Encore aircraft kits

[Mig-21]

Anyone seen or built one

 

Are they trash or decent kits

[Joe Hegedus]

It depends totally on the specific kit, as all Encore kits are reboxings of someone else's plastic.  The only one I have experience with is the 1/48 F6F-5 Hellcat, which is a rebox of the Eduard kit.  Encore was, I believe, the "house brand" from the old Squadron (not the reborn Squadron that is currently active as far as I know).

Edited December 22, 2022 by Joe Hegedus

[Dave Roof]

6 hours ago, Mig-21 said:

Anyone seen or built one

 

Are they trash or decent kits

 

16 minutes ago, Joe Hegedus said:

It depends totally on the specific kit, as all Encore kits are reboxings of someone else's plastic.  The only one I have experience with is the 1/48 F6F-5 Hellcat, which is a rebox of the Eduard kit.  Encore was, I believe, the "house brand" from the old Squadron (not the reborn Squadron that is currently active as far as I know).

 

As Joe said, Encore was just a Squadron label. The Hellcat was Eduard's (as Joe stated), the F3D Skyknight, JRF Goose and UC-78 were Czech Model and the F-84F, F-102 and A-37 were the Monogram kits. Most had additional resin items and I believe photo-etch in the box, as well as new decal sheets. 

[cruiz]

To say if they are worth it depends on a case-by-case scenario, considering which is the original kit manufacturer and your taste for building old kits.

 

I have two in my stash, F-102, and A-37; both are the Monogram's plastic with resins and photoetch added and interesting new markings.

 

If the new Squadron guys come with new Encore century series kits, I'll surely get one.
 

[Mig-21]

Have a friend who wants to start building aircraft, so I'm going to show him the ropes and want to start simple

 

I'll let him know the kits are reboxed and what that means

 

The only aircraft I will be working on are the semi-built kits that survived hurricane Harvey

[Steve McArthur]

2 minutes ago, Mig-21 said:

Have a friend who wants to start building aircraft, so I'm going to show him the ropes and want to start simple

Start simple or start fun?  I would not start a newbie off with a mixed media kit.  I'd look for the best fitting cheap kit I could find. Something that he won't be fighting with due to lousy fit and poor engineering.  Personally I'd look for something like a Tamiya 1/48 P-51D.

[Mig-21]

55 minutes ago, Steve McArthur said:

Start simple or start fun?  I would not start a newbie off with a mixed media kit.  I'd look for the best fitting cheap kit I could find. Something that he won't be fighting with due to lousy fit and poor engineering.  Personally I'd look for something like a Tamiya 1/48 P-51D.

He's into soviet jets

He likes the SU-27 series of aircraft

 

 

[ijozic]

I have an Encore Su-27 1/72 kit somewhere. IIRC, it was a reboxed Nakotne kit. At the time, pretty much the only options were it and Airfix, but have since been superseded by much better kits so I would avoid it like plague. Though, if your friend just wants to glue something together and practice painting it over and then throw it away, I guess it can do, but if he plans on doing a semi-decent job with it, I'd go for something newer and better as you don't want to scare him off with these crude kits from the 80s.

Edited December 23, 2022 by ijozic

[Mig-21]

Found a Monogram SU-27

 

I built one so I know it's simple and easy to build

 

 

[Dave Williams]

I don’t remember Monogram ever making a Su-27 in any scale.  Revell Germany maybe, but not Monogram.  All I remember isthe very bad Monogram 1/48 Mig-29.

[Mig-21]

I was wondering about that when he emailed me

 

He sent me a pic and it was a Revell 1/72 SU-27

 

He confused the 1/72 Revell / Monogram Su-25 with a Revell 1/72 Su-27

 

He's a rookie 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Mig-21

[Lost_Erik]

Recommending Scalemates.com for general kit/plastic lineage.

(Find the kit, then look at the family tree="Product Timeline".)

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=All&q=Encore+Models

https://www.scalemates.com/

 

I rather liked building a 1:72 Encore boxed Yak-9D with current/new-er decals a few yeas ago.

[habu2]

If it's this one it's a rebox of an old Ace kit. IIRC it really really bad....

 

.

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by habu2

[Mig-21]

1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

All I remember isthe very bad Monogram 1/48 Mig-29.

I have one of those unbuilt, what's wrong with it?

 

Billy

 

[habu2]

3 minutes ago, Mig-21 said:

I have one of those unbuilt, what's wrong with it?

 

Let's just say it's not one of their better efforts. It was designed and released before any decent references were available. 

[Dave Williams]

34 minutes ago, Mig-21 said:

I have one of those unbuilt, what's wrong with it?

