Small Scale Military Headquarters

1/32 Hobby Boss A-26? How did I miss that? How long's that been out?

Not impressed with the clear parts but that might just be a rough prototype. Can't tell if they fouled up anything major to concentrate on overblown details.

Kit is already on its way out to stores. The photo is a test shot from a while back; the actual item looks better but like the B-24 there are issues. They put the wrong engine in it so there aren't enough cylinders when you view it but a couple of guys doing review builds seem to have some ideas on how to fix it. No other areas as glaring as the wing profile of the B-24, but I likely will get one anyway as I nor anyone who sees my build will know any better and no other company seems eager to make one to compete.

The wrong engines? That's hilarious! What a blunder!!

I looked at the sprue pictures but didn't count cylinders. Did they assume it had R-2600's like the Mitchell? That would be a tough fix. The R-2800 cylinders are much smaller. That was the different design philosophy between Wright and Pratt & Whitney. Wright used less but larger cylinders while Pratts had smaller but more cylinders. The B-24 had a twin row 14 cylinder R-1830 Pratt while the B-17 had a single row 9 cylinder R-1820 Wright yet they had similar displacement and horsepower.

I believe someone who knows better than I said it was the 2600.

[CAT]CplSlade wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:00 pm

I believe someone who knows better than I said it was the 2600.

Sure looks like it. But being Hobby Boss, you never know what may come out of their imagination. At least they're trying! A Japanese bomber would be nice.

HKM is about to announce a new 1/32 kit very soon. It supposed to be something they're not done before but that doesn't necessarily mean no one else has. Most people are hoping it is completely new to 1/32, which would be great; the more the merrier. There are many guesses going on right now as to what it might be but if they continue with the larger aircraft theme a twin-engine Russian would be nice, a Do 17Z, some are hoping for a Bf 110 G-4 as Dragon never released one. Doesn't matter to me as long as it's 1/32 and served in WWII. Should find out by the end of July anyway.

So is that Lancaster nose section the big announcement?

Afraid so.

just got the Squadron "pamphlet" that used to be a catalog. The 1/32 A-26 as well as the 1/18 Me-262 are featured in the hot new item section. Can't help but wonder what disasters lie in the 262? HobyBoss hasn't done itself any favors with the mistakes on the B-24 or the wrong engines on the A-26. Their reputation for botched kits is tainting their positive reputation for new large scale kits subject offerings to the market. For $200 the buyer deserves better.

Axis, I think the 1/18 ME-262 kit is basically an unbuilt version of the old 21st model, which was generally accurate. Hopefully they fixed the canopy hinges. But Hobby Boss does have a lot of accuracy issues. I’ve built both their 1/18 FW-190A kits and from wrong paint guides and markings to inaccurate parts, I wasn’t completely wowed by their products. Part of me is tempted by the A-26 kit all the same though.