F-86 "The Huff"?

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:52 am

I have questions about the F-86 "The Huff":

1. I'd appreciate detailed reviews of 21st Century's F-86 Huff, particularly on defects.
2. Does ToysRUs carry 21st's Huff? (I assume Wal-Mart no longer carries 21st 1/18 planes)
3. Any diecast versions of the Huff with retractable landing gear and pilot? (I haven't found any so far)

Thanks

GooglyDoogly · Post by **GooglyDoogly** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:59 am

21st's F-86 is one of their best planes, IMHO. It's a really beautiful plane.

I really couldn't think of any defect out of hand, but if I have to criticize it, I'd have to say something about how the gun bay covers pops out waaaaay too easily on mine. It only needs the slightest pressure on BAM! No more cover. Also, you have to watch out for slightly sloppy paint job, which is kinda a norm when it comes to 21st's stuff.

But once in a while, you can find a real gem out there.

I've seen a couple of Mitch's Squitch and 1 Huff at TRU, but this was months ago.

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:26 am

The Huff is my favorite F-86 model. Mine has a perfect paint job, but the cover on one of the guns bays does pop off a bit to easy. I also like how the drop tanks are painted on The Huff version. I can't say enough good things about this model. I just love it!

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:44 pm

"The Huff" is easily the best of the 21c F-86s, as the other members have stated. Mine, which even came from Wal Mart, has no serious defects, either with the aircraft parts or the paintscheme. 21c did a VERY nice job on the dragon artwork, as well as the crew-chief's artwork on the right side (not seen from the box window). The markings around the gun doors match perfectly on mine and it really looks great. The only real "flaw" to me is that the yellow bands on the wings are only painted on the top surface and not the bottom. All the 21c F-86s were that way, however, and it should not be enough of a flaw to not warrant getting one!

DocTodd · Post by **DocTodd** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:14 pm

I too think it is one of 21st's best planes. The only other thing is the nose wheel door doesn't want to stay up
T

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:05 am

GUYS:

Thanks for the info.

I'm planning on getting a 21st Huff---I couldn't find a diecast Huff with retractable landing gear and pilot. I went through many Wal-Mart 21st Century P-51 Big Beautiful Dolls because of defects---scratches, bad paint, etc.

Because Huff is apparently no longer sold at Wal-Mart, ToysRUs, then I have to buy one from an internet dealer which means I can't inspect it for defects---this worries me. I read some reviews from Huff owners on this and other boards---some had defects on their Huffs.

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:42 pm

21C received a nice letter from the pilot who flew the Huff stating that "it was the most accurate and beautiful recreation ever done in any scale" There were also praises for the correct colors that were used, the placement of the nose art opposite of the dragon, and the size / placement of the dragon itself. It was a great review and Roy was honored to have garnered such a positive review. It's a great scheme and one of my favorite in the entire 21C collection.

AlloySkull · Post by **AlloySkull** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:16 pm

I own one, and I have no flaws what-so-ever, with the plane. The drop tank paint color is slightly off hue from the paint of the plane itself. Other than that it's an amazing model, I got mine for 25 bucks at Wal-Mart alongside a MiG-15, which is another beautiful model.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:42 am

ALLOYSKULL:

When Houston Wal-Marts were clearing out 1/18 planes, I looked for The Huff and Big Beautiful Doll--all I found were Mustangs (got Big Beautiful Doll), MiG-15s, P-40s and a yellow F-104.

Does Wal-Mart still sell 1/18 planes?

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:32 am

Hopefully, the paint job on the Huff is slightly better than the Admiral Toys version. Now I know why their boxes don't have windows. It beats everything I've seen so far--completely beyond "repair".

I guess AT gives the words "Never Again" a different meaning... My first and last AT plane. A short-lived customer experience, if there ever was any (unfortunately for them, they're not in 21c's shoes regarding dominant market position).

On the other end of the spectrum, the Minichamps kübelwagen is actually a masterpiece, maybe not museum-quality, but it certainly goes far beyond anything I've seen yet in 1:18 scale in terms of quality and detail.

...And both are made in China, which goes to show that you can manufacture quality products everywhere at a reasonable price.

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:59 am

My Admiral toys German CL-13 Sabre has a great paint job. In fact, it is just about perfect, so is my Admiral ME-262.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:45 am

The paint of most black bands/markings in mine is either smudged by someone's fingers or blurred from overspray. In fact, the black paint in the wingtips has “welded” to the styrene foam beads of the packaging, which leads me to think that it was hastily put in the box before it dried. Also, the yellow in the rudder doesn't match the rest of the tail. A big disappointment considering the high praise AT has garnered here.

olifant · Post by **olifant** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:48 pm

I'm with Saberfan, all my AT stuff is just about flawless.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:33 pm

My first AT F-86 had a little scratch on the nose due to it rubbing on the styrofoam packing. It was easily fixed. The rest of the markings on that plane were flawless. My ME-262 is perfect, though the first one they sent me was missing the screw covers. AT gladly replaced the plane

Overall, they have far fewer paint defects than any 21c plane

Quixote511 · Post by **Quixote511** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:16 am

I have to concur--AT has never let me down in the quality control department.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:04 am

It seems I keep getting all the substandard paintjobs...

Well, what can I say? Finding out the hard way that Admiral’s reputation for flawless paintjobs was horse puckey came as a surprise to me too.

