Are BadCat Exclusive planes more valueble?

[Moth]

Are BadCat Exclusive planes more valueble?

I am ripping my hair out, thinking which Zero to buy, the White or the Green.

I like the Green one more, but the White one is more historicaly accurate, and is a Badcat exclusive.

What do you guys think, and which one did you buy?

[digger]

Are BadCat Exclusive planes more valueble?

There hasn't been one more valuable yet...maybe WAY down the road this one will be...but that shouldn't dictate your purchase imo: these are relatively cheap thrills...go with your fancy.

And who says that BCA scheme is more accurate? It might be but I don't remember any particular reason why..

[Moth]

The BBI Zero is a model of a A6M2 Model 21 Zero, Which was only painted the white scheme, The green paint was for the A6M5 Model 52 Zero.
The difference between them is, the A6M5 Zero had shorter wings, and a different engine, in which 3 exhaust pipes on each side stick out the cowl flaps.

[digger]

That's good to know..
I thought the PH zero should have had folding wingtips...if so then you can think of the accuracy as a wash..
Except we might have decided the Zero wings were a bit too long, so a version with shorter wings would be even further off in that regard. This I am not sure about though.

[scbvideoboy]

I have both, the PH scheme is , according to the info, an actual zero shot down at Pearl Harbor, there were some BW pictures of the wreckage.

DH

[Teamski]

eh, there were green Model 21's during the war, and I believe this scheme is the same as used by Corgi as a Model 21 as well. So, I wouldn't write off the green one. Too bad I can't find a profile for it.

I don't think that there will be any big difference in values. I assume that there are about 2500 of each scheme made, no matter who it is for. Walmart gets 2-4 schemes and mixes them up, while somebody like BCT buys one scheme and thats it. Just buy the one that appeals to you best. I really like the Atlantic Avenger scheme, so I am going with that and not the Bunker Hill one which is exclusive. Give them all a couple years and they will be worth something!

I'm done playing the exclusives game, personally.

-Ski

[me122172]

On the 3rd of July 1943 Japan decided that all aircraft in their Navy would be painted in Green over grey. The Model 21 stop production before this mandate and therefore were primarily the Gloss Olive-Green/Grey over grey.

However, many of the land based Model 21s were field painted the Green over their original Olive-Green/Grey. This proved uneffective as the paint readily pealed off because of the lack of proper paint preparation.

This being said, there were Green over Grey Model 21s, the 21 was used throughout the war, especially when numbers of current models such as the A6M3 and 5 were lost. The aged Model 21s were mostly used as the first Kamikazi aircraft, as they were painted the green over grey in the field to satisfy the new mandate of the Japanese Navy.

There was also a night version of the 21 which has little known about it.

As for the historical accuracy of BBI's A6M2 type 21:

The number on the gear was always painted black.

Only the number on the Cowling was painted white.

The mechanical stripes on the landing gear designate that it was a Mitsubishi made 21, because there is a red, yellow and blue stripe.

Nakajima 21s had only red and blue painted twice the width of the Mitsubishi 21s.

But the No Walk red broken stripes on the wings left the outside of the box open on Mitsubishi 21s. It is believed that only the Nakajima 21 painted the box.

If this is an early Nakajima 21 then the Hinomaru (Red Dot) would be correct, but the later Nakajima 21s has a white line around the Hinomaru on the fuselage. But I believe BBI's 21 is supposed to be a Mitsubishi 21 they had no white outline.

Is the back of the prop painted black on BBI's Zero? I do not own one, but, it should be painted black.

Therefore, in my opinion from the pictures I have seen of BBI's Zero, I would say that a little more research should have gone into the paint. Though it is a very impressive model.

[Teamski]

If you are referring to the Pearl Harbor one, then no, it's not painted black.

Thanks for the info, me122172. I didn't know that about the markings.

-Ski

[JimBob55]

I've found the same info as Ski and Me122172 about the green paint on the A6M2. (great details about the Nakijima/Mitsubishi differences!) I have photos in one of my Squadron books that show A6M2/m21's in green paint (mixed with some later models) in November 1943 at Bouginville, and later in training and home defense use in the home islands in 1945. They are referenced in the captions, but also very easy to pick out in the photos with the chin scoop.

The grey Zero by BBI is mostly correct (except for the small details mentioned earlier), based on the photos of the crashed PH zero, along with shipboard photos of other Agaki Zeros.

The green scheme in the later BBI Zero is correct, but I don't know how authentic the markings are or what the unit is (I've asked BBI). It is referenced as a Phillipine-based unit.

As a collector/enthusiast, I'm interested in matching opposing forces. Since I collect mainly USN aircraft, that really means the Zero as an opposing A/C for me. The BBI Zero green paint scheme in general would have been up against the Boyington, Kepford and the Hedrick Corsairs. (Also Pacific Theater P-38, P-47, and P-51s, if available) Specific Zero markings would have varied as to location, of course.

So far, the only 1:18 US A/C available that would have opposed the light grey paint scheme A6M2 is the P-40B "Langley Field" (close to the Hawaii-based P-40s at that time)

Now, if one of the manufacturers would come up with a Dauntless or Wildcat to counter the grey Zero, then we'd be talking! . Even an early repaint of the TBM would work.

JimBob

[aferguson]

As far as exclusives go: in many cases exclusives can become quite valuable down the road, Dragon 1/72 tanks being a good example.

However, with 1/18, experience has shown that many of the exclusives are only exclusive for a certain period of time (many exclusives have popped up at a different retailer a year or two later, sometimes in a different box) or to a certain market. The BCT PH Zero is only excusive to Badcat in North America. They are available in other parts of the world through a variety of retailers. Also, as Ski said, these exclusives are usually made in pretty large numbers which will limit their growth in value down the road.

Also, often it is the general type of paint scheme that makes an exclusive desirable; the PH Zero is the only one of that Pearly Harbor/early war light grey scheme available, the Bunker Hill Avenger is the only Pacific scheme Avenger currently being offered etc. But if another, similar scheme comes out (very likely) then the desirability of the exclusive scheme diminishes and hence the value.

All that said, i am sure there will be some exclusives which do grow in value better than the general release schemes. There will also be some that don't. So, like is so often said, buy what you like and if you want to make speculative investments look into pork bellies or gold futures.

ps. I used to hate it in the early days of XD when some of the models became super valuable (the S1 Mustang and Corsair used to sell in the several hundred dollar range). I hated it because i like to open my stuff but i knew if i did i was literally throwing hundreds of dollars away....

Sort of took the fun out of it for a while and since i had no intention of ever selling them i was kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. When prices came way back down i was much happier.

[digger]

The green scheme in the later BBI Zero is correct, but I don't know how authentic the markings are or what the unit is (I've asked BBI). It is referenced as a Phillipine-based unit.

JimBob

"A6M2 Zero Fighter in the livery of the 261st Flying Group, Imperial Japanese Navy as they appeared on Mariana and Saipan in 1944."

Perfect match for your BH Corsair.

[Moth]

Okay, Thanks for everything guys, Im going with the green one

[JohnLumley]

I believe the best example of a Bad Cat exclusive jumping in value was the F-18 Blue Angel exclusive.

The BadCat price was $80.00
Last time I saw one on EBay it sold for around $200.00

[JimBob55]

Digger:
Thanks for the info! It'll also be a good match for the BH Avenger! Too cool!

JimBob

[JohnLumley]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultimate-Soldier-1- ... dZViewItem