1/48 Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
I’m a big fan of Tamiya in general and especially of their 1/32 scale kits for WWII flying machines (1/48 for modern ones, but Tamiya again).
Their production is fantastic but we never go beyond the various Spitfires, P-51s, F4Us, ZEROs that have been around for years.
There’s a lot of stuff out there to do in this scale, starting with their country’s aircraft (Hasegawa teaches…)
Hence, my hope is that Tamiya comes out with some new WWII pearls.
Was a pretty disappointing range launch by Airfix, IMHO, Stephen.
1/48 gets not one but 2 new tools, one of those the Jaguar, whilst in 1/72 we get the 1975 tooling version of the Jag. Bit of a slap in the face to 1/72nd don’t you think?
(And yeah, whilst it’s great that they’re releasing things like the Walrus and Lysander in 1/48, in 1/72 it’s crickets when it comes to those kinds of subjects )
I thought the same myself. Had been hoping for a 1/72 Lysander.
The 1/48 Jaguar is nice, although the supplied weapon load is quite minimal. Should at least have had the option of CRV-7 rockets and CBU-87’s for the Gulf option. They let themselves down by reissuing the ancient 1/72 Jag. I bought the last one that included a half baked set of sprues intended to make it a GR.3. Absolute piece of junk. Worn out tooling and nothing fit. Maybe they’ll scale it down next year.
I’ve got a few of Italeri’s that I started a couple of years ago. Hit a brick wall with how badly it fitted together and gave up. Shame as I really like their French Gulf War boxing, I just need to persist and make it fit!
Lots of reissues, but nothing much exciting. The only one I will for definite buy is the 1/144 PAN-AM Clipper, if only for the decals out of it. I bought an old boxing a year or so ago and the decals had rotted. Had been toying with the idea of doing it in the wartime blue scheme.
Wessex looks good I will admit.
The Stalwart looks like it might be a popular one with modern armour builders. Interesting to see how it builds. I’ll hold off getting that till I know more about it.
I was surprised by the Artemis rocket. They’re taking a gamble with that one I think. It’s either going to sell or flop.
Just waiting to see what Revell will do. I’m not holding my breath.
Agree 100%, Stephen…
Lots of re-issues and nothing really exciting.
It’s good that there’s some attention to space and a new armour kit but I’m not holding my breath on them down scaling any of the interesting 1/72 a/c subjects either. Can’t help but feel that 1/72 is now the spare child of Airfix…
As for 1/350 maritime, that was crickets also, not counting re-issues of ancient kits. Sad really considering the good relations they have with the RN and easy access to the QNLZ/POW class and the type 26…
Kitty Hawk has had it’s fanboys on this forum. My feeling is that many of their kits are going to be re-engineered or at least be updated. Otherwise why would the company that acquired the molds just be sitting on them?
You may as well go big and wish for the entire Ch-53 family, including Air Force versions, in 1/35.
Love to see RFM make a UH-1D in 1/35th
Want to see Zukie Maura make a FW 190D in 1/32nd
The complete fulfilment of a dream: a 1/35 (or at least 1/32) Alouette III.
Yes, there’s a lack of variety. No naval except for those 1/72 boats, again reissues. The S-Boot has long been known to have hull shape problems and I don’t think the Vosper is great either?
And 3 new tool Spitfires in 1/48. That must be a new record even for them!
I’d like to see an accurate 1/35 scale UH-1 D or H model, with door guns. I’ve mentioned this on another site, seems odd there is no good model of one of the most common aircraft in Vietnam War.
Well, I’ve just been cheered up immensely by the announcement of the 1:35 Stalwart; what would make my day/year/decade would be a 1:35 Westland Scout.
Perchance to dream…
It’s probably the most interesting one they’ve done.
Seems to have been getting a lot of love from ex-forces on the Airfix Facebook page.
As I, said it’ll be good to see what people do with it.
Personally, I was hoping for the Gazelle to be reissued or a new tool at least. I’ve come across a few old Modeldecal sheets in my stash that would be cool to do.
The Jag should be good though thinking about it today. I just hope they do a 1/72 next year.
OH, a 1:35 Gazelle would be just fine too!
Considering how useful the Gazelle has been and the different forces it’s served with, I’m surprised it’s continually neglected in ANY scale! It’s a very cool little helicopter.
Whenever I flew in one it always felt like a sort of Mini 1275 GT(!)
Hmmmm…
An M model Blackhawk? In 1/35?
and we can continue with (in 1/48 scale):
a airbus caracal
a decent LUH 145M
a Puma helicopter
How about long neglected Japanese subjects in 1/48 - a Jake ?
ICM took on the Sally - now how about a
Nell ?
Eduard took on the Zero - now how about
a new tool , accurate Hayabusa ?
Agree with above post - a new tool state of the art Helldiver .
New tool 1/48 SBD Dauntless would be nice