Which kit is the better or lesser of two evils. I have tried to build the Hasegawa kit twice and have now acquired the Fujimi kit. In ya'lls pseudo-honest opinions which is the best one. Pros and cons would be good. What should I look out for with each.
I don't have either kit, but my modeling buddy Eric Verschuur tried building the Fujimi Hornet. He defended it violently here on rec.models.scale against Drew Manton, who didn't like it one bit. Over the years his enthousiasm for the kit has decreased dramatically however.
On first inspection the Fujimi kit looks very nice, with great detailing. But it has major assembly problems. Eric had cut away parts of the nose halves to make things fit (radome to nose I think), the (long) intakes are nearly impossible to assemble without gaps, the panels behind/below the wing are asymmetric, causing fuselage warp if you don't modify things, and there is more of that. Be warned!
Rob de Bie My models:
Have never bothered to look at the Fujimi kit so have no comment regarding that one.
I have built six of the Hasegawa A/C versions and am working on another two. Also have built two of the Super Bugs.
The Hasegawa kit does have some assembly problems to overcome, but if you are careful during the assembly, you can overcome most of the fit problems.
Most of the major fit problems are the aft fuselage top to bottom fit just behind the wing, and the intakes. By working the areas carefully with some trial fitting before gluing it together you can get it to go together OK. Then a little filling and sanding will take care of the rest. Most bugs have the "NAVY" and carrier designations, as well as the slime lights in this area so losing some scribed detail is not a big deal.
The intakes will fit if the sides of the intakes/fuselage are aligned and glued carefully. As with the aft fuselage, a bit of feeling it out and careful trial fitting goes a long way toward a good fit. But be prepared to use some putty here and there.
Final complaint for me was the diagonal seam between the top and bottom of the nose pieces. It goes through an area that really should be pretty smooth and clean. This usually means some minor rescribing after assembly.
The rest is just normal stuff with any kit. I would also suggest replacing the kit seat with something more detailed.
And oh yeah, Be sure to drill out the holes for the fences BEFORE you glue the tops and bottom of the fuselage together. Otherwise it is a really fun time detecting where those damn holes are.
It is not the perfect kit. Assembly is more complex than some other kits, but when done it looks accurate to me. I intend to build at least another dozen or so. Too many very neat color schemes not to be building them.
Norm
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