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Looking for opinion on some kits


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I saw a bunch of Tamiya kits for 13 dollars at my LHS. They included a KI-84, J2M3, A6M2 and 3. They are 1/48. They look pretty old, any opinion? any recommendation for a good WW2 Japanese aircraft kit?

I built the J2M3 kit a couple years back, and I found it to be very nice. good fit, accuracy seems pretty good, even came with a couple figures. for $13 I'd say go for it :worship:

I've been kinda pecking at the A6M2 kit for about a year now, but I haven't got very far, but it also seems pretty good fit wise, can't say much about accuracy because I don't know a whole lot about the zero from a technical aspect.

Edited by Christian@YYZ
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Despite their age, any and all of those kits are still quite nice are very buildable. The Zeros are a mix of engraved/raised panel lines, the Ki-84 is raised (IIRC), and the J2M3 was engraved (IIRC, again). While they don't have all the bells and whistles of the newer Hasegawa moldings, they are also not the price of the Hasegawa moldings...

The A6M3 is also the only kit out there of the clipped wing Zero that I have seen. There might be a newer one that came out with that Hasegawa multi-box set of Zeros they released last year, but I have not personaly seen anything.

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Both the Zero and Raiden hold up pretty well to Hasegawa's newer offerings when you consider cost performance. The Hayate is the weakest of the bunch, with poor cockpit detail, troublesome cowling fit, and a tail that looks off.

It's rather amazing that these 35 year old models can still hold their own. If you're just looking to build a bunch of Zeros in different markings, the Tamiya Zeros will serve you well. The A6M2-N Rufe is also very nice.

As for recommended Japanese a/c kits... wow, that's a tough one, as the category is very broad. "MUST HAVES" are Hasegawa Hayate and Tamiya Gekko - truly amazing kits. But here are my suggestions by service and type:

Navy single engine fighter: New-tool Hasegawa Zeros, Tamiya Shiden, new-tool Hasegawa Shiden-kai

Navy twin engine fighter/recon: Tamiya Gekko

Navy single engine torpedo bomber: Hasegawa Jill, Kate or Grace

Navy single engine recon: Hasegawa Myrt

Navy multi engine bomber: Tamiya Betty

Navy other: Tamiya Seiran, Hasegawa Shinden (old, but still nice) or FineMolds Reppu (Sam)

Army single engine fighter: Hasegawa Hayate, Hien, Hayabusa

Army twin engine: Tamiya Dinah, Nichimo Toryu (Nick)

You really can't go wrong with most of the Hasegawa and Tamiya offerings, as most were done in the 1990s or fairly recently.

The Nichimo Toryu (Nick) and Hayabusa I are old, but hold up well. FineMolds kits have finicky fit, but offer more esoteric subjects.

Edited by trojansamurai
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