JSI F-14 S2 "Black Knights" on Merit's website

[dragon53]

Two questions:

1. Since the new F-14 has a LANTIRN pod, are smart bombs also included?
2. Why doesn't JSI include pilots?

[NSA]

Two questions:

1. Since the new F-14 has a FLIR pod, are smart bombs also included?
2. Why doesn't JSI include pilots?

1. Hmmmm!

2. No idea, I wish they did. No plans for pilots this year though. Keep the torch burning though!

And everyone else.. wow SO much complaining! Sheesh.

There are literally less than 500 of these planes coming to the states, its more of a side release than a true S2, if you don't like the scheme don't buy it!

More F-14's will be coming out (A's, B's, D's!).

I have one of these planes sitting in my dining room, so I can attest they are 100% real and ready to take up a dining room table. The plane looks awesome, the LED lights are nice but it looks fine without them.

So yeah, it's new, it's 1:18, and I'm happy for the hobby. The $300 price tag is really high, but again I think this is more of a side release than a true S2 release, and the $300 price tag is in-line with the original lighted JR versions.

[NightVyper]

I think its a nice plane and i like the improvements, I have been saving to have 2 skyworks Jolly Rogers Spotless Deluxe made with metal gear and Engine Nozzles.

NSA do you Know if they are going to do a spotless JOLLY ROGER or Wolf Pack? I would rather save money and hold off and buy those instead.

[VMF115]

I will wait for JSi to make the B and D version.

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

i sent them an email to get more details from my sales girl

[King O' Fools]

And everyone else.. wow SO much complaining! Sheesh.

There are literally less than 500 of these planes coming to the states, its more of a side release than a true S2, if you don't like the scheme don't buy it!

More F-14's will be coming out (A's, B's, D's!).

I have one of these planes sitting in my dining room, so I can attest they are 100% real and ready to take up a dining room table. The plane looks awesome, the LED lights are nice but it looks fine without them.

So yeah, it's new, it's 1:18, and I'm happy for the hobby. The $300 price tag is really high, but again I think this is more of a side release than a true S2 release, and the $300 price tag is in-line with the original lighted JR versions.

Bwahahaha.

Believe me, if I had gotten one of these for free I wouldn't complain either. I'd be happy "for the hobby" too!

[VMF115]

And everyone else.. wow SO much complaining! Sheesh.

There are literally less than 500 of these planes coming to the states, its more of a side release than a true S2, if you don't like the scheme don't buy it!

More F-14's will be coming out (A's, B's, D's!).

I have one of these planes sitting in my dining room, so I can attest they are 100% real and ready to take up a dining room table. The plane looks awesome, the LED lights are nice but it looks fine without them.

So yeah, it's new, it's 1:18, and I'm happy for the hobby. The $300 price tag is really high, but again I think this is more of a side release than a true S2 release, and the $300 price tag is in-line with the original lighted JR versions.

Bwahahaha.

Believe me, if I had gotten one of these for free I wouldn't complain either. I'd be happy "for the hobby" too!

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet he paid for it.

[NSA]

All valid points

I dont *THINK* they are going to do a spot-free Jolly Rogers, at least I didn't hear anything about it but I suppose there is always a possibility. No news on a Wolfpack release either.

The only other F-14 I saw was the IRIAF custom painted one, and I still believe there are no plans to produce that one yet.

And you can believe me that I think the Spotcat looks as ridiculous as ever, and last week was the first time I saw one in person. If it's a shoddy product it should get the criticism it deserves.. but likewise.. the new plane is like 100 times better looking side by side.

[Bruzilla]

I think the lights in the engines are kinda retarted, especially when the plane is sitting empty on the deck. I would be impressed if they lit up all the position lights as those really stand out on the real birds when they are on.

[NightVyper]

i think Bruzilla is right on that, that would be cooler!

[SierraMikeBravo]

Two questions:

1. Since the new F-14 has a FLIR pod, are smart bombs also included?
2. Why doesn't JSI include pilots?

1. Hmmmm!

2. No idea, I wish they did. No plans for pilots this year though. Keep the torch burning though!

And everyone else.. wow SO much complaining! Sheesh.

There are literally less than 500 of these planes coming to the states, its more of a side release than a true S2, if you don't like the scheme don't buy it!

More F-14's will be coming out (A's, B's, D's!).

I have one of these planes sitting in my dining room, so I can attest they are 100% real and ready to take up a dining room table. The plane looks awesome, the LED lights are nice but it looks fine without them.

So yeah, it's new, it's 1:18, and I'm happy for the hobby. The $300 price tag is really high, but again I think this is more of a side release than a true S2 release, and the $300 price tag is in-line with the original lighted JR versions.

I don't plan on buying one considering how:

1. JSI and the Merit both buried their heads in the sand regarding the S1 Tomcat complaints and did nothing about a really poor product considering price.

2. JSI and Merit decided to use the info they garnered from S1 complaints in a subsequent release without, again, acknowledging those that purchased their first release.

