"WW2 Aircraft 1/300 Scale - Navwar or Collectair?" Topic

I was investigating the different companies that offer this scale. Could someone offer comment on Navwar or Scotia's Collectair. They are both on the low end of the price scale, which is where I want to be.

I have a good amount of Collectair and am very happy with them. Don't have any of the Navwar stuff, so I can't give an opinion or compare them. Collectair has good detail and I recommend them.

In general, the Collectair models are usually a bit better, but not always, e.g. the Japanese Zero by Navwar is better.

Check out the Yahoo Group Air-Pirates for more info, since there are a number of threads about this issue, for both WWII and modern aircraft.

Also, look at the photos on the Scotia-Grendel website. Most planes have pictures there.

Regards,

Rob

Leadjunky, you have to look at the specific models.
I've got both Navwar and Collectair, since each company
has certain models of specific aircraft which are
better than the other company's.

Also, I've used airplanes of the same type from each
company to add some variety (SBD's with closed and open
dive-brakes, as an example...)

I've been a loyal customer of the "Collectair" (Scotia) range of 1/300 planes. They make up a majority of the planes in my collection, but I have a fair number of "Navwar", "Skytrex" and other types too. --As Rob says, many are pictured in PHOTOS on the "Air-Pirates" Yahoo group.

There are a few cases where I would give the nod to the Navwar plane over Collectair, but, in general, as Rob says above, the Collectair model is the better choice. I find that the Collectair models better capture the essence of the planes they're representing.

My biggest complaint with Navwar is that too many of their models have wings that are badly skewed, relative to their fuselages. They offer less detail (panel scribing, etc.) than Collectair, and little effort is made to simulate the airfoil of the wings. (They're mostly just flat slabs.) The Navwar biplanes, however, are almost all very good. Navwar's service is also very fast.

So, in general, yes, I recommend Collectair (Scotia), but, as Ed suggests, don't entirely overlook the competition.

//Paul in Seattle

I am cheap and tend to buy in bulk, so NAVWAR is my first choice, however, The detail is low and you want to avoid the P-51s (wretched!). The Spitfires and P-40s suffer the skewed wing phenomenon. I have a handful of Collectair and their P-51B is very nice but their Hurricane is crap. I'll probably stick with NAVWAR because it's available locally and I can see what I'm buying. But I'm not averse to mail ordering for the stuff I can't get.

I just got a F4U from Collectair. It's pretty good. It's got the bulged canopy of the F4U-1A and later models, so it is correct for late '43 and beyond. The Navwar looks more like the earlier birdcage model. Comparing the Navwar and Collectair SB2C Helldiver, again the Collectair, with its molded cannons would be the better pick.