Most Over-Modeled Combat Aircraft by Era

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I’m sittin’ here waiting on a dio base paint job to dry, surfing throught the forum and looking at all the old posts from prior to my joining here…

Seems that there’s a predelection towards certain aircraft (something I’m quite guilty of, m’self) and there’s always going to be, IMHO, too many of them… During the last contest I attended, and wound up judging, there was the obligatory Fighters, Single Engine, 1/48th scale, which we thought wa going to be enough… Well, we quickly found outthat that wasn’t going to be enough, since, along with the normal entries, just about every aircraft modeler there had also done Bf-109. There were so many Messerschmitts that we had to create a separate category just for 109s! In recalling this, I got to thinking about what I see “too many of” in different eras of military aviation… I listed just fighters in my post, since I think the Bombers/Attack aircraft would be pretty obvious since there aren’t all that many to choose from (remember we’re talking about OVER-modeled, not average or hard-to-find aircraft types) What, in your own opinion, is the most over-modeled aircraft by it’s era?

My choices are:

1914-1918: Fokker Dr1

Inter-war Years, 1919-1939: Kinda tough to call here, there aren’t that many kits to chose from, but if I have to pick one, I’d say it was the P-26.

WW2, 1939-1945: A no-brainer, the Me 109, far and away… Closely followed by the Mustang.

Transitional era, 1946-1949: P-80/F-80

Korean War, 1950-1953: F-86 (Another no-brainer)

Cold War build-up and small military operations/insurgencies, 1954-1964: F-104

Vietnam Era: 1965-1975: F-4

Cold War years of 1976-1989: F4 again, tied with the F-14.

Desert Shield/Storm 1990-91: F-16

Post-DS/DS: 1992-Present: Tie with F-15 and F/A-18

I’ll save the bombers/attack birds for another time, likely when I start the base for the B-25 that’s waiting…

2

This is a topic I love, you really have to ask yourself is it the modelers fault or the manufactures, there are just to many awesome models for these subjects. Anyother thought, my LHS doesnt help much, anytime I go in the store there are at least 2 to 4 models for each subject you mentioned. I love to do business there, but they have little variety because thats what sells.

My input on the over modeled subject of the future will be the F-22, I must admit I am already working on the Trumpeter 1:144 scale with plans for a 1:72 soon.

BTW I have modeled all but one of the subjects you mentioned at least once!

3

good topic.

the mustang and f-4 are archtypes of fighter planes, they are gonna be out in force on the shelves.

4

We havent really discussed bombers, what does everyone think about them:

Some that come to mind: Zeppelin Staaken, B-17, B-52, B-1

5

I disagree with the inclusion of the Staaken. As far as I know there’s only two kits of the Staaken, one vacuform and the other VERY recently released Roden version. When it comes to WWI bombers, the Gotha immediately comes to mind followed closely by the Handly Page bombers. The Staaken is remembered (when it IS remembered) as being an oddity, while the others are more “front-line” bombers.

“Over-modeled” bombers is a bit of a contradiction. Due to time, expense, and size, you don’t see nearly as many bombers as fighters. Still, you get the occassional subject.

Let’s see what I can do with bombers…

WWI- Gothas or Handley Pages. Probably Gothas, due to the amount of kits.

Interwar- B-17, if it’s considered as an inter-war design.

WW2- Far and away the B-17, followed closely by the Lancaster.

Transitional Era- B-29, but a bit of a toughie.

Cold War Onward- B-52.

This is just off the top of my head and probably subjecd to much debate, but that’s my opinon.

6

Opinions are all hat I’m after, so don’t sweat that…

Lancaster, really? I’d think the B-24 or 25 would be ahead of the Lanc in over-modeling, given the few numbers of kits of it… Certainly something to ponder, thanks.

7

Excellent topic. The never ending parade of Mustangs and 109s is rather irritating. WWII produced a large variety of aircraft, not just those two. Build something else, for goodness sake! [:(!]

Other aircraft kits that seem to pop up like weeds:

FW-190s, F-86s, F-4s, Hueys, Skyraiders, F-16s, F-22s (this aircraft is flooding Action/Sci-Fi movies lately), B-17s.

I would like to see more:

WWII Russian fighters that are not P-39s, F-82 Twin Mustangs, Sikorsky H-34s, A-7 Corsair IIs, Sepecat Jaguars, and Eurofighter Typhoons.

8

F-4? Over modeled? No way. There can NEVER be too many F-4s!

Did you see the pictures of the 500+ F-4 model display at Telford this year? Awesome!!!

Oops, I mean, Phabulous!

9

Can we add the Lockheed Constellation in the passenger airliner category, the more I think about it I must agree on the WWI bomber response!

We need some input from modelers abroad!

10

For WW II, you have got to throw the Spitfire in there.

11

Based on some of the previous posts, I’d have to ask for a clarification: When we say, “over-modeled”, do we mean the number of kits on our LHS shelves, or the number of models we see on the tables at our local clubs’ meetings, at modeling shows, and in our friends’ homes? I take it to mean the latter, though there is certainly a correlation between the number of kits, and the demand among modelers for them.

Also, I’d have to add, I can’t say that I find it irritating, that this or that aircraft is so frequently built and shows up everywhere in print or on the Web. If that’s what guys want to build, fine with me. “Build what you want, the way you want” said Al Superczynski, and I think that was very wise.

Having said that, based on my own observations from reading FSM and browsing a couple of sites on a daily basis, I’d say:

WWI: The Dr I and Albatros certainly seem to turn up more frequently than anything else I’ve seen.

