Author Topic: Model Airplanes  (Read 3248 times)

Offline @Yehuda

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Model Airplanes
« on: May 03, 2017, 02:26:15 PM »
Looking for tips on starting a collection. I understand you want to have them all the same scale, but for the several I have looked at, I can't find them at the same scale. Some only come in 1:400, some only 1:200 and one I can only find in 1:130... Any ideas? Suggestions where to buy? etc.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2018, 07:52:04 AM »
Bump anyone else collect?

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2018, 09:14:42 AM »
I've thought about starting a collection of all the planes that I've flown F on but it seemed really hard when I looked briefly, if anyone has a good place to buy these I'd be interested to know where that is.
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Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2018, 09:38:55 AM »
I have a collection of about 30 planes both in 1:200 and 1:400 scale. There are different types of model planes (plastic resin and die cast), and within each type, certain manufactures have better molds for certain aircraft.

What information in particular are you looking for?
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2018, 09:48:39 AM »
I have a collection of about 30 planes both in 1:200 and 1:400 scale. There are different types of model planes (plastic resin and die cast), and within each type, certain manufactures have better molds for certain aircraft.

What information in particular are you looking for?
Where do you buy them?
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2018, 10:18:04 AM »
Where do you buy them?

There a few places:

ebay.com - I use ebay for most of my purchases
www.flyingmule.com - This guy has a large selection even if his site isn't the easiest to navigate, but he does have great customer service.
https://geminijets.com - This is the manufacture of the largest selection of die-cast models. Their models are very god and I have quite a lot of them (although their 777-300 mold is not the best).
http://www.wafflecollectibles.com - Avoid this guy. Not a pleasant individual to deal with if there are issues. Swearing at me in emails and complaining that since he isn't as big as Amazon, it's my fault etc...
"An elephant for a quarter, is only a good deal if you need an elephant and have a quarter”

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2018, 10:19:28 AM »
There a few places:

ebay.com - I use ebay for most of my purchases
www.flyingmule.com - This guy has a large selection even if his site isn't the easiest to navigate, but he does have great customer service.
https://geminijets.com - This is the manufacture of the largest selection of die-cast models. Their models are very god and I have quite a lot of them (although their 777-300 mold is not the best).
http://www.wafflecollectibles.com - Avoid this guy. Not a pleasant individual to deal with if there are issues. Swearing at me in emails and complaining that since he isn't as big as Amazon, it's my fault etc...
Awesome, thanks!
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Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2018, 10:24:02 AM »
Awesome, thanks!

Any time!

I'll be glad to help with any other questions you may have!
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Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2018, 10:49:57 AM »
My original concern was that I wanted my planes to be about the same scale. I since learned that would be hard especially considering I wanted a SW model, and bought the one that's 1:130 scale, a size most other plane don't come in. But, I figured I'd get 1/200 for the rest as that is somewhat close in scale. I'm also not looking for the fancy ones that will cost me $100+ but rather have been looking at ones in the $30-60 range. I hadn't seen some of those sites you linked, so I will check there too!

The next specific plane I'm looking for is CX B777 1:200, which I haven't found for less than $130 even on eBay. The 1:400 seems to be in my price range although they don't seem to come with stands. Do you think I'm being crazy with trying to have a collection in the same size? Are the 1:200s usually much more expensive?

Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2018, 11:28:50 AM »
My original concern was that I wanted my planes to be about the same scale. I since learned that would be hard especially considering I wanted a SW model, and bought the one that's 1:130 scale, a size most other plane don't come in. But, I figured I'd get 1/200 for the rest as that is somewhat close in scale. I'm also not looking for the fancy ones that will cost me $100+ but rather have been looking at ones in the $30-60 range. I hadn't seen some of those sites you linked, so I will check there too!

The next specific plane I'm looking for is CX B777 1:200, which I haven't found for less than $130 even on eBay. The 1:400 seems to be in my price range although they don't seem to come with stands. Do you think I'm being crazy with trying to have a collection in the same size? Are the 1:200s usually much more expensive?

Wow! That's a lot!

You can get 1:200 for around $30-60, but they will be the plastic snap types (SkyMarks Models) and they come with stands.

As far as die-cast models come, I'm afraid $100+ is standard price for them! (And the rarer the model, the more it will cost!). The Gemini Jets do not come with stands and need to be purchased separately. I did buy a few and was not overly thrilled with them, so now do not use stands on my die-cast 1:200 models. In general,. you'll be able to get 1:400 die-cast (Gemini Jets) for $30-60.

I have 2 different parts to my collection; 1:200 and 1:400. All my 1:400 are Sky Marks plastic, and my 1:200 are Gemini Jets die-cast, so having a two-sized collection is not crazy at all. Just bear in mind that as your collection builds, it'll start taking up quite a bit of "real estate" on your bookshelf.

1:130 is not a very common size so don't recommend starting your collection with that size.
"An elephant for a quarter, is only a good deal if you need an elephant and have a quarter”

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2018, 12:16:35 PM »
Wow! That's a lot!

You can get 1:200 for around $30-60, but they will be the plastic snap types (SkyMarks Models) and they come with stands.

As far as die-cast models come, I'm afraid $100+ is standard price for them! (And the rarer the model, the more it will cost!). The Gemini Jets do not come with stands and need to be purchased separately. I did buy a few and was not overly thrilled with them, so now do not use stands on my die-cast 1:200 models. In general,. you'll be able to get 1:400 die-cast (Gemini Jets) for $30-60.

