The 2019 Dream Kit List

Happy 2019 everyone!!  I hope you made it out of the silly season in one piece and that you are ready to tackle 2019.

Ahh the “Top-5” wish list; Its been done before but hey, it has not yet been done here. And though I have a plenty of kits to build there is always a bit more room for something special. As I discussed recently – we live in the most amazing times in scale modeling.  The kits on this list would have been shooting for the moon in years past.  But these days most wishes will more than likely be realized.

Full disclosure – Tamiya DID produce the one kit that I always wanted: the fabulous 1/32 Corsair and they gave me 3 variants! Really, anything else is pure gravy at this point. But a boy can dream can’t he?  Here is my list of my 5 most wanted kits:

P-38 Lightning by Tamiya 1/48

Definitely… and the cherry on top would be that it is an early variant with good Miss Virginia markings. To my knowledge, Tamiya has never done a Lightning and the alternatives (Hasegawa, HB, Academy) all have their build challenges.  In fact, the real thing was very difficult to build so I can imagine it would be a difficult to make a finely engineered kit where everything aligns perfectly.

Well, even it it doesn’t have those markings I am sure an aftermarket decal outfit would make me some Miss Virginia markings.  I have been hunting for those for years.  I’d be just as happy with John Mitchel’s P-38.

The story of the Yamamoto interception (Operation Vengeance)  is documented in a number of excellent books. Including “Lightning Strike” and “Attack on Yamamoto“.  These are on the build list… wouldn’t it be nice to do them with new Tamiya models?

Updated New Tool Tamiya Corsair in 1/48

The Spitfire got updated recently, right?  I say continue the trend!  My 2 nits with the current Tamiya Corsair (I have a closet full of them) are the wing folds and the hood in front of the cockpit.  The wings are a challenge to fit together clean with a strong bond AND that are aligned.  The fuel hatch on the front hood is a pain to get together clean and no matter how careful you are, you always end up rescribing lost detail.  Those are two things deal with rather well with the new 1/32 Corsair.  OR how about some late variants?  Hasegawa’s are getting long in the tooth and HobbyBoss’ attempts were very good.. but not great.  The point is, I will always have shelf space for a new Corsair.

1/32 Val or Kate by Zoukei-Mura or Tamiya

Any big scale carrier attack plane would be welcome from either of these two.  ZM is bringing us a Nick this year (and I have signed up for one) and I think this one is going to be a big seller for them.  I realize the Kate and Val are a bit more limited in terms of markings etc but they are iconic.  Besides, all those 1/32 Zeros need something to escort.

1/48 Airplanes from the 1930s

Now hear me out.  I know that most of the market wants another teen fighter or perhaps yet another sub sub variant of the Bf-109.  But there are some of us that like weirdo things.  I love 1930s stuff with the polished metal, wheel pants, “open” cowlings.  There is just something about the art deco era and aviation.

However, this wish is actually coming true in 2019 as I recently bought a Fine Molds Babs and I can’t wait to build it (Edit April 28, 2019 – I did build it!):

And Wingsy Wings is doing a Sonia due out later this year (I think):

1/48 A New Tool SR-71/A-12/YF-12A by Someone Competent (who will actually bring a kit to market)

I tend to focus my builds on the Pacific War but I do have other interests – including these bad boys.  I recently sold off my Italeri YF-12 because it was a rough kit with terrible decals.  My thinking was that even if I put in the time to build this kit right, I would not part with $200 for some OOP decals.

But I love this plane and I’d love to build a good one.  Maybe 1/48 is the wrong scale for this beast and I should hope for a cutting edge 1/72.  I think this one is long due and the A-12 Oxcart is just such a wonderfully weird project.

What about you?

These “wish lists” are always a subjective thing.  My top 5 might not even be in my buddy’s to 50 but its always fun to discuss.  So what do you think of my wish list?  I’d like to know what your top five are – let me know in the comments!