 

Billy

 

 

 

 

[Mig-21]

He sent me a list of aircraft he's interested in and wants to know what brand/makers are worth buying ... 1/72 and/or 1/48
If you can get a good one at a low price, then that would help him

 

He likes the SU series

Su-7    Fitter 
Su-9    
Su-11    
Su-15    Flagon    
Su-17/Su-20/Su-22    
Su-24    Fencer    
Su-25    Frogfoot
Su-27 Flanker .. 1/48 only
Su-30MK-2/MKK        
Su-33    
Su-34/Su-32        
Su-27M/Su-35 
 

[Quixote74]

Not a 1:48 guy but this forum has them in abundance so confident you'll get plenty of input on that scale.

 

For 1:72:

 

Su-7 Fitter

Best available:

Modelsvit (various sub-variants)

Also worth considering:

KP/Kopro - *much* older kit with sparse detail, raised panel lines, and less than perfect fit, but good overall shapes and should be readily available for something like 1/3 the asking price of the Modelsvit wonderkit. Only major drawback for the early KP boxings is terrible decal quality, but aftermarket sheets suitable for this type are available.

Su-9 & Su-11

Best Available:

A-Model - combining notes for these closely related types, A-Model's kits are limited run injection molding so fit can be challenging and detail is only fair, but odds are there won't be better alternatives coming around anytime soon.

Avoid:

Leoman - resin kit or injection molded version that seem to be based on the same tooling, and based on only limited references with all the negatives that suggests where detail and accuracy are concerned

Su-15 Flagon

Best Available:

A-Model. With the same caveats as the Flagon's stablemates Su-9 & Su-11 noted above re: fit and detail, accuracy is what puts this in the "best" category for me.

Also worth considering:

Trumpeter. They offer the full Flagon family range, but have some notable shape errors. An easier build than A-Model if accuracy is a concern, amd for the single-seat Su-15TM there are resin correction parts available.

Avoid:

Pioneer/PM - dirt cheap for a reason

Gran/VES - all the flaws of A-Model (plus some new ones of their own) and none of the virtues

Su-17/Su-20/Su-22

Best Available:

Modelsvit, for the variants they've released thus far

Also worth considering:

Bilek/Italeri. Covers a couple of late variants reasonably well, though with some shape errors; widely available and therefore should be reasonably priced

Avoid:

Hobbycraft/Kitech

Leoman

Pantera/Mastercraft/SMER

 

The reboxing and cross-brandings for Fitters is Byzantine, so the scalemates history chart is a valuable cross-reference for whose plastic is in which box:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/kitech-08m-3213h-sukhoi-su-22-fitter--1121722/timeline

Su-24 Fencer

Best Available:

Trumpeter - with an asterisk depending on variant. The Su-24M "Fencer D" is by most accounts excellent, but its recon derivative the Su-24MR "Fencer E" is lacking some critical parts for the variant depicted (the missing parts are available aftermarket).

Also worth consideration:

STRIM (aka Streem)

Limited-run kit of Russian manufacture, superbly accurate in shapes but detailing is a bit crude/overdone (raised representations of *every* panel line) and a tricky build due to the engineering and shortcomings of limited-run production

Avoid:

Dragon/DML/Italeri/Zvezda (all from the same tooling). Designed when references were still limited, a decent kit and mostly easy build but some shape/proportion issues and detailing is rather lackluster. Only "plus" for this tooling is offering the Su-24 "Fencer-C" variant (albeit not altogether accurately).

Su-25 Frogfoot

Best Available:

ART Model* accurate and well-detailed kits covering most single and 2-seat variants.

*Clear Prop has a new tooling "in design" and based on the manufacturer's other work is one to watch as potentially challenging ART Model as best in this scale.

Also worth considering:

KP (and various reboxings).

Coming full circle with the notes for KP's Su-7 above, again detail is on the sparse side but overall shapes are better than many and the kit goes together easily. Aftermarket decals will be a must for any of the original KP boxings, but options are plentiful.

Zvezda/Italeri.

More but softer detail than the KP kit, and not quite as accurate in shape (ironically for a Russian-designed kit), but a relatively easy build and widely available (thus generally inexpensive).

Avoid:

Revell/Tsukuda/ACE

Hobbycraft

Leoman

 

Not sure if your "1:48 only" note applies exclusively to the Su-27, considering all the subsequent list are Flanker variants derivatives.

[Mig-21]

1 hour ago, Quixote74 said:

 

 

Not sure if your "1:48 only" note applies exclusively to the Su-27, considering all the subsequent list are Flanker variants derivatives.

He already has a 1/72 SU-27

[ijozic]

IMHO, for a 1:48 Su-27 kit, the best option would be GWH, followed by Kitty Hawk (which is OOP), I guess. Then it's the HobbyBoss kit which should be the easiest build of the three due to a lower part count. The last option to consider would be the Academy kit, but it's from an older age than the other three so could be an option if found for dirt cheap, but it will probably need some aftermarket parts (weapons, cockpit, etc.). There are also some crude copies of it (MHM), but best avoided.

Edited December 28, 2022 by ijozic

[Mig-21]

He got a DML 1/144 Su-22M-4 Fitter K for christmas and he did a good job building it and a real good camo paint job (brush)
 

Here are some pics