Hi folks,
I’m planning to build Su-27 that R.Stankevichius flew for the last time. As far as I know, there are few kits in that scale - Italeri & Hasegawa. Of course, there also is offerings from Zvezda, Revell etc, but I consider the first two to be better choice. I know, hase is more expensive, so I would like to know cons and pros from those, who have laid their hands on these kits. One more thing - no double-seaters [;)]
Thanks in advance.
I built the Italeri and have the Hasegawa on a shelf. That said the Italeri kit is junk and not worth the time building it even if you get the kit for free. On the other hand, if you pay the regular price for the Hasegawa, you’ll feel the sting in your bones. Try ebay to find a good deal for it. It’s a very well done kit, what you’d expect from Hasegawa.
There was a message on aircraft resource center claiming that the AIRFIX 1/72 Flanker is the most accurate one in the market!! Unbelievable! Anyone else heard about this?? They say its more accurate than the Hasegawa make…
Cheers,
Nandakumar
How could that be, airfix scares me!
I’ve come to decide that Italeri’s modern jet models suck badly. There’s always some parts that just don’t fit. I wish Hasgawa would do an F-22, F-35, Apache, Comanche, Su-27 series, Mig-29, Eurofighter, Rafale, etc, etc,
The 1:72 Flanker from Airfix is a 1990 mold so is relativley new from them, its due for re-issue in 2004 but i cant say what version it will be, the 1990 is a Flanker B - either,
North Western TVD, IA - PVO Strany, Kola Peninsula 1987 or
Far East TVD IA-PVO Strany, Saklin Island 1988.
( not sure but a two seater is possible from Airfix / Heller also ?)
Many Airfix kits get slated and some can put you off i admit, but they’ve been in the business for 50 years and do occaisionally make modelers and reviewers happy.
Want some good info on kits and conversions ? Check out Ken Duffy’s website. You can link to it from www.victorymodels.com or from www.lindenhill.com, IIRC.
Cheers,
Mark
Ive already built the Italeri Naval Flanker, and Id have to agree with Plum: its junk.
Ive heard from a friend that the DML Flanker uses the Hasegawa mold. I cant confirm this, but if its true, then you could have something cheaper than Hase. At any rate, I dont think it could be any worse than the Italeri kit.
Kangam offering looks like an academy mold. crisp but the decals and cockpit are horible. the ejector seat is decent though.
Well, I have decided to add my new experiences here, instead of creating new post. Last week I had a phone conversation with the guy, who runs our only “local” hobbyshop. He told me few things, that rather contradict with posts on this topic. First of all he told me that Hasegawas Su-27 is not good at all. Then he told, that Italeri did share molds with Zvezda (well…I have bought the latter one…my mistake) in the past, but now they are packaging their own molds. Zvezda’s Su-27, that I have recently bought actually is repackaging of ancient Nakotne’s kit, which is complete failure in almost any aspect. And yes, he told me, that Airfix/Heller Su-27 (Airfix makes single- and Heller double- seater, sharing the same basic mold) realy IS the most accurate one in this scale. Not because it is flawless, just there is no better one (even Hase). Since Airfix is OOP and hard to get, I decided to give a shot to Italeri and ordered one. Well, I trust this guy. Not because, he owns the only shop around, but because he has never let me down before and has never told me something just to sell stuff.
And just today I found Su-27 in 72nd on Revell’s web site. Is it new tooling, or I’ve just missed it earlier? Perhaps there is someone, who already has laid his hands on this kit, and can share his impressions?
Hm, I saw it too, they mention it as a new release, but I’m afraid it’s just another Italeri reboxing. I hope I’m wrong.
OK, it’s been a while since this last post, but today I’ve been reading “Flanker kit survey” at http://www.flankerman.fsnet.co.uk/su27surv.htm and it sais that Revell’s kit is reboxing of Hasegawa, luckily - at the price of Revell [;)]. Also, the Airfix kit is re-released.