I would like a clarification on an issue that confuses me. I was looking today at modern jets like F15s and so forth. I note that Revell has 2 kits in the 1:48th sclae, one a larger box and one a smaller box. What is the difference between these kits? I belive the larger boxes had more pieces in them. They may be a “higher” skill level, is that accurate? I built an F14 and F18 a few years ago, but, I think they were 1:72nd and I don’t remmebr the kits at this point. I assume the 1:48 F15 for instance will be a monster next to my 1:48 collection of WWII planes. Is that accurate? Thanks
It’ll be almost as big as a B-25 in that scale… Pretty big for a fighter, yeah…
Regarding box sizes, I haven’t seen any real difference in kit complexity when a company issues the same kit in a bigger box… Sometimes there’s no difference at all, other than artwork and a decal sheet…
Revell’s re-issues of Monogram kits have tendency towards bigger boxes, with no difference in kits…
I am not quite sure that I understand what you are inquiring abot, but there is no correlation to skill level and box size, or even scale, for that matter. If I am not mistaken, the two different Revell F-15’s are two different versions of the airceaft, i.e. F-15B and F-15D. The box size (I believe) has more to do with marketing than the kit itself. There may be a difference in part count due to a number of different factors, such as ordnance, level of detail, etc. As for the size difference between a modern F-15 and say, a P-51D, yes, it is way larger, but in scale, so that the comparison is valid. It just takes up more shelf space.
I hope that this may be of some clarification for you…
Brian [C):-)]
There is no correlation between the size of a kit (in terms of number of parts or physical size) and the size of the box that it comes in. The Revell Germany 1/72 Lancaster, 1/32 Piper Super Cub, and 1/18 Laser class sailboat all come in identically-sized boxes. The Lancaster is 257 parts, and measures 29.5cm42.5cm. the Cub has 92 parts and measures 22cm33.8cm. The Laser has 63 parts, and measures 25.9cm (length) * 32.0cm (height). They are described as skill level 5, 4 and 3 respectively.
The RoG re-pop of the Matchbox 1/72 Handley Page Victor comes in a much bigger box than their Lancaster, and is significantly larger. It has, however, significantly fewer parts (108)and while easier to stick together, is much more difficult to use as the basis of an accurarate, well-detailed, model. And both are allocated into Skill Level 5.
On those kit manufacturers which do allocate skill levels to their models, there tends to be a fairly high correlation between skill level and number of parts. This, IMO, renders the whole process meaningless. RoG’s re-boxing of the not-very-good Hasegawa 1/72 English Electric Lightning F.6 has 47 parts and is skill level 3. Their realy-rather-fine single-seat Eurofighter Typhoon comes in an identical-sized box, is cheaper, has 170 parts and is skill level 4. But I know which is easier to build into an accurate model of the subject.
Of the three examples given in the first paragraph, you could argue that the Laser, even with its low parts count, is the most difficult to build and paint convincingly. You have to be confident working with a large vac-formed sail, clear acetate, rigging thread, and large decals, as well as injectioin-moulded polystyrene. You also have to have the skills convincingly to portray the textures of GRP, other plastics, aluminium and rip-stop nylon, all in white - by no means the easiest colour to work with. By comparison, the Lancaster’s colour scheme is simplicity itself, even though it has three main exterior colours and another principal interior one, and lots of other colours for detail.
I’m sure that readers can think of any number of kits which have few parts, are easy to stick together, but almost impossible to use as an accurate model of the subject of the kit. I’ll start the ball rolling with the Airfix Boulton-Paul Defiant.
Cheers,
Chris.