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For what is supposed to be a small market -- military
diecast collectibles -- there sure are a scad of new
players coming in with 1:72 models! Enter one of the
latest, Witty Wings and its Sky Guardians line.
Initially, I was not going to pick any of these up,
however a great deal on two of the first models made
me cave -- and I'm glad it did!
While these planes do have a bit of a toyish feel to
them, it's a least a quality toy feel. They don't have the
panel detail of Dragon and Corgi, but they do have
fantastic paint jobs and nice pad-printed decals. They
are well put together, and simply have a charm about
them that makes me want to add more to my
collection.
In addition to a handful of the usual WWII suspects
(Zero, Spit, P-51, 109), Witty is also coming out with
several jets -- the first of which is an F-15 and is
available now. Early reports on the jets are very
promising, and I plan to add one to the Hangar in the
future, so watch this space.
In the meantime, here's what you get with the Witty
Sky Guardian WWII models:
There are faint panel lines and surface details, but
these are hard to see. The great thing is that they're
sturdy little planes and there is absolutely no
assembly -- so no fiddling with tiny pitot tubes like
with Dragon and IXO. You don't get moving control
surfaces, however.
I do not believe these models are limited, every one
released so far is unlimited, which means they'll
make as many as they want. This is too bad as it
makes them less collectible. However, at $20-$25 for
the props they are more affordable than Corgi. The
jets will ring in much higher, $40-$50 but they
apparently also have a higher detail level than the
props.
In the strange but true category, the first batches of
Witty 109s and Spits had some prominent errors,
which have not been fixed with subsequent releases
of the same molds. The most notable of these is the
Spit cockpit is too far back, which can be fixed with a
relatively easy "mod" (for details go to www.
modelhangar.com). The Spits also come with
"slipper tanks," which were not actually used in
combat. And the 109's starboard Swastika is
reversed.
Still, I must say I like this line despite the flaws, and
would recommend them over IXO for the same model
type, FOV as well -- and perhaps Corgi too if price is
an issue, though this would be on a case-by-case
basis. I still prefer Dragon for the same model and $,
though you do have to fiddle a lot with these and Witty
is 100% no fiddling required.
diecast collectibles -- there sure are a scad of new
players coming in with 1:72 models! Enter one of the
latest, Witty Wings and its Sky Guardians line.
Initially, I was not going to pick any of these up,
however a great deal on two of the first models made
me cave -- and I'm glad it did!
While these planes do have a bit of a toyish feel to
them, it's a least a quality toy feel. They don't have the
panel detail of Dragon and Corgi, but they do have
fantastic paint jobs and nice pad-printed decals. They
are well put together, and simply have a charm about
them that makes me want to add more to my
collection.
In addition to a handful of the usual WWII suspects
(Zero, Spit, P-51, 109), Witty is also coming out with
several jets -- the first of which is an F-15 and is
available now. Early reports on the jets are very
promising, and I plan to add one to the Hangar in the
future, so watch this space.
In the meantime, here's what you get with the Witty
Sky Guardian WWII models:
- Pad printed markings and placards that won't
fade or peel like decals. - Fixed landing gear with rotating wheels.
- Plastic stand to display the aircraft "in flight".
There are faint panel lines and surface details, but
these are hard to see. The great thing is that they're
sturdy little planes and there is absolutely no
assembly -- so no fiddling with tiny pitot tubes like
with Dragon and IXO. You don't get moving control
surfaces, however.
I do not believe these models are limited, every one
released so far is unlimited, which means they'll
make as many as they want. This is too bad as it
makes them less collectible. However, at $20-$25 for
the props they are more affordable than Corgi. The
jets will ring in much higher, $40-$50 but they
apparently also have a higher detail level than the
props.
In the strange but true category, the first batches of
Witty 109s and Spits had some prominent errors,
which have not been fixed with subsequent releases
of the same molds. The most notable of these is the
Spit cockpit is too far back, which can be fixed with a
relatively easy "mod" (for details go to www.
modelhangar.com). The Spits also come with
"slipper tanks," which were not actually used in
combat. And the 109's starboard Swastika is
reversed.
Still, I must say I like this line despite the flaws, and
would recommend them over IXO for the same model
type, FOV as well -- and perhaps Corgi too if price is
an issue, though this would be on a case-by-case
basis. I still prefer Dragon for the same model and $,
though you do have to fiddle a lot with these and Witty
is 100% no fiddling required.
Witty Sky Guardians, 1:72