I have 2 different parts to my collection; 1:200 and 1:400. All my 1:400 are Sky Marks plastic, and my 1:200 are Gemini Jets die-cast, so having a two-sized collection is not crazy at all. Just bear in mind that as your collection builds, it'll start taking up quite a bit of "real estate" on your bookshelf.

1:130 is not a very common size so don't recommend starting your collection with that size.
Hehe, sorry, but thanks for the details!

This is the plane I started with (still the only one I have) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XBERVAO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That's SW 1/130 Skymarks. Seems to be plastic, although it's quite sturdy - I'm surprised it's not metal. Either way, then Skymarks plastic is fine for me! I only have about 5 planes on my wishlist right now, so ideally I'd keep them all the same size, or as close to it as possible since I already have the weirdly-sized SW plane.

Can you help me look for a CX 777 in 1:200? I haven't found any in the range you mentioned even if looking at Skymarks.

Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2018, 02:25:46 PM »
Hehe, sorry, but thanks for the details!

This is the plane I started with (still the only one I have) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XBERVAO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That's SW 1/130 Skymarks. Seems to be plastic, although it's quite sturdy - I'm surprised it's not metal. Either way, then Skymarks plastic is fine for me! I only have about 5 planes on my wishlist right now, so ideally I'd keep them all the same size, or as close to it as possible since I already have the weirdly-sized SW plane.

Can you help me look for a CX 777 in 1:200? I haven't found any in the range you mentioned even if looking at Skymarks.
I have quite a few Skymarks models and, yes, they are of decent quality. I actually don’t own any 737’s, but it’d seem that Skymarks only make them in a 1:130 scale (not very good if you want your entire collection the same).

I just did some searching and can’t seem to find any CX 77W’s in 1:200/Skymarks (I guess they don’t make it). There is a company called JC Wings who make a CX 77W but:

1.   Their 1:200 model is >$200 (on ebay)!

-and-

2.   Their molds are not that good on the 777 (I actually bought this model and ended up returning it). I made an error earlier, Gemini have good molds, JC Wings don’t.
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Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2018, 03:03:25 PM »
I have quite a few Skymarks models and, yes, they are of decent quality. I actually don’t own any 737’s, but it’d seem that Skymarks only make them in a 1:130 scale (not very good if you want your entire collection the same).

I just did some searching and can’t seem to find any CX 77W’s in 1:200/Skymarks (I guess they don’t make it). There is a company called JC Wings who make a CX 77W but:

1.   Their 1:200 model is >$200 (on ebay)!

-and-

2.   Their molds are not that good on the 777 (I actually bought this model and ended up returning it). I made an error earlier, Gemini have good molds, JC Wings don’t.
Thanks a lot! Very interesting. I think I may hold off for now on CX. Even the 1:400s are out of my price range (and I don't see any Gemini, mostly just JC Wings). Will go for other airlines I want instead. Maybe Skymarks will make CX one day :) Looks like Skymarks has a few other planes in the 1:150 range, which is close enough to my SW 1:130!

Offline ChaimMoskowitz

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #13 on: November 26, 2018, 04:35:22 PM »
Do you put these together or are they preassembled?
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Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #14 on: November 26, 2018, 04:45:19 PM »
Do you put these together or are they preassembled?
The plastic Skymarks piece together but the die-cast Gemini Jets come as a whole unit.
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Offline good sam

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #16 on: November 29, 2018, 09:02:18 AM »
I have a collection of about 30 planes both in 1:200 and 1:400 scale. There are different types of model planes (plastic resin and die cast), and within each type, certain manufactures have better molds for certain aircraft.

What information in particular are you looking for?
Do you have any pictures of your collection?
If you don't care why would you comment?
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Offline Mount Scopus

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Re: Model Airplanes
« Reply #17 on: December 02, 2018, 01:16:23 PM »
Do you have any pictures of your collection?

Here are pictures of a few of my models. I made the fatal error of taking them to work and most of them got broken and/or damaged (I'm slowly rebuilding my collection and keeping it far away from co-workers and children!).

My full collection is as follows:

Gemini die-cast 1:400
Etihad A380
British Airways A380
Qantas A380
British Airways (Landor livery) 747-400
Virgin Atlantic 787-9
Qatar A350-900
Delta A350-900
Delta 757-200
Turkish 777-300
Air New Zealand 777-300
Air Canada 777-300
KLM MD-11
Pan-AM 707

Skymarks (plastic) 1:200
EL-AL 747-400
Qantas 747-400
Singapore Airlines 747-400
Air Canada 777-300
Turkish 777-300
British Airway 777-300
Emirates A380
Qantas A380
Hawaiian A330-200
Virgin Atlantic A340-600
United 737-800
United 787-8


Gemini Jets - British Airways (Landor livery) 747-400


Gemini Jets - Virgin Atlantic 787-9


Gemini Jets - Delta Air Lines A350-900


Gemini Jets - Eithad A380


Gemini Jets - Qantas A380


Gemini Jets - British Airways A380 (with Turkish Airlines 777-300 in the background)


Gemini Jets - Pan-Am 707 (with Skymarks Air Canada 777-300 in the background)
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