"1/144 WW2 plastic" Topic

Who makes this scale, in plastic, for ww2 aerial?

I'm going to use 1/600 for most of my ww2 aerial gaming, but this scale (1/144) is just too damn pretty not to game in (mind you, it will be 4-6 planes on the table at the most for this scale)

Thanks!!

Go to hannants.co.uk or squadron.com and do a search most of the big boys make them.

link

Ha, ha, acctingman!

Good one!

That's how it starts out, but we all know that just like with Lay's Potato Chips, or Dorito's, you won't be able to stop there.

I've got some extra prepainted 1/144th scale aircraft.

Some are completely assembled, others painted and marked at the factory (no decals, but real, painted insignia), but requiring minor assembly.

Battle of Britain Spitfires, Me-109Es, Flying Tigers' P-40's, Zeroes, FW-190As, Me-262s, etc., at reasonable prices. Most of them are know out of production.

3-D Dogfight Flight Stands too.

Let me know what you're looking for.

E-mail:

topgungrav AT yahoo D0t com

Mustangs/Air Pirates is my favorite rule set because it's the one that works best with 1/144 models.

You can get lovely 1/144 kits from Hobby Link Japan or other modeling sources. Most 1/144 pre-paints are currently OOP. You can get them from collectors/hoarders like Mako, or go to Ebay, or advertise for them in the TMP Marketplace (once you become a paying member) or Bartertown and see what you find.

You can get new production pre-paints from Hobby Link Japan:

hlj.com

but they're ephemera – they're produced, and then they go OOP.

I've been thinking about putting some extras up for sale. Watch the Marketplace.

Victrix just released their first two kits; Typhoon and Ju-87G.

They are obviously focusing on ground attack aircraft for WW2 armour wargamers, but I think 109s, 190s, Spits and Mustangs are on the list too.

I'm going to use 1/600 for most of my ww2 aerial gaming, but this scale (1/144) is just too damn pretty not to game in (mind you, it will be 4-6 planes on the table at the most for this scale)

I've recently been sucked into this money pit as well, exactly the same way. "All I need is two!" I said, and then that turned into four, then four of each of two different models, then four each of about 8 different models… Heh.

Who makes this scale, in plastic, for ww2 aerial?

As noted above, there is no simple answer to that question. That either makes 1/144 scale a really fun treasure hunt, or a frustrating grope in the darkness. I've made some discoveries that you might find helpful:

• Keep an eye on Shapeways. The models by hwerke look really nice in pictures, and decapod has an even larger selection. I'm sure there are plenty more, and there are bound to be more all the time.
  
• Add rollmodels.com to your list of model suppliers to check
  
• Revell, Academy and Minicraft do not make nice models, and if you're like me you'll spend too much time modifying them to look nicer, but if you find them for a few bucks each, they suddenly seem quite nice. :-)
  
• Sweet does make nice models, but they have a limited range.
  
• For really oddball planes, try Peter's Planes.
  
• Many of the plastic models come with clear canopies but no pilots. I'm still looking for the best solution, but you can get a huge lot at Shapeways or order them from Revirsco. They all seem to be WWI pilots, but at this scale and under a canopy, I doubt that matters.
  
• If you decide to get bombers, smaller scale models (1/200, 1/285, 1/300) fit on the table better and can look okay next to your fighters. The hard part is finding bombers in materials other than metal. Metal bombers topple easily, and a big formation of them at the top of individual sticks is a constant disaster for the duration of the game.
  
• Sometimes you need more decals or different decals. I don't have much of a list, but I know you can find some choices at Scale Specialties, Reviresco, and I-94 Enterprises. I'm sure there are others.
  

You specified plastic, but just in case:

• The old True North pewter planes at Old Glory are somewhat expensive and under-detailed, but have good proportions and can fill in gaps you can't fill with nice plastic models. They're also the most durable 1/144 plane models in existence.
  
• You can also get a small selection of 1/144 WW2 planes in metal from Reviresco.
  

Also:
Before you get started, seriously consider 1/200 scale. You can get 1/200 resin models of many of the major planes of WW2 from Armaments in Miniature, along with the decals to match them, and the list of planned releases is quite long if you're willing to wait. I bought a couple F-86 Sabres as an experiment and think they look really nice (much nicer than the photos on the web site), and compared to 1/144 kits they are dirt cheap. One-piece resin models are much more durable than glued-together plastic models, and nearly as light (which is important when they're perched at the top of a fully extended 2-foot telescoping aerial).

- Ix

Yellow admiral. I used to own the TNP aircraft, had them sculpted in UK (Tommy Atkins). Thanks for the kind words. Acting man, I have a number of extras, depending on what you're looking for, failing that I have a load of decals left over (bits and pieces it wasn't worth selling with the line). David.Jackson2@ec.gc.ca

I've got loads of the prepainted ones, mostly from the Japanese companies, F-Toys being the most numerous, but also some from Ixo and Amer, mostly the bigger planes.

There are really too many to do all the periods, so I focused on North Africa and Java (both 1942). Plus some smaller forces for basically everything else from WW1 to the present.

Sure, building and painting a kit gives you more control (the cheap Zvesda kits haven't been mentioned yet), but if they're for gaming only, the prepainted ones are really very good. Plus they're much lighter than resin or metal.

My experience with HLJ is very bad, so I buy my prepainted ones from Rakuten (Japanese Ebay, they have an international site, but if you're handy with the online translators you can also order from the Japanese site, which has more on offer) among others. Some US and EU dealers have them for decent prices, and ebay of course.

Cheers.

1:144 is a great scale to game ww2 air. That and 1:100 scale, but you will find a lot more in 1:144. Do a net search "1:144 WW2 planes" and "1:144 WW2 aircraft".

There are a lot of pre-painted kits out there, but they are limited releases, so finding early releases of F-Toys and Bandi kits will not be easy for example.

There are a lot of model kits to choose from; like Minicraft/Academy, Revell, Sweet (excellent kits), Zvezda, and others.