via search tools. Yes it would be a lot of threads but much easier to find what you’re looking for. 

 

Having said that, several prominent aircraft are MIA here. 

 

Northrop F-5

The fit and detail on the Airfix/Heller kit is terrible. The Italeri/Testors kit looks much better in the box but haven’t yet built it. 

 

Vought F-8

Academy hands down with the Esci kit a close second. Not impressed by the old Hasegawa kit and have read nothing good about the old Fujimi kit.  

 

Lockheed SR-71

Academy and Hasegawa kits are virtually identical (pretty sure they are the based on the same molds) but Academy has more and better decal options in the latest release. The Monogram/Revell kit is also good and some say more accurate in shape, and can be usually be found for less $$ than the Aca-gawa kits. Have not built the Italeri/Testors kit so no opinion there. 

 

Lockheed F-117

Revell kit hands down. Same as the Monogram in-flight snaptite kit but adds a decent weapons bay and landing gear. Fit and detail on the Airfix kit is terrible. Academy kit lacks detail in the box but haven’t yet built it. 

 

Bell V-22

i built the old AMT kit years ago and it was ok but I assume the new Hasegawa kit is the best here. 

 

.

 

Edited by habu2
typos
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18 minutes ago, SebastianP said:

Gentlemen, present your arguments - why is the Fujimi E-2C better than the Hasegawa or vice versa.

 

Yes, which one is the “best 1/72 jet kit” ?

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10 hours ago, Paul Boyer said:

I think GW8345 either forgot or didn't know of the vastly superior Hasegawa Hummer.

Yep, for got about the Hasegawa kit.

 

Looked it up on line and notice that for the E-2C (old school), the props look like they have slightly rounded tips, on the real thing the tips are not rounded. I will say that looking at the Hasegawa kits do have way more detail than then the old Fujimi kit.:thumbsup:

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Fujimi's Hawkeye started life as an E-2A kit around 1970. For its day, it was fine and really the only Hawkeye kit in any scale. During the '80s, they revamped the kit to make it a C model. I think it may have been the late '80s or early '90s, Fujimi modified the kit with better landing gear and maybe some other improvements. Shortly before the Hasegawa kit came out, Fujimi once again updated their kit and tried to make it an E-2C Hawkeye 2000 with the new props and spinners. The spinners were badly misshapen. I built that kit for FSM review, and then built the Hasegawa kit shortly thereafter. No contest. The Hasegawa is more detailed, more accurate, fits better, etc. They are hard to find and expensive, but really the only kit worth considering in 1/72 scale.

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13 minutes ago, Wolfgun33 said:

Academy makes a 1/72 A-10A. Haven't personally built it but have friend that's about to.

 

I think the Academy kit is the same as the Hasegawa kit but with engraved panel lines (vs raised).  Included stores may differ as well.

 

Same goes for the Academy / Hasegawa A-37 & MiG-23 & Mig-27 kits (and possibly others).

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While they're not the "best" kits in 72nd scale, I do believe that they're worth mentioning.....  I've really enjoyed building the old ESCI/Italeri /AMT F-4C/D/E/J, RF-4C, and F-15A/B kits. I think that I've built a dozen of the F-4s, and three of the F-15s. They've got decent enough detail, and recessed panel lines. There are a few spots that need attention, but overall, they build up nicely. A nice bonus is that I routinely find them on vendors tables at model shows for $5 a kit. Heck, these days a jar of paint costs that much! Once I picked up a box of 15 of the F-4 kits, bagged and off of the sprue, but complete, for $40. Would I try to build a show stopper with one? No. But if you'd like an easy build with reasonable detail and accuracy, they're a good option IMO. Fred K.

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F-14 Tomcat:

 

The new tool F-14 from Fine Molds is the best kit of the aircraft in 1/72. The F-14D was released in cooperation with the Model Graphix Magazine, and the F-14A has been released by Fine Molds in one boxing already, another scheduled for April of this year. No F-14B has been announced, but the way the individual sprues are divided up, it would an easy and logical next step. Fit detail and finish is superior to the Hasegawa kit in all regards.

 

Great Wall Hobby has announced that they will be releasing their own new tool F-14D yet, but nothing more than the announcement is public at this point in time.

 

F-15E Strike Eagle

 

Beware, the Hasegawa kit does have updated sprues that accurately represent the CFTs, pylons, pods and other things, but the core aircraft kit still represents an early "D" model. There are a lot of details that changed when building the strike eagle that are not represented.

Great Wall Hobby has released a new tool F-15E and F-15I this is a traditional model (not press fit) and accurately represents a Strike Eagle out of the box. I looks to have the best detail and finish of any F-15 in the scale, but is specifically limited to the strike eagle variants.

 

A-7 Corsair

 

Hobby Boss offers all production versions, including two seaters. The Fuselage is too short and wide, and the shape of the intakes and nose are off. On the positive side, it has much better detail than the Fujimi kit, to include better gear, gear doors, gear wells, pylons among other things. Included underwing stores are better left in the trash can.

