Small Scale Military Headquarters

I am new to this scale and would like to know which company makes the best version of the 1:72 scale aircraft?
Modern:
F-14 Dragon, Witty, Century
F-15 Dragon or Witty
F-16 Dragon or Witty
F-18 Dragon or Witty

WWII:
B-25 Corgi or Forces of Valor
B-26 Corgi or Forces of Valor

Also, what does everyone think of this scale opposed to the larger scale armor, tanks, and aircraft?

Many thanks.

tkjaer21 wrote:I am new to this scale and would like to know which company makes the best version of the 1:72 scale aircraft?
Modern:
F-14 Dragon, Witty, Century
F-15 Dragon or Witty
F-16 Dragon or Witty
F-18 Dragon or Witty

WWII:
B-25 Corgi or Forces of Valor
B-26 Corgi or Forces of Valor

Also, what does everyone think of this scale opposed to the larger scale armor, tanks, and aircraft?

Many thanks.

I primarily collect 1/72 and here are my opinions in bold
Modern:
F-14 Dragon, Witty, Century
F-15 Dragon or Witty
F-16 Dragon or Witty
F-18 Dragon or Witty (not sure)

WWII:
B-25 Corgi or Forces of Valor
B-26 Corgi or Forces of Valor (Only because FOV is the only one making this plane at this time).

You can also join the Modelhangar which is primarily a 1/72 forum.
www.themodelhangar.com/forum/

Hope this helps..

Many thanks for the info hworth18. I'll have to check out the Modelhanger. Where is the best place to buy this scale? Interestingly enough, I live in Norman, OK. Thanks again for the bold opinions.

hworth is definitely our 1/72 resource here, so take his answers as gospel. My small 1/72 collection has been accumulated from many sources, and I think this scale is much more of a "commodity" item than our 1/32 and 1/18 planes.

I like the flying mule, due mainly to their selection and inexpensive or even free shipping, depending on your spend. For the cheap purchases, if you can find them, Tuesday Morning can't be beat.

tkjaer21 wrote:Many thanks for the info hworth18. I'll have to check out the Modelhanger. Where is the best place to buy this scale? Interestingly enough, I live in Norman, OK. Thanks again for the bold opinions.

I wouldn't say that I know it all, but I have been collecting 1/72 since 2000 so I have a pretty good scope on what is going on. As far as the modern stuff goes, there are probably more knowledgeable guys on the Hangar that can answer your questions regarding differences/problems with accuracy on different molds.

I can say though that you can't go wrong with Century Wings as all their stuff is top-notch. I only know of one diecast dealer within driving distance and that is Onmark International. They are located in Jenks and they carry almost anything you could ever want in diecast.
Here is their website URL:
www.onmarkint.com

I too am on the Model Hangar forum. Great forum too. I've been collecting 1/72 CW Tomcats, Dragon Tomcats, Eagles, Falcons, and Super Hornets. For Tomcats I like both Century Wings and Dragon. Not Witty. Terrible Tomcats from Witty.

CW did their homework on F-14's by having the correct beaver tail, engine nozzles, gun vents, and cameras for their Tomcats. Their paint is excellent. Very clean lines and vivid colors. They all look great. My favorite diecast Tomcat.

To me their only flaws are 1. The vertical stabilizers are too upright; they need just a couple degrees more outward to be correct. 2. The leading edge of the vertical tails at the point where the vertical meets the horizontal are too angled. They need just a slight bit more of a smooth and gentle curvature. Really these things I've noticed are so miniscule that it doesn't detract one iota from how well made these CW Tomcats are. Dragon actually has the angle and curvature of the leading edge at the top of the tails correct. Unfortunately Dragon doesn't have the nose probe. On Dragon's "A" models they have a workable wing glove vane. BUT, when they made their "B" and "D" models they neglected to remove them!! I do like Dragon's "B" and "D" engine nozzles better than CW's but CW does the "A" nozzle better.

Another thing I just recently noticed between CW and Dragon Tomcats: Scale effect. 1. Both have crisp clean paint but Dragon's look a little more faded whereas CW's look very rich. Actually Dragon's paint is more realistic for a 1/72 airplane. If you stood 72 feet from the plane the paint will have a slightly more faded appearance than if you stood one foot from the plane. Dust in the air fades your perspective by diffusing the light. The farther from an object, the more dense the dust, the more diffusion.2. CW's Tomcats have deeper and more prominent panel lines as a result of mild weathering. Dragon doesn't highlight their panel lines at all. If you ever look at pics of Tomcats you really won't see prominence in panel lines. You might see dirt accumulation but Tomcat panel lines won't be seperated by two inches or so like CW's scale effect reveals. Dragon's Cats are slightly more realistic by not accenting their lines and having narrower panel lines.

