Beginnings of my 1:144 aircraft fleet

[Dauntless]

Yeah hesitated because of the price, but bought it because the edition size and the only halfway decent JU-52 in 1:144.

Just got my first Cafereo model.
Big Bird series 5 Blohm Voss 138C floatplane.
Found a weathered version. I guess it's the "secret"? plane or something like that. Couple dollars more than the two regular versions at around $16 free shipping.

Want to check out the Cafereo's. For the price don't think it's much of a risk. Probably get an Emili flying boat next.

[jlspec]

Does anyone have the Deagostini Sally or Betty? Are they worth getting?
Thanks

[aferguson]

in general Deagostini is Atlas retreads and they are poor quality and have no undercarriage doors.

If you want a Betty in 1/144 F toys made a good one as did Cafereo, which is a late war variant.

Altaya also made a Betty which is superior to Atlas/Deagostini's but not as good as F Toys.

As for the Sally, Cafereo made one but it wasn't well regarded by the fans, although i'm not sure why. I would really steer clear of Deagostini's unless someone should recommend it.

I would think F Toys will eventually make a Sally as they've done most of the other Japanese bombers, and it will no doubt be the one to get.

[Epap]

Does anyone have the Deagostini Sally or Betty? Are they worth getting?
Thanks

I have both of these and can't really recommend them over the F-toy/Cafe Reo type models and certainly not compared to the slightly larger Hachette versions. In addition to their overall crudeness and terrible landing gear designs the old Atlas models featured stick on markings that often were placed improperly.

[jlspec]

Thanks
I have a couple CafeReo Bettys. I was looking for some additional Japanese aircraft and the price seemd pretty decent. But it some sounds like they are not worth it at any price

[Dauntless]

I just got an IXO/ Altaya Betty. It was cheap and combined shipping with another IXO, but think I'd like a Cafereo though too.

I do want one of those Betty's Aferg mentioned earlier with the Ohka bomb attached if it exists, or is in the works.

Aferg, I won an IXO/ Altaya B-24 Dragon and his Tail with the Betty, and it's got a blue and white striped tail as opposed to a red and white we were discussing in another thread.

I'll post pics when I get time.

[Dauntless]

Most of my 1:144 fleet so far, though I've got some F-Toys I'm putting together, and A Hobby Master Ju-52 not unboxed yet.

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

Dauntless: where did you get the IXO B-24?

[Dauntless]

Dauntless: where did you get the IXO B-24?

At auction. Got it with the Betty from the same seller. The Betty was cheap at around $8, the B-24 not so cheap at around $24, but combined shipping so I can live with that.

I'm impressed with the IXO/ Altaya B-24. It seems to be made well.
There's an OD green one they made too,
Amercom makes a B-24D assembly ship. Don't know about the quality, but it sure is ugly.

Would still like a Hobby Master one of these days but they aint cheap.

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

Yeah I can't find any at good price, the altaya yellow checkered one is a little to odd for me, but it might be my only choise, I just sent a bored member $50 for the F-14 and other stuff, that's the most ive spent on this hobby in 12years!

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

This is all The 1/144 I got with me at my new place, the Ju-52 should be here Monday or Tuesday and the larger British jets maybe Thursday...

[Dauntless]

Yeah I can't find any at good price, the altaya yellow checkered one is a little to odd for me, but it might be my only choise, I just sent a bored member $50 for the F-14 and other stuff, that's the most ive spent on this hobby in 12years!

Check ebay UK, and there are some sellers who have the OD B-24J. By the time you pay the exchange rate & shipping it should work out to a little less than $30.

I don't know about that Amercom / Altaya yellow B-24. It sure is butt ugly, but the Polish sellers have it cheap enough.

Beware the collecting habit $. I started with 1:6, then 1:18, then 1:32, then 1:72. I still collect a little from each scale given availability and price, but now I can't even afford too much 1:72 diecast as the four engine bombers can go from $150 all the way up to $500 for a choice B-17. Just like the other larger scales it's getting a rich mans sport.

The size of my military scales is getting smaller and smaller. No way I could afford much of anything beyond 1:144 now, but there's a lot of cool and obscure variety out there I'm finding at reasonable prices. That could change though, what's next, 1:200?

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

Yeah I can't find any at good price, the altaya yellow checkered one is a little to odd for me, but it might be my only choise, I just sent a bored member $50 for the F-14 and other stuff, that's the most ive spent on this hobby in 12years!

Check ebay UK, and there are some sellers who have the OD B-24J. By the time you pay the exchange rate & shipping it should work out to a little less than $30.

I don't know about that Amercom / Altaya yellow B-24. It sure is butt ugly, but the Polish sellers have it cheap enough.

Beware the collecting habit $. I started with 1:6, then 1:18, then 1:32, then 1:72. I still collect a little from each scale given availability and price, but now I can't even afford too much 1:72 diecast as the four engine bombers can go from $150 all the way up to $500 for a choice B-17. Just like the other larger scales it's getting a rich mans sport.

The size of my military scales is getting smaller and smaller. No way I could afford much of anything beyond 1:144 now, but there's a lot of cool and obscure variety out there I'm finding at reasonable prices. That could change though, what's next, 1:200?

