HobbyMaster / SkyMax - Diecast Manufacturer of the Year 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 ...

Thanks and congratulations to HM for continuing to produce excellent models and for LISTENING to your users!  When compared to:

• the schedule ineptitude of Witty / Sky Guardians
• the intransigent arrogance and provincialism of Corgi's UK management team
• the fact that CW seems to spend much of their time in an opium den somewhere

It seems that the mantle of 'best' would not be hard to grasp.  Yet, you've gone on to not just grab the brass ring, but to continue to continuously outdo yourself both in listening to customers and in producing the best diecast aircraft in the world right now.  Congratulations and continued success in the future!

But don't worry, Corgi - I'm sure you can catch up with more Do-215s, air-sea rescue helicopters, and "historical" but otherwise plain lancasters with potential market appeal to maybe even dozens of basement-dwelling sad-os!

The Ten Best FM Aircraft

Here are the ten best Franklin Mint / Armour aircraft. Remember, my 1/48 collection stops with Korean War types, so there is nothing chronologically more recent than the MiG 15 and F-86 Sabre.

• Bedcheck Charlie F4U-5N Corsair - The stock image used for this model is a bland painting. The actual model is FM's best Corsair and, just maybe, their best overall model.
• F6F Hellcat 'Alexander Vraciu.' - It is well known that this is FM's best Hellcat and tha the Hellcat mould is one of FM's best, so this entry should be of no surprise.
• F-86 Sabre "Bee Gee's Bird" - The FM Sabres are actually quite nice. This unusual and non-wartime livery is particularly sharp and well applied.
• Me109 F-2 "Molders" Russia, 1941 - FM's Me109 mould is not very popular. However, this livery is gorgeous and well applied. A much nicer model than Carousel1's 'Black 8', for example.
• KG-55 HE-111 - The real HE-111s that I've seen don't have the pronounced panel lines of this model. Nevertheless, it looks great, even if you take issue with technical inaccuracies.
• PBY Catalina 'prewar.' - A large diecast aircraft with mould accuracy issues that nevertheless looks great. Beautiful 'yellow wing' aircraft.
• P-47 'Angie.' Angie is a lovely livery. Given the age of this model, I'm prepared to accept that the Angie graphic isn't as crisp as it might be, but it's still a great looking model.
• P-47 'Big Stud' - This somewhat plain looking P-47 nevertheless is exceptionally believable. This one might skyrocket in aftermarket price once people figure out just how nice it is.
• VMF(N)-513 F4U-5N CORSAIR - Another Korean War Night Fighting Corsair that is unique and well executed. I actually didn't particularly like this one at first, but it really grew on me. Like all FM aircraft, this one can benefit from the addition of an Eduard photo-etch detail set for the cockpit.
• B-26 'Hard to Get'. This may be the weakest entry on this top-ten list (though this particular one is better looking than the popular 'Flak Bait'), but I put it on here to highlight the fact that the FM B-26 is really not bad at all.

Conspicuously not on the above list: any P-38s. While good, they are not quite as good as people seem to think they are.

Could have been on this list but aren't: Prototype 'Bunker Hil' F4U Corsair and 'Petrof Bay' FM-1 Wildcat. I have both of these not-produced prototype aircraft courtesy of the Frankfurt Toy Show. Had they been produced, they would have been competitive for the top 10--they were not).

Just Missing the Cut: Ju87 Stuka 'Wasser.', F86 Sabre 'The Huff' (which nobody seems to appreciate), Scott's Flying Tigers P-40 (for the issues with the mould, this model just looks great), P-47 'Gabreski' (not my favorite livery, but it does look great), PBY 'Pensacola,' F4U 'Hollowell.'

The Ten Worst Franklin Mint / Armour Aircraft

I have a nice collection of Franklin Mint / Armour aircraft. However, this is strictly limited to Korean-war era types and before - which basically means 'F-86 Sabre / MiG-15 and chronologically previous.' I also note that this list isn't particularly scientific in the sense that it's biased somewhat towards models that I actually own rather than ones that are objectively the worst.

So, the following list of worst FM aircraft is strictly limited to those that I have particular familiarity with (not necessarily own) and does NOT include post MiG15/F86 Sabre aircraft.

