With a lot of people winding down from collecting, I thought it would be interesting to hear what themes collectors ended up with after so many years. It can range from a wide variety to just one specific theme or maybe anything and everything.
I'll break it down in two categories, major themes and minor themes. I classify a minor theme to be less then five models, I chose five as that's probably how much one Detolf display shelf could display neatly.
Also what do you wish you had more of and would start if you could choose again.
Heres what I've collected over the years:
Major Themes
PLAAF
ROCAF
JASDF
IJNAS/AAS
Ukrainian
Soviet Union (WWII & Post WWII) / RuAF
Middle East (Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian)
WWII RAF
WWII Luftwaffe
WWII USAAF
WWII USN
WWII 1/48 (Any Nation)
USAF (Vietnam War, Desert Storm & some general models)
USN
Korean War (All Nations)
RAAF (WWII and Modern)
German & Soviet Armour (Mostly 1/72 scale)
Airliners (1/200 & some 1/400)
Minor Themes
North Korea
North Vietnamese
Indian
RSAF
Polish
Czech
Israeli
RAF Post WWII
RCAF Post WWII
Themes like Polish and Czech were stunted by issues with accuracy. One theme I regret not getting more of when I had the chance is Israeli.
JASDF
F-15E Strike Eagles
Vietnam USAF/US Navy
Middle East
Turkish/Hellenic
F-14 Tomcats
Luftwaffe
RAF (Modern)
Pakistan Air Force
Sukhoi Various
French Air Force/Navy
USAF SR-71/B-2/B-52/F-111
Mainly focused on post-WW2 themes, except japanese
Major themes :
- JASDF
- Israeli Air Force
- Phantom II from US Navy and Marines Corps
- French Air Force
- Russian stuff from russia and eastern europe and few arabics, i would like to see DDR theme growing up...
- Su-27-30-33-35 family
- japanese WW2
- Hellenic Air Force
- Turkish Air Force (being becoming major theme, because only 3 in stock now)
Minor Themes :
- Ukrainian Air Force... but i hope to see growing up... with a mig-25 for example.
- Argentina Air Force (falklands war)
Wished themes :
- Indian Air Force : no planes for now, but i'm waiting operationnal camo for Su-30, mig-21, mig-29, mirage 2000, etc...
Last edited by cheesecake; 05-22-2019 at 08:43 AM.
Nice, I'm starting to see a few themes that are common.
Aircraft specific themes are also very cool
I'm hoping that HM do a Ukrainian MiG-25 but I understand that it's not one thats gonna fly off the shelves, Ukrainian MiG-29s on the otherhand, virtually gold.
Indian airforce hasn't gotten much attention, just a Corgi MiG-21 and Witty MiG-29 but I'm hopping HM add a few more like the ones you listed.
I'm currently interested in the Turkish F-16 HM did a number of years ago, really surprised a lot of dealers still have it.
As for me i collect anything that has USAF printed on it period. I'm also a big fan of the U.S Marines, so i try to collect or have in my collection all the military birds of that branch of the United States Armed Forces.. i also love & collect many U.S, British & German fighters & bombers of the second World War mostly in 1:72.. my Minor themes are mostly Middle Eastern Air Forces & Israeli as well..
Note: I'm still waiting for a U.S Marine F-4 Phantom from Air Commander..
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nice thread i am relatively new to this world but those are the themes i am going for atm :
Soviet Union/ RuAF jet era only (for now)
warsaw pact ( soviet era models ofc, some is quite difficult to find too)
Middle East (Syrian, Iraq mostly, not yet focused on egypt or israel, is there any nice model out there?)
USAAF (jet era)
USN (jet era + the skyraider i suppose)
Vietnam War (both sides)
and two aircraft specific themes, the F5 and the f104
also, any 1/72 AMI jet (not much there really....)
Thank you. I must say, I have been thinking about those particular aircraft in that scale. Space is one of the deterrents though....
Come on.... do it
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheesecake
you forgot the indian Su-30 from JC Wings... the one with flag all over the plane.
Nice, but i would prefer an operationnal camo.
oops yeah how could I forget that scheme The Corgi Fishbed is from the Indo-Pakistani War.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theo78
warsaw pact ( soviet era models ofc, some is quite difficult to find too)
Middle East (Syrian, Iraq mostly, not yet focused on egypt or israel, is there any nice model out there?)
