[Louie]

I have my friend. I hate to say it and no offense, but David who although he is extremely knowledgeable is a buzz kill for my non rivet counting collecting tastes. Rarely do I ever comment on accuracy. I am an almost purely sensual buyer. If a model appeals to my senses I buy it. If I worry about the total accuracy part my collection would be about half of it's size and I would have missed out on some cool planes. My motto in collecting has now officially changed to-

IGNORANCE IS BLISS!!!!!

I really must point out that David is a cool guy who knows his stuff. I hope I do not offend him or any one else who is critical of a model the so called "rivet counters" because they feel it lacks features found on an actual aircraft. I think I would prefer not to know about it if I really liked the model. This info killed it for me with Witty F-14's, HM P-39's,Corgi P-51D's and B's and several other models.

[b-huj]

Originally Posted by Louie

If I worry about the total accuracy part my collection would be about half of it's size and I would have missed out on some cool planes..

Maybe being picky saves money and display space?
I have no idea what's the size of David's collection, and I guess he did personally check the models and found the inaccuracies he so kindly points out for our benefit and that of manufacturers who know how to to appreciate constructive criticism.

Some military model collectors are old school (or plain old ), not sure though if many of us here are die-hard model makers converted into lazy diecast buyers...but the tradition prevails. It isn't about rivet counting (and many like myself complain about a model being blatantly inaccurate but are hypocritical enough to finally pay for it and display it at home); it's about model collecting, stress on model as opposed to cool display item or toy. And when I say toy, there isn't anything negative, in Japan and of course in the US, there are many very serious toy collectors who would pay hundreds and thousands of dollars for something a "model collector" would deem worthless and "an outdated old mould"!

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Louie

I have my friend. I hate to say it and no offense, but David who although he is extremely knowledgeable is a buzz kill for my non rivet counting collecting tastes. Rarely do I ever comment on accuracy. I am an almost purely sensual buyer. If a model appeals to my senses I buy it. If I worry about the total accuracy part my collection would be about half of it's size and I would have missed out on some cool planes. My motto in collecting has now officially changed to-

IGNORANCE IS BLISS!!!!!

I really must point out that David is a cool guy who knows his stuff. I hope I do not offend him or any one else who is critical of a model the so called "rivet counters" because they feel it lacks features found on an actual aircraft. I think I would prefer not to know about it if I really liked the model. This info killed it for me with Witty F-14's, HM P-39's,Corgi P-51D's and B's and several other models.

I can't speak for the P-39, but the Witty F-14 and Corgi Mustangs are pretty rubbish. By not buying them you're saving money. Atleast if you get a CW Tomcat, the re-sale value, should you ever had to do it, is much better than what you'd let the witty tomcat and corgi mustang go for. Ofcourse, we all hope that if Witty and Corgi realises that their rubbish is not selling, they would invest to make it better. Though currently they aren't in that business of listening to critics. Instead, they just throw more liveries out in the hope that they'd get something back. And thats why they are falling behind to new comers like HM and CW. If you got the witty Vandy-1 and then CW came out with their Vandy-1, could you really still look at the witty the same way?

[b-huj]

Originally Posted by Andrew

I can't speak for the P-39, but the Witty F-14 and Corgi Mustangs are pretty rubbish. By not buying them you're saving money. Atleast if you get a CW Tomcat, the re-sale value, should you ever had to do it, is much better than what you'd let the witty tomcat and corgi mustang go for. Ofcourse, we all hope that if Witty and Corgi realises that their rubbish is not selling, they would invest to make it better. Though currently they aren't in that business of listening to critics. Instead, they just throw more liveries out in the hope that they'd get something back. And thats why they are falling behind to new comers like HM and CW. If you got the witty Vandy-1 and then CW came out with their Vandy-1, could you really still look at the witty the same way?

I fully agree that Witty's F-14 is not worth the metal it's made of, honestly, but I am not so sure if people still remember when Witty was advertising its F-15 a few years back, many if not everyone was very excited with the spinning fan blades, detachable detailed missiles, subtle panel lines, realistic cockpit opening mechanism...etc. It was a breakthrough in F-15 diecast making, and blew away Gaincorp's effort that many praised before Witty's arrival...then Witty's twin seat cockpit canonpy shape's fiasco started, and had its climax with the horrendous F-14.
My constant fear is that all new players come out with an exciting new product at first, and then are incapable of keeping the high standards (anyone remembers that the first HM Mig-21 "Big FIsh" had airbrushed weathering and "oil stains"???? I do, because I missed that one and now it became rare! Keeping high standards and running a profitable business (or keeping experienced staff) seem to be hard to achieve all at the same time.

[skidmarksdiecast]

Here's a reply, to a "Witty vs Gaincorp" post from last year, that pretty much sums up the Witty vs Gaincorp Su-27 question. Note that the opinion below may change after the release of the forthcoming Su-27UBK. Gaincorp may emerge as a clear winner if the model is actually as good as its pre-pro pics make it out to be....

As far as Flankers are concerned, it's hard to say who's better. Gaincorp's canopy is better than Witty's but Witty's fuselage & radome are better than Gaincorp's. Gaincorp's colors/paint schemes are more accurate than Witty's but Witty's have better detail than Gaincorp's. Gaincorp's are harder to find, which makes them better from a collector standpoint. Witty's have much better build quality than Gaincorp's. In the end, it's pretty much a draw. If you really like the Flanker, I'd suggest getting both Gaincorp's and Witty's.

[b-huj]

In principle I agree with those comments from skidmarks, but allow me to point sth out

I haven't seen the Su-27 UBK in person yet, the mould itself looks OK from the pictures released... but for starters, the serial and bort numbers, on the tail and nose area respectively, do not match each other.On the tail, it is stated "30028" and on the nose "28". Check it on the flyingmule or any retailers page, since I don't want to steal copyrighted pics. IF the serial was really 30028, then it should read 08 on the nose. Chinese bort numbers is not rocket science, just take the last three digits, ommit the middle one and voilá, you got it. Witty so far got them right, so did the wonderfully detailed 1/200 Hogan and Gulliver products.

If anyone has an influence on Gaincorp, please also tell them to add the heat shield for the cannon on the starboard side, it is a prominent feature on UBKs and in the model it is only silver paint!

Pictures attached illustrate the serial numbering thing (30206 becomes 26 -NOT 06) and the shield, quite a prominent chunk of metal on the side of the cockpit/nose area.

[win_arc]

I received WW Su27 Ukranian last week. Compared it with my Gaincorp SU33 (Su27 SK) , i love both. The Gaincorp Su33 is heavy and thickness than WW. The details in the body of Gaincorp is bit better than WW, but WW better in painted. Both of the cockpit is not right, but WW is less than Gaincorp. Overall, in my opinion, i give the Gaincorp mark is 5 and WW is 4,5, but i loved both.

Here some pics compare between Gaincorp and WW:






The details in body:







The cockpit: