Franklin Mint 1:48 F-14 Tomcat question...?

RAD 2112 · Post by **RAD 2112** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:57 am

Does anyone have a 1:48 Franklin Mint (Armour) F-14 Tomcat?
If so, I was wondering what your thoughts were on the overall quality (pros & cons).

Thanks,
RAD

RAD 2112 · Post by **RAD 2112** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:15 pm

I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted after making my rounds for Mother's Day.

Before I left for the day, I placed a bid on a 1/48 Testors Diecast F-14 Tomcat NIB just for sh*ts & giggles.
The seller mentioned it was very similar the the Armour F-14.
Anyway, I ended up being the only bidder @ $25.
Does anyone know anything about this kit?

snake · Post by **snake** » Sun May 10, 2009 11:00 pm

In regards to the Franklin Mint 1:48 F-14.This was one of the first diecast planes that I bought,about 4 years ago.
Not a bad model,and I was impressed with the size,as I had not yet got into 1:18.
The only issues I have with it are that the wings are not variable,but I was not expecting them to be.
Also the tail decals are quite glossy.A flat coat would take care of this.
I also have the FM 1:48 F-15,and CF-18,which in my opinion are better models overall.

JoeS · Post by **JoeS** » Mon May 18, 2009 3:50 pm

The Testors kit is a re-issue of the kit produced by Armour back in 2003 when the company dabbled briefly into kits aside from their finished pieces. I've got the Jolly Rogers one too and their F-117 kit.

I've had Franklin/Armour F-14's they're good to an extent- if you can get a Sundowner that's the best finished one- looks tampo printed. Overall one of their better pieces along with their F-15's. As mentioned the wings are fixed, no variable geometry which is a bit of a let down. The Armour version are collector pieces, I managed to sell them for a reasonable profit, didn't expect they'd sell so was surprised.

JoeS.

glcanon · Post by **glcanon** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 10:49 pm

I still find the 1/72 Century Wings F-14s to be the best. Plus the wings swing as they're supposed to. But I'm partial to 1/72 scale. Even so, I have 6 of these Century Wings Tomcats in various liveries.

AMERICAN_GRENADIER · Post by **AMERICAN_GRENADIER** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 4:21 am

i started with FM but after buying others like Century wings i sold them. they are ok but the price is high. side by side others look better