• B-17 Bit of Lace - The FM B-17 casting isn't great, but it's 'ok.' What's not ok is giving Bit of Lace a grey instead of natural metal overall finish.
• 1st Air Commando Group C-47 - As with Bit of Lace, I'd love for this model to be better than it is. Unfortunately, all of the FM C47's mould's shortcomings are in full display here. The worst bit is the horrible seam that goes through the fore door.
• Junkers F-13 Floatplane - You think you'll get a great little model of an unusual aircraft. Instead, you get a plasticky toy of an unusual aircraft that you immediately regret getting.
• 802nd Reconnaissance Group Mosquito - The featureless and misshapen Mosquito is one of my least favorite aircraft. The bland application of this horrible livery makes it worse. I actually own this model (and the Junkers above).
• USAAF 57th FG - 65 FS 9 AF "Operation Torch" Warhawk. I like FM's P-40s. Well, many of them. Not this one. It's exceptionally ugly from nose to tail and the casting of the extra bits for the desert air intake make it worse. The Bill Day 'Dammit' P-40 is similar.
• USAAF "5th Emergency Rescue Squadron" P-47 Thunderbolt. There's nothing particularly wrong with the mould. It's just quite possibly the ugliest livery ever put to diecast. I got one of these for $10 and regret it. It's probably due for a repaint.
• P-51 Mustang Pick-em - I own two FM P-51 Mustangs - a signed 'Old Crow' and an 'illegal / hard to find' 'Miss America.' The overall quality of the mould and casting are poor. Pick the livery that you like least which should belong on this list - perhaps 'Naked Lady' for just looking so lame.
• Zero - Type 32 with splotches. Toy-like finish.
• Luftwaffe JG 54 FW-190 - The FM FW-190 is oft criticized for the lameness of the overall mould. Add a livery as boring as poorly done as this, and you have a sure loser.
• Unteroffizier Fran Schwaiger Me-109 I actually think the overall FM-109 line is ok, but there are a few real stinkers in there. This is one of them

The Ten Best Corgi 1/72 Aircraft to Date

In posts prior to this, I listed the 10 best 1/72 HobbyMaster aircraft and a short list of some of the worse HM aircraft. That list was made rather definitively, as I have direct firsthand knowledge of virtually all HM aircraft. With Corgi, it's a bit different - while I own over 100 Corgi models, there are some that I don't have or haven't spent time with - including Lancasters and Halifaxes. Furthermore, Corgi releases tend to vary a lot more qualitywise between individual releases even of the same basic mould than HM's do, so I fully accept that the following is likely to be a lot less "globally accurate" than my HM list.

Without further ado, my highly subjective 10 best 1/72 Corgi Aircraft list:

• AA36305 Swordfish Mk.II 816 NAS WWII Legends - This is the only Swordfish I have, and it's a legends one, no less. And yet, it's a lovely model complete with folding (back) wings. The non-legends versions may well be better still (especially the float version). Lovely model.
• AA35301 B-25J Mitchell 'Heavenly Body'. Amazingly excellent casting. Perfect to a fault. Beautiful livery, albeit a non-historical one. Quite possibly Corgi's best single model, full stop.
• AA32305 Lightning F.Mk.1A XM184:A. I know little about the EE Lightning except that I went to rather extraordinary lengths to luck out to get this best of the EE Lightning liveries. While I don't want to spoil anybody's fun, part of me hopes they never re-issue this one. This EE Lightning looks the way an EE Lightning should look, and if you get lucky you get one where the dorsal engine opening bit isn't too obvious. Corgi is often bad with metal finishes, though this is an exception - it looks so very very right.
• AA37206 Messerschmitt Me262B-1a/U1 night fighter - I don't understand why this so perfect Me262B is so often available so cheaply. It far outshines the several single-seater Corgi Me262s that I own. If you don't heve it, get it.
• US35810 F-86F Sabre Capt. Ralph S. Parr, Korea, 1953. Oh, here comes the caliper crew with their criticisms. To heck with them. This looks like a Sabre, and has plenty of bits to make it feel like a HM release.
• AA37604 Sikorsky CH-34C Choctaw - Beautiful Chopper. The Wessex / Choctaw range is Corgi's single best mould family. Don't like the Choctaw? The recent AA37607 Westland Wessex HU.5 XT474 is also a legitimate contender for this spot in the list. Oh wait, here come the complaints about color shades...
• AA33408 Sikorsky HSS-2 Sea King - Corgi's Sea King line isn't quite as good as its Wessex/Choctaw line, but it's still darn good. This is my favorite livery of the Sea King line. The Apollo 11 chopper is also beautiful, but not quite as tight in construction.
• AA35211 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk "Typhoon McGoon." A toss up here between this one and "Bob's Robin," both are far better in real life than they are in photos. What's more, they're available cheaply.
• AA34003 Consolidated B-24D Liberator 'Strawberry Bitch.' Corgi's matte-finish aircraft tend to do well. This is the best of the Corgi 'heavies' that I have seen.
• PR99408 Hellcat F-6F3 Marianas Turkey Shoot. This is surprisingly the best 1/72 Hellcat that I own - and I own about a dozen between HM, Corgi, and Dragon. The UK Predator Hellcat, PR99414 Hellcat Mk.1 E-W 800 NAS, 1944, is equally good.

