Back when we first started out well over twenty years ago, we stocked a line of construction vehicles produced by Joal. I believe they have since went the way of the Dodo bird but I always thought there was a natural cross over from military-related products to construction vehicles, probably because many of the key vehicles found in both realms use tracks as a means of getting around in rough terrain. That said, I decided to begin stocking a line of construction vehicles produced by Diecast Masters, who many see as the leader in construction vehicle replicas. The line is quite extensive, focusing primarily on Caterpillar heavy equipment, but with our upcoming move to Florida, I will likely start to list each new item over the next couple of weeks then take delivery once we have settled in to our new location. Likewise, we will also carry their range of long haul cargo trucks, many of which are based upon some celebrated automotive names such as Kenworth and Peterbilt.
This expansion doesn’t mean we are straying away from our core military business. Far from it. Its just that with the global supply chain still in a bit of flux, and several manufacturers struggling to get finished product out the door, now seemed to be the time to look at new ways to grow our business by addressing certain natural synergies within the marketplace. Anyway, just thought I’d give you a heads-up regarding how we plan to add to our product portfolio in the months ahead and bring in some new customers who may be searching for a reliable dealer with over two decades in the business.
Its no secret there are give-and-take relationships at every level of the diecast industry, from retailers vying with one another for the lion’s share of the consumer market, to distributors looking to lock up the selling rights to certain modelmakers. And, of course, there are the manufacturers, who oftentimes do their utmost to undercut their perceived competition by offering those subjects collectors are seeking, in some instances flagrantly using every trick in the book to beat their competition to market.
Take the MiG-31 “Foxhound” interceptor as an example, a high-flying weapons platform that was developed by the famed Mikoyan Gurevich design bureau during the height of the Cold War in an effort to prevent the super speedy SR-71 from making reconnaissance overflights miles above the Russian heartland. For some time, Calibre Wings has indicated plans to build and sell a 1:72 scale replica of the Foxhound, recently announcing they would be using a crowdfunding source to secure the necessary funds to first build the mold then make 800 examples of the model. In fact, an early build was recently presented to collectors through manufacturer-created videos and via Facebook, with the claim that the model would be completed and shipped out to early bird purchasers some time in 2023.
Today, Hobby Master, looking to beat Calibre Wings to the punch, indicated that they too were going to make a model of the MiG-31, only there’s would be released in early 2023, barring any issues with the global supply chain. Thus far, apart from the image shown above, little else is known about the Hobby Master offering, although its more than likely going to carry a MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) designed to undercut the Calibre Wings version. Presently, anyone that pre-orders the Calibre Wings MiG through Kickstarter, will be able to purchase it for around $150 plus shipping, which Calibre Wings estimates will cost a further $60 to dispatch worldwide via an as yet unnamed courier service. If, on the other hand, collectors wait until the finished build is available, then they’re being asked to cough up $250 plus shipping, a hefty price tag considering where other comparable jet aircraft are currently pegged.
On a personal level, I’m not going to get involved in the issues that go along with bitter disputes between two manufacturers — that’s something they have to work out between themselves and hopefully to everyone’s satisfaction. We sell both lines and have developed strong working relationships with the principals at both companies. That’s how things are done in the industry and as one of its elder statesmen (I turn 66 this year if the wifey permits), would like to see both manufacturers figure out how they can prosper by offering the same model, each released within the same calendar year. We can only presume the Calibre Wings version will be more detailed, perhaps including a removable engine much like their F-16. Anyway, as the hobby continues to expand, with more and more new collectors joining the fray, it would be nice to presume that these two modelmakers can eventually put aside their differences and remember that at the end of the day they both serve the same audience who must then decide which models they would prefer to collect and where they want to spend their hard-earned cash.
Over the years, Hobby Master has chosen some interesting schemes for several of their aircraft models, occasionally taking up the challenge some collectors have made. While great for the discriminating collector, as a dealer, some times we’re left scratching our heads wondering if these eclectic liveries will sell and sell well, even when it adorns one of their best selling models.
