Hobby Master Keeps Clearing More Warbirds for Take Off
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USN Douglas A-1H Skyraider Attack Aircraft – VA-176 “Thunderbolts”, USS Intrepid (CV-11), 1966
Despite extensive shipping delays here in the North American market, Hobby Master announced yet another batch of new warbirds, this one purportedly set to arrive in July 2022. The “July” shipment contains a number of models that haven’t been made available for some time, including a Douglas A-1H Skyraider and a Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor. Its not apparent if these new models will actually arrive as advertised considering the huge logjam of ships still waiting to dock and be offloaded. At this point, July may be an optimistic forecast since a great many aircraft that were previously touted are taxiing onto the diecast tarmac awaiting their own clearance for takeoff. To be clear, the incessant delays aren’t the fault of either Hobby Master or our distributor, since the product is being made on time and can oftentimes be found in other parts of the world. The culprit, as has been pointed out by the media, is the current breakdown in the global supply chain, which has played havoc with the release schedule here in North America, If cargo ships are sitting idle for weeks on end and there aren’t enough truckers available to transport the containers from the ports to the distributors, two key bottlenecks that still haven’t been overcome, then the net result is incessant delays in being able to ship out product to retailers.
In any event, I’ll get off my soapbox and offer up the rundown of what the “July” roster entails:
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Boeing F-18A Hornet Strike Fighter – “Red 02”, VFA-127 “Cyclons”, NAS Lemoore, California, 1995 [Aggressor Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD “Flogger-K” Fighter – “Green 03”, Bagram, Afghanistan, July 1987Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale East German Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23ML “Flogger-K” Fighter – “Red 340”, Jagdfliegergeschwader 9 “Heinrich Rau”, Peenemunde-West, East Germany, 1990Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale German Lockheed F-104F Starfighter Interceptor – “BB+377”, Waffenschule Der Luftwaffe 10, 1961
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Lockheed F-104J Starfighter Interceptor – “TAC Meet”, 46-8587, 202nd Squadron, Nyutabaru AB, Japan, 1980Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 Multi-Role Fighter – RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands, 2015 Note: Two versions will be made available – one with a light weapons loadout and the other with a more robust loadoutHobby Master’s 1:72 scale JASDF McDonnell F-4EJ “Kai” Phantom II Fighter-Bomber – 501st Squadron, 2020 [Retirement Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM “Flanker-C” Fighter – “Blue 34”, “Russian Knights”, 2019Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor Air Dominance Fighter – 03-4046, 19th Fighter Squadron “Gamecocks”, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 2018 [Low-Vis Scheme]Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIc Fighter – No.43 Squadron, RAF Acklington, England, August 1942Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIc Fighter – Flt. Lt. Karel Kuttlelwasher, No.1 Squadron, RAF Tangmere, England, 1942Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIc Fighter – Squadron Leader James MacLachlan, No.1 Squadron, RAF Northold, England November 1941-June 1942