Suffice it to say that when I opened the box and saw that load of crap come out of it I was unsure whether there had been some kind of screw-up and someone had accidentally put a 21c plane instead of my Jolley Roger.

Of course, the pilot figure made me realize that it was indeed AT’s version.

Who knows, maybe Jason should consider outsourcing their production to 21c’s factrory?

warhawker · Post by **warhawker** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:33 am

King O' Fools, just contact AT and they will handle it promptly.
When I went to pickup my AT Jolly Roger and ME-262 from their warehouse I saw them personally open up the boxes, inspect the fuselages and wings. They noticed a small blemish on the wing coloring of the F-86 and they then opened up another new box and took that wing and put it in my F-86 box. I was impressed by their concern to detail and ensuring that I got the best product.
On the other hand, they do use part-time help from the local UNT college and you could have gotten one of those guys handling your inspection-shipping.
Your best bet is just contacting them on what you got.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:37 am

Thanks for the advice, Warkhawker. That's what I'll do. Hopefully, they at least can shed some light on the best workaround for this issue. The thing is I ordered the model form Aikens Airplanes and it came packaged in its own carboard box from AT within a bigger box (with a 21c Tiger). However, the packaging is torn apart (not that I really care about it, but it's certainly weird).

Let's see if it pans out. I really hope it works, 'cause I'd hate to pass on the "Galland" Me-262, Dauntless and Skyraider releases.

AlloySkull · Post by **AlloySkull** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:17 pm

Dragon, I've seen almost no 1/18th aircraft at Wal-Mart since January. That was only about 6 MiG-15s at the WM at 1960 and Champion Forest Dr. Before that was sparse sightings of P-40s and one P-51 at the Spring Cypress and 249 WM. Although, the Toys R Us on 1960 right next to Champion Forest Dr. had 1/18 last time I saw. I got one of the silver USAF F-104s, with the rainbow accents. They had the Flying Undertaker, a Corsair and the Seeman 109G.

I haven't been able to go to WMs much lately, my job has really got me working 0 hours... It's been sucking me dry and I'm quite angry about it. I can't buy guitar parts, amp parts, planes, tanks, NOTHING.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:42 pm

ALLOYSKULL:

Thanks for the info.
I've been visiting and telephoning Houston ToyRUs and Wal-Marts looking for the 1/18 Huff and P-47 Eileen with no luck. A Wal-Mart clerk where I got my Big Beautiful Doll said they sold out at Christmas.
One ToysRUs said they only had 2 Mustangs at $39.99. The ToysRUs on Westheimer had no 1/18s at all---only 1/32 and 1/48.

dcmacharlie · Post by **dcmacharlie** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:35 pm

Hi all! just won on E-bay a 21 century F-86 Huff for 22.00 plus shipping and can not wait to get it after reading all you e-mails, i own the AT 86 PatriciaII and Im really happy with it, love the leading edge slat, one of my best planes, I was not a 86 fan but once i got the Patricia i can not stop buying F-86s, have the Jolly Roger coming and now the Huff, does the Huff have a leading edge slats or was that only on certain F-86s? love the forum and read it everday for updates, remember 1:18 scale or nothing

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:37 pm

The Huff is an F-86F model, and that model did not have the leading edge slats. The Admiral model is an F-86E, and it had the leading edge slats.

dcmacharlie · Post by **dcmacharlie** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:33 pm

hi all thanks for answering the question on the leading edge slat i figured it might be a model number issue, how about the Jolly Roger? I just think the leading edge slat adds somthing to the model, but what do i know,we added leading edge slats to the F-4 and that was some major work if i remember we had a team going out adding them to some of the ANG squdrons that had F-4s, dont get me talking about the F-4 ill run out of ink and this E-Mail is about the F-86 if i remember!!!!

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:15 pm

The E model and F model F-86 were pretty different in the design of the wings. The F version was the most lethal variant of the Sabres. It's also known as a "hard wing sabre". The leading edge slats were an earlier war design that gave the aircraft more control at slower speeds, but greatly reduced performance and this gave the MiG-15 a greater edge in dogfights.

The US figured this out and developed the F version. this deleted the front edge slats and it also increased the width of the wing itself. It was this fundamantal change that made the F model Sabre keep up with the MiG-15 in the high speed turning fight. F model Sabers are also among the most famous of liverys due to the higher success / kill ratios. The Huff, the plane flown by Blesse, & Mig Mad Marine, and others were famous F models. I was this main reason that 21st choose to build the F version.

-So getting both an E and F model in the collection is pretty cool knowing that they are really 2 different aircraft with different performance capability. Kinda like owning a C starfighter and a G starfighter.

dcmacharlie · Post by **dcmacharlie** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:52 pm

Thank you for that bit of information, you are so smart,( and i do not mean that in anyway derogatory), if you say anything on this forum that is not true to the type of aircraft you are talking about someone with the knowledge will correct you and that is not a bad thing, I love reading about each and every aircraft there is and there are lots, the only problem I have is I am hooked, like being on crack, I can not buy enough 1:18 scale aircraft, at first I said I would buy just one of each but after seeing the same model aircraft with different color or model number I just have to have them, do you know if this is curable? After seeing some of the members collections my god it was like going to a museum, will that fate befall me!!!!! only time will tell (heard that somplace but can not for the life of me remember where)