There really hasn't been many Warsaw Pact Cold War era models released, even the Floggers are post Cold War. There are a few Czech releases but in bare metal. And I am surprised not to see a Hungarian camo Flogger and Fishbed or a Romanian camo Fishbed.
The first Egyptian MiG-21 is very good, one of HMs best Fishbeds. There is also a MiG-15 which is rather basic but it's nice. The last MiG-21 made was really bad. I'd like to see HM do a colourful camo MiG-17 and a F-16 with the orange recognition markings.
Century Series fighters
USAF Museum aircraft
Ohio ANG/Reserve
Modern jet fighters
WWII fighters
WWII bombers
Minor Themes:
RAF Desert Storm jets
Pearl Harbor aircraft
Aircraft from "The Final Countdown" movie - USS Nimitz circa 1979
Swedish fighters
French fighters, but like finding hen's teeth and not go broke doing so.
PLAAF
Polish Air Force
Ukrainian AF
SU-30's and 27's from diff countries. so these by airframe I guess.
MiG 29's that catch my eye.
Adding a few Mirages in diecast and plastic as they release them or I buy at Model Shows.
The Stingers have great artwork on the tail, for sure! We used to have the 178th FW, 162nd FS with F-16's stationed in Springfield near Wright Patt. Wright Patt has C-17's but can become a temporary Fighter Town whenever there's an evacuation of bases due to an approaching hurricane.
Now that's a theme you don't see come up too often. The Viggen looks really cool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by plane737
MiG 29's that catch my eye.
I knew you'd be happy about that I wanted to start a MiG-23 airframe theme, that wasn't to be, was kinda going to with HM Flankers but that was another disappointment, hopefully third time lucky, I can collect a bunch of MiG-29s, I kind of prefer it as I can display roughly 12-14 of those bad boys on my shelves compared to 6-7 flankers.
My personal fav F-16 scheme is the Tusla Vipers, I have the Dragon version, surprised HM never did it as they went to the Middle East and heck, if Calibre did it, I might even cough up and buy it.
I collect 1:200 scale and have a few USAF must-haves for me.
USAF Stealth Technology
Hogan SR-71 Blackbird Reconnaissance Jet
Hogan F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter
Herpa B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber (Spirit of New York)
I also have a large collection of Deregulation-Era commercial airliners, both North American and abroad.
Tony, I gotta say.. our collections or at least aspirations are probably really similar. I have a handful of 1:200 military too - one Blackbird (looking for more), a B-52, B-2, C-47, both Top Gun F-14, F-18 salty dog, the Mitsubishi Zero two pack, looking for anything March and Edwards AFB C-17, KC-135.
I have way too many commercial airliners, and would love more 1:200 military options, Especially WWII everything. 1:72 is gonna open up a whole other can of worms...I’m scared
I don't know that I have ever really focused on a theme per se, but looking at my collection I notice some trends.
- A lot of 1:72 Vietnam era planes - almost all U.S.
- Several 1:72 WWII, both U.S. and Axis
- A nice little section of WWI from Corgi (7 models)
- A variety of 1:200 Bombers, Cargo and Specialty planes
If I had the room I would add more of the 1960's & 1970's U.S. jets I don't have.
If I had the room I would add more of the 1960's & 1970's U.S. jets I don't have.
I almost considered making this a major theme. Anything with the big U.S. AIR FORCE titles on it. I got the extremely well made "Cape Cod" F-106 Delta Dart to start off with and then a F-101 Voodoo and was hoping Falcon Models would make a few more retro jets before they folded. I gave up after that.
I almost considered making this a major theme. Anything with the big U.S. AIR FORCE titles on it. I got the extremely well made "Cape Cod" F-106 Delta Dart to start off with and then a F-101 Voodoo and was hoping Falcon Models would make a few more retro jets before they folded. I gave up after that.
Any info about HM might be doing a one-seater F-101 / RF-101 one day?
Any info about HM might be doing a one-seater F-101 / RF-101 one day?
No idea, never did bother to ask. Awhile ago William hinted that their US moulds were coming to an end, that's just before HM went full on Red Star crazy so I don't think that mould is going to get a retooling. There hasn't been much done with the century series moulds for awhile.
