review---"Black Knights" F-14

[snake]

Hi Dragon53

Apologize for your bad experience on the VF-154.
Tony has received your email send out at 10:00a.m. today.
An reply was made to you at 1:30p.m. Please check your email and we will see what we need to do next.

Quick answers to your 4 questions:
1.If the doors of the landing wheel well function properly, the piece is a scrap piece not related to your
VF-154.
2. If the suspension / spring function properly on the landing gears, the spring is also a scrap piece not
related to your VF-154
3. The right rudder should fit properly unless we put 2 left rudders in error in with your set.
4. Bomb pallets should also fit properly; just have to make sure positive contact of the tab in the middle
with the fuselage.

We did over look the needs to include of an instruction sheet for the lighting system. We will post on
Merit web site.

Pls send Tony a reply

Best Regards

Jim

Thanks for the response Jim.

I think people are more mad at JSI than at you, and Merit.

Dragon's review of his "Black Knight's" just opened up some old wounds, and feelings from the first release. If the rest of the Black Knights are fine, I think collectors will be relieved, and be more positive. If there are significant problems with the other Black Knights, be prepared for a major backlash.

As a distributor, I am sure JSI has given you some headaches that you would prefer not to have to deal with.

[bobb428]

I just got my 2nd BK from the hobbie store and I am quit happy with it. I bought my first one wich was one of the 88 from the convention and everything on the new one is more detailed. Nothing broke, good weathering. I am happy!

[snake]

Good to hear one customer is happy with their Black Knights.

Hopefully Dragons was just a bad "Friday afternoon special" from the factory. Other reviews will give us a better picture of how it really is.

[toyktdlgh]

I hope this is the right place for this review. I didn’t see another review thread so I placed it here.

I just got my Aikens Airplanes F-14 today. I have to say I was a bit scared to open it especially since the outside box looked as if it had been in contact with a few things on its way here from China. Anyway I opened her up and was just stunned by the look of this plane. There is no comparison between it and the S1 that I previously had. I am so glad I sold that one and held out for this one. The color is great and the overall detail is superb. The weathering is just right. I’m very glad they kept it minimal.

I had no major issues putting my plane together at all. I had some minor problems with the right vertical stabilizer going in properly. It seems the front pegs were just a bit too big. I trimmed them down slightly with an Exacto knife and it went in flush. I also had some problems with the small missiles and their holes lining up with the ones on the pylon mounts. Again I just trimmed the holes out a bit with the knife. It all fits nice and tight and looks good. I cannot vouch for the landing gear as I keep mine hung so I didn’t mess with pulling them out. I will say that the doors still tend to drop open and aren’t easily kept closed. Other than that I had no issues with it.

I am very pleased with this plane. From what I have here I can easily say JSI got it right this time. I'm glad Merit decided to import this bad boy. After the S1 version I had my doubts.

[dragon53]

TOYKTDLGH:

I'm glad yours arrived OK. I see your right rudder had a tight squeeze like mine---I thought about trimming the pegs on it like you did, but since it had all the other problems I mentioned earlier, I didn't want to tamper with it since mine is headed back to Merit.
It looks like you didn't have problems with your right bomb pallet, but mine has problems similar to the right rudder with a poor fit---and again I didn't want to tamper with by trimming something off.
I agree---paint-wise, it's a big improvement over the Jolly Rogers F-14

Bottom line: My Jolly Rogers F-14 had a poor paint job with good-fitting parts. My Black Knights F-14 has a good paint job with poor-fitting parts and a broken landing gear piece.

Fortunately, Merit is working with me concerning the problems, and it looks like everything is going to turn out OK.

[dragon53]

Update on my Black Knights F-14......

All the problems have been resolved on my F-14 with the help from Merit International.
To replace the broken landing gear door part and the missing landing strut pin, I was sent a replacement fuselage. To replace the ill-fitting right rudder and pallets, I was sent a replacement rudder and pallets. I also received an instruction sheet on how the F-14's lighting works.

Thanks very much to Merit for their assistance in resolving the problems and for standing behind their product.

[gburch]

Update on my Black Knights F-14......

All the problems have been resolved on my F-14 with the help from Merit International.
To replace the broken landing gear door part and the missing landing strut pin, I was sent a replacement fuselage. To replace the ill-fitting right rudder and pallets, I was sent a replacement rudder and pallets. I also received an instruction sheet on how the F-14's lighting works.

Thanks very much to Merit for their assistance in resolving the problems and for standing behind their product.

Wow -- great to hear about this after all the grousing about customer service with the spotcat. I'm sure I'd get one if I wasn't spending all my discretionary budget on something else ...

[astronut1885]

GIANT TOMCATS FTW! That thing looks awesome hanging like that.

[parrish333]

Yeah, I've gotta say my Black Knights Tomcat came to me in very good condition. The right rear stab didn't fully seat, but a little shaving down mostly took care of that.

It is definitely all static model and not a toy - so it has some fragile parts that you have to take care not to break (I've already inadvertently made it suffer some battle damage in my haste to enjoy it!).

Having been part of this 1:18 craze since 2000, I would say the JSI Black Knights F-14 is the current pinnacle. Nothing else tops it. It's massive, tons of working features, great paint, great accessories. Included pilots would have made it A+ instead of A.

I admit a bit of bias since the F-14 is my all time favorite aircraft, but it really is one fantastic piece. Remembering the P-38 for $50 at TRU makes the $300 price tag hard, but to me it's just a mental shift - buy one great item for $300 a year instead of 5 or 6. It's not that I can't afford a $300 plane, I just can't afford 5 or 6 planes a year like in the past. My collection was getting too big anyhow, so the higher prices actually help limit space problems. And I actually do like that companies like JSI seem to be very focused on the adult collector, whereas 21C always had to try to walk the fine line of making it still appeal to kids as a "toy". So I think in the end we'll get more products like the BK F-14 that have the collector squarely in focus.

[tmanthegreat]

Glad to see more of you coming around on the JSI F-14 being the pinnacle of 1:18 toys. Sort of what some of us have been saying all along

I had my spot-cat arrive back in 2009 with very few QC issues other than the spots. I fixed those with a repaint and it has turned out to be a really great plane. I've not needed another. Yes, I shouldn't have had to have done the repaint, but once one takes in the rest of the workmanship on the plane... wow

[Black_Dragon_One]

got mine today from avator nut great plane and guy..

[Black_Dragon_One]

goy my punish-er and bukeye from mu line sitting in sweet.. now to but new landing gear

[Black_Dragon_One]

i mean winter soldier