Came close but didn't make the above list: B-17 'Nine-o-Nine' and B-17 'Mount-n-Ride.' AA38401 Blenheim Mk.IV, the surprisingly nicely finished Westland Lysanders and matte-finish Gladiators. PR99406 F-104C Starfighter Cold War Warrior. North Vietnamese 'Predator' MiG-21s.

Not considered for this list but potentially qualifying: Lancasters, Halifax, Lynxes.

The Worst 1/72 HobbyMaster Aircraft to date

You can't have the sweet without the sour. Here are HM's worst 1/72 releases to date, in my opinion:

• HA2006 - B5N2 "Kate" - Soryu first attack wave, Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941. The livery is of questionable accuracy and the model is overpriced. Either closed or (especially) open, the canopy is too thick and looks poor. Overall detail is unconvincing. Pilot figures look blobbish. I have a couple of Kates, but they, and especially this livery, do not represent HM's finest hours.
• HA1214 Grumman TBF-1 Avenger, "8-T-1", "Battle of Midway". Just because you have the parts for the underwing radar antenna doesn't mean you're obligated to use them. While there's something to be said for their attempt to fix the misshaped fuselage door window, the high cost of this model coupled with the bizarre decision to include the antenna put it on this list.
• HA2108 North American F-100D "Thunderbirds" "ONE", Major Neil Eddins. I must say - I love this model. However, two major production mistakes put it squarely on this list. The one everybody has been complaining about is that the horizontal and vertical stabilizers are missing a white background behind the blue stars. What people seem to have missed is that there's another major mistake - the panel of flags below the canopy has also been printed upside down.
• HA0131 - JU-87-D3 'S7+CL' StG3 Gambut, Libya. HM makes two 'Libya' Stukas. The other one almost made it to my '10 best list.' Unfortunately, the beige topside of this one looks fake and plasticky. Both of the Libya ones are, as of this writing, still available cheap. Get the other one and give this one a wide berth.
• HA1304 - A-10A, 45th TFS, Indiana ANG, Grissom AFB May 1994 "D-Day Anniversary." I had to have at least one of HM's early "didn't look quite right" A-10s on the bill, and this particularly ugly livery takes the cake.
• HA1003 - Hellenic AF (Greece) F-104G - HM should have left this hideous livery to the likes of Witty Sky Guardians.
• HA1401 McDonnell Douglas A-4M "The Last Skyhawk" - does anybody anywhere find this livery anything but ugly?

Close to being on this list: HA2801 F-22 Langley. Ugly panel gap, non-gold canopy, forgettable 'presence.'. HA2801 Me-110 'Shark Mouth.' Unrealistically 'clean' and ugly livery and too thick radar antenna.

The Ten Best 1/72 Hobbymaster aircraft to date!

Here are the ten best 1/72 scale HobbyMaster aircraft to date, as decided by me. To understand the term 'to date,' remember that it is mid-November 2010, and I have not yet received aircraft such as the F-102 and F4B that people are gushing about.

