[swoop]

Welcome to the Forum Turbo. It's often difficult to ascertain what road to take. You will (with the help of these (good fellows) find the right signpost to a better and more rewarding collection. The opinions on this forum have assisted me in the right direction and I have a much better collection because of it.

[djjeffhall]

Jim is correct. I completely forgot the P-40's. I clearly am an unworthy heathen.

The F.O.V. P-40b/c model is great. Plus, it's a Pearl Harbor bird. The Corgi P-40's are also really nice. One of their better moulds.

Get all the P-40's. Line them up behind all the Japanese airplanes you have. Go get some more Japanese airplanes so the P-40's don't get bored shooting downthe first batch of enemy airplanes you get and if they get outnumbered, get more P-40's.

[Spinnaker]

Hi Turbowolf,

By now you may have had enough of all the advice, but here is some experience I can share with you - hopefully you might glean something of use from this post!

I started collecting in July 2004 - and I now have 175+ models!!! I bought everything that took my fancy - the only restriction I placed on myself was to keep to one scale, 1:72.

Now, with the benefit of that wonderful thing called hindsight, I wish I had been a little more careful about what I purchased. I have realised that I can't own every piece of diecast ever released, so have organised my collection into "themes" (eg. models sporting D-Day stripes). Unless a plane fits into one of the themes of my collection, I no longer buy it.

Another lesson I have learnt was to be a bit more patient (something I am not by nature!). When a new mold is released, I would buy the first scheme released, just to have that plane in my collection. Don't (unless it fits your collection)!!! The first scheme released is almost always a less attractive one. Wait for a while and you can almost guarantee a more appealing scheme will become available.

The other big lesson I learnt is to be discerning - initially I was prepared to purchase lesser-quality models, just to have another plane in the collection. Now I find that those same models annoy me. I'd rather have one close-to-perfect model than 5 lesser-quality ones. Listen to the opinions of the members on this forum about new releases, but form your own! (I have purchased models which have been unpopular here, but which personally I really like eg. Corgi's B-25 OH-7).

Most of all, enjoy the hobby, but don't allow it to send you to bankruptcy!!!

Cheers,
John.

[wieh9995]

Turbowolf,
Well if you're still with us I'll add a few bits. First - get out while you can, run away, run away. Probably too late so here's my input. Do not pre order, wait until the actual model is released to see the pictures. Too many times substantial changes are made to the pre-production model. Second is know that Corgi's and Gemini Aces are generally ready out of the box, Dragon have a lot of "fiddly bits" and require patience, some glue and maybe micro drills, after that they're really nice. I only have 1 Hobbymaster so I can not comment. And last this is a great place to learn about the merits & shortcomings of various releases although at the end of the day it does come down to whether you like it or not. Good luck & hang on.

[Ara1]

I'm with Cardinal and the 1/48 boys. Zinc's mighty impressive at 15 lbs and counting!!



And...

It doubles as a house weight for the hurricane season.

[Turbowolf]

Thanks for all of the input and recommendations. I'd love to go 1/48th, but there is absolutely no room here in my dorm room at college for anything but 1/72, and a limited number of models at that, unless I start hanging them from the ceiling.

I've looked up almost everything that has been listed by the members here. Looks like I may have a few models just hanging out in their boxes before I'm done. For room to display, I have two shelves 1 foot by 3 foot in size ... the rest of the space is taken up by textbooks, laptops and screens.

I just ordered Skipper's Orchid, it'll fit in nice with the other two Corsairs.

[djjeffhall]

Turbowolf,
It sounds like you are being very reasonable about all of this. We'll have to change that immediately!

[Shamrock]

I'm sorry for getting ancestry wrong Cardinal. When I saw the Swiss emblem I presumed that you hailed, through family ties from the land of Toblerone, and cuckoo clocks!
It's nice to see that you share along with most of the civilised world some Celtic blood. They say that St. Brendan got to America before Columbus. Typical that he did'nt stick a flag down and claim it for us!

[bsmith13]

Hey Turbo,

Welcome to the forum! I don't have any advice on the direction of your collection other than to collect what you like.

Some guys gotta have it all. Some are loyal to a particular airframe, air force, or period. Some are interested in personal markings, squadron markings or planes that fought each other.

Choose what you like, and go after it. Good Luck and Good Hunting!