ARE THE FULLY REVISED HELLER MOULDS ANY GOOD? - Scale Model Aircraft build Su-27 in 1/72

[@modellbaubyjanik]

Sehr gute Lösung mit offenen Kabine. Danke für das Review, hab auch noch ein Heller Bausatz da liegen, müsste ich die Geschichte auch mal anschauen😄

[@chrisveya7556]

Schlussendlich bleibt nicht viel anderes übrig in diesem Fall als die Kabine zu öffnen. Mal sehen wies rauskommt, es ist nicht angedacht in der Anleitung. Danke fürs Feedback!

[@Ian64003]

Heller and Airfix were under the same ownership from about the mid-80s to the mid-00s when Airfix was bought over by Hornby. So they shared a lot of tooling then, with the kits actually moulded in Heller's French factory then. Heller seemed to take ownership of some of their former joint kits like this, the 1/48 Jaguar, 1/72 Concorde and a few others. For this kit (and Heller/Airfix MiG-29 from the same time) Airfix sold the single seat boxing while Heller did the two seater. For a good few years the Airfix/Heller kit was actually the most accurate 1/72 Su-27 on the market. They were never easy to build though.

[@chrisveya7556]

Tjanks for the information. If i had knew in advance i would chosen the double seater, since this part was added by Heller themselves. Maybe the canopy would have fitted better😄

[@Ian64003]

@@chrisveya7556 Maybe! I built the single seater Airfix one years ago and fit was just as poor in general! I still have one or two in my stash from about 20 years ago when Airfix finally re-issued the single seater. Before more modern kits came out. The original Hasegawa one would have been an easier build, but the experts at the time rated higher in terms of accuracy. Should have probably just went with the Hasegawa! Your preview of this kit from a few months ago actually made me go out and buy this Heller kit too as I loved the decal scheme and I managed to get it cheaper than any of the more modern UB kits. I've never used any modern Heller decals so looking forward to that part of your build. It's looking great so far!

[@chrisveya7556]

Im also curious about these Heller decals, specially the digital camo ones. I hope they go down well, i will find out the coming week😁

[@ДенисЧ-р3у]

i could see a reason to buy heller's model if it's something rare, but with all flankers out there there's no way one would want it

[@chrisveya7556]

Yes in this case, other ones are maybe the smarter choice. And after all im curious about the quality of the decals. Could get decisive Thanks for the feedback!

[@52down]

If any of you thought Revell is shameless with their models, Heller is the whole new level of the audacity and arrogance. If these kits were cheap, I could understand. If they were representing some niche topics - ok with that. But they are out there on the market competing with 2-3 classes higher tooling sometimes with the same prize tags. I remember they have promised a brand new E-2 Hawkeye back in the beginning of 2023. Even thou it's not my matter of interests, I was keeping an eye of this upcoming model kit just to ensure Heller decided to follow the Airfix and actually treat the customer base as intelligent people. Last month I found a few pictures of testing molds of this brand new Hawkeye. It's a completely new model judging the sprues' layout and far more parts included, but the quality was as much meeh as like this Flanker. Maybe the molds require some refining, but the overall sight was bad, really bad for 2024. Even CZ manufactured new tooling short run kits have sharper details and small parts. I wonder how they have managed to remain on the surface with their crappy and ridiciulously expensive offers this long, while other companies raised bar so high that Heller's kits can't even touch them jumping with both hands in the air. Revell at least has some very unique good kits they like to reissue (BV-222 or recent Ar-240 for example), some old time classics like Tornado or Typhoons in 1/72 still keeping the shape, while Heller has nothing like that. I mean, they have some specific French stuff, but these are ancient kits now with all the problems with fitting and almost non existent details.

[@chrisveya7556]

Altough i wouldnt say it this way, you got some very valid points there. Thinking about it, yes the price vs the value doesnt look too good. Its more the name that carries the kit than the quality of it Thanks for the feedback!

[@DansModelBench]

More patience then me. That would have ended up a paint mule or in the bin for me. Even in the 90's there were far better fitting kits around then that.

[@chrisveya7556]

Well i was kinda prepared for a challenge, but is turned out a bigger challenge than expected. Tbh i built even older kits whith better fitting, so i guess youre right👍🏻 Thanks for the feedback!

[@billwright2811]

You can fix anything. But why? hahaha, this kit is just awful. You did a great job. The figure is very good, you did a fantastic job. Great video.

[@chrisveya7556]

I was a bit disapointed tbh but i hope they added some good quality decals to it. At least. Thanks for the feedback!

[@andyshaw5378]

Do you think that this is a good example of how things have improved in aircraft kits.

[@chrisveya7556]

Oh yes it is! I really feel like im in the 90's right now. Just get the building phase done, prime it, paint it, decals, thats it. Its so much different from my last build, which was an Eduars profi pack

[@voctur]

*Reads in comments multiple peolple talking about the fitting being awful. Me: I mean, I guess is bad, but how bad can it be? *Watches the entire video Me: Oh God...

[@chrisveya7556]

😅😅😅

[@Jerre27]

Better of buying academy's 1/48 su-27. For 30 € heller's option is waaay too old to be sold at that price point.

[@chrisveya7556]

Meanwhile i totally agree, thr price is a bit too high for whats inside the box and specially on the sprues Thanks for the feedback!

[@johnberry2877]

If someone at Tamiya would have designed those molds, they would have been given a short sword and led out back !

[@chrisveya7556]

Hahaha😄

[@DrewsModels]

So much for being new!

[@chrisveya7556]

hahaha, exactly what i thought!

[@davidsmithson9236]

Well, you certainly are not one to back-away from a challenge! Some modelers would have quit building, others would roll up their sleeves and get to work. Only way to get better/gain confidence/figure out work-arounds is to jump in. I salute you. Cheers

[@chrisveya7556]

I cant help it! I could never quit a build and put it aside. If theres a challenge, ill accept it! But i knew it in advance, this is going to be a challenge, so i was prepared for it mentally. -> no weathering on this one planned, it would take too long. Cheers David!

[@kiwifruitpoo]

I don’t even own the clamps needed to build this kit. It would have ended up in the bin. Clearly there is a category of modeller who enjoys the building challenge, but it’s not for me.

[@chrisveya7556]

Yes it turned out to be more of a challenge than i expected. I was prepared but not to this point really, mainly the canopy misfit was hitting hard😄 Thanks for the feedback!

[@richardjordan5036]

Heller is ok till it comes to their decals. Need to at times use thinned out pva glue to help them to stick down. Then you can apply your decal set. You should get some .010 sheet plastic to fill some of those gaps or putty a half of tube to fill those gaps.

[@chrisveya7556]

Dont tell me, this one has decals all over the place for the digital camo. Yeah, i've used up my plastic putty for this!

[@LemurKrazy]

I built the 2 seat Heller version a few years ago - ok for an old kit. As you mentioned it was an Airfix mold but with soft heller plastic. From what see, just the decals and box art are new now.

[@chrisveya7556]

A few years ago? So not the one with the yellow box? I really wonder if theres even a difference in the sprues of the old and the revised one. Thanks for the feedback!

[@LemurKrazy]

@@chrisveya7556 the early 90s heller release with purple/pink sky on box art. Bought from a hobby store about 10 years ago. Sprue and parts look the same.

[@davidsmithson9236]

Thanks, coffee’s on me, or, for more filler.

[@chrisveya7556]

Thank you David! I almost empied the bottle with this one haha!