Century Wings SR-71

AMERICAN_GRENADIER · Post by **AMERICAN_GRENADIER** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:15 am

I received my SR-71b and its fantastic! The price at first gave me pause,but its well worth it. The weight is great and im glad they went with the black paint scheme first. The details are up to par with any other diecast company. Its worth a look for the 1/72 collector
heres some info to view:
http://www.centurywings.com/model/sr71.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/CENTURY-WINGS-SR-71 ... 7C294%3A50

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:31 am

We need pictures and another 1/72 scale bird to compare its size..

snake · Post by **snake** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 6:12 pm

I got my SR-71 at the end of Feb.The first Century Wings model that I have bought.
Very nice.Heavy too.Glad somebody finally released this awesome plane.
1:72 scale,but as it is a large plane,it still comes in at 18 inches long.Nice paint and decals,and looks like it is going Mach3 just on the stand.
My only complaint is that the fit at where the nose section blends into the wings could be a little better.I have seen this minor complaint on the BadCat website also.Not very noticeable,but still there.I would however highly recommend this model.
I just bought a Century Wings A-7 Corsair II,and it is excellent also.I would highly recommend Century Wings,if you don't mind the 1:72 scale.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:35 am

SNAKE:

I commented on another message board that I was surprised how light the Century Wings SR-71 is compared to the CW F-14 and the Dragon F-15E Strike Eagle...for its size, the Dragon F-15E is very heavy.

snake · Post by **snake** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:06 pm

How would yo rate the CW F-14?As I said I just got my A-7 CorsairII,and it is pretty nice.I would consider picking up some more aircraft from CW,but with the 1:72 scale it would have to be an aircraft that nobody else makes in a larger scale.
The A-6 Intruder comes to mind.
I do not have any Dragon at all.I have heard that they are good.Is the F-15 in 1:72.I have the F-15 in 1;48[Franklin Mint],and 1:72[Gaincorp].
How would you rate the Dragon overall?
Sorry to get off topic.I would rate the SR-71 8.5/10.Also nobody else makes one,as far as I know.Would be nice to have a U2,or X-15 also.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 8:52 pm

SNAKE:

I have the following:

CENTURY WINGS
1. SR-71 Blackbird
2. F-14 Tomcat-VF-84 Jolly Rogers
3. F-14 Tomcat-VF-154 USS KITTY HAWK
4. F-14 Tomcat-Grim Reapers
5. A-6 Intruder-Moonlighters
6. A-6 Intruder-Last Flight
7. F-8 Crusader-Checkmates

DRAGON WINGS
1. F-15E Strike Eagle-Mad Duck
2. F-15C Eagle-Gorillas
3. F-16 Fighting Falcon-8th TFW Wolfpack

HOBBY MASTER
1. F-4 Phantom-Steve Ritchie
2. F-4 Phantom-Duke Cunningham
3. A-4 Skyhawk--John McCain
4. A-10 Thunderbolt-Mil Killer
5. A-10 Thunderbolt-23rd FW
6. TBM Avenger-George Bush
7. F-100 Super Sabre--Schmenck
8. F-104 Starfighter-Pussycat
9. F-4E Phantom-Arkansas Traveler
10. F-105 Thunderchief (on order)
11. A-4 Skyhawk-Blacksheep (on order)
12. M1A1 Abrams-Sinister Minister

I think Century Wing's SR-71 is #1. The F-14 is second to the SR-71. The A-6 comes in a close third place. I rate the F-8 in last place among Century Wings (I don't have the A-7). The one thing I don't like about the F-14, F-8 and A-6 is the gloss finish on the white paint scheme---it looks unrealistic. Century Wings has a matte finish on the F-14 and A-6 in low-visibilty grey.

The Dragon experts on the other message board say Dragon's 1/72 F-15 and F-16 are pretty good, but lack accuracy to make them below Century Wings and Hobby Master. The Dragon F-15E is really a repaint of their F-15D with conformal fuel tanks added and the cardinal sin of no air-to-ground weapons--just Sidewinder and AMRAAM. However, I rate my Dragon F-15E above my bigger 1/48 Franklin Mint F-15E. The Dragon F-15s have no pilots, but the F-16 does have a pilot.

Based on the photos I've seen, the Witty Wing F-15s appear to be more detailed than the Dragon F-15s, but the Witty jets have fixed landing gear which is something I don't want.

Overall, I rate Hobby Master on the same level as Century Wings and certainly offers more value for the dollar than Century Wings. The A-10 in green/grey paint scheme and the M1 Abrams are my favorites. The green/grey A-10 is downright beautiful. The detail and weathering on the 1/56 M1A1 Abrams is outstanding and is better than on my FOV 1/32 tanks.