Small Scale Military Headquarters

Later version P-40's served in almost every Allied air arm all over the globe. But for sheer numbers, it would indeed be hard to beat the Phantom II. Very few fighter aircraft can boast being used by the AF, USN and USMC. The other advantage to the Phantom (from a marketing standpoint) is there are ...

If you put on the right decals ("Wine Women and Song") the S1 D-day is probably my favorite, but it's a hard choice to make.

I'm getting tempted to shop for a broken one and turn it into an earlier version in Rex Barber's markings - then again, Lefty Gardner's air-show/racer is really impressive.

If they all went out of business this summer, my hope for the last thing actually available for sale would be for a Doolittle-marked B-25. Moving on from that are the pieces needed to realize the importance of naval aviation - Wildcat and Hellcat, even recognizing the lack of visual flair involved i...

Col Tom Christian, Jr. was the CO of the 361st and was killed in August of 1944. A few of the 361st's D model Mustangs got a form of the blue treatment. The story goes the planes were arriving in natural metal and were headed to forward air strips on the European continent so they had to have some f...

If you want to see the real thing, there's a flyable P-39 that lives at the San Marcos, Texas airport at the Commemorative Air Force hangar. It's about five minutes east off Insterstate 35.

http://www.realtime.net/centex/p39.htm

Has anyone ever seen a "Flying Undertaker" P-51 in a Walmart?

I suppose someone as old as myself who has used monofilament line as much as I have for what it's intended should speak up. Bigger is not always better. 20lb test monofilament line is WAY MORE than enough to support a 4-5 pound aircraft even on a single loop. Modern fishing line is some of the tough...

Thanks, digger - I wish I had more time!

From the "historically significant" collector/display angle, the P-61 is on the fringe when compared to some of the other missing airplanes. It is sexy, big, and unique, yes, but had only minimal impact vs. the enemy in the grand scheme of things. One also has to ask as a "toy" manufacturer how many...

36 AC (all 1:18 WWII) and growing at a rate of 2 per month. And not to be redundant, but if someone puts out a B-25 there will be four in the first week I can get them - I already have the markings picked out and someone to make the decals. And if by some miracle a Hellcat or Wildcat appear, the col...

Nearly fainted. Went into a relatively new WM Sunday and there was a Bunker Hill Corsair hidden behind two 109's. First one I've ever seen in a WM.

KAMIKAZE wrote:Hellcat prototype looks great Mike. Lots of interested buyers here. Nice going BBI
marketing and development!

Mark

Hellcat? Someone say Hellcat? Pics?

Out of curiosity, would 21C consider re-releasing the Landers P-51 (Big Beautiful Doll) in the new tooling with the correct markings? Given these are as much collectibles as they are "toys," I'm not sure what impact that would have on the value of those already out there, but before I wander off int...

It's a shame that the only WWII naval aircraft is the Corsair - albeit there are rumors some company has an Avenger in the works. :wink: When you look at the naval aviator aces, almost all of them went through the cycle - Wildcat, then Hellcat. It wasn't until later in the war after the British work...

WM in Plano, TX must be getting ready for a German version of the 4th of July. Three 109's that have been there for over a month are now accompanied by two 104's in German markings.

My wife just notified me that my F-86 took a dump off my desk, breaking the windshield and canopy! I'm away at the moment, so my lament will have to wait until I get back. That sux! This will be my first loss since collecting 1:18 back in 2001...... :cry: -Ski My collection is hung on walls but whe...

I'd almost be willing to bet there are a few dozen cases of them in the pipeline. They may be sitting in a container on a ship or maybe even on the dock or still in customs - but they probably all have whatever the fatal flaw is so they'd need to be retrofitted with the new parts and I'll also bet t...

I haven't been in a TRU for a while (grandkids birthdays seem to be clumped together in the summer/fall months) but yesterday, there were no less than 6 "Old Crow" Mustangs and one "Killer" version on the shelf.

Is it just me or did the manufacturers stumble in the market for Naval aviation?

I can't imagine the problem isn't solvable but like any manufacturing process, there can be pitfalls even experienced product designers and engineers can't forsee in pre-production. What many people don't realize is that quality control usually has the last say in these kinds of assembly-line produc...

If someone were to do an AT-6 they should really offer it in a ready-to finish version. The schemes are so varied that there's no practical way to find a best-choice marking example.

I'm having good luck with custom decals from Vexillarius (the Gilbert Brothers) up in Washington state.

No web site but email Marv at [email protected] or if that doesn't work, [email protected]. Not cheap but the product I've received is first class and they seem to be great guys.

Avenger folding wings. If you ever get the chance to visit a museum who has one of these things, they'll most likely have the wings folded indoors simply because of space. (Here's the Cavanaugh Flight Museum's Avenger folded view): http://www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com/Aircraft/Avenger/Pic9.jpg And i...

I hate to throw water on the embers but the buyers at TRU would probably rather sell their first born child than try to compete with WM. The fact is, buying for retail sale in today's business climate is numbers and performance driven, plus a huge dose of hubris in the case of WM. There's a reason b...

Weekend shopping in the Dallas area reveals even more "#8" marked 109's still lingering but new stocks of ground-based toys and the new German F-104's unmoved. One store went from a single "Ridge Runner" P-51 to having three but there were none of those at three other stores. Picked up a Stuka that ...

Given the quality of decals you can have made, the relatively low-cost of decent airbrushes and the quality masking products that are out there, a "plain plane" would result in incremental sales for a number of reasons: First, modelers would purchase additional units and often in multiples when the ...