as I was checking out the shelves of Michaels, I saw some 1/72 WWII Navy warbirds, and on the cover, the model that they show seemed to suck.
what about the kit? does it suck? or is it just the box “art” builder’s fault?
does it have ingraved panel lines?[?]
I’m all about engraved panel lines[:D]
Depends on the kit, some Testor’s mold date back to the 50’s and 60’s and are crude, although with work, some can be made into decent builds. Some may be re-boxed Italeri kits. Best bet is to research the kit you want and go from there.
All I can say is stay away from the 1/72 Corsair what a piece of [censored] no cockpit, shaps are really off, good thing it was three dollers. I am geting there 1/48 ME163 and that needs a cockpit built for that to.
The SNJ and SBD are also from the old Hawk molds and lack any cockpit detail. Both are fairly accurate, have excellent decals, and well-done engraved panel lines. These two are great for people just starting out in the hobby and those who like scratchbuilding.
I personally think that the SNJ kit is a load of fun. I “solved” the problem of a lack of interior detail by painting the windows black. Two problems I’ve encountered are that the horizontal stabilizer join with the fuselage is weak, and that there are often some pretty bad sink marks on the wings around the centerline.
Buy em and treat em as a fairly cheap learning tool. For example, as the SNJ/T-6 doesn’t have an iterior, use it to learn how to scratchbuild an interior. You can also use them to experiment with painting and paints. Just have fun and if you screw up, you aren’t out that much.
what about the 1/48 SR-71?
Not a bad kit and there is after market stuff for it
I’ve got the 1/48th SR-71 sitting around at home myself. Haven’t got around to building it yet, but the parts look decent–no flash, not a lot of trimming to do (though there is some), etc. And I like the instructions. Very detailed, if impractical at times, and written out in plain English. I’m looking forward to building this behemoth.
I’m building a Testors RF-4 that dates back to who knows when. It’s kind of a dog. Fit Problems, lousy detail, cockpit is disgraceful, etc. As qmeister said, use them as a learning tool. I’m building this one mostly to practice my air brush skills on.