So, without further ado:

• HA2203 - Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, USS Bunker Hill. HM's Helldiver is the greatest propeller-driven diecast aircraft of all time, perfect in nearly every respect. Some people will nitpick about the open dive flaps, but while I am a huge fan of the USN tricolor liveries, this overall dark blue suits the helldiver perfectly. You do have at least one Helldiver in your collection, right?
• HA0113 - Ju87 Stuka, Pervomaisk Ukraine. This much overlooked model nevertheless sports perhaps the best 'weathered' look of any HM aircraft. Beautifully feathered paint on a flawless model. Photos of this model on the web typically show the top side only - the attention to detail to the underside will be a pleasant surprise.
• HA2405 - MiG15 NKAF 'Wang Hai.' Another overlooked gem. Many consider HM's MiG-15 to be their best jet mould, despite its diminutive size. I consider this particular livery The MiG 15's best one.
• HA3001 - F-111 General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" 474 TFW, 429 TFS, Thailand 1972. This model has perfect presence and a lovely livery. While future HM F111s will have 'wing root plugs' to improve the appearance with the wings spread, there is little doubt that this is the livery to have.
• HA2501 - Republic F-105D Thunderchief, Lt. David B. Waldrop, 34th TFS, 388th TFW, Korat, RTAB, Thailand, August 1967. The most understated of the Vietnam Camouflaged F-105s that still wears the attractive white full-sized tail codes. Understated and yet a real war hero. Oh yes, and a perfect mould.
• HA2105 F-100C "SuperSabre" - Col. George Laven, USAF, 479th TFW, Commander. Because of the problem that inside the large air intake it is too easy to see the silver backing plate used in the model when seen from the front, despite being an absolutely gorgeous mould, none of the HM F-100s are perfect. Furthermore, this particular model has a slight livery flaw in that ths underside speed brake does not have the candystripe livery applied as it should. Despite these issues, however, it's just an amazing looking model that's very well constructed. I have two of these.
• HA1603 - Dassault Mirage, 2000C. NATO "Tiger Meet", 2003, Cambrai, France. I fully expect those who have never seen the model and/or who profess to 'not like gaudy schemes' to disagree with my selection here. Truth be told, I have little patience for most such schemes - Witty and Dragon 'Tiger Meet' F-16s, for example, are hideous. However, beautiful Mirage 2000C is definitely an exception. The very complex livery has been applied perfectly. The other HM Tiger Meet mirage (the grey one) is also excellent, but this is just a joy that adds interest to any collection.
• HA1902 - F- 4J VF-96 Showtime 100 Randy Cunningham and Willie Driscoll, Vietnam 1972. The HM Phantom II mould is outstanding, and my choice of Showtime 100 livery as the 'best' is somewhat arbitrary in that regard (indeed, later releases featured metal, not plastic gear supports, which is an improvement). However, ShowTime 100 more than any others has that combination of superb livery, historic importance, 'rarity', and just looking great. Some might argue for the VF-31 F-4 - I am a huge VF-31 fan, but for some reason, the HM VF-31 Phantom doesn't click for me as much as this one does.
• HA2901 Douglas A-1H Skyraider, VA-176, USS Intrepid (CVS-11), Oct 1986 "Mig Killer." If you don't yet have this superlative Skyraider, RUN, DON'T WALK as they're getting scarcer by the minute. Usually, for a livery this great you need an airshow bird.
• HA1104 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, Alexander Vraciu - The final place on my list was a tough call. However, ultimately it went to this lovely little bit of kit that is HM's best Helldiver. Includes a little standing Vraciu pilot figure holding up six fingers. Beauty.

Honorable mention: HA1706 P-39 'Evelyn' (yes, really!), HA1408 A-4F Skyhawk "Lady Jessie" (this one would be on many people's top ten), HA1001 F-104 "Really, George" (what can I say, I like the gaudy schemes)! HA2801 'Surfer Girl' Huey. Nice tiny chopper.

