Small Scale Military Headquarters

as I type this post i'm waiting for UPS to drop off my catmouth and 21st 262. it's like xmas morning all over again. i'll have my review when i get them and open them. lata

You will love these two birds. The latest pieces from 21C and BBI have proven to be far better than anything in their past IMO.

alright so i finally received them and put the hellcat together. very cool design and looks good along with my vraciu hellcat.
now onto the 262. i broke a sweat when putting this bird together. it is absolutly beautiful. one of the landing gear door hinge broke. and one of the canopy hinge broke too. putting the stickers on was pretty easy. it's deff a sturdy and heavy plane. this plane blows the AT plane out of the water. the detail of everything is spot on. now can't wait to get the 2 seater. going to wait till after it comes out and see what others ahve to say about it.

Yep - also picked up my 262 today from badcats sale!
not put together yet but did take it out of the box for a quick walk around....
the canopy hinge appears snapped where it latches to the inside - very small tab? when you turn it plane upside down it keeps closed but it will not close all the way - and I'm afraid to push it down for fear it will completely break - did anyone else have this problem? I'm ok with it as i wont be hanging the plane upside down - just wondering...

Darn, that 21c ME-262 sure is tempting for the reduced price There's still a couple at my local Hobbytown store, but they're marked for $75. With BadCat's price, UPS shipping, and CA sales tax, I'll still wind up saving nearly $15. Now the question is, do I go for it...

HELL YEAH!!!!! this bird is awesome. i just put my pre order in for the nightfighter due to the fact that the 262 went down 10 bucks after i ordered it so i got 10 bucks off my pre order. now i just sit here and wait

FITZYSTIGERTANK:

I'm looking forward to your review of your Cat Mouth F6F.

I like them both. They are worth having. I could not resist a got 2 each.

yeah sorry was giddy on getting the new 262 that my hellcat review was very short. ok the plane looks exactly like vraciu's plane except with the cat mouth and a different number. putting it together was like putting a hellcat together. very stressful. putting the wings together takes alot of strength. with the prop, well it finally spins and doesn't shake around like vraciu's prop. its tight. i still love the corsairs and how it spins so freely.
the wings still have a lil droop to them which can be fixed with a lil finesse. the other thing that really stresses me is that when you put the landing gear down and try to snap it into place i feel like it's going to snap in half in my hand. just have to be careful. other then that you really can't tell a difference between the 2 other then the cat mouth, which is really well done. the flaps still hang down and don't snap into place still. that wasn't fixed by BBI at all.
so in conclusion it's the same plane with a cool paint scheme. i think it's worth it due to the fact that it's a limited scheme. that was the reason i got it plus i like mean looking planes and cars.
so i hope i haven't made others feel like it's not worth it cause it is, it's just not very different then the original.

STUKA wrote:Yep - also picked up my 262 today from badcats sale!
not put together yet but did take it out of the box for a quick walk around....
the canopy hinge appears snapped where it latches to the inside - very small tab? when you turn it plane upside down it keeps closed but it will not close all the way - and I'm afraid to push it down for fear it will completely break - did anyone else have this problem? I'm ok with it as i wont be hanging the plane upside down - just wondering...

My White #7 will not close all the way either STUKA. I barely got it open wide enough to stick the pilot in. It closes enough though that when hung from the ceiling you cannot tell. I had to remove the legs and chute for it to sit correctly.

I didn't want to force mine either. Still an awesome plane! Gotta get the Night Fighter too.

FITZYSTIGERTANK:

Thanks for the review---that was real helpful to me because I'm still thinking about buying a Cat Mouth.

tmanthegreat wrote:Darn, that 21c ME-262 sure is tempting for the reduced price There's still a couple at my local Hobbytown store, but they're marked for $75. With BadCat's price, UPS shipping, and CA sales tax, I'll still wind up saving nearly $15. Now the question is, do I go for it...

It is a must buy IMO. The best attention to detail in a 21C 1:18 plane to date. Just do it as you will only be happy.

tkjaer21 wrote: It is a must buy IMO. The best attention to detail in a 21C 1:18 plane to date. Just do it as you will only be happy.

Those are all good points, and most other reviews I've read have been very positive, however its that section of the fuselage behind the cockpit that really bugs me. It should be smooth, yet the covering over the location for the eventual second canopy and seat are pretty noticable. Other than that, the rest of the plane looks amazing. Still, I'm undecided, yet increasingly leaning for the 21c version as its really not that bad of a deal...

Got mine the other day. I loved the other one so much that I HAD to buy the catmouth version. Awesome plane.

OBI2KENOBI:

Did your Hellcats have the wing/landing gear problems, too?

dragon53, putting the wings together was a stressful endeavor. I haven't taken the catmouth out of the box yet because I'm not sure where I'm going to put it yet. The hellcat is a very delicate model to assemble and the wings were problematic. My advice to any interested in the hellcat is to buy it, but make sure you have a long time to spend putting it together so that you can take your time.

TMAN, I don't know if you hang up your planes like I do, but hanging from my 8' ceiling, the rear canopy covering is not at all noticable. I have to really try to look for it to see it. What is noticable is the rest of this beautifully rendered, very detailed ME262 and the amazing camouflage paint scheme - it looks like a custom paint job! I had no problems at all with assembly. It is a heavy bird as it has a weighted nose. As mentioned in the thread, you have to remove the pilots chut and lower legs to fit him in the cockpit. Definately get your hands on one of these!

Rogo

i remove the pilots chute but didn't have to remove his legs and he sits just right.
oh yeah putting the hellcat together wasn't as long as putting the 262 together. theres alot of screwing on the 262. <---- that doesn't sound right.

OBI2KENOBI:

Thanks. I had a hard time installing the wings on my BBI P-51 and was worried I was going to break the wings or fuselage....the Hellcat worries me a lot more because of the folding wing /landing gear and the antennas. I'm wary of buying the Hellcat and then breaking its delicate wing/landing gear.

Dragon 53, lighten up man! Get yourself a Hellcat model, it is not as delicate as you think. The two I have went together with no problems, and they just look great.

The detail on the Hellcat has no match, but the build/design quality is lacking. I hate the small tab on the upper surface of the wing that holds it together, it doesn't do much. The strut where you twist the wheels cracked on me while trying to get the landing gear up and going, now that was scary.

Got the 21c ME-262 from BadCats sale. I must say it is a very nice plane! The aircraft is quite solid in construction, though it was one of the more complex "preassembled" 1:18 planes I've put together, especially the wings-landing gear bay. Its more detailed than the AT version, but the two are really far more similar than they are different. Essentilly, its like the BBI P-51 compared to the 21c P-51

Of course...barring the obvious, blatant, incredibly noteworthy, outwardly straightforward superiority of the BBI P-51 over the 21st P-51 offering..

Oh, and yes, we have had this conversation many times before, too.

With the 262. How much did the weight of the plane effect shipping costs? I was about to order the badcat one on discount but worked out else where that just the shipping cost alone would work out to be around $150US!! Does anyone know the comparative weights between the 21st 262 and admirals 262?

It is in a big Avenger type box and weighs a lot more than most 1:18 AC. Not justifying the cost just letting you know it is a beast, and I am sure quite pricey to ship no matter how you spin it.