Thank you for this great review and unboxing, so glad you're pleased with it! We haven't announced it officially yet, but the dispersal figures and vehicles will be going on sale later this month as resin prints in 1/144 and 1/72 (due to popular demand!) The plastic kit is on sale now. I'm looking forward to seeing the models you build with them! The Few Part 2 is in development at the moment, we're not quit sure which of the other eight well known Battle of Britain aircraft we'll do next yet, but keep an eye on our social media and we hope to see you all on the next Kickstarter where you'll be able to place pre-orders for an introductionary price, with more cool bonuses!
You have immediately raised my interest. Even including those swastika just shows the care put to these, for me at least. I'd say the biggest problem with this kit set is that there is only one isntructions booklet, as this is the sort of thing I'd love to build with somebody. But quality booklets cost money, of course...
@@docbrown_88 this is certainly something we would like to do. As a new company, our development budgets are very tight, but we are hoping that a Battle of Britain collection of kits will be an "evergreen" product range that will always interest people, and allow us to tackle larger and very popular subjects in future.
Thank you for your kind comment! We are always striving for improved tool quality when we can invest more into new kits, but even now we can make sure there are option parts for people to make the kits their own and do interesting things with them.
Got mine at the beginning of the month. Mat, I would like to thank you for recommending them. Please send my appreciation to all at Beacon Models. I wish I had ordered more than 2. Have a great weekend.
I remember the preview you did a couple of years ago, but now they've finally arrived these kits are truly impressive for their small size, and a lot less toy-like than other offerings in such a small scale. That diorama should be truly a sight to behold when it's all built up.
OK, as soon as I finished watching this, I looked up BEACON MODELS, going to find out about ordering this kit THANKS FOR DOING THIS REVIEW… hope BEACON MODELS read the COMMENTS, they have my interest CHRIS from OHIO 🇺🇸
Unfortunately they have not purchased an SSL certificate so most people can not visit the site to purchase. If you are in contact with them then you should let them know.
If I could get about a dozen of that kit. The ceiling in my office would be one large dog fight. I would just have to make some extra decals for the different planes.
@@sheepFP5 I saw that after I had already posted. My mistake. I should have been watching it through. I also do make my own decals when needed. Sometimes I don't always like what is in the model. I find some reference material and try to make what I need from that.
@@ModelMinutes Sweet's 1/144 kits have much finer detail. AFV clubs F4U and Sea King are really good, also Brengun's Yak-1 is supposed to be very nice. These looks closer to Mark 1 Model's level of detail, which is good but definitely a step below the best in class.
@@nathaniel5756 yes Sweet really is the standard to meet in this class of model kits, they really are masterpieces! As our brand grows we hope we'll be able to make tools using Electro-Discharge Machining instead of traditional CNC machining, which is how Sweet and some other model manufacturers achieve such fine detail. It's too expensive to get started with sadly, but we really hope to improve our kits as much as we can with each release :).
MsModeller, I know you love the SIG144 displays at all the model shows you visit on your channel, and can assure you that a few of Beacon's Spitfires and Bf109E's will definitely be appearing in the not-too-distant future. That's because one of our members on the Kampfgruppe144 forum is currently finishing vignettes featuring Will and Bryan's products. And yes, this modeller IS responsible for many of the little vignettes that regularly populate the SIG144 tables! 😉
Great video Matt! I bought 3 sets of these, Will at Beacon is a very skilled designer and it shows in the kit design and detail! Anyone who is on the fence about buying these should get them now! New injection mould tooling is EXPENSIVE and if these don't sell well I can guarantee Beacon won't survive as a kit company which would be an incredible shame.
Bryan Wall (former lead designer at Wingnut Wings) was the designer of the plastic frames, and is the other half of Beacon. I handled the rest, but this wonderful kit design was all him :). As for your last point, sadly this is very true. Much will depend on the success of this first kit, and we're really glad to have people like Matt championing our debut kit!
My apologies for leaving Bryan out of my comment! You guys have really poured everything into these models and it absolutely shows in your product lineup!
I hope so too! The next kickstarter has just finished and there will be more variants of the early spitfires and 109 - i believe with the success of this one they will begin work on designing other aircraft such as the Hurricane, Ju87 etc, but will have to see
Lovely looking kits may have to get some in the future and keep an eye out on what their future releases will be as 1/144 is a scale i will happily work on
Just a thought Matt re a diorama. You could as you said in the video recreate the scene, and also add to it with the 109 on a Wild Boar solo sortie beating up the airfield?
@@samb2052 I understand /why/.. those symbols are illegal in certain countries.. but at least include the halves like some companies do, so the modeller has the option of making them.
