1/144 France, uSSR & Italy by IXO - 2008============================
"FRANCE" : LIORÉ ET OLIVIER LEO 451
"ITALY" :CANT Z 1007BIS ALCIONE
.
also this year 2008....
"ITALY" : PIAGGIO P.108
"ITALY" : SAVOIA-MARCHETTI SM 79 SPARVIERO
"ITALY" : FIAT BR.20 CICOGNA
"USSR" : PETLYAKOV PE-8
So where can these be purchased at?
ReplyDeletewww.flyingmule.com/range/diecast-model/aircraft/ixo-models-junior/
ReplyDeleteDo people actually collect these? The quality doesn't seem all that impressive, and with $30USD for each, they seem to be an expensive hobby. Much like buying TripleNuts resin off of ebay I guess, although that's completely a different kettle of fish.
badger
ReplyDeletethe short answer is yes, people do collect them.
i have a few slected ones myself, most of them are not actualy that bad all things considered.
thye are a little chepear if you live in country where you can subscribe to these.
i thought ixo/altaya was predominated based in Spain but it appears that some retailers have access to them as well, although by what means i am unsure.
in UK, France, Germany you can also subscribe to ATLAS to receive their aircraft (which to date have been largley metal, athough this maybe changing) for a similar price.
the issue with subscription services is, you can never be quite sure what and when your going to get something... you may have to wait for years?
Badger,
ReplyDeleteAs I said in an earlier reply, I have ordered a number of these items and have the B-17G and He177 in my possession. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have bought the former if not for a very reasonable price. However, it is quite neat and generally accurate, although something went amiss in the ventral ball turret ... the guns face out at right angles to each other!
The He177 is a nice item, complete with its three Fritz-X missiles. I have also seen the Cant Z1007bis and LeO451 up close and the former, in particular, is well worth having.
I should add that I've numerous gashapon/trading miniatures, injection moulded and resin kits in my collection, so it's not a case of "diecast only". One of the attractions is that IXO are covering some items yet to see the light of day in 1/144.
Cost is an issue but when you see what some people bid on resin items through Starjet and Radsan on eBay, it's not as bad as it might seem. And when I have to fork out the equivalent of $US70+ for a tank of petrol for my old bomb each week, I know what I'd rather be spending my money on! ;o)
I agree with you that they're covering subjects which will probably never be released by the usual suspects in 1/144. That peaked my interest at first, but the pricetag on Atlaya really put me off. These are less costly, and perhaps the pictures don't do them justice. Still, a bit pricy.
ReplyDeleteI'm curios, though. How much detail do these birds really have? Mainly in panel lines, rivets, cockpits, and visible internal engine compononts. Are these metal or plastic? Flimsy shelves will probably buckle due to the weight of the metal diecasts, which is something I've wondered about.
Am I correct that until recently, Corgi was the only company releasing metal diecasts? Judging from the pictures of their birds, I would say they lack quite a bit of detail, even when compared to CafeReo. Take the B-17 for example. I'd venture a guess that the recent BigBird release is probably better than anything else out there in 1/144. Given a new paintjob, it might actually be quite good, considering you can pick one up for about $10USD, shipping included.