The F105F/G is going to happen in the short term. William has indicated that it will be a new tooling and not mod on the current single seater tooling.
__________________
"The deliberately planned fighter sweep went just as we'd hoped. The MiGs came up. The MiGs were aggressive. We tangled. They lost." BRIG Robin Olds.
As for my themes. I pretty much have every Campaign in WW2 and most major commands represented as themes in 1:72 and often in 1:48. WW2 are my favourite themes.
Korean War and Vietnam War both have extensive themes. I have 50s and 60s, 70 and 80s, 90s and post 90s to 2000s schemes for the RAF and USAF, including an ODS theme.
I have broken down Australian stuff in multiple themes. It’s actually surprising how much Australian stuff there is. Although I have a heap of code 3s to make it look really complete.
I have a post war, JASDF, IAF, Norwegian Air Force, RCAF, Soviet/Russian and French Air Force themes as well a non-aligned/Arab/Persian theme where I just pick individual releases that I like.
I have a 1:48 WW1 and interwar themes.
A number of 1:200 themes including RAAF, Qantas, Blighty Airlines, US Airlines and others theme.
I collect 1:30/32, with a WW2 aircraft theme, an German Armour theme, and an Australian aircraft/armour theme.
I also have a large space/NASA theme.
All on display.
Madder than most I expect!?!?
__________________
"The deliberately planned fighter sweep went just as we'd hoped. The MiGs came up. The MiGs were aggressive. We tangled. They lost." BRIG Robin Olds.
Tony, I gotta say.. our collections or at least aspirations are probably really similar. I have a handful of 1:200 military too - one Blackbird (looking for more), a B-52, B-2, C-47, both Top Gun F-14, F-18 salty dog, the Mitsubishi Zero two pack, looking for anything March and Edwards AFB C-17, KC-135.
I have way too many commercial airliners, and would love more 1:200 military options, Especially WWII everything. 1:72 is gonna open up a whole other can of worms...I’m scared
I have yet to score me a B-52 and a Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat. I really want a Gulliver 200 but the inflated prices of those are just ridiculous.
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For WWII my main themes are (no particular order):
1. MTO (desert camo) RAF/Luftwaffe
2. D-day (wrap around invasion stripes) RAF/USAAF
3. Coastal Command/Fleet Air Arm
4. USAAF 'Silver/Metallic' schemes (if they also have invasion stripes even better!).
5. Eastern Front- Luftwaffe/Soviet (mainly Luftwaffe)
6. Japanese (mixed schemes)
For modern jets main themes are (no particular order):
For WWII my main themes are (no particular order):
1. MTO (desert camo) RAF/Luftwaffe
2. D-day (wrap around invasion stripes) RAF/USAAF
3. Coastal Command/Fleet Air Arm
4. USAAF 'Silver/Metallic' schemes (if they also have invasion stripes even better!).
5. Eastern Front- Luftwaffe/Soviet (mainly Luftwaffe)
6. Japanese (mixed schemes)
For modern jets main themes are (no particular order):
For WWII my main themes are (no particular order):
2. D-day (wrap around invasion stripes) RAF/USAAF
Then you will be happy that there is a strong suggestion the HM A20 is making a comeback.
It beggars belief that a 88 SQN A20,..with invasion (not D-day) invasion stripes has not already been released.
Silly stuff!!
Hopefully,...that, along with USAAF similar striped A20,...as a split run, is not too far away.
__________________
"The deliberately planned fighter sweep went just as we'd hoped. The MiGs came up. The MiGs were aggressive. We tangled. They lost." BRIG Robin Olds.
Bit of a mix, but common thread is aircraft involved in combat; few show ponies or CAG birds.
1/72
- Origins of flight (Wright Flyer)
- WW I and interwar fighters
- WW II: BoB, France & Malta 1941-42, CBO over Germany 1943-44, early & late Pacific
- Korea & 1950's record breakers
- Vietnam
- Space (V2, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo)
- Israeli & Arab air wars
- '80's naval aviation engagements (Falklands & Gulf of Sidra)
- '80's Russian aircraft
- Modern helicopters
- Desert Storm
- Allied Force
- European Nato allies
- Current Russian aircraft
- Current US aircraft
I am indeed looking forward to an 88 Sqn release with invasion stripes, so far 'Le France Libre' has been the only A20 I considered picking up.
