Small Scale Military Headquarters

Well, I've been doing my research, and I think it's time for me to switch scales, mainly for space issues. I've got a couple of questions for the 1/32 XD collectors out there:

1) Are all the planes mostly the same in terms of flaps and other movable surfaces as their bigger counterparts? For example, does the P-47 have all the same rudder, flaps, and aileron movement as the big Thunderbolts, while the P-40 only has extendable flaps?

2) Are the pilots removable? I know they're not articulated, but can they be removed if you want an empty seat?

3) Are the Me-262 bomb racks removable? I'm not just talking about dropping bombs, but removing the whole bomb carriage thing...

4) Sturdiness - are these things pretty much able to stand up to fiddling with the landing gear, or opening up the cockpits back and forth, and the occasional accident?

5) Do these things come with antennas and radio masts or not? Some models appear to have them, while the boxed photos have them absent. Are they hiding in the back of the package somewhere?

6) Is there a current master checklist available from someone? With pictures? The one sticky checklist on this forum mentions an Adolf Galland 1/32 ME-109 - was this a limited edition or something? I haven't seen a pic yet.


Thanks for your help, as I've been collecting 1/18 since the beginning, but I just am not able to account for the huge planes anymore. I'll be keeping most of my big planes still, but new additions just seem like a bad idea at this time, as tempting as they are...

Michael

Here's some helpful information for the burgeoning 32x collector

The 32x aircraft, for the most part, do not have the movable control surfaces that the larger 1:18 planes do. The exceptions are the ME-109E and the P-40, both of which have movable flaps.

The pilots are all removable; the newest Zero & Macchi (Japanese & Italian) pilots have movable heads and arms. The cockpits of most 32x planes are very well detailed, save for the P-51, and tend to mirror the larger versions. The cockpits on the new Zeros and Macchis are as good as a 1:18 cockpit with painted instruments, along with gunsights, control sticks, throttles, etc.

The ME-262, which is an earlier 32x aircraft, does not really have "bomb racks" in an accurate sense. There are two elongated pegs that fit into the bombs, sort of like the "hard points" on old GI Joe planes. The bombs are removable, but the pegs are not. You sort of have to keep the bombs on the ME-262 to keep it from looking funny...

The planes are pretty sturdy, but with especially the new releases, they are more like models. They do tend not to have the loose wings that can occur on the larger planes, but like the larger 1:18 models, will not do as well with a drop from a high place onto a hard surface. The landing gear and cockpits are more fragile than their larger cousins and could potentially break if too much force is used. I wouldn't give one of these planes to a 5-year-old

All of the planes have the antennas and pitot tubes. Some, as in the case of the 32x FW-190D9 have the droop antenna and pitot tube that were not included on the 1:18 model. The new Zeros and Macchis do come with the antennas, but they are not attached and come on a plastic tree for the "builder" to attach. Again, these are very much sturdy, prepainted plastic models

I don't have a master list of all the repaints that have been made, though another board member should be able to provide one. (There was, however, a Galland ME-109 that went to some Wal Marts - I didn't personally see one though.) All in all, there are currently 10 aircraft types in the 32x line with two more on the way, making this one of the more diverse selections in 1:32 scale prebuild aircraft! Here they are:

P-51D
ME-262
ME-109E
P-40B
P-47 Bubbletop
FW-190D9
Macchi 202
Macchi 205
A6M2 Zero
A6M3 Zero

And soon to be, F4U Corsair and JU-87B Stuka.

Hope all this helps

I think tman pretty much summed it up..

i believe there is an Extreme Wings checklist sticked at the top of this forum.

Hey nooker 21,
I had the same issue you are experiencing now and made the switch to 1/32 and couldn't be happier. I have space plus I can get different schemes of the same aircraft. Also besides 21st's 32x line there is also FOV which has a mustang, me-109G and a spitfire. Then there is Corgi which is a little expensive, but decent prices can be found on ebay. The plus side to the FOV and Corgi is they are predominantly diecast, have moving control surfaces and the Corgi ME-109G has correct German markings. Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the thorough responses. It's too bad about the ME-262. It's meant to be a fighter!

I've got three follow up questions: Are the zero and macchi still around at Wal marts (I hate going there to search unless I absolutely have to)? Did they tweak the P-51 so it has better landing gear and details like its bigger cousin? AND does 21C actually make minor changes when they change model numbers (ie an A6M2 vs an A6M3 and those macchi 202 and 205s)? Wishful thinking, I suppose...

Michael

PS That checklist is helpful, but has some broken links and seems a bit dated.

The Zeros and Macchis should still be avaliable at many Wal Marts. They have by now made it across the country (based on area spotting reports) and at least in my area, there are still a number to be had. Many small retailers have also recieved the full shipment of all the Macchis and Zeros as well, so if you don't find them at WM, they are still easily avaliable.

The 32x P-51s have not been tweaked from the first "Blue Nose" release to the latest "Ridge Runner" The moulds are basically a scaled down version of the inaccurate S1 1:18 P-51, though there are some cool paintschemes!

21c has made some minor changes between the Macchi 202s and 202s and the A6M2 & A6M3 Zeros. The Macchi 205s have the wing cannon added and the extra intakes under the engine. The A6M3s have the modified engine cowling. In actuality, there are other differences between the types, but these are not included in the 21c examples. Still, they got the general idea. Here's some pictures from the 21c website:

Macchi 202


Macchi 205


A6M2 Zero


A6M3 Zero