Beginnings of my 1:144 aircraft fleet

[dannyc]

yeah historic aviation will show it in stock online but when you buy it they place you on back order list it happened with my cyber hobby jim paratrooper figure which should come this week and my midway dauntless that I have to wait till june for but I recommend ordering by phone that way you can ask if it is on back order and I will say the diecast of the week offer they do shouldn't be passed up I got a 1/72 f84g in Greek air force markings for 15.99 but they have always been good with me

[Dauntless]

You guys are right. I should call in the order next time.

They are not the only site that has a difference in what's listed in stock, and what they actually have on hand. I've encountered this same thing at many sites, and many times a backorder thinking they can get it for you later, hence the item is listed as inventory.

Still, passed on a few good deals thinking the item was on it's way with no notification that it is backordered or out of stock. Such is the nature of e-business I guess.

[aferguson]

cyber hobby is notorious for stuff like this.......you order, pay.....a week goes by and then they tell you it's out of stock and unavailable. But both items are still listed for sale on their site Happened twice in a row to me...the only two orders i ever made with them. Never again.

It's not excusable.....it's just sloppy and lazy, like many etailers are. There are lots of good ones but still lots of lousy ones.

[Dauntless]

How about that, lucky me, got an email my 1:144 Motor Max B2 is being shipped from Amazon, well one of it's subsidiaries anyways.

I was fully expecting to get a not in stock notice.

[aferguson]

what's the deal with the Flames of War 1/144 aircraft. I gather they are unpainted kits? Are they plastic? Metal? How are they quality wise?

[aferguson]

sorry Dauntless.....i'd forgotten about the one on Amazon. It was so expensive for me, due to shipping cost that i just blotted it from my mind. Glad you were able to pick one up.

[Dauntless]

...yeah they were a little higher than the ones you mentioned in the other thread on ebay, but those were gone quick and I failed to nab one.
Shipping can be a little high to Canada if offered at all.
This one wasn't too bad at $41 shipped in US.

Just glad I got one, and thanks for mentioning it.

[aferguson]

that's exactly what i ended up paying for the one i got from ebay.

The Flames of War planes are plastic models, i found out. They are ok models, but with solid canopies. They come with decals and seem to be very simple kits to put together, with minimal parts and appear to be reasonably accurate. There's a Hs 129 i'm interested in. It comes with the big 75mm cannon. F Toys made one but in 7 months of searching i have yet to find one (it was the Special). The basic green ones are gong for over $50 now so i can only imagine what the Special with 75mm gun would go for, if it ever came on. So, this seems like a reasonable alternative.

[Epap]

I stopped buying 1:144th scale planes smaller than medium bombers a while ago, but some of my more interesting 1:144s came from a Japanese brand called Bandai---the Ta-152, Yak-3, MC-202, etc. In my sweeps of eBay, I'm still running across Bandai listings for FW-190Ds, Ta-152s, and the like at variable and sometimes amazingly high prices ( like $250 for a Babs observation bird ). Still, the Bandai brand may be worth checking out by those who don't mind the size of 1:144th scale fighter models and are not finding what they want from F-Toys, Doyusha, etc. Just thought I'd mention it.

[aferguson]

Thanks Epap. I've known about Bandai for a while and you're right, the more desirable subjects can go for a lot of money. I've got a couple and find the quality to be quite good, but i hear the quality of the early offerings was sub par: unpainted canopies, poor fit, inaccurate outlines but then they turned it around and made some great stuff. I have the Mosquito and Myrt so far.

[Dauntless]

Just got a Deagostini SM-79 the other day from a seller across the pond. Liked the scheme on it, as it matches the other Altaya Italian bombers with the same general yellow green paint job, and the fact it has a gunner position on it too. I know it's an older mold but thought I'd get one anyways. It was a good price.
I'll get a Cafereo soon enough, and this way I'll have all three brands.

Also a second CanDo A-10 in grey this time. Both CanDo's were cheaper than an F-Toys and I don't have to put them together. Nicely detailed with opening canopies it looks like ( I haven't opened them yet)

Did get a second Cafereo B-17, and a Sally from the same seller. It's not the mottled green over silver, but rather the grey one, and I don't have a Sally so... He has one left if anyone is interested.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281115613189?ss ... 1439.l2649

Is anyone considering the upcoming 1:144 Dragon SR-71? It looks nice from the pics. Since I'm starting a stealth black plane collection with the Motor Max B-2, thinking about getting one.
http://www.3000toys.com/catalog/item_de ... aqMAuBD1SU

[Dauntless]

Excited to finally get a Corgi 1:144 Short Sunderland. Won one like this yesterday (not my pic) A colorful history and an early war Coastal Command scheme which is what I wanted.

[tmanthegreat]

I went inside one of those once at the RAF Museum in Hendon, England. Its a massive plane. Our bombers - even the B-29 - were cramped compared to the interior of the Sunderland.

[Dauntless]

That's cool you got to go in one Tman.
I got to go into the Spruce Goose when it was Long Beach California before they moved it. A very big amphibian. Wouldn't mind touring the Emily flying boat they have down there in Australia on display. Compared to my other models it's huge too.

