"1/300 scale... which am I missing?" Topic

CinC
Scotia
Raiden

Any other decent looking plane manufacturers?

Navwar and Skytrex are out/

GHQ

GHQ is 1/285th scale, and they are superb, but their planes are really expensive.

They are the top of the line, and better suited to displays than as gaming pieces, but if you have the bucks, there are none better in this scale.

I only have experience with CinC and GHQ. GHQ is more expensive than CinC.

I've found the GHQ to be better for gaming. They are more robust, having few pieces to assemble but wings may be far to thick, for example. The CinC planes have much finer detail, but involve many more pieces (IIRC my JU-87 had the fuselage, left and right wings, left and right stabilizers, 2 struts for the stabilizers, 2 wheels, and the propeller for a total of 10 pieces.)

In my opinion CinC are more true to scale and better looking figures because of it, but GHQ are easier to assemble and less prone to breakage on the gaming table.

Some of the navwar stuff is nice, especially their Biplanes. I wouldnt write them off as they make a lot of stuff no one else does.

Cheers
kieran

MSD makes some nice ones too…
link
But some of their line is for the Luft '46 game… So some "experimental" planes are in there…

I also like the Navwar biplanes but some of their models aren't very good.

I really like Scotia planes. They are consistently high quality, and true 1/300th scale. The one exception is their P-51. The tail is just wrong. Raiden planes are quite nice.

The GHQ planes I've got are also nice, but very pricey. The CinC casts are good, but at 1/285th the planes are noticeably large. Some are also quite fiddly with lots of small bits.

Another is Museum Miniatures in the UK. They have a small range, mostly Battle of Britain, but they do a few noone else does (Hudsons and Baltimores, anyone?)
I will say though, their Spitfires and especially Bf109's are really top notch.

Hal

you may want to google Skywarrior & coalville (they're based there)

Stay away from the Skytrex I-16s. Worst wargame purchase ever….

Happy with my Raidens and Scotias!

I'm a habitual scrounger and a scale . There are diecast B-17s and C-47s sold under various brand labels (Dyna-flite is one) in dollar store toy departments that are bang on 1/300 scale for just a buck or two per plane. I have some 1/285 soft plastic Ju-88s that I don't know where they came from originally. Corgi makes a B-17, a B-24 and a Lancaster in several excellent pre-painted schemes that are really a little too big, the B-17 is about 1/260, but they pass for me. Keep your eyes open and walk through every toy aisle you can.

Scotia does a Hudson (I have two, in Coastal Command
colors). Don't know about Baltimores, though.

Pursuant to what Zippy said, a friend gifted me with a
gorgeous 1/300 Mavis in civilian livery which he bought
at Wal-Mart, IIRC.

Ed, that JAL Mavis is from the Delprado 1/300 airliner series. There's a 1/300 FW-200 Condor in that set too, also unarmed and in 1930s DLH livery. I've only ever seen these models on Ebay at high prices + shipping. If I could find them at Walmart I'd snap them up:

auction

Finknottle:

I agree on the Museum Minis quality, but their Spits and Me 109s are too skinny for me. They could be called "slender". The 109 G models look especially less menacing, and more like fashion models :) Their Spitfires do look good, as the skinniness is not that much, but the spinners are just a little stub. I vouch for the Raiden Spitfires (I, V, and V Trop and Seafire III) all the way for anatomical correctness.

That I can talk about knowingly, Museum's best are the Japanese Ki-27 and Ki-43, and the Italian Macchi 200, 202, and 205V. The best, in my opinion. And the Defiants! Museum planes DO have A LOT of pitting, and they take too long to fill and sand before you even prime them!

Raiden's minis are my favorites, only that their early early models have too shallow detail, and the 109 E & F models' tails are too small. The B-29's cockpit is very hard to make out after primed and silver-painted. Their aircraft are on the chubby side always, but not a problem, except for the Dornier 335, which I didn't like :(

richarDISNEY:

Aren't the MSD planes the same ones as Scotia, only resold? Their product line has almost the same models, apart from the 1946 planes, some of which Scotia also makes. I've always wondered this.

KSmyth:

About GHQ planes, I only have fighters. The only fiddly one would be the P-38, the best sculpted P-38J in 1/285 or 1/300. The wing tips are very fragile. I epoxied them one a a time with 4-minute epoxy, making sure to wait at least 5 minutes for each, for strength. They have taken LIGHT falls, and are still glued (knock on wood). All other fighters only require that the propeller hub or spinner be glued (I cut the blades off), and that's not a part you handle very often.