Small Scale Military Headquarters

Do any of you lucky sods whose Target is carrying all the new FOV goodies know if the 1:72 B-26 Marauder and B-25 Mitchell are/will be sold there and if so, how much they cost?

I'm drooling over the pics at Badcat and other online retailers but I'd rather save some cash if I will eventually see them at Target.

So far I haven't seen the planes you speak of but we have gotten most of the other 1/72 scale goodies.
Todd

DocTodd wrote:So far I haven't seen the planes you speak of but we have gotten most of the other 1/72 scale goodies.
Todd

Hmm., well I'll be happy to see any of the new stuff but I'd be super happy if they sold the bombers since they would surely be much cheaper than online.

Yea I hope they show up some time soon soon around my AO. My Target dont seem to get new stuff that much. But if not I will just get them from my local Miniature dealer.

My Dad was a side gunner on a B-24. Anyone make those?

I thought I read somewhere (apparently not here!) that hobby shops and e-tailers were first on the list to receive the FOV bombers towards the end of this month, followed by mass merchants the beginning to middle of Sept?

holensock wrote:My Dad was a side gunner on a B-24. Anyone make those?

Franklin Mint makes the B-24 in 1/48th scale, and Corgi makes them in 1/72 scale..

WGP Klaus wrote:I thought I read somewhere (apparently not here!) that hobby shops and e-tailers were first on the list to receive the FOV bombers towards the end of this month, followed by mass merchants the beginning to middle of Sept?

Hmm. Well they are in stock at Bad Cats. I will have to see if I can dig up some info.

I recieved both the FOV B-25 and B-26 on Friday. I've been out of town for the weekend and haven't even taken them out of the box yet, but will post a review soon. They do, however, look great! Nearly as good as Corgi's offerings

tmanthegreat wrote:I recieved both the FOV B-25 and B-26 on Friday. I've been out of town for the weekend and haven't even taken them out of the box yet, but will post a review soon. They do, however, look great! Nearly as good as Corgi's offerings

thats odd, I receive Robs newsletter and for the life of me I don't recall seeing that they were actually in stock need to be sure I actually spend time browsing them, and I didn't order from BCA, perhaps I'll have to!

tmanthegreat wrote:I recieved both the FOV B-25 and B-26 on Friday. I've been out of town for the weekend and haven't even taken them out of the box yet, but will post a review soon. They do, however, look great! Nearly as good as Corgi's offerings

Must have now!!!

OK, here's a quick review. I don't have time to post pictures, but BadCat has some pretty good shots of the actual aircraft models on their website.

B-26

Very nicely done! The plane comes packaged in a window box in a plastic tray, similar to the packaging for the FOV F-14 and 1:32 artillery pieces. This is great as the plane is not screwed to a base and has no screw holes on the bottom.

The paintscheme on mine is excellent and there is subtle weathering. The markings (on mine) are neat and crisp with no paint errors or misalignments. The panel lines are nicely etched and there is no over-riveting. Some of the glass (such as on the tailgun) looks a little toyish, but is accurate to the real thing.

The B-26 comes with optional positioned landing gear and bomb bay doors, meaning there are seperate pieces to display the doors open or closed and the landing gear up or down. The wheels roll. The wheel wells are highly detailed as is the bombay. The bombay has four 1000 lb bombs and the catwalk visible inside.

The cockpit features painted pilot & co-pilot figures that are seated and holding the control yolks. The nose section features the nose gun, but there is not an interior space behind the window. The turret has the gun detailing and rotates. It does sit a little low, however. The waist guns are detailed and can be seen polking out the open windows. There are no figures in the nose section, turret or tail gun, which would have been a nice touch.

The aircraft can be displayed on its stand or on the deck. It consists of a significant amount of metal, with the wings and fuselage being metal while the horizontal stabilizers and engine nacelles are plastic.

B-25J

This is also quite nicely done and is very similar in many respects to the Corgi B-25J. The paint apps on my plane are well done and accurately represent a plane from the 498th Bomber Squadron of the 345th Bomber group. There is the subtle weathering as well.

