i’ve never seen a hasagawa model in the box and i wanted opinions on the quality, detail, etc. I started a tamiya and am very impressed with it. i’m not advanced enough to re-scribe panel lines, shave unnecesary bumps or baubles or things like that so it’s oob for me. i’m concentrating on painting/detailing so i do 1/48. Spefically i’m looking at the corsair or a p-40 next.
any response is greatly appreciated!
Curt,
I believe It depends largely on the particular kit as to who makes a better product, since both manufacturers have made some excellent kits. If you want to build a Corsair, you really can’t go wrong with any of the Tamiya kits. I’m not blowing Tamiya’s horn here, because they’ve made some stinkers, like their A-10. One small thing I see as an advantage to Tamiya is that It seems the mating surfaces for glueing and attaching seems to be better engineered(more positive contact). Hasegawa, on the other hand, has made some excellent kits, like the F-4’s and the 104’s. Very nice right out of the box.
Check some reviews on any particular kit to find any potential problems, or quality issues.
Cheers,
dragonfly
I would grab the Hasagawa P-40E it is a very nice kit with good detail. Overall I would say Tamiya kits generaly have more detail than hasagawa but I think both companies are good.
Recently, I’ve made Tamiya’s bf-109 trop and it went together very well, hardly any fit problems at all. Just one seam where the wings meet the fuselage on the ventral aspect required a little putty. Also, I’ve got two hasegawa kits right now in production. The spitfire IXc has required some significant putty at seams but otherwise went together well. I’ll report on the Nakajima B5N2 when it’s done. overall I’ve been very pleased with fit and finish with these two companies. Hope this helps.
Matthew
W-S, NC
one of the things i need to work on is filling seams so the better the fit, the better the model for me.
From my experience with both companies, Tamiya seems to “simplify” construction by combining as much as possible into each piece (pre-fabricated “subassemblies”), whereas Hasegawa molds all of the pieces separately and you assembly them. From that standpoint, Hasegawa offers more details (in my experience, and this varies by kit).
Both companies use great plastic and have very few fit issues. The plus for Hasegawa is hat their decals aren’t as thick as Tamiya’s.
Overall, you’ll be happy with either company. Accurate miniatures is another company with a great reputation.
Have fun and please post pictures as you go!
I just build a really nice tamiya F4U-A1 in 1/48
I’d recommend this kit for the price, fit, and detail.
You can grab it at www.squadron.com
Here’s five tamiya kits they have on sale there.
Spend over $100 and shipping is free
http://www.squadron.com/SearchResults.asp?ScaleList=48&TypeList=1&ManuList=TM&Key=f4u
Here’s a pic of mine.
[#ditto]That’s the long and short of it… although I have noticed that a few of Hasegawa’s kits do have raised panel lines… if that bugs you.
I think Jerry (dragonfly) has really hit the nail on the head. I agree that it is more about the indivdual kit than the manufacturer. Some Tamiya kits are virtual “fall together” offerings with minimal skill required in construction, and others are not . The same thing goes with Hasegawa. One thing that is always negative about most of the Hasegawa aircraft is wing to fuselage fit. A negative about some Tamiya offerings is the sacrifice of realistic detail to provide easy assembly. So take your pick really.
Steve
And remember, if you feel you lack a certain aspect of modeling skill such as filling seams you should try your best to build kits that will require you to do that. In my own humble opinion the worst thing you can do if seek kits that will skirt around what you feel you need help in. The way this looks is further down the line when you have many kits under your belt you will hit a platue and stay there. Theres nothing wroing with this mind you, but if you want to make kits that would be like featured in books and what not, those skills the modelers have are acquired through facing the limitations they perceive they have and have found solutions to them that do not include taking the easy way.
I wish the best for you and bring your questions here.
Jeff
I buiild kits from both manufactures. I like them both. Tamiya kits are slightly more money then Hasegawa in my neighborhood. I do not have a preference to any company. I just build whatever fancies my interest from any company. If I have to rebuild, cut, shap, file, sand, or whatever I just do it. I am not that advanced, but forums such as FSM will certainly help improve your skills.
Have fun
I agree with woodbeck3. You should seek out the kits that make you practice what you are weak at. I too considered my worst skill seam filling but I’ve had a ton of practice with it while building my latest kit. I was a lot better than I had thought I was. You might want to read Swanny’s article he has on his web site. Just click on the link. Very helpful information.
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Seams.html
Jeff gave pretty good advice… if you feel you need to improve in a certain areas, such as seams, then build a kit that’s gonna give you problems in that area.
Of course, you can do what you want. If you want to build kits that are going to give you little or no trouble then that’s your choice. I can’t recommend Hasegagme or Tamigawa because there are too many variables to say that one is better than the other, including the ultimate variable; one’s opinion of the definition of the word ‘better’.
Both manufacturers currently make excellent kits and although some of their older kits aren’t up to snuff they’re still decent models. It’s a coin toss, really.
But remember this… you can build the most state of the art and well-engineered kit that’s available on the market. But the less experience you have, the more likely your finished model is going to look as though it were built from a poorly engineered kit. The existence of seams on a model is sometimes due to the experience level of the builder and not to a seemingly poor engineering job.
A kit may fit very well, but it won’t put itself together. If you wanna improve your modeling skills, try an older kit. Get frustrated with it. Get angry with it. (not steaming angry, just miffed) And then attack it again. Go after it until the frustration goes away and is replaced by a decent result.
A friend of mine once said, “What we modelers do is not hard… you just have to do it.” And I’ll add that you have to do it often. The more you build, the more mistakes you make, the better modeler you will be in the end.
Fade to Black…
I think Tamiya makes excellant models,especially in the fit of the fuselage halves.Hasegawa also makes great kita but the fit of the fuselage and wing-root joints are not as precise as Tamiya.I agree that one should not shy away from areas that we need improvement in,because otherwise we will limit ouselves to only certain companies.If you really want to strech your skills,try a vac-form kit on for size!I was almost tearing my hair out until I calmed down and thought about the best way to join the fuselage halves.I also consulted the forum which gave me the clue I needed to press on and finish my first Vac-form kit.Now if I feel like building some obscure aircraft which is only offered in Vac-form,I will not hesitate to order the kit.
They are both excellent kit manufacturers. If you want an early Corsair, do the Tamiya kit. If you want a late Corsair or a P-40, do the Hasegawa kits.
Regards, Rick
thanks to all for the advice. i started the tam. corsair (with the moto tug) yesterday. i’m sticking with tam. for now because my LHS went out of business and all i have is hoblobby (40% off this week !!!) so ican go there, buy something and have instant gratification! i agree with everyone about “facing your worst fears” . i’ve been practicing on the seams of the other models i’m working on (even though most are very good) to get an idea of what to do. i’m going to do more tam. for now to see what an assembled model “should” look like and then gradually move into more difficult projects.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” --ancient chinese philosopher after his horse died
Killercurt,
Having the right tools also is an immense help! I hate seams too. The big ones I could handle fair enough but it was the tiny little hair seams that I couldn’t cover up. I didn’t want to use gap filling superglue. It seemed like such overkill just to fill in a tiny hairline seam. I use putty for the bigger seams and Mr. Surfacer 500 for the hairline seams. I just started using Mr. Surfaced after I stumbled upon it in my local ma & pa hobby shop. Try and pick some up and I guarantee you will love it! It’s like applying grey liquid paper with a toothpick. Or course another trick is actually USE liquid paper. I’ve done that before too. Works great.
Best wishes,
Eric