I wasn't so pissed until I found out number 2. Now, I am really TO at that company more than before. They essentially, just thumbed it at previous purchasers by releasing this bird. They have, forever, lost a customer. My two cents.

[VMF115]

This is what the new Tomcat will have


VF-154 Black Knight CAG bird.
- The landing gears, although not in metal, are strengthened.
- Canopy will stay open
- Comes with instruction sheet in how to deploy the landing gears.
- GBU-16, GBU-24, LANTRIN pod and new pylons.
- With Lighting features
- Modified Tail wings with clear lens for formation lights.

These pictures where taken at Merit!

[NightVyper]

well at least they listened and made corrections, That is worth something to me a lot actually.

As a business it would be a logistical nightmare to take back all the F-14s to repaint and re gear them and then mail them back out from china. they would probably go out of business.

Just Imagine yourself in that position and what would you have done? would you sink your ship, probably not.

[NSA]

The GBU's look great in resin, but the plastic ones that come with the retail version in September will be even more detailed with more features.

Should be pretty cool.

[King O' Fools]

well at least they listened and made corrections, That is worth something to me a lot actually.

As a business it would be a logistical nightmare to take back all the F-14s to repaint and re gear them and then mail them back out from china. they would probably go out of business.

Just Imagine yourself in that position and what would you have done? would you sink your ship, probably not.

Err, what? That's not what happened. They were told in advance that JSI's S-1 weathering looked like bird guano splattered all over their Tomcat and Merit LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH when they promised everyone and their granny who had one of these on pre-order that this issue would be fixed by the time the final product was released.

The first spotcat pictures were WIP photos posted by Merit on their own website. Had they listened to collectors, they could have fixed the issue before the final product hit the shelves and avoided the entire Spotgate fiasco. But they didn't. They chose to give the finger to collectors and retailers alike. These are the facts, I'm afraid.

[thatf14guy]

let alone broken parts or missing parts, landing gear that break very easily, but now they are offering a fixed cat for even more than what the original spotcat cost, what the hell? that is just pure bullsh jsi has some much potiential, but when you rip off your customers, you will only loose out in the end, in the long run i just don't see jsi lasting, but we will see, i plan on buying the s2, probably very many to boost my repaint service and start producing new schemes like vf-31 for one, but all that is based on the quality of this plane, people are not going to buy another piece of shit, repainted or not! as far as merit i have no problem with them, they are just another company trying to cover there tails, but atleast they do try to help, you don't see anyone from jsi on this forum saying hey, let us replace your spotcat for free, or let us replace the broken radar, etc,. atleast merit does that or tries. but it all comes back to jsi.

and the sad thing is, the overall tomcat looks good, the s2 looks amazing! but, what will be broke on it or missing? i really like to see what else jsi will produce, but they got to step it up, hopefully they have. we will all see very soon. but jsi no more spotted cats please!

[NightVyper]

well at least they listened and made corrections, That is worth something to me a lot actually.

As a business it would be a logistical nightmare to take back all the F-14s to repaint and re gear them and then mail them back out from china. they would probably go out of business.

Just Imagine yourself in that position and what would you have done? would you sink your ship, probably not.

Err, what? That's not what happened. They were told in advance that JSI's S-1 weathering looked like bird guano splattered all over their Tomcat and Merit LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH when they promised everyone and their granny who had one of these on pre-order that this issue would be fixed by the time the final product was released.

The first spotcat pictures were WIP photos posted by Merit on their own website. Had they listened to collectors, they could have fixed the issue before the final product hit the shelves and avoided the entire Spotgate fiasco. But they didn't. They chose to give the finger to collectors and retailers alike. These are the facts, I'm afraid.

Yeah i didn't know about the promises made by merit. it seemed like the spots were a surprise because the original product photos were spotless. then that sucks donkey balls.

[pcoughran]

I don't have any faith in JSI producing a quality product yet, at least not enough to pre-order anything.
Their landing gear and Quality Control was pathetic. They completely left out the metal rod that gives the gear its strength in one of my gear which caused both gear to fail when it collapsed under its own weight - it was only displayed for about 4 hours and I was totally "anal" about setting it up carefully with 2 people making sure everything was perfect (all connections made, wheels not canted, etc..) - it still broke due to their poor quality control.
Even if their new gear are more "sturdy" their poor quality control doesn't make me comfortable that the new landing gear won't suffer from similar issues.
The radar dish on mine was also broken and two of the ladder doors were glued shut.

[NightVyper]

I don't have any faith in JSI producing a quality product yet, at least not enough to pre-order anything.
Their landing gear and Quality Control was pathetic. They completely left out the metal rod that gives the gear its strength in one of my gear which caused both gear to fail when it collapsed under its own weight - it was only displayed for about 4 hours and I was totally "anal" about setting it up carefully with 2 people making sure everything was perfect (all connections made, wheels not canted, etc..) - it still broke due to their poor quality control.
Even if their new gear are more "sturdy" their poor quality control doesn't make me comfortable that the new landing gear won't suffer from similar issues.
The radar dish on mine was also broken and two of the ladder doors were glued shut.

they need to step it up big time then.