The landing gear can be displayed up or down and include the pieces to do so. The bombay doors open and are not seperate pieces. Two painted 1000lb bombs are in the bay. The turret rotates and has elevating guns, but again, sits a little low compared to the actual plane. The nose is nicely detailed with the 8 guns and even antennas. The cockpit has two painted pilot figures that are seated and holding the controls. My ony gripe with the cockpit on the B-25 is that the instrument hood (dasboard) has been left painted white and looks a little tacky. Further, there are no other figures in the turret or tail gun positions, though the guns are detailed there.


Overall, I think that Unimax has produced two quality 1:72 bombers and given Corgi some serious competition. The B-26 and "solid nosed" B-25 are original releases in 1:72 diecast (at least as far as I know) and look great. They are definitely worth the $40 price

Thanks for the review, but I was already sold! especially on the pricepoint when compared to Corgis blah offerings lately.


BTW, ordered two of each today from my LHS now I'm caught up to current affairs.

Thanks for the great review TMan! They both sound great, and the price is surely right. Next to the Invader (which I hope we'll see) the Marauder and Mitchell are my favorite twins. The Air Apaches's paintjobs were amazing and this particular one is a great choice! I will definitely pick up once of each.

I am glad the stand is substantial. Nothing worse than a heavy die-cast pane wobbling around on a skimpy stand!

Also, were any of the gun barrels bent? Especially on the nose of the B-25. I ask because it seems .50 barrels are always bent on 1:72 stuff since they are so small.

None of the gun barrels were bent on my B-25. The way they were packaged in a form-fitting tray (think Corgi) ensured this. One of the cheek guns on my B-26 did fall off, but that was easily fixed. The landing gear pieces also need to be sanded a little. Once you get them in, its hard to take them out, especially as they are delicate pieces with the doors and all. Still, they're nice planes all around

I snagged both planes on Ebay for $28 each not including shipping which is $14 total if I remember right.

Thanks for the review T. Hope to get mine soon.

TMan, what are the dimensions of these aircraft, length and wingspan?

Since we are on the subject of FOV 1:72 planes, I picked up the 1941 Austria Stuka today. Very nice with the yellow nose, red spinner and yellow and red rudder. Great cammo pattern as well.

Rowsdower wrote:TMan, what are the dimensions of these aircraft, length and wingspan?

Here's some quick measurements:

B-26:
Wingspan -- 11.75"
Fuselage -- 9.25"

B-25:
Wingspan -- 11.25"
Fuselage -- 8.75"

The Flying Mule store also has the planes in as well as some great detail shots:
http://www.flyingmule.com/range/diecast ... -of-valor/

You can also read my more detailed B-25 review here:
http://badcattoys.squarespace.com/journ ... l#comments

tmanthegreat wrote:B-26:
Wingspan -- 11.75"
Fuselage -- 9.25"

B-25:
Wingspan -- 11.25"
Fuselage -- 8.75"

Wow thats a pretty good Size. Now my poor Corgi 1:72 P-38 will lose it's title of biggest plane on the shelf!
I can't wait until these things get here! I will check out your other review as well! Thanks as always TMan.

I got word that my Local Miniature dealer wont be getting these. So I guess I will have to wait until they show up in Hobby Town, or order them from Bad Cats Toys.

Jagdpanther wrote:I got word that my Local Miniature dealer wont be getting these. So I guess I will have to wait until they show up in Hobby Town, or order them from Bad Cats Toys.

Ebay is your friend. Badcat, well.... not so much.

I want a 32x bomber rly bad! That'd be so sweet. Or a 32x glider, that'd be awesome too. Guess I'll just have to settle for 1/72.

Rowsdower wrote:

Jagdpanther wrote:I got word that my Local Miniature dealer wont be getting these. So I guess I will have to wait until they show up in Hobby Town, or order them from Bad Cats Toys.

Ebay is your friend. Badcat, well.... not so much.

Yes I will be looking on Ebay for them also.