Looking to get a couple of modern jets 1/48 for around $30.00 a peace and get some PE parts looking for maybe F14 & F15 or posible F18. what kits would you recomend?
from what i read in fsm if i didn’t have 3 hornets to build already, I’d buy the new revell kit and add some details and some different decals to it. I’ve got it on my X-mas wish list, hopefully I’ll catch a 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby again and pick one (or more) up. I’ve got friends that work on the bird so I try to build one with their squadron decals on them. Good luck.
You can’t go wrong with Revell-Monogram’s F-15E Strike Eagle. Great fit, and detail. And there are a lot of PE sets. And the kit is like $22!
I just picked up a 1/48 Tamiya F-15J for US$17… But thats on the internet…
I also saw a Tamiya F-15C $17… Or if your dont mind Italeri, they have a 1/48 F-15E Strike Eagle going for $13
ps, I am in Japan, and postage is about $7.50… So if your in the states, I would say between $10-$15 to there…
I really have been giving this company a big rap lately… But I really do like their prices and they have excellent service… And as I also said. No I dont work for them, or even know them personally!
www.hobbyeasy.com
I hope that helps?
Chris in Japan
Dont get me wrong i dont mind getting them from online HS, I just hate waiting so darn long for it to get here. I dont mind ebay eaither i just hate paypal id love to find a good giant lot of kits. OH Ya the Holy Grail of models!
Well, let me just say that one night, I was after 2 different kits… I ordered one kit from Hobby Links Japan, and then because they didnt have the other in stock, I ordered the second kit from Hobby Easy…(My orders were within 10 minutes of each other).
I am in Japan, and so is HLJ. Hobby Easy is in Hong Kong… My order from Hobby Easy in Hong Kong was processed and shipped, and arrived on my doorsteps less than 3 working days later. My order at HLJ still hadnt even been processed, and that order didnt arrive until a week later… (And I am in the same country)
Hobby Easy uses supliers from all over… For example, I ordered my 1/32 Kittyhawk. They didnt have them in Hong Kong, but used a supplyer in Korea, and so not only was it in stock there, but the shipping worked out cheaper as I am closer to Korea than Hong Kong… I like that kind of freedom and service…
Chris in Japan
Since the aftermarket PE sets, especially the really nice color ones from Eduard, cost more than the kits they go on these days, you should check out eBay, where you can get them for half the retail price or less.
I can’t praise these color PE sets, however, without mentioning that a lot of modelers don’t like the idea of prepainted frets, which I happen to like, and I use a lot of them within certain limits. But I do have sort of a problem with these elaborately pre-detailed resin cockpits and wheel wells, though, where all you have to do is remove the casting blocks and paint the things. It’s all a matter of what your taste runs to. Which brings us to reasonably priced modern jets.
I don’t build many unless I have to. I’m deep in the midst of the Tamiya F-16CJ for an assignment (and, yes, including all the Hasegawa frets, which are very small for this huge kit.) and this big creature is a pure joy to build. However, it costs over a hundred bucks most places, so I would recommend the fine Hasegawa 1/48 scale F-16 kits, which have always been reasonably priced. Unfortunately, the modern Navy planes from Hasegawa will cost you considerably more than $30 if you buy from a mail order shop, even with the discounts most of them offer.
And look for Italeri kits that use Hasegawa’s and Dragon’s molds for some of their kits. I also have the ProModeler A-4F (OK, the a/c type is not that modern, but a lot of air forces and navys still fly it and will for years tp come.) which is just the Hasegawa kit, right down to their cellophane holding the parts and the Hasegawa inspection slip inside it. In other words, if you are sharp and keep your eyes peeled, you can find Hasegawa and other quality kits sold cheaper under other product names.
I’ve been told, but have yet to confirm, that Italeri’s new TBF-1 Avenger in 1/48 is from the Accurate Miniatures molds, which is nice except they’ll still contain the sucky Italeri instructions instead of those great booklets finely written and precisely illlustrated by the crew at AcMin.
Anyway, that’s my take on it. Wish I could make more suggestions in your price range, but the only other thing I can think of is to check out the Academy catalogue. Their kits, like Hobbycraft Canada, are wildly inconsistent in quality, but like the latter, usually quite reasonable in price.
TOM
I broke down and bought a Hesagawa P3C Orion 1/72 for my big bro And revell monagran F-14D Super Tomcat and F-18C Hornet both 1/48 scale wish i could have got some AM Photo Eched stuff but LHS only has stuff for acadamy and hesagawa kits.