Earlier today, Hobby Master picked up the latest gauntlet tossed down before them and announced plans to replicate “Toxic Death” – a F-117A stealth fighter that was stripped of its original blackened paint scheme only to bear what can best be described as graffiti before it was flown to its final resting place at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Frankly, we’re not sure how collectors are going to react to this one, unless, of course, they simply must own every version of Hobby Master’s long-running series of F-117 Nighthawks. Anyway, we’ve listed it on our web site, along with all of the other models they recently announced that are expected in February 2023. Lets see what everyone thinks about their most recent edgiest model.
Here now the rest of the lineup scheduled for February 2023:
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US M48A3 Patton Medium Tank with Reliability Improved Selected Equipment (RISE) IR/White Light Spotlight – “Zig Zag Men”, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, Landing Zone Schueller, Vietnam, 1971
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USMC M48A3 Patton Medium Tank with Reliability Improved Selected Equipment (RISE) IR/White Light Spotlight – “Death”, C Company, 1st Marine Tank Battalion, Vietnam, 1970
Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale USMC Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair Fighter – “White 18”, VMF-323 “Death Rattlers”, USS Sicily (CVE-118), 1951Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF General Dynamics F-16C Viper Fighter – 86-0272, 64th Aggressor Squadron “Aggressors”, 57th Wing, Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2017 [Aggressor Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II Ground Attack Aircraft – “75th Anniversary P-47 Scheme” 78-0618, 190th Fighter Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, May 2021 [Anniversary Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale French Dassault Rafale M Multirole Aircraft – 12 EF, Libya, 2011Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale German Panavia GR. Mk. 1 Tornado ECR All-Weather Bomber – Jagdbombergeschwader 32, Piacenza San Damiano, 1999Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF Boeing F-15C Eagle Multi-Role Fighter – “75th Anniversary of the 173rd Fighter Wing Scheme”, Oregon Air National Guard, Kingsley Field, Oregon, 2020 [Anniversary Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF Boeing F-15C Eagle Multi-Role Fighter – 85-0114, 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Eglin AFB, Florida, 1991 [Low-Vis Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet Strike Fighter – 166776, VFA-31 “Tomcatters”, USS USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), 2011Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Grumman F-14A Tomcat Fleet Defense Fighter – 162692, VF-84 “Jolly Rogers”, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), August 1991Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Russian Sukhoi Su-35S “Flanker-E” Multirole Fighter – “Blue 25”, 22nd IAP, 303rd DPVO, 11th Air Army, Khabarovsk, Russia, 2020sHobby Master’s 1:72 scale Egyptian Sukhoi Su-35S “Flanker-E” Multirole Fighter – “Black 9123”, August 2020 [Notional Scheme]
DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale Soviet T-34/76 Medium Tank – 1942
Looking to shore up their armored arsenal, DeAgostini announced the imminent arrival of seven more 1:43 scale tanks to its armored collection. Like its predecessors, these huge beasts are heavy in the hand and pack lots of wallop for the price, each representing some of the most iconic vehicles to arise from the Second World War. Here’s what you can expect to show up later this month:
DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale Soviet Su-122 Assault Gun – Winter 1943DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale Soviet Su-122 Assault Gun – “Glory to Our Tankers!,” Summer 1943DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale French Char B1bis Heavy Tank – Battle of France, Spring 1940DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale British Valentine Mk. III Infantry Tank – “Harry I,” 8th Royal Tank Regiment, Libya, 1941DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale British Churchill Mk. VII Infantry Tank – “Briton,” 107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (King’s Own), 34th Tank Brigade, 1945DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale Czechoslovak Cromwell Mk. VIII Tank – 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade, Dunkirk, December 1944DeAgostini’s 1:43 scale US M4A3 Sherman Medium Tank – Creighton Abrams’ “Thunderbolt IV”, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, Bastogne, Belgium, December 1944
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USMC M60A1 Patton Medium Tank with Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) – “Beirut Payback”, 1st Marine Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Kuwait, 1991
While several model makers still seem to be struggling to get out new product, Hobby Master shows no signs of abating, announcing their latest bevy of military items for an early 2023 roll out. Of note are two 1:72 scale M60A1 Patton tanks, both drawn from the epic Operation Desert Storm of 1991. Frankly, we had written off Hobby Master as far as military vehicles goes, since they hadn’t announced anything new for the better part of two years. Hopefully, this marks a new beginning for the company, who had been spending the better part of their time in the diecast aircraft realm, predominantly 1:72 scale jets. I’d like to also point out that they’ll be releasing a new 1:200 scale Space Shuttle, as well as a pair of 1:72 Huey helicopters, two sectors they seemed to have all but abandoned of late. Now if we could only convince them to look at other areas of the military diecast market, cough, 1:32/35 scale military vehicles, then we’d really be excited, but a guy can dream can’t he?
