Small Scale Military Headquarters

we recently took on the Oxford military aircraft line and just received the planes. I was impressed with the details and paint. these are retailing for around 19.99 which is very affordable in today’s market. I also like the that they include a display stand that identifies the plane and pilot.
I was wondering what the forum thought of this line especially our UK brothers who have had access to these die cast pieces

No pilot,no buy.

thats funny
i dont like the pilots i never use then in my models

I like pilots and they are a selling point for me. Corgi, Hobby Master, and FOV aircraft always recieved bonus points in my book for including pilots. Hobby Master especially because they were removable

I have a number of the Atlas models, which use the same toolings. These seem to be slightly altered knock offs of Corgi, HM and IXO products, though a few newbies---the Arado-196 and TA-152, for example----are included. They tend to be fairly crude, with low quality add-on parts, fixed props and, in some cases, odd paint jobs. The LA-7 and Tony were decent models, though the latter sported the wrong insignias in terms of size and color and the other markings featured show through when the base paint was a dark green. The Arado-196 is quite good, though they forgot to include the fairings for the wing guns. On the other hand, the "MC-202"---actually a MC-205--- is one of the worst models I have seen. It features veritable trenches on portions of the wings posing as panel lines, broomsticks sticking out of the wings representing canons and, worst of all, they forgot to indicate the main landing gear in the "wheels up" mode. As if that wasn't enough, the "desert" camouflage is has a cream base, not sand yellow or light hazel, as it should be, and ---to save time---they used the undersurface light gray for what should be a white fuselage band, spinner and the cross on the vertical stabilizer. This particular "gem" isn't on the initial Oxford menu but I assume that it is coming. Even a new paint scheme won't make it a good buy, however.

Overall, I'd recommend great care with the Oxford line and careful examination of whatever pictures are available as well as reviews of the Atlas models, which have appeared on various forums. The new Tony, even though it comes without a pilot, has a pretty nice looking new scheme and I have it on order. I can also can recommend the DO-335, Arado-196, Mosquito, LA-7 and some others. But this line is really designed for the price conscious, not too demanding segment of the collector market, not those who expect Corgi or HM quality.

Greetings

I had gotten the Oxford Battle of Britain three plane set awhile back before selling it to a board member. I sold it mainly because I don't collect 1/72. The three planes included were a Spitfire, Hurricane and a Gladiator. I would have liked to seen a Defiant in the set instead of the Gladiator but was pretty impressed with the set and I liked the box artwork for the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. I thought the planes were decent, the paint nice and the display stands a nice touch as well. I've seen far more crude aircraft out there than these little guys.

Corey

Yeah for the price I think they're just fine. I don't care about pilots either, I'm not gonna pass up a nice looking plane just because it doesn't have a little slag of plastic that looks like the toxic avenger anyways.

I've heard they have fixed props?

I refuse to consider them because of this, serious turn off for me, more then not having pilots.

ive been taking a closer look and did some comparing with skymax,HM and Dragon. I think the paint looks really good on most all of the pieces. I understand the issue with the propellers and pilots. for me those 2 things aren’t a big deal. they have been selling very well already. so I guess time will tell

I understand that some of the more interesting Oxford birds---the Arado-196 , TA-152 and DO-335 are scheduled for the next batch. This should perk sales as these are, indeed "unusual"---especially the first two.

Arado-196 is a winner!

Here's a picture of my reworked Arado 196. It's been stained and weathered and the missing wing gun fairings were added:

very nice

Epap wrote:Here's a picture of my reworked Arado 196. It's been stained and weathered and the missing wing gun fairings were added:

That Arado looks great Ed.

A good gap filler.

I like having pilots but these planes don't have landing gear which is a non-starter for me.
That's why they don't cost much
Nice Arado, always liked the float planes
What scale is it?

The Arado ,like all of the current series of Atlas/Oxford models, is in 1:72nd scale.

My local Hobbytown got in the fully selection of the Oxford Diecast planes within the past few days. They do look nice and the price is good as well. They have a varied aircraft selection to boot. If anything, they are like diecast versions of the MRC models. Nothing, however, was really a turn-on for me as I have diecast examples of most of the same planes in 1:72 already that I would consider better quality. I'll probably just stick with Hobby Master & Corgi for the time being, though some of the more interesting birds in Oxfords second wave seem rather interesting.