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These 3 must be some of the most travelled moulds.

The F-14, F-15 and MiG-25 have appeared under 7 different brands at least, plus one copy.

According to the usual source (pak20), the moulds originated with MANNEN, and are the only ones he lists.

After that, they were sold under the Hanaoka, Sunny, Sanshoh, ROSKOPF, Entex, Revell brands, and copied by Academy in his early days.

BUT cat. numbers are 009 (F-14) and 010 (F-15). And the numbers from 001 onwards?

Also, Hanaoka issued the same moulds, there is no name on the boxes, only a logo, some sorts of 3 mountains or cupolas, that Pak20 associates with Hanaoka.

The same on rareplanesdetective's site.

"HANAOKA Aviation Kits from Japan (logo on boxtop is like a 3 peaked mountain or crown)"

NOW, I have 2 "Mannen", BUT the Mannen logo is a sticker applied on Hanaoka boxes (and not even straight). I have also a Hanaoka without sticker. So Hanaoka SHOULD be older than Mannen.

I am asking these questions in a forum dedicated to collectors of old kits, but to date I had no answers.

I AM SENDING YOU PHOTOS OF BOTH MANNEN AND HANAOKA, they are identical, apart a sticker, you choose if to show both or only one.

The Academy F-14 and F-15 are identical, even to the parts numbering, but the number tags on the sprues are different, and a few parts are turned around on the sprue, just to differentiate a little, but the position in the sprue doesn't change. Also the stands are identical.

The consensus is that in their early days, Academy did copy many kits from various manufacturers, and this is the case here.

I can confirm that the Mannen, Hanaoka, Sunny, Roskopf, Sanshoh are all the same moulds.

The Mig 25 by Revell and Entex is also the same Mannen (or Hanaoka) mould: I compared the models. My OPINION is that the Entex F-14 is also the Mannen one, but don't have it to check.

Also my opinion is that the Revell 4066 F-14 and the 4067 F-15 are Mannen, while the 4029 F-15A IS (I have it) different and much cruder, possibly Lindberg.

Wenn Sie weitere Informationen haben, würden wir uns über eine Nachricht sehr freuen. wimmerrichard@hotmail.com oder über Direkter Kontakt

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