New Tool Phantoms In 1/48!

[nev]

Eduard have announced at the US Nationals that they are doing a set of new tool F-4s in 1/48.

Going by their recent kits of the FW-190 and Me-110 they will no doubt be super-accurate, highly detailed with high quality decals, and aimed at the top right corner of the market.  

Oh and more expensive - I'm guessing £30ish.  But then you pays your money and makes your choice....

[SimonR]

Cool. I'll buy loads. Eduard are becoming quite a big player.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

:zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:

I will have to agree with Senor' Wooksta on this one.  Another F-4?  That subject is almost as prolific as the damned Me-109, Fw-190, Panther, and Tiger kits that just keep coming.  

Looks like Eduard is just taking another F-4 kit and dumping a bunch of their PE and resin aftermarket products in to the box and jacking up the price that much more.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

[nev]

I will have to agree with Senor' Wooksta on this one.  Another F-4?  That subject is almost as prolific as the damned Me-109, Fw-190, Panther, and Tiger kits that just keep coming.  

Looks like Eduard is just taking another F-4 kit and dumping a bunch of their PE and resin aftermarket products in to the box and jacking up the price that much more.

Actually I disagree.  1/48 Phantoms there is - Monogram, Italeri/Esci and Hasegawa, and I think that's about it.  And the best of those (Hasegawa) is over 20 years old.

109s/190s/Tigers/Panthers on the other hand, well every man and his dog has done one.

The Hasegawa Phantoms are still good kits, and for their day were cutting edge.  But no way could they be described as 21st century quality.  And for the Phantom Phanatic there are a lot of little niggles with accuracy/fit/raised panel lines etc.

This won't just be a reboxing of someone else's toolings, this will be an all new-tool series that based upon Eduards track record will be the definitive F-4 kits.

[Radish]

Fabulous news!!
Terrific....I'm slavering at the mouth already    

[Dork the kit slayer]

Im with you on this one Nev.  

My only regret is no one ever made a really decent F4 when I was building them.
THe inaccuracies never stopped me spending a small fortune on the Hasegawa B's and J's.

Our good friend "the hunter collector bloke" could tell many a tale about our collective builds.

For those of our group who find F4's boreing :zzz: ,no problem you'll have lots of other themes to spend your hard earned on.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

There are many other subjects that could have had been chosen in lieu of another Phantom kit.  Sure, you can count the number of companies that have released the kit in 1/48th scale on one hand:

Hasegawa
Revell of Germany (Hasegawa molds)
Monogram
Revell
Esci
Italeri (Esci molds)
Lindberg  

The fact remains that will all of these attempts at capturing the F-4 in scale, they have all failed in some way or another to "get it right" which for some is a mortal sin.  I do not consider any of these companies to have failed in what they have offered over the years.  Some were better than others, some were donor kits to spark interest in others to get them started in the hobby by providing something that caught their interest and above all these kits were in most cases affordable regardless of their issues to details or fit.  

Having said all that, I still like the F-4 in all of its versions and I guess that makes me just as bad as the people that foam at the mouth whenever another Me-109 or Fw-190 is released with the latest variation in official RLM approved purple camouflage.

The lack enthusiasm by myself for this latest announcement from Eduard originates with my recent disposal of two Eduard Mirage III kits (IIIC and IIICJ) this past year.  I was expecting to find something truly better than the current Heller and Italeri (Esci) offerings.  What I found in the box was a kit that was on par with the current Mirage III kits from Italeri (Esci) and Heller.  The only difference was the additional bells and whistles tossed in for the price hike which for me was unacceptable.  I at least purchased both kits and had the opportunity to review them both on my own without being told that they were "recommended" by someone that got the bloody kit for free to review it and submit a glowing report on all of its virtues regardless of the price.  Yes, I am a biased but that came at the cost of purchasing the kits and finding out that they were a real disappointment.  

If Eduard is to come out with the "ultimate" F-4 kit and has something in the box that will satisfy every detail issue known to exist with all of the previous F-4 kits that have preceded it.  I am sure it will be something to truly behold as well as worship and covet from afar.  The question is still at what price?  

