New 1:18 for 2014 ?

[Hematoma2]

According to Aiken's Airplanes website, the scheduled release for the Merit International 1/18 Harrier is May 31, and for the 1/18 Focke Wulf is November 30.

Hope these two released don't get delayed. Hope the two show the same quality of Merit's amazing Dauntless!!!

[normandy]

Thanks for the intel Hematoma2 and Welcome to the site! I agree, hope these two have the same quality....scheduled release dates, I was hoping for next week................

[Beeavision]

According to the site these maybe model kits. Hope its not so.

Harrier - "Merit International Model Kits Expected Arrival - May 2014"

[Jnewboy]

According to the site these maybe model kits. Hope its not so.

Harrier - "Merit International Model Kits Expected Arrival - May 2014"

I would love a model kit of the Fw190a! That way I would not have to rip it apart to repaint and detail everything! Plus it will have decals!

[Beeavision]

Looks like they will be producing both a model kit and a prebuilt for both the AV-8B & FW-190A. A win win for everyone. Now we wait....

[Hematoma2]

Last week there was a Toy Fair in New York City. Merit International's stand had to new 1/18 models. I don't know much about them. Perhaps they commit themselves to them. Perhaps they don't.

But they are quite nice.


One is a Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat. If they decide to produce this one, it is obviously going to be expensive, the Tomcat being one of the largest and heaviest modern fighters....


http://merit-intl.com/meritnew/_images/ ... 10/002.jpg

The other one is a more humble P-40. No markings. I am betting it's going to be a British Kittyhawk, as opposed to a American Warhawk. It looks waaaay better than the one made by 21 C...

http://merit-intl.com/meritnew/_images/ ... 10/023.jpg

[tmanthegreat]

Last week there was a Toy Fair in New York City. Merit International's stand had to new 1/18 models. I don't know much about them. Perhaps they commit themselves to them. Perhaps they don't.

But they are quite nice.


One is a Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat. If they decide to produce this one, it is obviously going to be expensive, the Tomcat being one of the largest and heaviest modern fighters....


http://merit-intl.com/meritnew/_images/ ... 10/002.jpg

The other one is a more humble P-40. No markings. I am betting it's going to be a British Kittyhawk, as opposed to a American Warhawk. It looks waaaay better than the one made by 21 C...

http://merit-intl.com/meritnew/_images/ ... 10/023.jpg

Welcome to the board, Hematoma2. How new are you to the 1:18 hobby?

That P-40 looks like a repaint of the old 21c plane, which dates from 2003. That was almost a step backward for 21c 10-11 years ago and I'm sad it has survived whereas their Spitfire tooling and supurb AH-1W Supercobra toolings from the same period did not...

Also, the JSI/Merit F-14 isn't new and dates to 2009. It caused quite a ruckus back then - some members loved it while a lot of people were very disappointed with it. Here's the main thread where we discussed and argued about the model over 48 pages:

http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... discussion

The JSI F-14 is the largest 1:18 aircraft produced to date, but as with anything that pushes the envelope, it had issues that JSI really wasn't prepared to deal with. First was the spotted weathering, second was the weak landing gear, third was often bad quality control. The S1 VF-84 version was often referred to as the "Spot Cat" in our community. There was another thread devoted entirely to discussing solutions for "de-spotting" the F-14 and an entire cottage industry built up around creating metal landing gear, afterburners, and pilot figures for the plane. JSI eventually made a second version, VF-54 Black Knights, which was a "Bombcat" with bomb ordinance as opposed to air-to-air missiles. This corrected some of the QC issues from the first release - and had light-up features - but still wasn't perfect.

[Axis Nightmare]

The other one is a more humble P-40. No markings. I am betting it's going to be a British Kittyhawk, as opposed to a American Warhawk. It looks waaaay better than the one made by 21 C...

http://merit-intl.com/meritnew/_images/ ... 10/023.jpg

Welcome Hematoma2

Yep, the same whale-belly P-40 mold. Check the link picture. Notice anything unusual ...The main gear is turned the wrong way

Maybe it's supposed to be a Hawker Hurricane

[Hematoma2]

Thanks for your welcome!

You're right. It is shameful. The front wheels are facing the wrong way!! That is inexcusable for a company like Merit.

[Axis Nightmare]

Thanks for your welcome!

You're right. It is shameful. The front wheels are facing the wrong way!! That is inexcusable for a company like Merit.

Especially at a MAJOR Toy Show

[Beeavision]

Just thought you would like to know I came across more photos of the Merit booth over at Aiken's Planes' Facebook site. Just click on previous and next in the upper right corner to shuffle through.

https://www.facebook.com/10535621288988 ... =1&theater

They also have photos of other booths there as well including Forces of Valor if anyone here is interested.

https://www.facebook.com/10535621288988 ... =1&theater

[Beeavision]

More photos here as well....

http://www.fighting118th.com/2014/03/01 ... it-intl/2/

[Berkut]

Looks like they will be producing both a model kit and a prebuilt for both the AV-8B & FW-190A. A win win for everyone. Now we wait....

Release in May?