Review 21st Century Toys 1/32nd scale aircraft kits
I had never heard of this company before picking up two kits at Wal-Mart. They may look at first glance like a snap-together kit, but at anything but. They do have screws to hold the fuselage and wings together, but they are not snap-together. If I were to buy a kit for a young modeler starting out I would buy one of these. The parts are well marked, packaged and not so small or numerous as to daunt a young modeler starting. Yet, as a non-airplane kind of guy they are well made enough to enjoy putting them together and painting.
I have put together the Macchi C.202 Folgore to the point of priming it. The fit, for a $10 model was satisfactory. I had to fill the screw holes, but that was about it. The interior of the cockpit is well detailed and the pilot pre-painted. Note that non-figure painters out there. As my workshop is currently in a state of complete disorder as a result of a remodel, I have not finished it, but it is an OK kite.
I got two more kits, the 109 and the Corsair at Wal-Mart the other day and I have to say they look a lot like the Folgore: well molded and free of flash. The plastic is fairly thick and heavy, but that lends itself to a kit this size. In this case the pilot is not painted, but the cockpit interior looks pretty good. The panel lines look a little thick, but then again, you can't have everything.
There are decals for three different aircraft and good instructions.
The aircraft I know about are:
BF-109F-2/F-4 Corsair F4U-1 A/D Macchi C.202 Folgore A6M2 Zero Type 21 JU-87B/R Stuka
The only one I do not have is the Stuka. The smaller aircraft get more difficult for me to work on all the time, so I have not tried any for a while, but these larger and very reasonably prices kits are very easy to work on and come out looking like, well, airplanes. Some may quibble about inaccuracies and such, but the bottom like is that these appear to be fairly good representations of the subjects. The screws put me off at first, but after assembling one I can appreciate the use of screws as it makes for a very solid build. You still need lots of good old model glue.
I would love to hear others' experiences with this new entry into the modeling world.
Lance Mertz Ketchikan, Alaska