There are many other subjects that have had far less focus or attention placed upon them and Eduard can only look in their own back yard and find such subjects like the MiG-19 or MiG-23 that are in need of a decent kit.  While OEZ did produce the ultimate MiG-21 back in the day, it was full of small detail issues moreso than any Hasegawa F-4 kit ever produced.    

The F-100D could do with some attention and perhaps a two seat F-100F model if they really want to do something that needs some attention in 1/48th scale since the previous F-100D kits that were produced by Aurora, Lindberg, and Monogram are all quite old or have become the subject of bidding wars for kit collectors on eBay.  I only suggest the F-100 since it did serve the USAF, ,Taiwan, France as well as NATO back in the day and I am quite sure that it would be much more appreciated in leiu of another F-4 kit on the shelf.  Eduard could do well by considering the F-100 and the F-100F as a subject for production, the only two seat F-100F now available is in the form of a very old vacu-form conversion kit or the terribly expensive resin conversion kit.

[nev]

Thing is, it's not like Eduard don't do obscure subjects.  They (and Roden) have raised WW1 modelling to a new, previously unheard of level.  If doing the odd cash cow like super accurate 190s or F-4s helps to pay for all those Fokkers that I can't tell apart, then more power to their arm.

And I believe they *are* doing a family of Mig-21s; as for their Mirages, I've read them saying that it was done very early on when they got into CAD for their mouldings and they've learnt a lot since then - I think there were software limitations too.

The F-4 is one of the most popular modelling subjects in the world, easily top 5.  This kit is aimed at the top right corner of that market, the people who buy the Hasegawa kits then add an Eduard EB set, Neomega resin cockpit, Cutting Edge seamless intakes, Aries wheel wells and Aeromaster decals, ie the fine folks who populate ARC

[upnorth]

Thing is, it's not like Eduard don't do obscure subjects.  They (and Roden) have raised WW1 modelling to a new, previously unheard of level.

Very true, now if they'd just do the same for the interwar period.

[Jennings]

The Hasegawa F-4s all have some problems, especially in the cockpit.  The F-4Es all have a cylindrical nose that should be tapered (it has always looked odd to me).  Given the state of the art, Eduard will have a license to print money with new F-4s, MiG-21s, Hellcats, etc.  As far as I'm concerned, Eduard are setting the standard that others should follow (including Tamiya and Hasegawa).  I'm happy to see them doing so well, and being so innovative.  Their Avia B.534 is a superb kit in every way - one of the best I've ever seen.

J

[Jennings]

And I believe they *are* doing a family of Mig-21s;

They are???

Yep.  At IPMS/USA Vladimir announced that the MiG-21bis would be first, with an entire family of Fishbeds to follow (all 1/48).  I'm STOKED at that news!

J

[NARSES2]

I'm not a fan of the F4 but if it's a new tooling rather then one of their reboxed mouldings with all the bells and whistles as Jeff mentions then all power to them.

The Avia B.534 is superb as Jennings says, and I just might stray farther to the "dark side" of 1/48 and get myself a Bf 110

Chris

[nev]

It gets even better for Phantom Phans!

This months SAMI announces not 1, not 2, but 3 new modellers datafiles for the Phantom    

USAF, USN/USMC and Export    

[JC Carbonel]

I saw the Eduard Fw190 and being a 190 fan I must have hesitated ...about half a second. What the heck ? an engine with more parts than a 1/72 kits and with a lot of of "accurate" fiddly parts probably taking more time to assemble than a Staffel of Tamiya kits ... Sorry but for me the "hi-tech" and supposedly "up to date" kits have forgotten something : building ergonomy. Let's go back to basic with the Hobby Boss 1/72 stuff or if someone want to have fun with a classic get a "skeleton" Takara Zero in 1/48, pre-painted and probably half-assembled and with more never-seen before details than the whole bunch of Eduard and others super-kits put together.

JCC

[NARSES2]

Have a lot of sympathy with JCC's views. I do fel a lot of modern "Hi-tech" kits are getting way to complicated, at least for me. But then again I don't have to buy them.

Watched "Things to Come" over the weekend on the BBC - something familiar in the film about technology progressing to far ?  

Chris