There was a snafu/ fubar with my Sunderland, the seller sent me a 1:144 PanAm Constellation and sent my Suderland to another buyer in Florida, which usually wouldn't be a problem, but the Florida buyer lives in Colombia and only comes to the US on vacations.
Had no choice but to file a item different than auction, got a full refund, sent the Connie back. Waiting to hear from the seller who's suppose to be waiting on the other guy who arrives in Florida at the end of this month. What a mess!

Anyways, hopefully he gets my Sunderland back and sends it to me after I pay him again. Though I suspect he is under no obligation to do so after he sent me a refund. The only thing I have to hope for is he's a stand up guy which he seems to be, or I hold a negative feedback over his head, which I don't like doing.

This kinda thing puts a damper on one's enthusiasm, or don't count your Sunderlands till you open the box and have it physically in your hands...Murphy's Law.

[cjg476]

Well time for me to chime in. I finally caved in and bought two hobby master ju-52's the balkan one and the medical one. I'm very excited to join the 1/144 club.

[Dauntless]

Glad you could make it Corey. Hope you enjoy 1:144. Let us know what you think of those HM Ju-52's.


Was watching another Altaya Martin Mariner on ebay.
More ridiculousness, wonder where it'll end up?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251291330159?ss ... 1438.l2649

[aferguson]

yes it can certainly be deflating and irritating when you get sent the wrong item. I've had it happen 3 times since i started with 1/144 last october. When it happens i make sure i get a full refund and only send back the item if the seller pays return shipping cost, which so far they haven't.

One plane i got wasn't even 1/144, it was 1/200. One i just got the wrong plane and the third time was a real mess. I ordered 4 planes, but only received 3 and one of them was the wrong plane. However, such are the trials and tribs of online purchasing.

I have little sympathy for sellers who ship wrong items to people. It's simply carelessness and being disorganized. When i sell stuff if i send the wrong item to someone i just eat the loss, it's my blunder. And i expect the same treatment when it happens to me.

[Dauntless]

Yeah this seller absorbed all the cost, even sent me a return label. He was nice about it. When I sell items, I either print the label right away as I'm packing and weighing, or mark what's in the box before so this kind of thing doesn't happen. I'm sure he'll be doing something similar next time.

I didn't get too bent out of shape, but in haste filed an item not the same on him, which probably was jumping the gun. I told him though that I really wanted that Sunderland. That version is my favorite and very hard to find if not impossible. Hopefully it will work out and I'll eventually get it.

Another fubar event was while checking my bank account the other day I noticed I just got charged from Historic Aviation for the Motor Max B-2 stealth, more than a month after I initially ordered it and got no out of stock notification. Called them up this time to see what was up, and to tell them I already bought another. Turns out they tried to notify me, but I never got the e-mail as they were missing one letter in my e-mail address.
Anyways, they couldn't stop it from being shipped even though they hadn't sent it yet, that I have to do a return to sender to get a refund. Oh well wtf.

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

Does anyone know of some good plastic kits, I think I'm going to start doing 1/144 kits now, there seems to be more to offer with kits, and they're much more inexpensive to have, anyone have any good ones to share?

[cjg476]

Just scored a bv 222 from a French seller for a good price.

Why is that mariner going for so much? You can buy it overseas for cheaper.

[Dauntless]

Good score on the BV-222.

The Mariner was a charity auction for a good cause, so maybe that had something to do with it.

[aferguson]

I received two avioni-x japanese aircraft today. A kate and a Val. I have to say for the money i paid i expected a lot more. The kate is ok. Unspectacular and missing some details but ok.

The VAL SUCKS. Totally the wrong colour. Instead of being the light cream colour of japanese carrier aircraft of the period it's more of a primer grey colour. Not even close to accurate. Plus there are markings on the u/c spats that shoud be present that aren't. Terrible. I got these at a 'bargain' price of about $35 each from Hobby Link Japan. If i'd paid a more normal price of $50 or so i'd be really upset. Complete waste of money in my view.

I won't be buying any more of these i can guarantee that.

Edit: Turns out the grey colour on the Val may be correct afterall. Never seen it before. Although it's controversial at best.

http://www.hyperscale.com/galleries/2001/valcz_1.htm

My model is a plane from another carrier so the markings are different but that's the grey colour the Val comes in.

[cjg476]

Aferg, would you recommend them now then or no? I also was interested in this brand.

[aferguson]

hm.....well with shipping i paid almost $40 each for them and that was only because the Yen has dropped about 25% in the last few months, otherwise they would have been over $50 each. Which for a plane that's about 2 1/2 inches long is a lot. That said the F toys versions go for more and are probably not as good, but i haven't seen them first hand, just pics.

If you can get them for a decent price and you are very keen on the subjects then i guess i would recommend them.

[Epap]

According to those who have studied the wreckage of Vals shot down at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in 1941-42, the color should be a light olive-tinted gray, not the lighter gray one sees on many diecast models, kit-makes and artists' renditions. The Val on the lower left of the picture, below, is supposedly the "correct" gray: