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I-Hobby Show report


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Steve,

If this post gets enough business, can you pin it please like last year? Thanks. Anyway, it was a good show, esp. given the state of the economy and all. Almost all the stuff I care about falls into the Jet Modeling category, so I'll post here. First off was the Revell booth, I found the new F-14B. It was marked in true Darren Roberts fashion (markings and all), and knowing his products first hand, I gotta say, maybe wearing his stuff too:

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It looks like they put the GE cans right over the top of the A burner cans, kinda looked funny. The gas bags looked good, so did the GBU's. The MLG wheels looked like they came off the Hasegawa kit :bandhead2: As for the "bumps" by the main gear doors, they weren't cut off their resin donor blocks well enough. That was it, the nose shape looked much better, but the rest of the kit was SAME OL "A" model...just like we were told. This is not the final form of this thing, as there was no other packaging, etc. If it needs some fixing, I bet you can still call RM and chew on their ear. (more to come)

Jeff

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Nothing at all on the Cougar, but we will get a real Banshee...the HC guys were not great, but the CA guys were good to talk to, the Banshee's gonna happen, albeit for probably $60 or more...

Jeff

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Back to the program...I really liked the Trumpy F-8, I'm no F-8 expert, but it looked alot better than alot of their previous offerings, at least to me.

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Then, much to my surprise, a few test shots from the new F-18F in 32nd. Its a good start, and man its huge....

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Jeff

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I'm thinking that Trumpeter 1/32 F/A-18F may be coming sooner than we might expect. First quarter 2009?.... Thank you for adding the ECS vents. That also looks like the first 'actual' NACES in 1/32! Calling Aires and Avionix - please make accurate NACES seats!!!!! I'm not sure what the Avionix seat is, but it's not a NACES headbox...

We've got some 1/32 F-8 sheets coming up and we'll definitely be doing some F/A-18F sheets once we can get a kit :bandhead2:

As for that Revell F-14B - I gotta laugh. Hardly worth it. True, it's got the Lantirn pod/rail and bomb racks. But that GE parts on the body - aren't. Those ECm bumps under the glove vane are twice the height they should be, they're missing the other 2 sets. They didn't bother to change the antenna arrangement on the top of the fuselage. Yes, the fuel tanks look good, but everything else is better in the Hasegawa box or the Steel Beach parts. Not that I was actually expecting Revell to make this kit worth it...

-brian

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And my brief show report closing shot, all my questions answered in person, the Kinetic F-16AM, opened box, can feel all the sprues "test shots" as they say, still....

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It was exactly as expected and heard, really great, with a few flubs if you will. The surface texture, while pebbley, is almost as minor as it is on a RM F-18E/F, not an issue. Everything I've seen on Hyperscale's photos looked correct. I really liked the IP cowl shape, it looks better than Tamiya's. The weapons are gonna give anyone a major coronary, WOW. The AT pods are pretty awesome too. The nose shape is correct. All else that I don't mention now was very nice. The downside(s). The ACES II is, well, not great. Its soft on the details, the shape is correct, etc, but all the other stuff is as watered down as a the Academy F-16, so keep your resin seats! The only other notable negatives were some shallow panel lines, ala RM F-18SH series, a coat of paint and some are going bye-bye...And an odd thing I noted was the vertical stab. The panel lines and rivets are overdone/overscale, something, just too "not quite right", like loking at a pretty girl with a big nose, you just gotta look...The vertical stab, and its many pieces, also looks like it'll be a bit of a pain to mate up correctly. It will not be a no filler type model. Despite these really minor setbacks, its gonna kick some major butt. I know I'll get as many as I can afford, so long as these decal boys keep pumping out good stuff. Thats it, I hope my report helps some folks out.

Jeff

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Brian,I felt that way too, its coming soon, way before the Intruder, etc. The seats were weird, very test shot-ish. They were one piece, period, except for the curtain pull. That cannot be its final form, plus, it looked pretty bad. I just found that on my way out as they were shutting off the lights, otherwise the pics would've been better. Looks like a moneymaker...

Jeff

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Jeff - thanks for posting this stuff. Looks like a great show.

FWIW, I've got a pretty good source that said that the A-6 'test shot' and work wasn't actually the Trumpeter model. Something about a 'worked on' old ID models vacuform body. And since to my knowledge there was never sprues it was just an in development thing. Still, I'd love for them to do a 1/32 Intruder...I'd actually bet money that we'll see a 1/32 F-14D from Trumpeter before we see an A6 :bandhead2:

thanks,

brian

Edited by Brian P: Fightertown Decals
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That F-14 is comical. From the look of the new parts to the workmanship of whomever assembled it, it's a caricature. Clearly a mockup of what the new kit is supposed to look like. Hope the new kit comes with Revell's classic mangled nosecone! Strange to see such a squandered opportunity from the company that cranked out the F-15E and the Rafale M.

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Hmm...test shots already of the the Super Hornet...:huh:

As Brian said, we might see this out faster than we might expect...:blink:

:D

EDIT: Parts breakdown on the 1/32 F-18F looks quite similar to Academy's Legacy Hornets...definitely see some similarity in the l/g leg halves (probably with a metal core added later) and the box structure nose wheel bay.

Edited by AnthonyWan
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Regarding the Trumpy SH-F and Crusader, I'd like to quote Gabreil Iglacies;

"Dhhuuaaaaaamm!"

Jefropas, any decriptio of thedecal sheet for the Kinetic F-16? And does it come with a pilto figure? :blink:

Edited by sv51macross
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Each landing gear for the Super Hornet are just 2x halves glued together. That kind of parts break down seems over-simplified for a 1/32 kit. Sure it makes construction way easier, but those seams would be difficult to deal with. Hopefully this is only on the test shot and they'll change that for the final release.

Terry

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Sooooo B.When will the FT 1/32 VFA-103 SH sheet be out? rolleyes.gif

As much as I'm personally not a big bones fan... It'll be out pretty fast once a kit to size the decals is available... The only question is what do we do - the combat cruise with bomb markers or the current version...hmm

-brian

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As much as I'm personally not a big bones fan... It'll be out pretty fast once a kit to size the decals is available... The only question is what do we do - the combat cruise with bomb markers or the current version...hmm

-brian

Combat cruise. :salute:

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