Isn't that funny.
I have been having running discussions with British Trade over scheme selection for the A20 for years.
For a start they picked the wrong tooling,....the earlier MK would have been much better choice, more variety,...which is precisely why HM chose the A20G/MKIV/V is because of the lack of variety.
And they are scratching their heads why the tooling did not do as hoped. So,...British Trade say they have given up on the tooling, even though a standard USAAF Light Bomber in the ETO have been released only once and no Blighty based A20 MKIV at all. They released the French one though,...from the same wing as RAF 88 SQN.
And as you have noted,...its the standard USAAF ETO day bomber that sold really well.
Ineptness in scheme selection has been its biggest problem,...not the tooling itself (P40N similar problem).
At anyrate,...apparently its happening. Hopefully with a split run with a USAAF ETO example, with a nice bit of nose art and plenty of mission markings.
Whether its British Trade or HM pushing this who knows? I guess we will find out when the thing is sold out or stagnates on the retailer shelves. We will see who claims its their idea.
__________________
"The deliberately planned fighter sweep went just as we'd hoped. The MiGs came up. The MiGs were aggressive. We tangled. They lost." BRIG Robin Olds.
Bit of a mix, but common thread is aircraft involved in combat; few show ponies or CAG birds.
1/72
- Origins of flight (Wright Flyer)
- WW I and interwar fighters
- WW II: BoB, France & Malta 1941-42, CBO over Germany 1943-44, early & late Pacific
- Korea & 1950's record breakers
- Vietnam
- Space (V2, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo)
- Israeli & Arab air wars
- '80's naval aviation engagements (Falklands & Gulf of Sidra)
- '80's Russian aircraft
- Modern helicopters
- Desert Storm
- Allied Force
- European Nato allies
- Current Russian aircraft
- Current US aircraft
1/144
- '40's to current heavy bombers & X-planes
1/400
- Airliners I frequently take & space
I like the Korea theme especially because of the amount of different aircraft used and the introduction of the jet age.
The Arab nations seem rather underdone, I always felt Corgi could have beefed it up with a few of their moulds like the Hunter. And still waiting for some Arab Frescos.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildblood
Thanks, I also have all three of the Corgi 1/72 'flightline' releases (with figures). I guess that may count as a mini-theme!
The PBJ-1J is one I wished I'd picked up. The 1/72 nose art collection was another good one. Loved all those extras Corgi added with their models like the aircraft manual and 1:24 engines.
Thanks, I also have all three of the Corgi 1/72 'flightline' releases (with figures). I guess that may count as a mini-theme!
I am trying to think of the third one? I have the PBJ (and a code 3 RAAF B25 from a PBJ) and the 909,......whats the third one??
__________________
"The deliberately planned fighter sweep went just as we'd hoped. The MiGs came up. The MiGs were aggressive. We tangled. They lost." BRIG Robin Olds.
The short answer is: far too many...
The long one:
- Everything what flew over the territory of former Yugoslavia. Especially during ww2 and the wars in the ninties. Here I buy virtually everything.
- Falklands war
- middle east, with emphasis on Israel
- gulf war
- vietnam war
- ww2 coastal command and royal navy
The Corsair that came with 4 figures and a carrier flightdeck. US61005
TBH they may not have marketed that as 'flightline', they labelled it 'diorama', but it comes with figures so I lump all three together.
Ahh,...thanks mate. I would never have guessed. I'd assumed it was a multi-engine release.
__________________
"The deliberately planned fighter sweep went just as we'd hoped. The MiGs came up. The MiGs were aggressive. We tangled. They lost." BRIG Robin Olds.
For me its generally jets that I collect....( HUGE fast jets fan!!)
So I've collected each of the aircraft type I really like, with one sample of each, but this might be extended to four or five of the same type too!
I'm big on my campaigns and appreciate significant eras in military aviation history. I will also incorporate some dioramas in my collection to spice it up a bit!!
