Small Scale Military Headquarters

I am fairly new to the XD scene. I started my collection off with all 3 Spitfire variants and the RAF P-40 and I am quiet pleased with them.
I am looking into purchasing a few more and wanted to know the pros and cons of the ones I am interested in. These are the aircraft I am intrested in. I have heard that later issues of the same plane have had CONSTRUCTION/ACCURACY problems fixed, but in regards to what, I dont know and would like to know from all of you who have these aircraft.With the ones listed I am going to point out what I have heard whats bad etc...

FW-190---Landing gear strength?
there are several of these at my local WalMart, particuarly the S2 and Red "3" version. I like the S2, but what do I need to be concerned about construction/sturdyness wise???

Corsair---Have heard that they made improvments, but on what exactly?
the folding wing feature is shying me away from this one, it doesnt look as if it would be sturdy and would move around alot, not to mention the large gap that is present, the real aircraft doesnt look like that. I wish they would not make the toys with folding wings. Im hoping the Avenger wont have this feature but I think it probably will.

P-47 Razorback and bubbletop---Something pertaining to the landing gear, I think that it sits too low or something to that effect. I still like the airplane and I am in the process of purchasing the yellow nose bubbletop. And looking for a good deal on an invasion stripe razorback.

Whats the deal on the new Bf109???

The FW-190 is very sturdy. There have been some reported problems with the landing gear hinge, but those were a very small minority. My S2 FW-190 has not given me any problems at all. Durability depends on how well you treat the aircraft - if you are forcing it down for a very hard landing, throwing it, etc, it obviously won't survive. But for display or general play purposes, the plane is quite sturdy! You may want to watch the wing guns on the FW-190. Many at Wal Mart (especially the S2 variant) had loose guns that had fallen off. They were not broken, per se, but were easily glued back in their place in the wheel well.

The folding wings on the XD Corsair are one of its most cool and unique features! The wings will stay up in position when folded, though they do not fold as closely together as on an actual Corsair. There is a drawback to the hinges in that they tend to break over time. What you must do is loosen the screws on the wing hinges. This makes them easier to fold and the hinges will have less risk of breaking. Filing down the wing tabs helps to reduce the gap on the wing, which is not very noticable anyways!

You are correct in noting that the P-47 sits too low, this was done so that the landing gear could correctly fold up inside the plane. Some board members have attempted to customize and rectify this problem. Watch out with the new Bubbletops, as the there were many reported Quality Control issues. The cockpits on both P-47 types are a little oversized.

The new BF-109G is the best plane yet put out by 21st! It is highly detailed, has excellent markings with very few paint errors. This plane and the Spitfire are my personal favorites among XD planes. All control surfaces - aeilerons, flaps, elevators, rudder, wing spoilers, radiator flaps - move. It is a rather sturdy aircraft as well and unlike the older BF-109E aircraft, the landing gear lock in place. It is actually one of the smallest XD planes and came with the large version of the S1 ME-109 pilot as thats the only figure that will fit in the tight cockpit. I highly recommend this one as well.

Now, if you were refering to the new ME-109Es, those are nice planes as well. They are simply repaints of the origional ME-109 released by 21c, which was the second 1:18 scale aircraft they produced. They are also detailed quite nicely, though there are a few minor flaws - the wings being a little on the thick side and the canopy being slightly too large. All in all, these hardly detract from the plane and it is worth the price. Only the flaps move on it and the landing gear do no lock in place.

You will find that if you have a love for WWII aircraft, or any period aircraft in general, that once you get into this hobby it is way to difficult to get out!

Hope all this helps!

Planes are not my area of expertise but I would say:

Don't knock the folding wings - realism aside (which is key), they allow for desk display. I can get 3 corsairs in the space of one Spit....
I bet the Avenger has folding wings and it better - the thing is a beast.

The new Corsair has new weathering/paint. Plane is the same (I believe).

The new 109G is outstanding from what I hear - for some reason there has not been much discussion of this plane but the word is that it is the best to date in terms of moving parts, detail, accuracy...etc....

As for the 190 - I have one (S2) and it's fine. Maybe others have had problems but I wouldn't worry as it has not been a huge issue, at least not around here....

Hope this helps. Sounds like you have some shopping to do....

Welcome to the board longrifle!

Each plane has it's little niggles, some more than others. Just treat each one with care and you will have no problems at all.

To pass up a Corsair due to the folding wings issue would be borderline criminal as I think it is one of the best looking in the XD series. If you look in the reference forum, you will see a hints thread that address many of the issues with some of the planes.

You won't go wrong with any 1:18 plane you get. I love every plane I got.......

-Ski