Anyone gets their hands on the newly retooled re-release of Hasegawa’s P-40 warhawk in 1/48 scale? I was at the hobby shop and saw it in the box…I have to say that I wasn’t impressed…Are the wing and tail flaps positionable…? What upgrades does it have?
Thanks for your input…
Tank
Really, I thought it was supposed to come out later in the year? Oh well, I just picked up the Hasegawa P-40E a couple of weeks ago from the LHS to add to my P-40 collection. Bryan
Sorry,
The P-40E released in February was the kit I was referring to. What did you think of it?
Tank
Looks like a great kit. The kit looks great in the box. Plus it has a set of PE to go along with it. In my opinion, I would get it if I was you. Don’t really know the down falls of it. Maybe someone else can help on that. Bryan
You can check out a review here: http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/allies/has/has48p40epreview.htm
The review has a pic of the parts trees and the decals it comes with. I picked it up the day me LHS got it in, I arrived about 15 min after they were delivered. The PE is a nice touch, I can’t wait to get a start on mine.
I haven’t started mine yet, but the only downside is the way the kit was engineered so that multiple versions can be produced from the same tooling. This makes the fuselage a multiple piece affair which will require extreme care in assembly & inevitably more filling, sanding & re-scribing than normal. The rudder is separate & positionable, but all of the other flight controls are molded fixed in the neutral position. Still, it appears to be the best P-40E in 1/48. The P-40N will share much of the same tooling with an additional sprue for the obvious differences.
Regards, Rick
According the the finescale readers’ poll, Trumpeter has a great 1/48 warhawk…
What do you guys think of that one?
Tank
The Trumpeter 48th P-40B/C is an okay kit. If you’re concerned with accuracy, then it may prove disappointing because it has a good number of problems, a few of which are unforgivable in this day and age of model kit production. I do believe that there are few issues with the fit of the kit, however.
The Hasegawa P-40E is getting ragged on by some folks simply because of all the inserts and such, which means that we have to go back to the good old days of modeling and actually work a little on a kit. Whippdee-doo. Hasegawa’s P-40E is THE most accurate plastic P-40 kit ever released… period.
I’m not the rivet counter that I used to be, but I’ve been waiting for someone to get the P-40 right and have been waiting for quite awhile. Hasegawa finally did it and I couldn’t care less if the fuselage was in twenty pieces… I grew up modeling and am comfortable with filler putty and sandpaper/sticks as well as other more effective means of taking care of seams and am fully capable of dealing with the so-called problems of either the Trumpeter or the Hasegawa kits.
The Hasegawa kit’s ‘problems’ do appear to be easier to take care of though, so I’ll build one of those before I build a Trumpeter kit. Hey, I may be a capable modeler, but I’m also lazy!!! [:p]
As long as I’m able to do so, you can bet I will acquire each and every Hasegawa P-40 release and relegate the ole’ AMT kits to ‘Collector’s Corner’ or ‘Special Duties’… [;)]
I guess that in the end, as usual, you have to decide for yourself what’s more important; accuracy or ease of assembly…
Fade to Black…
I can’t wait for the Hasegawa N model to come out. So it can replace the AMT one i have already built. Hey Blackwolf, how is the old Esci E model to build? Bryan
falcon039;
the old ESCI/AMT P-40E is the Otaki/Arii kit reboxed, which isn’t that bad but with all the hoopala on the AMTech’s & Hasegawa’s P-40 series I’d spend the $$ for them then the older kits, as for the P-40B/C’s I’ve built the Hobbycraft’s & Trumpeteer’s and I prefer the Monograms over them all,
Well I have not seen the new Hasigawa P-40 but I found somthing that could be of some interest to the P-40 lovers.
Its not an E model but a D model.
The skies the limit,
V.A.
Well, whoever put that drawing with the title ‘P-40D’ messed up 'cuz the Dog had two guns per wing, not three… [;)] That looks like it came outta the Squadron in action…
As to the 'ole Otaki/Arii kit… if you don’t care about accuracy build it because it’s a decent kit with very few fit problems… This I know firsthand… I built enough of 'em as a kid and two as a supposed adult… [:p] I’d recommend leaving the engine out, though. Unless of course you wanna leave the cowlings off, then I’d recommend putting the engine in 'cuz it would look kinda empty without it… [;)]
Anyhoo, if you do care about accuracy then you’re better off passing this one by. It has a good number of faults which are mostly simple fixes, but the landing gear has to go and the spinner, as with all P-40 kits but Hasegawa’s latest, is just plain wrong. The rear windows alone are a major deterrent and would take a good bit of work to correct. They’re just too far off to bother with unless you have a good bit of time, patience and skill.
Again, if you don’t mind inacurracies, don’t let all of what I say scare you away. These days I’m only a rivet counter when it comes to P-40s… well, mostly…
If you do decide you wanna build it, try and find an original Otaki issue; the clear parts are usually pretty good. They’re clear and well molded. The Arii boxings weren’t all that bad but all subsequent reissues that I’ve encountered had kinda trashy clear parts.
Speaking of reissues, this kit has been boxed by AMT/Ertl, Airfix, Idea and Hobbycraft… I think there were two others but cannot recall fersher. The Hobbycraft boxing was as bad a rip-off of this kit as you could imagine and could barely be recognised as having been copied from the Otaki kit. I only saw it once and it’s a shame because I simply tossed the kit as soon as I opened it up, (yes it was that bad) and was never able to get a second after I’d decided to collect every P-40 kit I could, good bad or ugly.
I too kinda go for the Monogram Tomahawk over the other kits… kinda… I’ve got several of these in storage and have been contemplating a kitbash/scratchbuilding project because I’m sick of waiting for a truly good P-40/B/C in 48th. I’ve been predicting a Tamiya kit for years but I think the crystal ball had a chip or two in it… [:(!]
Okay, I’ve babbled enough. I think I’m gonna actually go work on a model… maybe…
Fade to Black…
Well guys,
From what it sounds like and from what i’ve seen so far… it looks like we’ll
have to wait a bit more to see if this kit is worth all the hype…After seeing
those parts trees I’m not so optimistic…as disappointed as I am I think I’ll
hold off buying this one…
I remember building a flying tiger as a kid…actually two…one was a smithsonian kit,
like the one hanging in D.C. many years back…I think that one was sent over to the UK
for the Imperial War museum exhibit…? The other was a large scale one…
Maybe I should have kept those?
Well guys…thanks for all your input…If anyone has a finished one around let’s see um.
Thanks,
Tank