NEW AVENGERS FROM CHINA??!!!!!!

[Shomare]

FOUND THE GEORGE W. BUSH PLANE!

It seems I was right. Those links were not to the Bush plane, but instead, the Bunker Hill, and a Midway Island plane.

Here is a link to the George W. Bush plane!!!

http://www.aikensairplanes.com/tbf-aven ... exclusive/

Enjoy

[dragon53]

To repeat my question:

"So who is buying the Bush Avenger?

I already have the 21st Century 1/18 Bunker Hill Avenger and also the Hobby Master 1/72 Bush Avenger (with the 3X on the tail), but the 1/18 version with the Bush pilot figure and 2X on the tail makes it appealing."


PS---according to this old post, the Avenger Bush was flying when he was shot down was "Barbara III", #X3----the Aikens Avenger is "Barbara", #X2.

Link: http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... 0&p=289650

[tmanthegreat]

Dragon,

I am buying a Bush Avenger and I know of a couple other board members that may be doing the same. I may get a Bunker Hill Avenger as well in the event my local Hobbytown USA store gets them in, probably to keep boxed as a spare plane. But the Bush Avenger is a must! I remember when 21c announced they were going to do that scheme (and even had it depicted on some box backings) but the model never materialized.

It is the availability of that scheme that makes me want to get at least one more Avenger. Like you, I am not hurting for lack of a 21c Avenger as I already have the 21c Bunker Hill Avenger, the Atlantic one, and a couple of the Flight 19 planes (one of which is still MIB). My loose Avengers all have some sort of issue that came up over the years. I glued the wings on my Atlantic and one of the Flight 19 planes because the hinges broke; my Atlantic one further had a landing gear damaged and repaired. My BH Avenger is in the best shape, though one of the horizontal stabilizers had to be repaired. It is frequently on the back of my mind as to how long it will continue to hold out in good shape...

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

I'm straddling the fence on the Bush Avenger.
As I said before, I already have the tiny 1/72 HM Bush Avenger "X3" (which lacks the "Barbara III" under the right side canopy).
Also, I have the 21st Century 1/18 Bunker Hill Avenger---it's massive size, drooping wings and a broken tail (this seems to be a relatively common affliction that was discussed earlier on SSHQ) have turned me off of this model.
I almost ordered the Bush Avenger on Sunday, but those drooping wings.....I'll mull it over some more.

[tmanthegreat]

To me the drooping wings are what killed the 21c Avenger tooling. Stronger hinges and better tabs or perhaps some type of insert would have been better. They really should have done something like what Hobby Master did on its 1/32 diecast F6F where the wings are separate pieces that can be removed and displayed either extended or folded using small inserts to support them. But had 21c not made accurate working wing hinges, I could see where many collectors (namely us on this forum at the time) would have had a fit...

There have been a variety of methods to fix the wing sag from using clear tape on top of the wing to simply gluing them in place. I got the wings on my BH Avenger to sit flat using a small piece of plastic inserted in the gap towards the trailing edge of the wing. It spaced things out just enough to hold the wings up a little more.

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

The photos of the 1/18 Bush Avenger show the wings straight out with no dihedral, but they're not drooping. Maybe they fixed the drooping problem---or used your method.
I'm still undecided on getting one.
Odd but Aikens says it's their exclusive, but Flying Mule has it, too.


Photo link: http://www.flyingmule.com/products/FW-88102B

[tmanthegreat]

I saw the Flying Mule announcement as well. I'm tempted to call them to find out what the story is and may put a preorder in with them if it is legit.

I bring up the issue of legitimacy as another member sent me a PM the other day from a German retailer (I think the same one that had the Merit FW190) regarding the Avengers, noting they were getting the others near the end of April, but that the Bush one was cancelled by the retailer. This was at the same time Aikens was listing the Bush plane as an exclusive.

I guess we'll know for certain come the end of this month.

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Ask Flying Mule if the wings have been fixed. I might be more interested if it doesn't have drooping wings.

[Axis Nightmare]

Even Monkey Depot is getting in on the act......

https://www.monkeydepot.com/Flight_Wing ... fw0005.htm

[dragon53]

AXIS NIGHTMARE:

The "exclusive" Bush Avenger must be flying off the shelves....drooping wings and all.

