[slammer400]

I am new to die cast aviation and am still trying to decide between 1:72 and 1:48 to start a collection

One question I have is that Armour was bought out by Franklin Mint, correct? How do the two collections compare, Armour and Franklin Mint Armour collection in detail in quality, the same, or is their a improvement since FM bought out the series?

Are the tires on the 1:48 series rubber or plastic?

Thank you.

[bsmith13]

Hey Slammer!

Welcome to the forums; glad you found us. The 1/48 guys will chip in with useful information soon, no doubt. I collect mainly 1/72 due to space and monetary constraints. However, there is nothing wrong with branching out and collecting more than one scale...

Again, Welcome!

[Phantom Phan1200]

welcome to the hobby, it's all down hill from here LOL.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
The quality of Armour models before the FM buy out were good, the first year or two after FM bought Armour quality took a nose dive.
But after that year or so FM imporved the quality to a even higher level.
The tires on FM models are rubber but only a few models have wheels that actually turn.

[hworth18]

Welcome Slammer!!!!
Most members here collect 1/72, but many collect whatever they fancy with collections ranging throughout the scales from 1/144 to 1/18.. I prefer 1/72 but I also have a selection of 1/48 as "more detailed" examples of specific aircraft.. Whatever you fancy though, I am sure we will be more than happy to help start you into the addicting world of diecast collecting..

[flyXwire]

Welcome to the forum, Slammer400. Your call-sign sounds familiar to me and I think I've seen you from another forum I frequent. Anyhoo, great to have you on-board.

I only have two made by CDC Armour (prior to the FM take-over) - an F-16 Thunderbird and an F-18 Blue Angel. Both have a mix of decal and tampo printed graphics. The rest are from recent
Franklin Mint acquisitons. I'm pretty selective of picking a particular mould as you can witness from my frequent questions to fellow forum members asking them for some info
or feedback about the quality of certain diecast, etc. Again, Welcome!

[FormerViperDriver]

Originally Posted by slammer400

I am new to die cast aviation and am still trying to decide between 1:72 and 1:48 to start a collection

Slammer, welcome to the forum.

I personally found that you can't stick to one scale, period, at least if your interests are wide-ranging (I collect all eras, all kinds of planes as long as it;s military). I have 1/144, 1/72, 1/48, 1/35, 1/32, and 1/18 scale models, and that's not even mentioning the ground vehicles/tanks.

Anyway, I do prefer 1/48. Before anyone can advise you on the choice of scale, they'd have to know a couple of things:

- How much display room do you have/will you have?

- How much money do you want to spend on this hobby?

- What is your area of interest (jets, propellers, WWII, foghters, bombers, transports, etc...)?

- How picky are you about details on a diecast models?

Then maybe we can start being smart about picking a scale, if you really want to stick to the one-scale rule.

FVD

[dasboot]

I think that viper brings out a couple of good points. For me personally as I'm a very picky person, I look for the details (or lack of perhaps) and initially started my collection with FM, but soon afterwards realized that the quality was poor compared to some of these 1/72 scale models.

[slammer400]

Originally Posted by dasboot

I think that viper brings out a couple of good points. For me personally as I'm a very picky person, I look for the details (or lack of perhaps) and initially started my collection with FM, but soon afterwards realized that the quality was poor compared to some of these 1/72 scale models.

Really, I assumed the larger series of any manufacture would have better detail.

When you display the 1/72 models from different manufactures in the same display is it a pretty good fit, or can you notice any differences?

From the reading I have done so far I think I'll be going with the 1:72, with maybe a few 1:48 down the road. From what I read I think I'll try to stick with Corgi, Gemini Aces and Dragon...that being said, two I really want are Wittys. I might have to buy those even though it seems most think them of a lesser quality.

The Ridge Runner is out at our airport, I would kind of like to get that one, but so far I have only found a Witty.

There are about five Mustangs out at our airport, on a given day you can hear the roar as a couple circle the town..if you hustle you can get out to the airport to watch them land and taxi by. Every once in a while I'll find one out on the tarmac with nobody around and get some nice pics.

Here is a pic I got of the Iron Ass which I have yet to find anywhere.

[Copland]

Welcome to the forum. Don't forget Hobby Master. They are relatively new to the field, but have made a very good impression. I have one of their 1/72 dauntless, and it is very nice. I'm mainly an armor guy, mainly 1/72.

[stalag8611]

Slammer,
I actually atarted down this road to madness by collecting Armour 1:100. I have 28 of them stashed away for safe keeping

From there is was on to 1:48. I have a total of 24 in my hanger: 11 are CDCs; the rest are later FM issues. There is no question in my mind that the FM takeover brought about a decline in overall quality and I moved on to 1:72. At last count I hyave 88 of that scale in my hanger. As for current FM releases, the last one I bought was Leppla's SBD-3 (FMB937). It's a beauty IMHO, but I'm commited to 1:72; less space required.