Small Scale Military Headquarters

Based on the information we have from the last post along with Merit saying it is a modern fighter and assuming it's an American production plane, I would guess it would be the F-18 Super Hornet or the F-22 Raptor. I don't know what Merit's interpretation of "Modern" is but the F-15 first flew 40 years ago and the F-5 first flew 53 years ago, if they consider that modern than I guess I'm very young.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken I believe Jim stated it was "somewhat" of a modern jet. But like you said its still unclear at this point what they really meant by that. Obviously, its nothing from WWII.

I personally feel it might be the F-5 as its much smaller then most of the others we mentioned earlier. And it also fits the bill in regards to what we already know about it so far. The F-15 would be my second guess at it followed by the F-22.

An F-1 Typhoon wouldn't be out of the question either. However, most of the modern aircraft we have now in 1 18 is primarily American based. So its probably unlikely.

And must we not forget the Vought F-7U Cutlass too. lol But I seriously don't think it would qualify as being anything remotely modern for it to make the list.

I think an F-5 would be a disappointment to many.

Maybe if it came with a $49.95 pricepoint we could accept it though! But I know I would not pay $129/$149 for one. Though like mentioned above.. if it came in a licensed Top Gun set with a new F-14...

Not sure why no one has jumped on the Raptor or the F35 yet, maybe licensing?
both are American work horses, I mean can you even count how many movies have had the F-22?

F-22 (Transformers trilogoy, Ironman, Hulk )

F-35 ( Die Hard, Hulk, Man of Steel, Avengers )

these models have free pushes in merchandising from Hollywood.
Free advertising!

The j-11 qualfies

I think we should all prepare ourselves for the F-5. The mould, allegedly, exists already. It is a small, simple fighter that should be relatively cheap to produce. You can, hopefully, keep the price point around $100. It makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. And you can produce it in the liveries of some of the great air forces: Botswana, Honduras, Bahrain, Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen... The possibilities are endless. And it will be a total DUD.

MUDHEN336 wrote:I think we should all prepare ourselves for the F-5. And it will be a total DUD.

Yep.

I may be in the minority, but I really like the F-5. I think it has great lines and would look nice in any paint scheme. I just hope it isn't $150.

Dang, nothing yet? I don't think its an F-5.

sorry, hit submit twice.

If I had to put money on it I would say F15.

It meets all the criteria (hints), we have seen the prototype at the toy fair, it is by far the most well known and popular aircraft that meets those criteria and has not been made.

Well its official, this ordeal has gotten way out of control for me and the remaining level of sanity I still have left. I can't believe I'm going to to share this with you guys but oh what the heck.

I had a dream....

In that dream there was two reps apparently from Merit whom I never meet before seating down at a table with a huge opened box in front of them. They were supposedly waiting to meet with someone important. The location was unclear but nevertheless that was the least of my concerns. When I approach the box one of the two reps told me to keep back as the contents in the box remained a secret. By then I was close enough to see partially what was inside. Inside there was various unpainted parts of an aircraft that appeared not fully assemble but big enough to look 1:18 in nature. Possibly a prototype. The first thing that stood out was the distinct delta wing style formation followed by the cockpit section. The first aircraft that came to mind was the B-58 Hustler. After a brief look over of the aircraft I quickly ask them how long until the announcement. They replied three more weeks.

So there you have it fellas.... I've finally crossed over the cuckoo's nest.

Greetings

I personally would have liked to have seen the SBD Dauntless with the Westinghouse radar sets. Maybe as an Atlantic scheme Christian Lee repaint. I hope Merit releases this at some point in the future. The Dauntless was a beautiful plane and I think a later version would sell well.

In terms of the modern aircraft, think the F-22 is too big and the F-35 is too new. If we follow the clues that have been given, twin engined and a single seater then it cannot be the Super Hornet as the Super Hornet is a two seater. This would also knock out a lot of choices.

Be interesting to see what they come up with, however, I have noticed the 1/18th repaints currently out and even the new Dauntless has not sold at the pace as other 1/18 over the years, they have sold a lot slower. This is particularly worrisome in the case of the SBD, as it was a new mold and a famous aircraft.

Two things I feel are driving this, 1.) increased cost of the new releases and 2.) the large scale. I think quite a few folks can't afford the new pieces and have moved on to other scales. I also think the large size of these pieces are also their downfall, you can only have so many, and many people might be maxed out in terms of space/storage room. A scale like 1/72 is much easier to store and display. Personally I am in that boat, I am absolutely out of room for 1/18...and a new model would have to be really awesome for me to get it.

I applaud Merit for continuing to try to keep the scale going, but one must wonder if to a certain degree 1/18 has had its run as a heyday scale.

Corey

I forgot about the E...only have ever seen the F's and the legacy C's at airshows around here.

Corey

This just in from late last night and posted on their Facebook site....

Merit International LLC So sorry, no green light yet. Hope to have some update later tonight on 4/24/13.
7 hours ago · Like

I may also be in the minority, but I would love to see the Tiger II. It has beautiful and precise lines. Lots of repaint potential. It was never capable of carrying ordinance in the amount of Super Hornet or Strike Eagle or even the F-16, therefore being a smaller, simpler design with much less ordinance makes it come in at less than some of the other optioned wish lists seen on this thread.

Think the natural metal with yellow striped Luke AFB F-5's
http://arizonapsm.files.wordpress.com/2 ... 694689.jpg

Or the 1973 Paris Air Show with blue stripes and the Tiger head
http://s877.photobucket.com/user/ACpilo ... g.jpg.html

http://www.flyingmule.com/img/prd/HM-HA3304_01_lrg.jpg

Of course there's the aggressor/adversary squadrons and foreign Tigers which add to the repaint pool.

A F-15 A/C would be very very nice, Super Hornet - even better (repaints galore and ordinance!!) Both - costly.

What about that one company that showed a F-100 prototype several years back? I wonder if Merit purchased that mold. That too would be less costly.

I believe the F-5's were also used in the film TOP GUN as stand ins for both training exercises and enemy forces. NASA also used them for flight training as well.

Just a wild guess but I think they are waiting on JSI to approve the project. After all, this isn't a Merit product but a JSI exclusive. So JSI is probably calling all the shots on this one including the announcement.

Another point worth mentioning is if this jet is taking as long as it has to get approved then it could be a big one. Not to mention all the secrecy surrounding it as well. Which maybe why they are playing this one close to the vest. In other words they may not want to let the cat out of the bag too soon unless they know they can pull it off first. Just a thought, I could be wrong. Even Pickelhaube agreed it was worth it to him to purchase even though he stated he wasn't much of a modern plane collector. That to me speaks volumes.

It's coming in AMERICAN markings!

Haha nice way to pressure them Bee.. that, well that narrows down some obscure models!

For some reason i'm thinking Eagle.