Here are some of my shared examples:
USAF Icelandic 'Zulu Alert'
Vietnam War
Cold War
Iran/Iraq War
Gulf War (1&2)
Yom Kippur
Rhodesian Bush War ( converted RAF Hunter to a Rhodesian one)
South African Border War
OIF/OEF
__________________ NG L1011's: BWIA(Teal/ yellow livery)/
RAF x3/Eastern bare metal/LAM/ Faucett Peru
NG A340: Gulf Air( Gold/Blue))Surinam/Royal Jordanian/Air Namibia (Blue tail) LAN
NG 747 SP/200 Air Namibia( yellow)/Luxair/Air Mauritius/ Saudi Arabian (Green)/Aerolineas Argentinas/ SAA 80’s Orange tail, silver belly 200/ Lufthansa black nose/ Olympic 200
NG 744: United Battleship/ Delta/ Northwest red top/ Qantas 90s livery/ BA
The only themes I have are:
Do I like the scheme?
Do I think the model looks enough like the real McCoy?
And:
Does it have enough detail?
Anything that fits all of those criteria are game as far as me collecting them is concerned, regardless of scale as long as it's 1/72 or bigger.
A few years ago I realized that I had to focus my collection or I’d be broke in a hurry so I focused my displays on a few themes.
1. Vietnam Era Spooks
2. Tomcats
3. Skyraiders...all of them and whatever occasional SEA prop like the HM B-26K
4. USN Themes. Preferably low vis
5. GMP 1/35‘S
6. Century Wing A-6’s and HM Prowlers
7. Adversaries
8. A few of the planes I have flown through the years
I have numerous other themes boxed up but this is what displayed
My desires are usually pretty niche when it comes to this hobby, but I will try to catagorize them as best as I can.
From ages 3-10 I collected mostly 1/350 scale US military fighter planes and helicoptors but I did have a couple of Migs in my collection like the Mig-23 and the Mig-29. These were all planes made my companies that were off shoots of Matchbox and tried to make planes in the same scale. Companies like SkyMarx and whatnot
From Ages 11-18 I collected a few model kits here and there. Usually the snap together variety and they were usually exclusively the F-14 or the F-15. I used to go the Museum of Science and Industry as a kid with my grandparents quite frequently and before they renovated the museum in the late 90's, their giftshop and a wide variety of diecast and plastic aviation kits and most of my collection came from this one location.
From Ages 19-21 this was my first foray into high end diecast aircraft. I started with the 1:100 scale franklin mint Jolly Rogers tomcat and then moved onto Revell 1:72 scale diecast and bought their VF-31 Tomcatters F-14D, and one of their Panavian GR-1 Tornado's (can't remember the name of the squadron) Then at one point I purchased the Corgi 1:64 scale F-14 Tomcat from VF-2 bounty hunters.
From Ages 22-30 I stuck with the 1:72 scale and bought a VF-154 Black Knights F-14 from FOV, then moved onto century wings from there And purchased usually planes that were sold in pairs. Such as the VF-154 Black Knights NF101 and NF100 from their 23k livery, the 1981 VF-41 Black Aces AJ102 and AJ107, VF-103, The VF-143 pukin dogs and lastly the VF-103 Jolly Rogers AJ100 and AJ103. I also bought a handful of F-15 Eagles from Dragon models and Witty Wings.
From Ages 31-present I have exclusively purchased models from HM. Starting with the F-14 VF-31 Christine, then moving onto the pair of VF-32 Swordsman and then culminating in the VF-41 Black Aces squadron that sits proudly on display in my room. I also picked up a small handful of the 318 FIS Green dragons. I was going to pick up a few strike eagles from the 391st but I ran out of money before I could receive my order and had to cancel them at the 11th hour. So I'm sticking a pin in that
World War 2 US and RAF Bombers - B-17, B24, Halifax, Lancasters, Stirling and Sunderland
F-14 Tomcats 25 and counting mostly all Century Wings, HM and a couple of Calibre Wings
Modern US and RAF Military F-15, F-16, Phantom, Harrier etc
9Likes
What themes have you collected
The Corgi Fishbed is from the Indo-Pakistani War.
I wanted to start a MiG-23 airframe theme, that wasn't to be, was kinda going to with HM Flankers but that was another disappointment, hopefully third time lucky, I can collect a bunch of MiG-29s, I kind of prefer it as I can display roughly 12-14 of those bad boys on my shelves compared to 6-7 flankers.
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