I love 1/144 kits, have quite a few in the stash… This will be interesting !!!!! First off, great BOX ART… N GUAGE RR FIGURES MAKE GREAT PILOTS AND GROUND CREWS… I’ll have to order this online most HOBBY SHOPS AROUND ME WON’T CARRY THIS KIT(s) Great REVIEW as always, THANKS for putting this together. wouldn’t mind seeing something made ( kit ) from the PACIFIC WAR ( WILDCAT/ ZERO ) CHRIS from OHIO 🇺🇸
Remember to get British N scale figures which are 1/148 scale therefore very close. European and US figures are to 1/160 scale. Japanese N scale is 1/150
letting those resin diorama frames soak in some warm water should help get the figures off their supports without too much trouble, and help avoid the support-shrapnel I tend to produce when snipping them 😅
We'd definitely love to! Bomber candidates from the Battle of Britain would be the Blenheim, Do 17, Ju 88 and He111. We really hope our first products will be successful enough to help push the range forward :).
These new models do look quite nice. I think the panel lines look a little too thick and deep. Especially on the fuselages. But I assume it is because of the small scale. So I can let that go. I actually like the look of the dispersal set and the other vehicles etc better than the aircraft models. I went on the web site and took a look. Currently, it says the seated pilots and dispersal set are available as STL files. But what about those of us that do not own a 3D printer?
The pilots and vehicles etc will all be available as resin prints later this month, we're just preparing to put them in the shop for sale. The panel lines have been raised by a couple of people as an area for improvement and we agree, we'll try to get them a little bit finer on the next kits and we'll be talking to our toolmaker about how to best achieve this in both design and tooling. They're close, but could be finessed in future models.
@@beacon_models Thanks for the reply guys. Not many model manufacturers go to the trouble of answering TH-cam comments. So, thanks for the reach out. Look forward to seeing more models from you.
In flight option but no pilot figure....unless you get the bonus pilot. Not crazy about that. As a dogfight kit, not giving pilots for the kit is disappointing. Bill
It's something we know people wanted but were unable to do with this release, sadly. But we will try to see if we can do it in future kits if possible.
as mentioned i paid £15 for my dogfight set as it was a pre-order. The production versions are now retailing for £21.95 beacon-models.com/product/spitfire-mk-1-vs-bf109e/
Matt, you seem to have been very generous with your comments regarding Beacon Models. You have accepted their failure to meet the supply deadlines and by a considerable amount of time and you dismissed flash on the parts as if flash didn’t matter at all and the second set of decals not being of the highest quality, they do use Cartograph so this seems strange, but again dismissed by you. Of course we have the fact that these are 1:144 scale which is not exactly the cutting edge of modelling and the price they want for these very simple kits in such a small scale seems rather high? I really want to see these built. Kindest Bob England
The extra decals are a bonus product, but due to the high cost that cartograph asks for their products, beacon models made the decision to get them from a different company In order to be able to offer them. I think this was a wise decision as they would not be able to continue expanding their range without profits to fund the development. The flash on the sprues is minimal and manageable, whilst it’s not perfect I’ve seen worse from other companies. On the whole I think that these are great kits and a new company should be encouraged, taking my criticism here as learning points to improve on future products. This is effectively the benchmark for Beacon Models now and I’d like to see an improvement in the next potential releases
Hi Bob, with regards to the decals, the expansion set were made as a token of gratitude for the patience of those who placed pre-orders and supported us through the steep learning curve and challenges of producing a brand new crowdfunded plastic kit (I don't believe you were one of them so you were not affected by any of that at all.) At the time nearing the end of production, we could sadly not spare the budget to have Cartograf make them, so we chose another supplier who uses a digital printing process, as we really wanted to give our backers a little extra as thanks for making Beacon possible. I hope that clears up your query :).
It is not a matter of fear, but being able to sell in a global marketplace as a new company to reach as many customers as possible. Many modellers live in territories where it is illegal to display the Hakenkreuz even for historical purposes, and sadly social media platforms often ban accounts even from legitimate companies featuring it for that reason. So we are forced to choose workarounds that allow the modeller to build a historically accurate Luftwaffe model using a two part decal solution, while also staying on the right side of the law. However, we always say that modellers should buy the kits that they feel are best for them.
Thank you for this great review and unboxing, so glad you're pleased with it! We haven't announced it officially yet, but the dispersal figures and vehicles will be going on sale later this month as resin prints in 1/144 and 1/72 (due to popular demand!) The plastic kit is on sale now. I'm looking forward to seeing the models you build with them!
The Few Part 2 is in development at the moment, we're not quit sure which of the other eight well known Battle of Britain aircraft we'll do next yet, but keep an eye on our social media and we hope to see you all on the next Kickstarter where you'll be able to place pre-orders for an introductionary price, with more cool bonuses!
Lets do a 1/144 lancaster! Sold.
@@docbrown_88 this absolutely!
You have immediately raised my interest. Even including those swastika just shows the care put to these, for me at least.
I'd say the biggest problem with this kit set is that there is only one isntructions booklet, as this is the sort of thing I'd love to build with somebody. But quality booklets cost money, of course...
@@docbrown_88 this is certainly something we would like to do. As a new company, our development budgets are very tight, but we are hoping that a Battle of Britain collection of kits will be an "evergreen" product range that will always interest people, and allow us to tackle larger and very popular subjects in future.
@@veikkakarvonen831 you can download a PDF copy of the instructions from Scalemates, if you search for the kit there :).
I love the addition of where parts come from and tooling year. Bravo for offering what us punters are asking for! Revell...look and learn!
Yes, they did quite a bit of community research before releasing this (i'd like to think I helped contribute in some small way lol)
Thank you for your kind comment! We are always striving for improved tool quality when we can invest more into new kits, but even now we can make sure there are option parts for people to make the kits their own and do interesting things with them.
Got mine at the beginning of the month. Mat, I would like to thank you for recommending them. Please send my appreciation to all at Beacon Models. I wish I had ordered more than 2. Have a great weekend.
Thanks! I'm sure they have seen the comments on this video :D
I remember the preview you did a couple of years ago, but now they've finally arrived these kits are truly impressive for their small size, and a lot less toy-like than other offerings in such a small scale. That diorama should be truly a sight to behold when it's all built up.
yes, I'm looking forward to having a go at that in the future!
Man, Beacon Models is knocking it out of the park with these kits!
They really are!
OK, as soon as I finished watching this, I looked up
BEACON MODELS, going to find out about ordering this kit
THANKS FOR DOING THIS REVIEW…
hope BEACON MODELS read the COMMENTS, they have my interest
CHRIS from OHIO 🇺🇸
Awesome! I hope you enjoy :D
The detail for the scale is just amazing! They managed to cramp a 1/48 kit into a 1/144 mold!
i know, it is crazy!
Unfortunately they have not purchased an SSL certificate so most people can not visit the site to purchase. If you are in contact with them then you should let them know.
@@billgalloway1799 I’ve passed it on, thanks
Great looking kit Franz Von Werra was the pilot who escaped capture and was made famous from the movie The One That Got Away staring Hardy Kruger
thanks for sharing :D
This Beacon Models set looks amazing. I'm very keen to get my hands on this. Great inbox review Matt, can't wait to see your build on this set.
Hope you enjoy it!
The detail on those for 1/144 scale is tremendous!
Another great video mate.
Thanks a lot!
If I could get about a dozen of that kit. The ceiling in my office would be one large dog fight. I would just have to make some extra decals for the different planes.
Beacon already sell a generic aircraft decal sheet on their site with various squadron markings, letter codes and number markings!
@@sheepFP5 I saw that after I had already posted. My mistake. I should have been watching it through. I also do make my own decals when needed. Sometimes I don't always like what is in the model. I find some reference material and try to make what I need from that.
you should - the extra decal set will help this dream come to life :D
Nice review Matt - tiny little planes, can't wait to see what Beacon Models produce
I look forward to seeing more of their releases in the future :)
love the details in the dispersal scene! fantastic!
Glad you liked it!
Nicely detailed kits for the scale and some nice goodies too.
yeah, i'm pretty excited to get started on this
Really neat, hope to see them expand with more kits
me too!
This is the main brand that I've considered for 1/144 - it's such a tempting proposition. The detail is absolutely amazing 😊😊
I totally agree!
@@ModelMinutes Sweet's 1/144 kits have much finer detail. AFV clubs F4U and Sea King are really good, also Brengun's Yak-1 is supposed to be very nice. These looks closer to Mark 1 Model's level of detail, which is good but definitely a step below the best in class.
@@nathaniel5756 yes Sweet really is the standard to meet in this class of model kits, they really are masterpieces! As our brand grows we hope we'll be able to make tools using Electro-Discharge Machining instead of traditional CNC machining, which is how Sweet and some other model manufacturers achieve such fine detail. It's too expensive to get started with sadly, but we really hope to improve our kits as much as we can with each release :).
MsModeller, I know you love the SIG144 displays at all the model shows you visit on your channel, and can assure you that a few of Beacon's Spitfires and Bf109E's will definitely be appearing in the not-too-distant future. That's because one of our members on the Kampfgruppe144 forum is currently finishing vignettes featuring Will and Bryan's products. And yes, this modeller IS responsible for many of the little vignettes that regularly populate the SIG144 tables! 😉
Been looking forward to the release of this since you did the pre production 109.
awesome!
Great video Matt! I bought 3 sets of these, Will at Beacon is a very skilled designer and it shows in the kit design and detail!
Anyone who is on the fence about buying these should get them now! New injection mould tooling is EXPENSIVE and if these don't sell well I can guarantee Beacon won't survive as a kit company which would be an incredible shame.
Bryan Wall (former lead designer at Wingnut Wings) was the designer of the plastic frames, and is the other half of Beacon. I handled the rest, but this wonderful kit design was all him :). As for your last point, sadly this is very true. Much will depend on the success of this first kit, and we're really glad to have people like Matt championing our debut kit!
My apologies for leaving Bryan out of my comment! You guys have really poured everything into these models and it absolutely shows in your product lineup!
excellent points!
That "Countries of manufacture" list a great badge of quality
Many thanks Mark, we've realised how much modellers value provenance and transparency and we're happy to meet that need.
it certainly is!
Great review, just ordered 2 sets plus extra decals. Really hope they produce more kits, especially a Mosquito.
I hope so too! The next kickstarter has just finished and there will be more variants of the early spitfires and 109 - i believe with the success of this one they will begin work on designing other aircraft such as the Hurricane, Ju87 etc, but will have to see
Lovely looking kits may have to get some in the future and keep an eye out on what their future releases will be as 1/144 is a scale i will happily work on
yes, hopefully more to come!
I see 1/144 as the sweet spot between giving good detail for modellers and small enough for gamers to use. More to come hopefully.
will be getting these look lik well made kits and ideal for a small diorama. smaller scale than I'm used to but I'll give a go. should be fun
i hope you enjoy!
Just a thought Matt re a diorama. You could as you said in the video recreate the scene, and also add to it with the 109 on a Wild Boar solo sortie beating up the airfield?
hmmm maybe
I noticed the 'certain symbols' too Matt :)
yup, a little bit of historical accuracy
Quite right too. Hiding from history risks repeating it.
@@samb2052 I understand /why/.. those symbols are illegal in certain countries.. but at least include the halves like some companies do, so the modeller has the option of making them.
I love 1/144 kits, have quite a few in the stash…
This will be interesting !!!!!
First off, great BOX ART…
N GUAGE RR FIGURES MAKE GREAT PILOTS AND GROUND CREWS…
I’ll have to order this online
most HOBBY SHOPS AROUND ME WON’T CARRY THIS KIT(s)
Great REVIEW as always, THANKS for putting this together.
wouldn’t mind seeing something made ( kit ) from the PACIFIC WAR
( WILDCAT/ ZERO )
CHRIS from OHIO 🇺🇸
Excellent point on the figures!
Remember to get British N scale figures which are 1/148 scale therefore very close. European and US figures are to 1/160 scale. Japanese N scale is 1/150
Wildcat & Zero would be a great set.
Great video. I love anything BOB so I will be you looking at the website. Thanks
.
Enjoy!
letting those resin diorama frames soak in some warm water should help get the figures off their supports without too much trouble, and help avoid the support-shrapnel I tend to produce when snipping them 😅
thanks for the tip!
Cheers Mat👍👍
thanks for watching!
I would definitevely buy their bombers! That is if they would make one👍
I'm pretty sure they are working on some designs, but as for when we could see them, that is another question
@@ModelMinutes ill gladly wait to be honest
We'd definitely love to! Bomber candidates from the Battle of Britain would be the Blenheim, Do 17, Ju 88 and He111. We really hope our first products will be successful enough to help push the range forward :).
@@beacon_models Great!
@@ModelMinutes nice to see you back Mat.these look like fantastic little kits
👍👍👍
Gotta appreciate it when they include the swastikas.
Historically accurate transfers are included
Love the idea.
Us too!
These new models do look quite nice. I think the panel lines look a little too thick and deep. Especially on the fuselages. But I assume it is because of the small scale. So I can let that go. I actually like the look of the dispersal set and the other vehicles etc better than the aircraft models. I went on the web site and took a look. Currently, it says the seated pilots and dispersal set are available as STL files. But what about those of us that do not own a 3D printer?
The pilots and vehicles etc will all be available as resin prints later this month, we're just preparing to put them in the shop for sale. The panel lines have been raised by a couple of people as an area for improvement and we agree, we'll try to get them a little bit finer on the next kits and we'll be talking to our toolmaker about how to best achieve this in both design and tooling. They're close, but could be finessed in future models.
thanks for sharing - Beacon models has made a good reply here :D
@@beacon_models Thanks for the reply guys. Not many model manufacturers go to the trouble of answering TH-cam comments. So, thanks for the reach out. Look forward to seeing more models from you.
I'm not a huge fan of 1/144th but these look pretty good!
they really are :D
Very cool
it really is :D
good vid thanks lee
Glad you enjoyed it
Lovely video😍
Thanks 🤗
I have a question. Should I buy these kits as I’m thinking about getting into 1/144 kits?
Well then, of course! These seem amazing!
@@veikkakarvonen831 they truly are. Thanks for ur help
These are some of the best 1/144 kits i've seen so far
@@ModelMinutes thanks so much! I have seen many bad quality 1/144 scale kits on the market and it’s nice to hear that these are an exception.
I would recommend the brands Sweet and Platz from Japan and also Eduard
I wish i had one of these
They are available on the Beacon Models website
It's really cool.
it is!
In flight option but no pilot figure....unless you get the bonus pilot. Not crazy about that. As a dogfight kit, not giving pilots for the kit is disappointing.
Bill
I see your point, but the fact that they have catered for some pilots at all in some form is a bonus, most 1/144 kits don't
It's something we know people wanted but were unable to do with this release, sadly. But we will try to see if we can do it in future kits if possible.
Do you prefer brush of airbrush?
Both tools have their places
Just remember folks. Flash is the Saviour of the Universe.
indeed!
Can you give me an link to where I can buy this please
Did you look under the video in the description box? Link is definitely there
@@ModelMinutes no sorry ill check it out thanks btw
@@birdofprey7763 no worries 👍🏻
Nice kit, buy shipment to Mexico is expensive 😢
😔
What price
as mentioned i paid £15 for my dogfight set as it was a pre-order. The production versions are now retailing for £21.95 beacon-models.com/product/spitfire-mk-1-vs-bf109e/
i feel a plane without the swatikas is naked.
if a kit doesnt come with them, there always aftermarket decals you can get
Do any of you get bored with Spitfires and 109s?I do.
Popular subjects can help raise money to design and produce less popular ones
how much ?
Current prices are on the website linked in the description
Matt, you seem to have been very generous with your comments regarding Beacon Models. You have accepted their failure to meet the supply deadlines and by a considerable amount of time and you dismissed flash on the parts as if flash didn’t matter at all and the second set of decals not being of the highest quality, they do use Cartograph so this seems strange, but again dismissed by you. Of course we have the fact that these are 1:144 scale which is not exactly the cutting edge of modelling and the price they want for these very simple kits in such a small scale seems rather high?
I really want to see these built.
Kindest
Bob
England
The extra decals are a bonus product, but due to the high cost that cartograph asks for their products, beacon models made the decision to get them from a different company In order to be able to offer them. I think this was a wise decision as they would not be able to continue expanding their range without profits to fund the development.
The flash on the sprues is minimal and manageable, whilst it’s not perfect I’ve seen worse from other companies.
On the whole I think that these are great kits and a new company should be encouraged, taking my criticism here as learning points to improve on future products. This is effectively the benchmark for Beacon Models now and I’d like to see an improvement in the next potential releases
Hi Bob, with regards to the decals, the expansion set were made as a token of gratitude for the patience of those who placed pre-orders and supported us through the steep learning curve and challenges of producing a brand new crowdfunded plastic kit (I don't believe you were one of them so you were not affected by any of that at all.) At the time nearing the end of production, we could sadly not spare the budget to have Cartograf make them, so we chose another supplier who uses a digital printing process, as we really wanted to give our backers a little extra as thanks for making Beacon possible. I hope that clears up your query :).
too small for me i'll stick too 1/72 ND UP
no worries
Nice models, but not for me, they are too scared to be historically correct on the decals.
It is not a matter of fear, but being able to sell in a global marketplace as a new company to reach as many customers as possible. Many modellers live in territories where it is illegal to display the Hakenkreuz even for historical purposes, and sadly social media platforms often ban accounts even from legitimate companies featuring it for that reason. So we are forced to choose workarounds that allow the modeller to build a historically accurate Luftwaffe model using a two part decal solution, while also staying on the right side of the law. However, we always say that modellers should buy the kits that they feel are best for them.
Beacon models reply is spot on
@@beacon_models Why not include the offending decals in a small envelope with a warning to bin or destroy if you are very easily offended.
Genuinely cannot see the point of 1/144 scale kits.
Why?
great for small spaces OR n gauge model railways. I love this scale.
no NAZI markings ?
Historical decals are included