Small Scale Military Headquarters

With the shortage of new 1/18 scale aircraft (my first love), I have found an area, new for me at least, to direct my attention. Just as Franklin Mint is exiting the 1/48 scale aircraft market, I have started collecting some of the bomber and transport models, mostly off of ebay. There are some great deals to be had with a little patience, as prices are rising dramtically on certain planes.
Normally I don't care for 1/48 scale, just too small for me, especially WWII fighters. But the bombers and transports are another story - They are big enough (try 8-10 lbs on average), and the paint is amazing as well as the detail. And, recently, I have been paying more attention to modern jets, which in 1/48 scale are actually quite large compared to the 1/48 WWII fighters. Good deals to be had on ebay here as well.
1/18 scale will probably always be my favorite scale, but for a while, at least, I will selectively add 1/48 scale Franklin Mint bombers and transports to my collection and pick up 1/18 planes as new ones are produced.

The FM 1/48 bombers and transports are pretty big [very big for the average collector], and weigh a lot, with a lot of metal content. They are a niche market, but their fans are pretty loyal to them, as there is simply nothing that is even similar to these "beasts".

And while the 1/48 WWII prop fighters are relatively small, the modern jets are much bigger, and have some good heft to them as well.

Some good deals to be had on Ebay if you are patient, but some of the more desirable ones are fetching top dollar. And these will not be produced anymore, and perhaps never again with this sort of weight.

While I love 1:48 scale for particularly WWII bombers, I never really could get myself into 1:48 Franklin Mint aircraft. As you note, snake, they are a niche market. Back during their hey day, it was never an issue of supply, but moreso the cost. There were two stores in my town that had a great selection of FM and nevermind the online retailers.

The planes were neat as heck, but I wanted something that at least gave me the functionality and detail for the pricepoint that I got from some of the other military items I collected in both larger and smaller scales. Had FM bombers had retractable gear, figures in the cockpit or more moving parts, I'd have been sold "hook line and sinker" so to speak. FM items also happened to be out at the same time as the high-point of the 21c XD and 32x items, BBI, FOV, etc - all of which were more affordable and not quite so "static. Thus, you can see where I went

Increasingly, however, I'm getting pulled ever so slowly into diecast 1:48...