[STARMAN 352ND]

P-61 BlackWidow...........

[flyXwire]

Speaking of floatplanes, I would love to see an Arado Ar 95 and Ar 196!

[Folgore]

Oi! That top one looks a bit dodgy, tho'...

[ZS-VAN]

Originally Posted by Folgore

Oi! That top one looks a bit dodgy, tho'...

Nice one Folgore! I reckon the floatplanes would be a little different and very cool. I got the floatplane Swordfish for that reason. The floatplane fighters would really be very cool though.

[stalag8611]

Epapazian, that's some wish list you've got there, pardner. Unfortunately, "if" is for children and most of us recognize that perhaps one or two on your "if only" list will ever get produced. I think you realize that also. What puzzles me when I read postings on this site is the outright contempt directed at IXO. I have a number of them in my collection, and I'm especially pleased with the Japanese issues: Grace, Tony, Frank, George and Oscar. You blow them off in your posting, but I'd bet that you don't own any of the ones I listed above. In addition, I think IXO did a good job with the Beaufighter. the DO-335 and the Bf-110. It'll be interesting to see how good a Bf-110 Hobby Master turns out. Yes, Im well aware of the digs aimed at IXO, who isn't, but I can also repeat, chapter and verse, complaints directed at every diecast producer.
So can you.

[Shamrock]

I would suggest the following aircraft because I feel that each of them have enough schemes in them commercially for any manufacturer to do. Another factor I feel is the ease of manufacture of different types/marks without huge cost in making small changes to the tooling and mould. At the end of the day it will come down to commercial reality no matter what we feel about our personal 'pet' model or scheme.

Great Britain: Beaufighter: Nightfighter, Coastal Command, Merlin engine, Torbeau Far East etc.

Germany: DO17/217: Bombers in Europe, Battle of Britain, Eastern Front, Nightfighters etc.

Russia: Yak 1/3/9: Plenty of scope for many schemes

[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by stalag8611

Epapazian, that's some wish list you've got there, pardner. Unfortunately, "if" is for children and most of us recognize that perhaps one or two on your "if only" list will ever get produced. I think you realize that also. What puzzles me when I read postings on this site is the outright contempt directed at IXO. I have a number of them in my collection, and I'm especially pleased with the Japanese issues: Grace, Tony, Frank, George and Oscar. You blow them off in your posting, but I'd bet that you don't own any of the ones I listed above. In addition, I think IXO did a good job with the Beaufighter. the DO-335 and the Bf-110. It'll be interesting to see how good a Bf-110 Hobby Master turns out. Yes, Im well aware of the digs aimed at IXO, who isn't, but I can also repeat, chapter and verse, complaints directed at every diecast producer.
So can you.

Actually, I own all of the IXO's you mentioned- in many cases in double and triplicate- as well as a lot of other IXO/Altaya and Atlas product. So my low regard for most of these models is born of many, many hours spent in reworking and redetailing them- often with satisfying results. However, I don't consider IXO to be a serious diecast manufacturer who cares even a small hoot about quality control. Rather, they have opportunistically reissued a lot of cheaply produced models based on molds designed for a magazine subscription promotion in Europe a number of years ago. In addition to the terrible state of their add-on parts ( antennae, main wheels, tailwheels, etc ) they take ridiculous shortcuts when it comes to national markings, lettering, color selection, and so on. Also they leave off key parts, such as the wing root guns in the FW-190D or the support struts for the tail assembly on the MS-406. I gather from various posts on other threads that some IXO buyers are reasonably happy with their Russian and Japanese models in particular. Which is fine by me. Still, I believe that the majority view- and I may be wrong on this- would opt for any Oscar, Yak-3, Tony, or IL-2M if it was made by Cogri, Dragon, Hobby Master, et. al. in preference to the same plane churned out by the IXO factory. I will agree, however, that all of the diecast manufacturers have quality and/or consistancy issues, but none are even close to IXO in this respect.

[stalag8611]

[flaps]

Gotta back this post up, I tried the Easy Models and in my opinion they are crap. I do like the IXO and thanks to them I have quite a few interesting models that look great to me, and when I show em to friends they are always amazed by the heft that IXO's have.

Flaps

Originally Posted by ZS-VAN

I absolutely agree. Much to my own surprise I find more IXOs in my collection than Hobby Master and Gemini Aces! If no-one else is prepared to make certain planes, I'll get them where I can. IXOs service is also outstanding. Way better than GA in my experience for example. I think you need to gauge what you think the majors are most likely to do and get the rest where available. I know plastic models are available but after having seen them in the flesh I still think IXO is a good option.

[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by stalag8611

While I have done my share of kit-building, I happen to like the heft and relative stability of diecast models. That doesn't mean that I have to be grateful when somebody like IXO comes along and cranks out a lot of badly done planes that nobody else will risk manufacturing. I could run down the IXO list plane by plane and detail their often needless shortcomings, but there's little point to such an exercise. I am very happy with my redone IXO Oscars, Tonys , Franks, Yak-3s, BF-110s, etc. and I understand all too well why manufacturers are fearful of trying to market such "profit-risking" product since I too dabbled at being a diecast manufacturer about ten years ago. As I noted in my earlier reply, purists like myself are often upset by the poor decisions made by Corgi, Dragon, etc. and, like you, I hate fiddly bits. But take a look at Dragon's fiddly bits and compare them to IXO's.It's no contest. I' glad you like your IXOs and can't fault your interest in obtaining a wider range of planes for your collection. Still, I can hardly wait to get the Hobby Master versions of the BF-110 and P-39 when they are released so I can "retire" my redone IXO renditions of the same planes.