 

A-10 Thunderbolt

 

Hasegawa has updated their kit with an extra sprue that includes details for the A-10C conversion. The core kit is still the same, but has the LASTE antennas have been added with the "C" model updates. It has raised panel lines and not best fit, but better shape that the Italeri kit.

The Academy kit is a copy of the Hasegawa kit with recessed panel lines

Hobby Boss kits are from their easy build series and are best avoided by serious modellers. They do offer a N/AW version, but the canopy shape is much too narrow aft.

 

MiG-29:

Zvezda for the versions that they have released. They have not released a 9-12 yet

Trumpeter, inferior to Zvezda, but the best 9-12 on the market now.

 

MiG-31:

Trumpeter. It still has has issues, but is far better than other offerings out there.

 

Su-34:

Trumpeter. Better fit, finish and updates the version past the very early prototypes represented by the Italeri kit. Nose shape is off though.

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As Habu2 mentioned, the Academy and Hasegawa A-10A kits are basically the same.  I have both and even the weapons are the same.  Hasegawa's seems slightly nicer, IMHO, but not that much.

 

Ah, the ECSI Phantoms and Scooters!  Good kits.

 

The 1/72 Hobbyboss A-7 didn't get mentioned, but its intake is off. Nicely molded, though...

 

Tom

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3 hours ago, habu2 said:

 

Yes, which one is the “best 1/72 jet kit” ?

 

Turboprop engines are just jets with a fan too big to be encased. :)

 

And frankly, an E-3, E-4, E-6, E-8, KC-135 or RC-135 is not an airliner, so they too belong on my list. :p

 

Oh, and I get your meaning that one thread may be hard to find, but this is supposed to be blatant pinning bait so people won't *have* to look for it, it'll be right there. 

 

At one point I wanted to just start a wiki for this stuff to replace the 72 scale census and let the public have at it, but I suck at wiki formatting. 

 

@Hoops, I've seen your post, I'll let it be for a bit to see if any disagreements turn up, and then I'll see about updating the list a bit. 

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There is a cheap plastic "correction set" in injected plastic for the Hobby Boss A-7 nose. It is sold as the Esci/ERTL/AMT/Italeri A-7E kit.

 

Pick one up cheap at the next model show,,,,,,,you will instantly be able to tell what parts to swap and fair in on the Hobby Boss nose. (you will also suddenly have MERs with all the parts to make them, unlike the missing pieces on the Hobby Boss MERs)

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Regarding F-8 Crusaders,,,,,,,the Italeri/Esci/ERTL/AMT kit is really no improvement over the Hasegawa/Revell/ACE/Kangnam kits,,,,,,because they have the wings in the exact same incorrect location. (I just placed an Esci fuselage half up against a Revell)

 

Also, rather than a thread that winds up being a huge rehash of the 1/72 Census site,,,,,it would be much more helpful for the modeler if there was a thread full of links to discussions such as my Skyhawk thread on my Hangar Deck Resource site. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hangardeckresource/1-72-skyhawk-finders-and-tooling-guide-t37.html#p40000087

 

It does need to be done by someone that actually has the various toolings unbuilt, so that it is done from seeing the parts, rather than a bunch of people trying to remember what each one saw on 7 different toolings over the decades. (I always buy one, and if I am going to build it, I buy another to keep unbuilt,,,,,,,,,or if I really like it, I buy a few dozen for my collection builds)

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4 minutes ago, Rex said:

Regarding F-8 Crusaders,,,,,,,the Italeri/Esci/ERTL/AMT kit is really no improvement over the Hasegawa/Revell/ACE/Kangnam kits,,,,,,because they have the wings in the exact same incorrect location. (I just placed an Esci fuselage half up against a Revell)

 

Also, rather than a thread that winds up being a huge rehash of the 1/72 Census site,,,,,it would be much more helpful for the modeler if there was a thread full of links to discussions such as my Skyhawk thread on my Hangar Deck Resource site. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hangardeckresource/1-72-skyhawk-finders-and-tooling-guide-t37.html#p40000087

 

It does need to be done by someone that actually has the various toolings unbuilt, so that it is done from seeing the parts, rather than a bunch of people trying to remember what each one saw on 7 different toolings over the decades. (I always buy one, and if I am going to build it, I buy another to keep unbuilt,,,,,,,,,or if I really like it, I buy a few dozen for my collection builds)

 

Collecting links to various such discussions was one of the ideas I had for the thread, but finding them is nigh impossible unless you know what you're looking for. Like your link in that post - I would never have found that in a million years, because I didn't know about that Tapatalk group and I don't think Google would have pointed me in the right direction without some very specific keywords. 

 

Edit: (Getting to such articles was half the reason I posted the thread in the first place, make a big splash and the people with long memories and good link archives will start posting them up to reinforce their arguments. Maximum win for me. :thumbsup:)

Edited by SebastianP
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Sebastian, this should make you laugh.

 

I didn't create my Tap a Talk forum site. A board hosting site got re-configured when I wasn't looking, and Tap a Talk took their pages over. So, for a while I was looking at my own site, thinking someone had cloned mine. So, you and I both wouldn't have found it for a while, lol.

 

The only reason I am doing pages like that Skyhawk page, aircraft by aircraft model,,,,,,,is because I once went looking for something that comprehensive for each of the aircraft types that will go into my collection,,,,,,,,and didn't find any. True, there are sites that might compare 4 toolings of Phantoms, or 2 or 3 each for Crusaders, Tomcats, etc,,,,,,,,,but no one includes all the toolings for any one aircraft. Sherlock's guides to the Skyraider and Sabre/Fury are great for this,,,,,,but, that is not a free website thing, those are books that need to be purchased.

 

I ended up with so many toolings of each aircraft because I followed online advice and/or the above mentioned piecemeal sites,,,,,,,,,,,and wound up buying the "stinkers" along with the "gold."

 

I will be posting more of those types of articles this spring and summer,,,,,,,and you are more than welcome to include links to each of them when they are done.

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2 hours ago, Rex said:

Also, rather than a thread that winds up being a huge rehash of the 1/72 Census site,,,,,it would be much more helpful for the modeler if there was a thread full of links to discussions such as my Skyhawk thread on my Hangar Deck Resource site. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hangardeckresource/1-72-skyhawk-finders-and-tooling-guide-t37.html#p40000087

 

It does need to be done by someone that actually has the various toolings unbuilt, so that it is done from seeing the parts, rather than a bunch of people trying to remember what each one saw on 7 different toolings over the decades. (I always buy one, and if I am going to build it, I buy another to keep unbuilt,,,,,,,,,or if I really like it, I buy a few dozen for my collection builds)

 

Your tapatalk site reminds me of the effort I put into my personal website back when I had one, including an F-16 resource  section.  I cataloged every F-16 kit and decal sheet I could find (and afford).  I also cataloged other reference material that would be helpful to other modelers.  I stopped updating it when I lost my web host but the wayback machine has captured most of it. Here's a link my F-16 resource on the wayback machine.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20080102151609fw_/http://www.habu2.net:80/vipers/index.html

 

I made an effort to offer informed and accurate descriptions, features, deficiencies and differences between all the options out there.  Let the reader decide which kit meets their needs based on info provided.  Don't presume to make the decision for them.

 

I did this back before scalemates was created, and back before the Hasegawa kit descriptions on modelingmadness.  A collection of sites like the one I had, and yours on the Skyhawk, are much more focused and IMO much more informative and comprehensive than one massive pinned thread.

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On 3/30/2018 at 9:14 PM, Rex said:

You know, the 1/72 Online Census is still up somewhere. I don't have the URL anymore, but, they would be a good starting point for this,,,,,,,just update whatever they say, if a better kit has been released since then.

 

Here you go Rex:

 

http://72nd.webs.com/aircraft.htm

 

As it's almost 14 years (!!) since the stated last update there are, inevitably, a fair few kits mentioned that have been superseded (such as the Hasegawa F-102/F-106s by those from Meng mentioned up-thread) but quite a few are probably still the class leaders - Hasegawa's F-111s & F-104s and Fujimi's A-6 family for example. We also have aircraft variants only previously available by using conversions, such as the Airfix Victor B2 and the upcoming F-106B from Trumpeter. The petitions tab makes interesting reading - some have appeared (DC-4 (C-54)/Stirling/MB5), some are rumoured to be on their way (Buccaneer S2/B-1) and some are still being wished for (C-130/SR-71).

 

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36 minutes ago, habu2 said:

I did this back before scalemates was created, and back before the Hasegawa kit descriptions on modelingmadness.  A collection of sites like the one I had, and yours on the Skyhawk, are much more focused and IMO much more informative and comprehensive than one massive pinned thread.

 

Such pages as you describe are exactly what I want... but I want them in one place, and this thread is a starting point, a way to get people talking about it and pointing out all the resources that are out there that simply can't be found because the web has gotten too big and search engines too optimized for "relevance" as measured in "which site has our ads on it?"

 

Also, while this is small scale right now and will rapidly get unwieldy as more opinions and subjects are added, it suits my informational purposes right now, hopefully the discussion will start leading towards putting together something better. Like a full blown replacement for the 72-scale census site, based on a wiki architecture or something? 

 

 

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Thanks WW V,,,,,,,,,hard to believe it has been 14 years since an update.

 

Maybe we can get the SME's for each aircraft type to do their favorites, such as Habu did? 

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Sebastian, as noble a goal as I believe you intend, I have to say something.

 

I don't pretend to speak for anyone else, but, I know that I have no intention of doing my work 2 or 3 or 4 times. 

 

I much prefer doing it on my own pages,,,,,,that way it can only be edited by myself. As it is, an open posting site such as Scalemates has to be corrected and re-corrected every two weeks or so,,,,,,because the data that is input cannot be "locked." I have no intention of one day being "quoted" as saying that the Italeri Skyhawk is the Esci tooling, when I have been long trying to correct such inaccurate modeling memes. And such "quotes" are entirely possible when someone's work is in someone else's control.

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