When it comes to larger scales like 1/72 and 1/48, I've just been building models, right now I'm taking 5min break on working on my 2nd 1/48 He-111 painting is mostly done, just putting it together now, and what you talking about, I'm already at 1/200 diecast... Even know the ones everyone really want are $45+!!! (Gemini 200) I really want the Altas AFB C-17, but... The cheapest one is on eBay $45.00 free shipping, ill buy it if I can find someone to buy my 1/144 C-17....

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

With the new addition to the group!

[aferguson]

i was at TRU today and noticed a couple of planes. One was a Testors prebuilt F-35, much like an F toys with simple assembly required. All markings printed on. Scale is 1/144. I noticed when i got home the canopy is painted rather than heavily tinted as i thought in the store, but it still looks pretty good. The other is a Maisto Tailwinds P-61 Black Widow. Normally i've always considered these Maisto planes to be junk but i have the Chinook and now the Black Widow and both are really not all that bad, for the money. They will both benefit from a bit of sprucing up but for $4 they're not bad at all. The only drawback of the P-61 is that it's underscale a tad, at about 1/151, but that's not too bad and livable with. The Chinook is spot on 1/144.

The only other option for a 1/144 Black Widow is the Cafereo one which goes for a ton (around $50) and i don't really like the looks of it, from pics i've seen. Doesn't look quite right. So i'll use the Maisto until a better option presents itself.

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

i was at TRU today and noticed a couple of planes. One was a Testors prebuilt F-35, much like an F toys with simple assembly required. All markings printed on. Scale is 1/144. I noticed when i got home the canopy is painted rather than heavily tinted as i thought in the store, but it still looks pretty good. The other is a Maisto Tailwinds P-61 Black Widow. Normally i've always considered these Maisto planes to be junk but i have the Chinook and now the Black Widow and both are really not all that bad, for the money. They will both benefit from a bit of sprucing up but for $4 they're not bad at all. The only drawback of the P-61 is that it's underscale a tad, at about 1/151, but that's not too bad and livable with. The Chinook is spot on 1/144.

The only other option for a 1/144 Black Widow is the Cafereo one which goes for a ton (around $50) and i don't really like the looks of it, from pics i've seen. Doesn't look quite right. So i'll use the Maisto until a better option presents itself.

Those maisto planes arnt bad, the F-4 in my picture above is maisto, it's about 1/147 witch isn't far off I've got the UK CH-47 and P-61 as well, they're just in storage, but the P-61 isn't something I'd add to my 1/144th though, it's just TO far from 1/144

[aferguson]

well, i'm going to keep my eyes open for any other Maisto's. May find the odd usable one. The P-61 is less than 5% underscale, about the same difference as between 1/24 car and a 1/25 car....noticable if placed side by side but on their own less so. So i'm going to use it until something better comes along, from maybe F toys or a kit or something. Right now there's bupkis.

[hworth18]

I have a F-Toys He-219 Uhu if anyone is interested in it. It's my last 1/144 plane..

[Epap]

One of the better diecast buys in the 1:120th scale is the Model Power P-61, which is a surprisingly good model considering the source. Also coming up via eBay soon is the 1:100th scale EA6B Prowler from the latest Italeri part work series. Here's a picture of the latter model:

[aferguson]

Has anyone got the Takara fi-156 storch? From pictures it doesn't look very good. I thought Takara stuff was supposed to be nice quality?

[aferguson]

received my first Deagostini/Atlas model today. It was the Ilyushin DB-3K which is the same as the IL-4.

It was much better than i expected. Markings are printed on, not stickers. Colours are pretty accurate and it's well painted. No u/c doors, which i expected. Detailing is not bad, on a par with a bad Altaya model. Small inaccuracies, such as only two rows of side windows on the front sides of the nose instead of 3 rows as it should be.

The biggest drawback is the join line down the sides of the fuselage, which is quite noticable. Other manufacturers tend to hide it better.

However, overall i'm pleased with it and it's the only model of the IL-4 available in this scale. So it's a keeper. It has encouraged me to take a chance on some other Atlas models i've had my eye on.

[Dauntless]

received my first Deagostini/Atlas model today. It was the Ilyushin DB-3K which is the same as the IL-4.

It was much better than i expected. Markings are printed on, not stickers. Colours are pretty accurate and it's well painted. No u/c doors, which i expected. Detailing is not bad, on a par with a bad Altaya model. Small inaccuracies, such as only two rows of side windows on the front sides of the nose instead of 3 rows as it should be.

The biggest drawback is the join line down the sides of the fuselage, which is quite noticable. Other manufacturers tend to hide it better.

However, overall i'm pleased with it and it's the only model of the IL-4 available in this scale. So it's a keeper. It has encouraged me to take a chance on some other Atlas models i've had my eye on.

Had to look it up. Never seen that Deagostini available. Must be hard to find.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-4
Got my eyes on getting an Altaya Pe-8 though.

[Epap]

The DeAgostini models are readily available on eBay from a number of East European sellers. They also have a PE-2, TU-2 and IL-4 in its later form. Of these, the TU-2 is OK, except they forgot the wing root canons, but the PE-2's horizontal stabilizers are not angled upwards as they should be and the fit between the lower and upper half of the fuselage of the IL-4 in the nose area is very poor. A little gem from this series is the IL-2 single seater, which I highly recommend.

[aferguson]

the pe-2, tu-2 and il-2 aren't 1/144 though, are they? I think they're bigger than that.

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

the pe-2, tu-2 and il-2 aren't 1/144 though, are they? I think they're bigger than that.

They're in the 1/100-1/72 rang, they're nice models though.