That said, lets get to the rest of the releases you can look forward to seeing this coming January.
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USMC M60A1 Patton Medium Tank with Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) – “Wicked Bitch”, 3rd Marine Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Kuwait, 1991Hobby Master’s 1:200 NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise – Edwards AFB, California, 1977Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Army Bell UH-1C Huey Helicopter – “Easy Rider”, 174th Assault Helicopter Company “Dolphins and Sharks”, 1970sHobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Army Bell UH-1B Huey Helicopter – 57th Medical Detachment, 1960sHobby Master’s 1:72 scale USMC Boeing Harrier II AV-8B Jump Jet – BuNo 165421, VMA-214 “Black Sheep”, Afghanistan, November 2009Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Israeli McDonnell F-4E Phantom II (“Kurnass”) Fighter-Bomber – 201 Squadron “The One”, Tel Nof Air Base, Israel, 1974Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX Fighter – Captain W. Duncan-Smith, 323 Wing, August 1944Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX Fighter – PT879, “Russian Spitfire”, Biggin Hill, England, 2020Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale USMC Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair Fighter – “White 18”, VMF-323 “Death Rattlers”, USS Sicily (CVE-118), 1951Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Chinese PLAAF Shenyang J-11BG “Flanker B+” Multirole Fighter – South China Sea, 2022Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet Strike Fighter – 166608, VFA-143 “Pukin Dogs”, CAG, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), September 20th, 2014Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet Strike Fighter – 166776, VFA-31 “Tomcatters”, USS USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), 2011Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Russian Sukhoi Su-57E “Felon” Stealth Fighter – “Blue 054”, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia, January 2013Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USN Lockheed-Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter – 168842, VX-9 “Vampires”, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, 2018 [Low-Vis Scheme]
To my knowledge, Dragon still has no official distribution arm in North America after they closed up their self-titled shop back in 2021. Candidly, its hard to imagine that a large model maker such as Dragon, who was once the undisputed king of the 1:72 scale pre-assembled market, has pulled out of what has to be their most lucrative market but there you have it folks. Stranger things have happened. Its entirely possible they could be looking to re-establish themselves by forming a partnership with another modelmaking entity but until that time, retailers such as ourselves, are being asked to order direct from their Chinese factory, which, I might add, is too costly and time consuming to undertake.
Happily, they do seem intent to keep their toe in the diecast water by churning out several new vehicles under their Neo Armor banner. While it remains to be seen if these vehicles will ever make it to our shores within a reasonable time frame, we’re holding out hope that someone will eventually step forward and pick up the gauntlet, making these and anything else they plan to produce once again available to the Noth American collector. Anyway, here’s a quick pictorial update as to what’s purportedly being made for 2022.
While war continues to rage in Ukraine, modelmakers have seized the day, so-to-speak, by replicating – in scale form – many of the combat systems continuously being shown to them on late night TV. We’ve already discussed the litany of aircraft expected by such stalwarts as Hobby Master and JC Wings, but now comes word that Panzerkampf plans to throw its hat into the ring with several interesting ground vehicles. The first vehicle expected to see the light of day is the Russian-built Pantsir (“Carapace”) air defense system, a state-of-the-art family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems that has seen limited use in Ukraine largely because of the relative size of the Ukrainian Air Force vis a vis the Russian Air Force. The Pantsir-S1 was designed to provide point air defense of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs; and to provide additional protection to air defense units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.
After seeing the size of this model on Facebook, we’ve temporarily taken it down for pre-order purposes until we get a more realistic idea as to its final cost. We hope to re-list it, along with photos for each of the six iterations planned, in the weeks ahead.
JC Wings 1:72 scale Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker” – 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade, 2016
In a move that comes as no surprise to anyone, be it wily collectors or the eager trade, JC Wings has decided to offer yet another model based upon an aircraft that has taken part in the current Russo-Ukrainian Conflict. Previously they had offered a MiG 29 in a digitized winter camouflage scheme, which was released just prior to the start of the invasion. Naturally, these sold out almost immediately and we’re certain another version will soon make its way onto their release schedule. In the mean time, they have just unveiled a Su-27 in a scintillating horizon blue paint scheme, which will no doubt become another heavily sought after model upon release. The balance of their latest military hardware has now been posted to our site.