But I really like both alot because they both have good strengths. I prefer CW's more. Though neither is a professionally built kit entered into contests, I don't expect that kind of detail from either, therefore I take delight in whatever catches my eye for beauty and displayability. Is that a word? CW's Tomcats just catch the eye better.

I'm not as well versed on Eagles, Falcons, or Super Hornets but I like my Dragon versions alot. I like that you can display them landing or in flight, whereas Witty's produce their planes with landing gears permanently extended.

BTW tkjaer21,
If you are collecting 1/72 jets, you'll have to get Dragons Oklahoma ANG F-16 Falcon. They are older issues so they are tough to find, but no Okies collection would be complete without it.

IIRC, Aikens airplanes still carries a few of these.

There are also the three 1:72 FOV F-14s as well, if you can find them. The first one (VF-84 Jolly Rogers) is not really all that great, but the two recent versions are on par with the Dragon offerings. It comes with a variety of weapons assortments, the landing gear, plus figures in a detailed cockpit

tmanthegreat wrote:There are also the three 1:72 FOV F-14s as well, if you can find them. The first one (VF-84 Jolly Rogers) is not really all that great, but the two recent versions are on par with the Dragon offerings. It comes with a variety of weapons assortments, the landing gear, plus figures in a detailed cockpit

I am not real sure, but word on the street is that Century Wings made the Tomcat for FOV, so they are almost identical.

They do look awfully similar from the pictures I've seen... and my FOV F-14 was about $20 cheaper

I have to second olifant on the deals at Tuesday Morning. You can occasionally get some great deals if there's one near you. I picked up a Corgi P-47 from the History Channel collection for $9.99 last week. They also had Corgi Hurricanes, P40's and Mustangs for $7.99. Check the store locator at their website (www.tuesdaymorning.com) to see if there are any near you. The Corgi stuff sells quick though so you have to check often. It wouldn't hurt to sign up for their newsletter.

edit - I noticed in a post above that you said you live in Norman, OK. I checked and they have a store here:

Sooner West Plaza
3717 W Main Street
Norman, OK 73072-4639
405-321-2123

There's also one listed in Oklahoma City.

Thanks to Everyone for all of the advise and help. I went a large spending spree over the weekend. I hope to get a majority of the WWII - Modern Navy Planes if I can find a great price on them. I am still going to try to get an A-6, A-7, A-8 from Century Wings and a FOV F-14. I now have the following being sent to me below;

-Corgi 1/72 B-17 'Zoot Suit'
-Corgi 1/72 B-24 'Dragon & His Tail'
-Corgi 1/72 B-25 'Black 310'
-FOV 1/72 B-26 'Itsy Bitsy'

-Century Wings 1/72 F-14A Tomcat, US Navy VF-154 Black Knights, NF100

-Dragon Warbirds 1/72 F-15C Eagle 18th Wing Kadena AB w/display and figs (50150)
-Dragon Warbirds 1/72 F/A-18F Super Hornet, "Bounty Hunters" on Carrier Deck
-Dragon Warbirds 1/72 F-14B VF-11 w/Crewmen and Flight Deck
-Dragon Wings 1/72 F-16C USAF - Oklahoma ANG

-Dragon Wings P-47D Thunderbolt Razorback "Okie", 84th FS, 78th FG

tkjaer21 wrote:Thanks to Everyone for all of the advise and help. I went a large spending spree over the weekend. I hope to get a majority of the WWII - Modern Navy Planes if I can find a great price on them. I am still going to try to get an A-6, A-7, A-8 from Century Wings and a FOV F-14. I now have the following being sent to me below;

-Corgi 1/72 B-17 'Zoot Suit'
-Corgi 1/72 B-24 'Dragon & His Tail'
-Corgi 1/72 B-25 'Black 310'
-FOV 1/72 B-26 'Itsy Bitsy'

-Century Wings 1/72 F-14A Tomcat, US Navy VF-154 Black Knights, NF100

-Dragon Warbirds 1/72 F-15C Eagle 18th Wing Kadena AB w/display and figs (50150)
-Dragon Warbirds 1/72 F/A-18F Super Hornet, "Bounty Hunters" on Carrier Deck
-Dragon Warbirds 1/72 F-14B VF-11 w/Crewmen and Flight Deck
-Dragon Wings 1/72 F-16C USAF - Oklahoma ANG

-Dragon Wings P-47D Thunderbolt Razorback "Okie", 84th FS, 78th FG

Congrats on the "spending spree" as you are definitely on your way and got a lot of good models to start with.