[tmanthegreat]

I was at my local Hobbytown today and was talking to one of the long-time employees and a buddy of mine about the store getting in the Flight Wing Avengers. He called up the distributor and placed an order for several of the Bush planes and the distributor seemed to think they could get them. My buddy said he could get me one for $175, so I'll see what happens.

The fact that Aikens, Flying Mule, Monkey Depot, and probably others all have the Bush Avenger up for preorder seems promising - they all can't be wrong, can they? So much for it being a one-retailer exclusive...

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

$175 seems like a good deal.
I just preordered the new Century Wings SR-71 #7979 because I've been waiting for CW to do #7979 since they released their first SR-71 years ago. Also, Hobby Master announced their first B-26K Counter Invader, so I'll probably get that, too. So my budget priorities have changed the past two days, but I'm still interested in the Bush Avenger---but my main hesitation to get the Bush Avenger is the drooping wing problem. If that has been corrected, I would probably get one.

[Axis Nightmare]

Deceptive pictures can be so easily used. The 21st C. 190D never looked like the official pictures. It was believed they used a 1/32 scale model kit build for the photos.

These are repaints and I doubt they would do a major retool without making it a marketing or selling point.

[dragon53]

AXIS NIGHTMARE:

Ironically, this morning I looked at the old 21st Century PR photos of their Avengers, and most had straight wings and one had drooping wings, so, like you said, photos aren't necessarily reliable.
From what I remember, some of the JSI/Merit 1/18 models did have some minor improvements/modifications over their earlier 21st Century versions such as the UH-1 and ME-109.
I agree with you---I doubt they corrected the drooping wings, but that's the $64,000 (i.e.the $200 question) for the Bush Avenger.

[tmanthegreat]

These Avengers are being made by Flight Wing (or whatever the Chinese parent company is) and base on past experiences with their P-51s and Mig-15s, I think we can expect these planes to be exactly the same as the 21c tooling, including the same figures and accessories. The paint applications will likely be better with a little more weathering and other details and generally improved packing and quality control overall. I've purchased a couple of the Flight Wing P-51 repaints and they were identical to the 21c model. Paint applications were much better with fewer errors and they included other details like placards and stemciling as well as some basic weathering. The planes were also well packaged in smaller boxes, really more like what BBI did with their planes in window boxes where there was a plethora of twist ties ensuring nothing moved in transit. I would expect the Flight Wing Avengers to be securely packaged in a smaller box than the 21c planes were... But I guess we'll find out!

And Dragon53, thanks for the intel on the upcoming Hobby Master A-26K Counter Invader! I've been waiting for them to do one of those and just placed a preorder for one. The A-26 is one of my favorite Hobbymaster models - I already have three of them, but won't mind adding a fourth

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Because the Bush Avenger and the Bunker Hill Avenger are both available, I wonder if the Bush Avenger will sell out in preorder or will it be still available for dump sales.

[Axis Nightmare]

The landing gears don't look normal to me. They are skinny ?

It's a blessing to be able to be around our Museum's fabulous aircraft. It can, however be a curse when it comes to 1/18 planes as I get to see up close all the time how they REALLY are supposed to look. You can get away with some inaccuracies and missing detail in small models but the 1/18's are so large as to make them so much more obvious. I couldn't imagine having an Avenger displayed with the wings folded as I know how much is missing in plain view. It would scream toy! Yes, the main gear is not well done either. I guess if I volunteered in a military vehicle or tank museum, I'd nitpick at those models. But since I don't know them very well, they all look great to me! Ignorance can be bliss.

Our TBM:

[parrish333]

It's a blessing to be able to be around our Museum's fabulous aircraft...

Wait - which museum - your location shows Cincinatti. I was just in Dayton and Cincy, and of course stopped at the Nat'l USAF museum in Dayton - one of my fav. places in the world!

But where is your pic from?! Did I miss another museum with Navy aircraft nearby?

[tmanthegreat]

I just got an email from Aikens saying that the Bush Avengers have cleared customs and should be arriving next week

[Axis Nightmare]

It's a blessing to be able to be around our Museum's fabulous aircraft...

Wait - which museum - your location shows Cincinatti. I was just in Dayton and Cincy, and of course stopped at the Nat'l USAF museum in Dayton - one of my fav. places in the world!

But where is your pic from?! Did I miss another museum with Navy aircraft nearby?

We have our Avenger and are restoring a Corsair. The Tri-State Warbird Museum is at the Clermont Co. Airport where the world famous Sporty's Pilot shop is located. "Axis Nightmare" is the name of our B-25. All our planes fly or will fly. Our P-40M won Grand Champion Warbird at Oshkosh this past year. Our FW-190 will be flying soon. There are numerous posts with pictures in "Off Topic".

http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... =6&t=35071

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Did your order your Bush Avenger from Aikens?.........I'm on the Aikens email list, and didn't get anything from them.

Also, this morning on another forum, a UK dealer said his order for the Bush Avenger was cancelled by the distributor, but he got a supply of Bunker Hill and Midway Avengers---which he is selling for around $140.
I asked him why his Bush Avengers were cancelled, but he didn't know why.

[tmanthegreat]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Did your order your Bush Avenger from Aikens?.........I'm on the Aikens email list, and didn't get anything from them.

Also, this morning on another forum, a UK dealer said his order for the Bush Avenger was cancelled by the distributor, but he got a supply of Bunker Hill and Midway Avengers---which he is selling for around $140.
I asked him why his Bush Avengers were cancelled, but he didn't know why.

Dragon, I heard a similar story from another board member that contacted a shop in Germany about the Bush Avengers and was told basically the same thing your contact in the UK said. Maybe those versions were cancelled internationally as the Bush plane is indeed an Aiken's (or possibly US) exclusive? That would still make me wonder why Flying Mule, Monkey Depot, and others are listing them. However, it is interesting that those stores are also not showing the Midway Avenger. Maybe that is an international exclusive?

Nevertheless, here is a copy of the email I received from Aikens:

---------------------------------------------------------
From: Dave Aiken <[email protected]>
To: Dave Aiken <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 11:59 AM
Subject: TBF Avenger "X 2" VT-51 USS San Jacinto, 1944, Lt. George Bush - Aiken's Exclusive!

Good Afternoon,
We are emailing you because our records show you have preordered the TBF Avenger "X 2" VT-51 USS San Jacinto, 1944, Lt. George Bush - Aiken's Exclusive! 1:18 Flight Wing MIL-88102FWB. We just wanted to give you a heads up that this model has just cleared customs today and will be arriving later next week. We will contact you as soon as it arrives with your preorder coupon so you can complete your purchase and we can get this magnificent aircraft heading your way!

We hope you are just as excited as we are about this newest Aiken’s Airplanes Exclusive model! Please keep an eye on your inbox your arrival notification!


Best regards,

Christa Armstrong
Office Manager

(877) 224-5367

Aiken's Airplanes
540 Dent Rd
Eads, TN 38028
http://www.AikensAirplanes.com
---------------------------------------------------------

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

I guess with the European dealers Bush Avengers cancelled, there's more for the US market which may explain Flying Mule and Monkey Depot getting them.
I wish I knew how it's selling in preorder.
I'm still sitting on the fence on getting it.

[Studly]

Go on Dragon go out and buy it, we all know you want too LOL

Cheers
Studly

[tmanthegreat]

The Flight Wing Bush Avenger has landed



I purchased this from Diecastairplane.com and they've been in stock for at least a week or more. They have it listed at $198, but you can request a personal VIP 10% off discount code. They also have free shipping, so basically this cost me about $180. See here:
http://www.diecastairplane.com/store/p/ ... -1-18.html

The Bush Avenger is definitely not just an Aikens Airplanes exclusive, though it probably us a USA exclusive release.







I have not had a chance to take it out of the box yet, but it appears identical to the 21c Avenger. The paint applications appear to be excellent. There are no flaws or misaligned markings that I can see. Very subtle weathering.

Best of all, the model is very well packaged. You can see the wings, figures, etc are all in protective bags. The box feels much sturdier than the 21c box. Nothing is rattling around inside.

You can compare the above pictures to the way the 21c plane was boxed & see how much better Flight Wing packed the model:


There is still the possibility I may get a few surprises once I unbox the plane, but for now, I'm quite pleased