HobbyMaster November / December 2010 releases

So, the most recent HobbyMaster / SkyMax upcoming release list is out, and I must admit that after the last few blockbuster ones, I'm a bit glad that this one will be a bit easier on the wallet.  Still, it's good for a bit of analysis and discussion:

Amazingly, there are no "must gets" on this list for me.  However, the following come closest:

• HA1512 - SNJ / Quantico with a Coral Sea-esque scheme
• HA1413 - A-4 Skyhawk USS Ticonderoga
• HA7505 - P-26 'Canal Zone'

 The above are all interesting but not "must have" repaints of aircraft that I already own or will have received by that point (I haven't received the initial F4B yet).

About the rest...

• For many, the P-51D "Cripes a Mighty" is a must get.  I suppose it would be for me too if I didn't already have her in GMP's exquisite 1/35 version.  Admittedly, this version is different than GMP's, but the way I figure it, there will be plenty of very decent P-51D liveries coming sooner or later.
• The rest of the P-51Ds can only be seen as HM trying to cash in on some of the 'must get every version' collectors before mould fatigue sets in.   I mean, the Netherlands East Indies Air Force in 1945?  I'm a Pacific Theatre collector (and I even have the poor Netherlands Buffalo), but even I find that one quite a stretch.
• The Eagle Squadron Spitfire Mk.II is nice enough, but it's not different enough to the first one, which I have, and I'm not so fussed to collect a Mk.II just for the sake of having a Mk.II (as I understand it the main visual difference is a blunter spinner).
• The F-22 in the 'Cripes-a-Mighty' livery looks awful.  I guess there's no accounting for taste...
• The USS Essex Avenger is fine, but I have enough Avengers.  In fact, I have an extra 'Flight 19' Avenger that I'll either gladly trade for or will eventually repaint into something.. but am having a hard time coming up with interesting schemes to paint it into.  The closest that I can come up with is a Coral-sea-esque scheme that the very first avengers were painted in well before Midway (red/white tails and the like).
• A-26 Invader 'Stinky':  Unfortunately, I called it correctly and HM is doing this 'Stinky' livery (though I predicted they'd do it first).  Correspondingly, I think I'll hold off.  I don't know how many A-26s there will be in my future, but if there were to be only one, I think a Korean War one is most appealing.
• The Alconbury USAF RF-4C is a nicely chosen livery.  Unfortunately, I just ordered the Alabama ANG RF-4C, and that's enough for me.  Even though I live in Europe, I'm not big on USAFE and equivalent birds.
• I love HM's Stukas - they are sublime.  However, I have no particular historical interest in the Romanian Stuka, so will pass.
• MiG-15s for me are either NKAF or nothing.  Interesting choice of livery on the Taiwan MiG-15!  Though, HM does have a ROC bias - they seem to make a lot of Taiwan stuff.  
• And on it goes with the others.  The Australian A4 is a nice livery, but not for me.  The Greek 106 is a livery that I predicted HM wouldn't make, so I lose a point there.

Falcon Models T-33A Osan 'Red Devils'

Recent years has seen the roll of companies producing diecast aircraft shrink significantly; gone are the likes of Eagles International, GMP, Franklin Mint, Carousel 1, and others, while companies like Dragon and Witty appear to have curtailed their operations significantly.  Thus, it's certainly encouraging when any new entrant enters the field, and doubly so when the entrant seems intent on trying their hand at more esoteric subjects such as, in this case, Falcon Models T-33A.

 
Falcon certainly deserves full marks for subject choice here.  As a fan of the unique schemes of the Korean war, I couldn't be happier, even if I found the particular scheme to be somewhat unaesthetic. 

Unfortunately, the model itself is overpriced and below average qualitywise. 

• Panel line depth is inconsistent; on the tail it has the 'soft' feel that we've come to associate with particularly bad moulds.
• Parts quality is questonable - mine came with a main gear broken in two places.
• Quality is questionable - mine came with a major flaw on the fuselage below the canopy.
• Overall quality is less than ideal.  Poor canopy fit, poor detail in various places (including in front of the front instrument panel)
• The livery is oddly applied.  I can't quite place it, but it looks artificial and toy-like.

I hope Falcon Models continues to improve and do better.  I *will* buy their two upcoming blue angels releases (to further complete that series) and I'd kill for a grey-colored TV-2 (USN version of the T-33), which I think is safe to say is in the pipeline, as, frankly, the T-33 only has so many liveries.  Wow - that will leave me with three versions of this overpriced and, by my own admission, poor model. I must be an addict.

I've pre-ordered the Corgi US35906 'Ocean Hawk'

So, I've gone and pre-ordered the Corgi SH-60F "Dusty Dogs" Ocean Hawk despite its generally negative reviews from the various die cast peanut galleries (because the model Corgi appears to have created conflates elements of B and F model SH-60s).  While if the nay-sayers turn out to be correct, there's always a chance that this model will be dumped for a song at some point in the future, the pre-order price at which I purchased this was well discounted off Corgi's RRP, so I decided to go for it.  While I have pre-ordered several HM and one or two CW aircraft before, this is the first Corgi aircraft that I can remember pre-ordering.

So, why did I do it?  Let me count the ways.

• If you're going to bet on a consistently good range of diecast aircraft, bet on Corgi's helicopters.  Arguably the worst one that I have in my whole collection is their USCG HH-60 Jayhawk, and it's an excellent model!
• Back when I participated in the various diecast discussion forums, I wrote a post challenging Corgi to do a few things to improve their prospects.  One of my recommendations was to do a modern USN carrier helicopter to complement CW's aircraft, since the closest they had at the time was the Apollo 11 recovery  SH-3D, which is clearly one of their more desirable and rare models. They did it, and I'm happy to put my money behind their rising to this challenge.
• It's a limited edition of only 500.  While it probably will be available for some time, I know this is one that I want and I'll be kicking myself if I were to not get it.
• It will look great next to my CW modern carrier aircraft.
• I really don't care about the sorts of small version issues that others are complaining about.  If you care, then more power to you.  I just don't.  To me, it looks close enough, and I also realize that it's highly unlikely that we'll see anything similar anytime soon. So, this is your chance.

Incidentally, there is a diecast company that has a pretty decent looking (at least from a distance) SH-60 - that's NewRay.  Unfortunately, they also did it in a useless 1/60 scale.

F-5 a Comin'

I suppose it was pretty inevitable, but HM has, if not announced, then at least highly hinted at an upcoming Northrop F-5.  It's not yet clear whether this will be the F-5 A/B 'Freedom Fighter' version of the F-5 E/F 'Tiger II', but in either case, well, there it is.

Yes, please.  This is the one that I want.

The F-5 is famous for two basic things:

1. It was produced cheaply and did yeoman's work.  Off the top of my head, only the A4 Skyhawk provided more value for money to the taxpayer than the F-5.
2. It was the main artifact of a philosophy that basically said "let's sell our allies good cheap planes; good enough and cheap enough that they won't buy from the Soviets, but not so good that we can't shoot them down ourselves with relative impunity should the need arise."

As such, it was purchased by a large number of natuions, a lot of which were the sort who ran their air forces more as rich boys' clubs.  As a result, there are plenty of fun and useless liveries for the F-5.  There are also plenty of decent, working ones.  Here are my pics:

• I like USAF aggressor aircraft, and certainly we'll see an F-5 livery or two as such, despite the HM A4 Aggressor not selling that well (probably due to overproduction).
• A USN livery or two - hopefully like the one I've shown above.
• A VNAF camoflaged version is virtually a lock.
• As is a Thunderbirds livery.
• Given that HM seem to make a ROC version when one is possible, this too seems fairly certain.

Beyond that, a lot of the liveries fall into the realm of the sort of thing that Witty puts out and then are dumped at $15 at some point down the line.  

Belongs in a cheap European nightclub.

Still, there are more classive beauties about as well - T38s, F-5s, and otherwise.

Honestly, this is an aircraft that I wish were done by Witty Wings.  They'd do just as good a job on it (well, 90% as good) as HM, but for 1/3 the price (I'm sure HM's already thinking of $39.99+, RRP for this speck of an aircraft).  Or, at least the old Witty would have.  The current Witty will not do much of anything, except partner with "Sky Guardians Europe."  Man, I hope those clowns get their act together enough to release the Javelin and Sea Vixen.