[thatf14guy]

yeah i had that problem on everyone of my birds, jsi really needs to step it up, but i don't hold the companies that sell these birds responsilbe as they are just trying to make a living like us, but i hold the manufactor responsible, when you tell companies like bad cat, military toys shop, we won't cover your loss if you issue refunds to unsatisfied customers, what can you do. like let say bad cat orders 300 of these planes at a rate of 200 per plane thats $60000, and half the people that bought one want a refund, thats a $30000 loss, that you ain't getting back. so i think we need to lay blame where it is due, thats jsi, not merit or bad cat, etc. but, that is just my opinion.

[tkjaer21]

let alone broken parts or missing parts, landing gear that break very easily, but now they are offering a fixed cat for even more than what the original spotcat cost, what the hell? that is just pure bullsh jsi has some much potiential, but when you rip off your customers, you will only loose out in the end, in the long run i just don't see jsi lasting, but we will see, i plan on buying the s2, probably very many to boost my repaint service and start producing new schemes like vf-31 for one, but all that is based on the quality of this plane, people are not going to buy another piece of ----, repainted or not! as far as merit i have no problem with them, they are just another company trying to cover there tails, but atleast they do try to help, you don't see anyone from jsi on this forum saying hey, let us replace your spotcat for free, or let us replace the broken radar, etc,. atleast merit does that or tries. but it all comes back to jsi.

and the sad thing is, the overall tomcat looks good, the s2 looks amazing! but, what will be broke on it or missing? i really like to see what else jsi will produce, but they got to step it up, hopefully they have. we will all see very soon. but jsi no more spotted cats please!

I have never had any success in getting a new canopy nor front fuselage from anyone. I just emailed merit hoping for a positive response as it sounds like they have many in stock for replacement parts. I even stated that I am willing to pay for the parts. Let's hope for a positive response.

[thatf14guy]

yeah i'm tryimg to get a new set of missiles from them, they seem to be the only ones offering any type of help with the jsi tomcat. as for the other companies to be honest, i feel they could have done more, but they haven't, thats why i buy my planes off ebay. but as i have been saying that all comes back to jsi. thats all. hopefully you will be able to get those replacements you need.

[tkjaer21]

yeah i'm tryimg to get a new set of missiles from them, they seem to be the only ones offering any type of help with the jsi tomcat. as for the other companies to be honest, i feel they could have done more, but they haven't, thats why i buy my planes off ebay. but as i have been saying that all comes back to jsi. thats all. hopefully you will be able to get those replacements you need.

I hope that that goes well for you. I think that they should send everyone whom bought a S1 Spotcat a set of the newer ordinance for free, but that will never happen. Why did I even bring it up?

[thatf14guy]

that would be awesome, but yeah i don't see it happening.

[King O' Fools]

yeah i had that problem on everyone of my birds, jsi really needs to step it up, but i don't hold the companies that sell these birds responsilbe as they are just trying to make a living like us, but i hold the manufactor responsible, when you tell companies like bad cat, military toys shop, we won't cover your loss if you issue refunds to unsatisfied customers, what can you do. like let say bad cat orders 300 of these planes at a rate of 200 per plane thats $60000, and half the people that bought one want a refund, thats a $30000 loss, that you ain't getting back. so i think we need to lay blame where it is due, thats jsi, not merit or bad cat, etc. but, that is just my opinion.

Yes, it was JSI that screwed the pooch big time on the Spotcat. But I think Merit should also shoulder part of the blame as the distributor because, either wittingly or unwittingly, they misrepresented the whole situation to collectors and misled their potential customers by telling them that those pictures only showed a single step in the weathering process and that the spots would be subdued after all the remaining steps were completed ("multiple layers of magic" or some silly statement to that effect), leading collectors AND retailers to believe that this issue would be eventually fixed.

BTW, all those WIP pics were soon disappeared down the memory hole:

http://www.merit-intl.com/month/f-14%20 ... uction.htm

And, here it is, Merit's lame attempt at damage control:

:: JSI US Navy VF-84 Jolly Rogers Fighter Plane Updated: 11-20-09!

After posting the production pictures of the coming 1/18 "Jolly Roger" on our website, we have been receiving many emails and phone calls. We thank you for your concerns and very happy for your constructive criticism to make sure the JSI turns out a great product.

The "Leopard spots" in question are just one of the in progress pictures amongst over 1,000 steps during the production. These "Leopard spots" are actually on purposely made darker at the stage when the picture is taken and will gradually or magically look lighter in color after more layers of paint be sprayed.

Please stay tuned to our web site for the transformation.
Again, we thank you for your support!

It's a kind of magic!

Is that you, Freddie?

Turns out the only transformation that took place was in the form of all 'incriminating' evidence being vanished from their website.

In fact, they keep advertising a plane that doesn't exist:

http://www.merit-intl.com/month/jsi-vf84.htm

Does it look like they intend to mislead the public? I don't know, maybe they haven't had the time to take down those pics and include some photos of the real deal, the spotty mess...