Interwar: Hard to say, maybe the F3F, but I think that’s long since peaked

WWII: Yes the Bf-109/Me-109 and P-51, with the Spitfire and Oscar coming a close second

Korea: F-86

Vietnam: Phantom and Skyhawk

Contemporary: F-18

I haven’t seen that many builds for a transitional period, myself, to have noticed which types are the most frequently modeled, so I can’t really say.

I think Hammer’s right about bombers, as far as WWII is concerned. The B-17 and B-25 are probably the ones that turn up most, followed by the Liberator.

Haven’t really noticed too many WWI bombers. I don’t think that’s as popular a subject, so the quantity of kits and the demand are lower, in comparison to the other time periods and subjects, so much so that I wouldn’t consider a Staaken or a Gotha to be overmodeled. I mean, how many times a year do we see anyone build one?

Great topic, this’ll really get the juices flowing!

Regards,

Brad

12

Well, the topic is “Combat Aircraft”…

Yeah, the latter… “Over-modeled” meaning that there’s too many of the same type built by too many people…

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1914-1918: Sopwith Camel

Inter-war Years, 1919-1939: P-26

WW2, 1939-1945: Mustang or Spitfire

Transitional era, 1946-1949: P-80/F-80

Korean War, 1950-1953: F-86 or MiG 15

Cold War build-up and small military operations/insurgencies, 1954-1964: F-101

Vietnam Era: 1965-1975: F-4

Cold War years of 1976-1989: F-14

Desert Shield/Storm 1990-91: F-18

Post-DS/DS: 1992-Present: Stealth planes and F-18 Super Hornet

14

Hans,

Sorry wasnt reading, I am was busy buying baseball tickets. My Bad

15

LOL, no sweat, Dallas…

16

Sweet, I’m just excited that since my return to medeling, I’ve only complete 2 versions of 2 aircraft listed above. Two Mustangs and two P-39’s. Seems like I recall seeing a lot of P-47’s as well, just not as many as the mustangs and -109’s.

17

I only model jet age aircraft, so I will comment likewise.

Hands down, the F-16 and the F-18. I could understand overmodeling if there were many different color schemes, but, let’s face it, these aren’t the most colorful aircraft around, ESPECIALLY the F-18. But they are excellent aircraft, and every jet modeller should have at least one. I definitely would not include the F-4 due to its many color schemes. The F-4 is most prevalent in my collection (14 of 'em) and no two have the same color scheme. For the record, I have two F-16’s ( 1 typical grays and the early red, white, and blue prototype) and two F-18’s (F-18C and F-18E, both gray…what else?) Unfortunately (for me, anyways), many decal retailers have jumped on the F-16, F-18 bandwagon. I love TwoBobs, but they tend to overdo F-16s and F-18s.

Speaking of F-18’s, is there a decal sheet out there for the gunship gray Singapore birds? That would be a nice variation.

18

I don’t know about the “all time” over-modeled aircraft, but I’ve noticed in my time on these forums that there are quiet a few “streaks”. By streaks I mean that once someone does a build of a certain aircraft, there always seems to be quite a few of the same that follow a short time after. It is especially true if the first posted build is of higher than average quality. A couple examples of the streaks from this past year would be P-39s and P-47s. I think current GBs play into it also.

Just my [2c]…[:D]

Oh, by the way…109s are way more over-done than mustangs![:D]

19

The Spitfire, P-51, BF109 and FW190, maybe the F86, and F4 are the only aircraft of any era I would say are over represented, I would put the P51 at the top of the list for its cult like following. The P51 was one of several aircraft that could be “the best” of the war but regularly throws the rest under the bus, it is on every top 10 list of the best aircraft and frequently the only one from the WW2 era.

There were dozens of good aircraft used in WW2, but these 4 completely leave the P38, P39, P40, P47, Corsair, Hellcat, Hurricane, Typhoon, Me110, Me262, Stuka etc way behind in popularity.

I don’t see the massively off kilter balance with modern aircraft, maybe one or another gets a little more than its share but I see F14s F15s F16s as much as F18s. It could be said the US is over represented but I’m in the US so it should be here, just as European aircraft should be better represented in Europe and the UK.

I don’t really see the possibility for the interwar periods to have an over represented aircraft, it is pretty rare to see aircraft from that period represented at all. It seems an unlikey problem to need even a whole table for one particular aircraft from the interwar period, often lucky to need a whole table for the whole period.

Similarly WW1 is fairly unusual to see built, but I could definately see the argument for including the Fokker Dr1, maybe the DVII and Sopwith Camel. I just don’t see the same obsession from the kit makers though. For odd subject matter the kit makers have done a good job kitting a wide variety of subjects.

Korea I can see including the F86 as it seems to dominate the Mig15, and these two completely leave the rest behind. However in that war “mig alley” was the air war for many, it was the only part of the war that really managed to capture the publics attention.

The only comparison to the Spitfire, P51, BF109 and FW190 in my mind is maybe the F4 Phantom, because like WW2 it dominates when there were many other good aircraft out there in large numbers Skyraider, A4, A7, F8, F100, F102, F105, Mig17, Mig 21 and all those fabulous helicopters just to mention a few. Unlike Korea the bombing campaign and ground war did get a lot of attention, so there is less reason to understand the Phantom phixation, like there is with the F86.

So my pick for most over modeled aircraft of any era is the P51, with the Spitfire, BF109 and FW190 as runners up.

20

Well I really only build WW2 so not sure about the others…

109 is first by far, and then I would say the spitfire or P 51.