Who knew?
When we ran the weathering and finish article last month on the 21st
Century Toys' 1/18th scale P-47D Thunderbolt, we didn't expect this article
to be quite so popular. I've known for some time that there is interest
in these nicely detailed 'toys' from modelers and aviation enthusiasts.
These are about as close to a die-cast replica as we'll get on a beer
budget and provide instant modeling gratification straight out of the
box.
 In
the January 2004 issue of Internet Modeler, according to our site statistics,
the Revell of Germany U-Boat first look was the most popular (go figure),
but the second most popular choice was the P-47D! Unlike the die-cast
collectables out there, these aircraft are bigger and offer a load of
potential for 'doing your own thing' and finishing the aircraft the you
want to see it.
I personally have the 1/18th scale P-38L, Ju 87G, F4U and P-47D hanging
in my loft workshop (like where else am I going to park these?), and the
P-51D and Bf 109E will soon be joining them. So far, the P-47 is the only
one of these that I've refinished and weathered, but I'll be cycling the
others through the workbench for at least a little weathering.
From what I've seen at club meetings and contests, many others out there
are also personalizing these aircraft, removing seams, adding instrument
faces, seatbelts and harnesses, and so on. I've heard countless times
at IPMS contests that bigger is better (not true) but plunk one of these
1/18 babies on the table and you'll put that adage to the test! Your only
danger then is from a superdetailed 1/6th scale AH-6J Little Bird (another
21st Century Toys product) perching on the table.
We're going to need a bigger workbench...
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