JC Wings 1:72 scale German Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-4 Fighter – Major Siegfried Schnell, Jagdgeschwader 2, France, 194JC Wings 1:72 scale Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero Fighter – Warrant Officer Tetsuzo Iwamoto, 253rd Kokutai, 1944JC Wings 1:72 scale USMC Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft – Electronic Attack Squadron 2 (VMAQ-2) “Death Jesters”, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, North Carolina, 2019JC Wings 1:72 scale USAF General Dynamics F-16C Viper Fighter – 182nd Fighter Squadron, 149th Fighter Wing, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, “70th Anniversary”, 2017 [Anniversary Scheme]JC Wings 1:72 scale US Navy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet Strike Fighter – VFA-103 “Jolly Rogers,” USS Eisenhower (CVN-69), 2016JC Wings 1:72 scale US Navy Grumman F-14B Tomcat Fleet Defense Fighter – VF-11 “Red Rippers”, USS George Washington (CVN-73), 2005
…or a weathered appearance? You may have the option to get both.
Ordinarily, Panzerkampf plays it cool on social media, occasionally talking up some of their latest projects one at a time and oftentimes days if not weeks apart. That strategy changed completely this past weekend when they announced a bevy of new products, many of which were well along in the build process based upon photos shown. They began their dog-and-pony show with a couple of Russian-built MiG 19s fighters, both of which were clad in operational schemes that got many a fan jealous with envy. Also unveiled were some of their upcoming M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, this time around sporting the TUSK II Survival Kit. Interestingly, there’s a good chance that Panzerkampf, for the first time, will be offering their military vehicles in both factory fresh as well as weathered, battle hardened paint schemes, meaning lots more to choose from depending upon how you plan to display them.
Lastly, two new military vehicles were added to their recently unveiled Legion line of budget-inspired vehicles – a German Marder Ausf. H anti-tank gun and a Hetzer tank destroyer. Both looked sharp and it appears as if even more vehicles will be announced in the not-too-distant future.
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale French Dassault Rafale C Multirole Aircraft – 118 EF, “Arctic Tiger”, NATO Tiger Meet 2012
Showing no signs of abating, Hobby Master churned out yet another flock of warbirds all scheduled to take off this December. Among the new releases is their first ever french-built Dassault Rafale fighter, clad in a wintry white scheme indicative of taking part in a NATO led Tiger Meet competition conducted in the far north. Here now, the rest of the aircraft you can expect to see under the Christmas tree barring any logistical issues.
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF Convair F-106A Delta Dart Interceptor – 90053, 87th Fighter Interceptor Squadron “Red Bulls”, Sawyer AFB, Michigan, 1970sHobby Master’s 1:72 scale RAF Panavia GR. Mk. 1A Tornado IDS All-Weather Bomber – ZA592, No.13 Squadron, RAF Marham, England, 1995Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF General Dynamics F-16C Viper Fighter – 86-0333, 119th Fighter Squadron, 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 2016 [Low Vis Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF General Dynamics F-16CG Block 40 Viper Fighter – 89-2035, Commander of the 555th Fighter Squadron, 2003-2004 [Low Vis Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USN Boeing F/A-18C Hornet Strike Fighter – VFA-81 “Sunliners,” USS Saratoga (CV-60), January 1991 [Low Vis Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Lockheed S-3B Viking Anti-Submarine Aircraft – 159390, CAG VS-30 “Diamondcutters”, USS George Washington (CVN-73), 2005Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Lockheed S-3B Viking Anti-Submarine Aircraft – “VS-21 “Fighting Redtails”, USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), January 2005 [Decommissioning Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Russian Sukhoi Su-34 “Fullback” Strike Fighter – “Red 24”, Ukraine, March 2022Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF North American Mustang Mk. III Fighter – Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, No.315 “City of Deblin” Squadron, Southwest England, 1944Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale USAAF North American P-51B Mustang Fighter – Lt. Bill Overstreet, “Berlin Express”, 363rd Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, Leiston, England, 1944
