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.