1/144 Spitfire Hoax! (revisited!)
I know a number of you guys like me where (a) excited, and
then (b) deflated at teh in hindsight amusine trick played by the Project 144 guys!
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Well, before we couldnt see good quality photos of what all teh fuss was about - now I have got hold high quality picture and present them here for you to see!
12 comments:
Bitter, eh? Maybe, but whilst it is an amazingly elaborate hoax, the photo suggests that someone went to a lot of trouble to make a die for the parts and, if it's not an injection mould, then it's a damn good likeness!
If this is the case, there must be another someone who is willing to run with it, even at a limited production level. Hey, even if closer inspection shows it is not in the same class as a "real" Sweet offering, it couldn't be any worse that the error-ridden Spitfires that have been foisted upon the poor 1/144 collector in the past!
The artwork is a great take on Sweet's anime "girl and cat" routine. So much so that if Sweet ever does run with a Griffon-powered Spitty, they can save on the cost of commissioning their usual artist to design the box art!
Greg
it is an excellent execued peice in the original stlye, it would surprise me if the original artist may have had a hand in its creation, the 1/144 community isnt that large - - otherwise a stunnign recreation by someone!
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it would be even funnier if it had been a double bluff!?
oh, and i dont know for sure, but the spure could just be any old spit kit?? usually the sweet kis come in twos? even the protypes
i suspect this is not a joke... the molds do look real enough... even the wheel well is pretty deep, i dont know of any current 1/144 spitfire that has this.
the only thing that is not 'sweet-like' is the inclusion of 3 figures. a close look at the sprues shows two standing and 1 seated figure.
Oliver, the more I examine the photographic evidence (great photos, BD99!), the more I agree that this is beyond an amazing hoax. I would add, however, that just because the ground crew and pilot are human and not cats(!), I don't think this proves that the mould did not come from Sweet itself. And BD99, remember that the two kits in a typical Sweet box come on separate sprues anyway.
Close inspection of the photo suggests that this is definitely NOT an existing Spitfire I or V with judicious clipping of wings to resemble a Mk XIV profile, unless there's a 1/144 Mk XIV or similar in existence and I missed it. The cockpit canopy on the sprue and the assembled mockup are definitely "teardrop" style and seemingly the correct profile, and even more notable is the presence of the raised "bumps" above the engine exhausts, a prominent feature of the Griffon-powered Spitfire.
As to whether the mould originated at Sweet, it is hard to say. It certainly looks similar to the variety of moulds that appear for kits on the Sweet Aviation website.
BD99, you could be right. Perhaps this is a "double bluff". Or it might be certain individuals within Sweet trying to tell the company, "Hey, guys. This really IS what these 1/144-scale dudes want!!!"
If anyone is interested earlier this year the Science Museum in London had a interesing spitfire exhibition.
The centre piece being a griffonpowered spitfire stripped down to bare meatal and dissasembled into fuselage * Wings etc.
I have 100+ pohots 3000x2000 of the spitfire and a set of photos of a Rolly-Royce Merlin and a Griffon engine!
these would probably be of use to a aircraft modeller in any scale?
if anyone wants copies on CD, let me know - or even better anyone know of a Free Picture site that would let me up load these pcitures in there original glory? at a rate of more than one or two a day ( It think flikr has limited uploads on the free account)
http://ike.vivian.jp/HTML/Modeling/144Spit14e/Mk14e/20070518_084001.jpg
http://ike.vivian.jp/HTML/Modeling/144Spit14e/Mk14e/20070509_164016.jpg
http://ike.vivian.jp/HTML/Modeling/144Spit14e/Mk14e/20070509_182402.jpg
http://ike.vivian.jp/HTML/Modeling/144Spit14e/Mk14e/20070509_225534.jpg
http://ike.vivian.jp/HTML/Modeling/144Spit14e/Mk14e/20070518_020742.jpg
http://ike.vivian.jp/HTML/Modeling/144Spit14e/Mk14e/20070509_225534.jpg
http://ike.egoism.jp/SoraIke/ModelMaking.html
IKE,
many thanks, most interesting
BD99
it appears to be in the japanese press now:
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fumi_bnr32/47839969.html
bd99
Smeg195.
the Panther Coelian turret is nice, i have done some wortk with those in teh past, looked like you god a good price considering he prices SJ auctions normally go for,
the VW factory will join an exissiting copy of the kit , now with 2 sections i can get a more realistic secion of production line going! - ia lso have some other vw resin kits to add into teh mix!
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