Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just the other day I ordered the new Armour/Franklin Mint B-17G "General Ike" and from what I've seen and heard this baby is awsome. Its HUGE in 1/48th scale, very close to the Revell-Monogram plastic model kit in size. It has a 26inch wingspan and measures 16 1/2 inches from nose to tail. The details are nothing short of outstanding and the nose art is dead on accurate.

This is my very first venture into the diecast thing so I'm a newbie but being a loyal fan of the Immortal B-17 I couldnt pass this one up. At my local Hobby Shop I've seen Armour/Franklin Mints 1/48th B-24 Liberator and it was impressive and big! This stuff is killing what used to be a passion of mine: Model bulding. Collecting 1/18th scale WW 2 fighters and now this diecast stuff is killing it off for me. Why build something when its already done for me? AND its done better then what I could do!

What do you guys think?

I agree with the killing off the model building part... Until recently, I was a casual modle builder and built 25 some aircraft from my first one in 1989 to my latest in 2003. I use to average 2-3 per year, but from 2000-2003, only averaged about one. This was partly due to college and increased demands on time, but it was also due to XD, BBI, Corgi, Matchbox and so on, with their model-quality products that began to appear around the same time. It was so much easier to snap a few pieces together, create an excellent looking plane or tank and display that. With a wide selection of my favorite planes being offered in 1:72, 1:48, 1:32, and 1:18 scales, why bother builiding more models?

Further complicating things, where in my room at home it used to be that if it was too big to fit on a shelf it went on the ceiling; that rule no longer applies. My room was remodled and the ceiling redone, and a strict limit placed on what could go there. Naturally, I chose only XD and BBI planes to hang, as opposed to all my old models. I still have a couple of kits to finish, but those are now put off indeffinitely.

I agree with you guys, to some extent. For me, there's no feeling like the feeling you get once you've completed a model. You just don't get that when you buy these things. They do look nice, the diecasts and stuff, but i've honed my skills just to the point where i can make my models look just as nice or better with weathering, etc. It's a fine line though, because you can put all this time and money into building a model, or just put the money in and have essentially the same thing. I don't think i'll ever stop model building, but somethings gotta give, i can't have 4 million planes around my house!!!

brian

I must say. With all the nice pre finished planes out there and considering all the demands on my time with family and work-it sure is easier to have the planes pre finished. Plus they are typically sturdier than the molded plastic models I used to make. I have definitely seen some work by modellers that puts the pre finished planes to shame but overall the Xd, Corgi, Matchbox etc are very good.
Just my 2 cents worth,
Todd

I love model building too, but just don't have the time to do it at this point in my life.