Eli Raphael Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Maddux Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I finished the Hasegawa kit a couple of months ago, it looks great, but I didn't enjoy building it, the multi part main gear is very weak and fragile. If I build another one I will go with the Academy kit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foxmulder_ms Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) My vote goes to Hasegawa. Main reason, the shape of Hasegawa captures the real aircraft much better, I cannot live with the nose Academy has. Also, I think Hasegawa has better details in the wheel wells and weapon bays. If you have the weapon bay doors from Hasegawa, it does not need any aftermarket at all but in my case it was hard to install them, etched doors are slightly larger than the bays. another thing, I secretly like the exaggerated surface detail on Hasegawa :D Edited February 18, 2015 by foxmulder_ms Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caiotfjr Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I can't vouch for the Academy kit, but there isn't any room for improvment for a pink kit with girlie decals ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nicholassagan Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I'd say Hasegawa (I have two!). Details are better with the exception of some of the surface details being slightly out of scale. But accuracy is top compared to Academy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Can the landing gear bays of the Hasegawa kit be closed with little effort? I'm thinking of doing one gear-up in flight. Thanks in advance Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegoodsgt Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Here's a substantive discussion about the kits. Linkage Steven Brown Scale Model Soup Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wolverine1947 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I finished the Hasegawa kit a couple of months ago, it looks great, but I didn't enjoy building it, the multi part main gear is very weak and fragile. If I build another one I will go with the Academy kit. Built the Academy and I found the landing gear a lot more flimsy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Academy with Sierra Hotel resin nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jester292 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hasegawa. Fun build, lots of details. Aaron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mrvark Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Not positive, but I think later releases of the Academy kit corrected the initial nose issue. I haven't actually built mine, but did look at the nose and it looked okay. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wolverine1947 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Not positive, but I think later releases of the Academy kit corrected the initial nose issue. I haven't actually built mine, but did look at the nose and it looked okay. I have heard they corrected the fuselage halves but have not saw the later kit.I have 2 early Academy 1/48 Raptors and 2 Hasegawa ones Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Despite its two upper and lower halves, I have found Hasegawa to go together really well. The locating parts between the two halves worked really well. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=244021&view=findpost&p=2338064 Never had the Academy so can't compare. Hasegawa is also particularly cheap nowadays. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BillS Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I built both and both are quite nice and look nearly identical on first glance. Hasaegawa's overdone surface detail might be a turnoff for some but it does have a slightly better weapons bay and gear wells. either way you can't go totally wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mat cabret Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I have heard they corrected the fuselage halves but have not saw the later kit.I have 2 early Academy 1/48 Raptors and 2 Hasegawa ones Yes they did re-do the mold slightly. I have four Academy kits, and all were the original molds. I replaced three of them with the newer versions. Overall the difference isn't really that dramatic, slightly longer nose if i remember. The one i'm actually painting and building now is oddly the older one (haha). You can call the company in new jersey and request to get the upper and lower fuselage parts. What you will need is to cut out the proof of purchase thing on the side of the cardboard box. You need to talk with the person in the exchange or missing parts department and they will arrange for an RMA number, and you will tell them the parts you need. If i remember right, the fuselage parts do not have part numbers (at least in the manual), so you just write upper and lower fuselage as parts. They will charge you a flat fee of like 12 dollars or something for as many parts as you need. it includes postage back. I think their fee went up a few times in the past few years. The return time can be months before you get your parts, but you will get them. You can do this for any kit from academy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foxmulder_ms Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 . Hasegawa is also particularly cheap nowadays. ' Yeah.. I bet they were expecting huge numbers to sell which didn't happen so they had to lower the price to get rid of the stock. Which is a good thing for people like me because I got three of them for almost the price of one I bought earlier :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 ' Yeah.. I bet they were expecting huge numbers to sell which didn't happen so they had to lower the price to get rid of the stock. Which is a good thing for people like me because I got three of them for almost the price of one I bought earlier :D/> I think it was mainly the pink IdolMaster kit that they reduced the price drastically. Something like 60% discount: http://www.hlj.com/product/HSGSP271/Air vs the 'normal boxing': http://www.hlj.com/product/hsgpt45/Air They probably didn't sell enough of the Idolmaster one in their home market (Japanese modelers seem to prefer 1/72 scale...possibly because home space is premium over there) hence the drastic price reduction. Though Hasegawa does kit the Idolmaster F-22 in 1/72 also, it is a rebox of the Revell kit and not an original Hasegawa F-22. Still, most of us won't care if the plastic is pink because it is almost US$17 cheaper and the pink can easily be sprayed over with a cheap can of primer :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Inquisitor Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) I think it was mainly the pink IdolMaster kit that they reduced the price drastically. Something like 60% discount: http://www.hlj.com/p...ct/HSGSP271/Air vs the 'normal boxing': http://www.hlj.com/product/hsgpt45/Air They probably didn't sell enough of the Idolmaster one in their home market (Japanese modelers seem to prefer 1/72 scale...possibly because home space is premium over there) hence the drastic price reduction. Though Hasegawa does kit the Idolmaster F-22 in 1/72 also, it is a rebox of the Revell kit and not an original Hasegawa F-22. Still, most of us won't care if the plastic is pink because it is almost US$17 cheaper and the pink can easily be sprayed over with a cheap can of primer The only problem now with the pink F-22 is that aftermarket decals for line jets are starting to dry out :/ As for the Academy kit, they fixed the nose shape but IIRC the vertical tails are still undersized. Sierra Hotel were supposed to release corrections but their page shows they aren't available yet.. http://sierrahotelmo...ts/show/4057136 Edited February 25, 2015 by Inquisitor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I finished the Hasegawa kit a couple of months ago, it looks great, but I didn't enjoy building it, the multi part main gear is very weak and fragile. If I build another one I will go with the Academy kit. Have no one released a metal gear yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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