HobbyBoss and Hasegawa 1/48 F-18A/C question

[aerofan]

Has anyone seen both at the same time and compared the two? How accurate is each? Your reply will help me to determine which I should consider. Thanks

[Spunk-Y]

well that I could see, the HobbyBoss Hornet's are based upon the Hasegawa kits, there is some difference but they are mostly the same (except for that the hobbyboss kit has a lot of weapon options)

But hey there are better experts here

[habu2]

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....howtopic=136110

;)

[dagger00]

Aerofan, if this helps, I had the Hasegawa one, sold it and bought the Hobbyboss one, it is a very accurate kit and plenty of well detailed weapondry

[Netz]

The HB kit is a copy of the Hasegawa kit, a little heavy on rivet detail, they tooled the canopy in 2 parts like the Monogram kit, the weapons although included are not too good in shape and some are not used by the Navy. the landing gear has some detail issues, check the torque links,and the price is just as high as a Hasegawa kit, so why buy a copy when you can get the real thing.

Curt

[jjuwana]

Guys, I just got my HB f-18C hornet, question is there's a panel on the left side of the cockpit section that looks like a Canadian hornet, is it really like that or should I just putty it up ?

Regards

JJ

[Stephen]

Guys, I just got my HB f-18C hornet, question is there's a panel on the left side of the cockpit section that looks like a Canadian hornet, is it really like that or should I just putty it up ?

Regards

JJ

Putty it up if you're not building a Canadian aircraft. The tooling is designed to allow all variants a la Hasegawa. I've built the HB "A" version and it makes for a nice kit.Not too hard to drop the flaps either.

Stephen

[jjuwana]

How do you drop the flaps steven ?

Regards

JJ

[Stephen]

How do you drop the flaps steven ?

Regards

JJ

Everything's separate but HB didn't include the actuators for the dropped option so you have to adjust them carefully.I did it by very carefully bending them.The end result can be seen here

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....=121062&hl=

Cheers

Stephen

[pablo189]

I'm still working on mine, theres a full inprogress here

Gary

[Netz]

Pablo's Build shows off all of Hobby Boss's short comings, I can't see paying the same price or more for a "Copy" of the Hasegawa kit, just because it comes with weapons doesn't make it the better buy, As there's already been inquiries about intake and Exhaust covers to deal with the HB's inaccurate tooling,

And that's just the tip of the ice burg as to Hobby Boss's inaccuracies.

Here's an in depth review I found over on Hyper Scale almost a year ago.

Curt

I’ve heard quite a few boast on this kit already, but having only briefly seen it through friend’s possession; I was not able to look at the kit in depth. My example arrived not to long ago and I finally got a chance to take a good look at it, comparing it to the Hasegawa kit.

First off, this kit represents an “early†production F/A-18A, as per the short stub upper antennas fairings of the vertical tail, contrary to the unappealing box art. They also include the vertical tail beef up brackets and the LEX fences, which contradict the early style tails. I may be wrong, but I don’t recall any F/A-18A with the early stub antenna vertical tails configured with the beef up brackets and LEX Fences. In any case, it would have made a lot more sense to have included the later configuration F/A-18A verticals with the extended antenna fairings, seeing how just about all F/A-18A in service today do not have the early style verticals.

Much has been said about other Hobby Boss kit subjects being copies of other manufactures’ kits and in this case that claim holds true. It is in “fact†a copy of Hasegawa’s 48th F-18A, with a few alterations. Though the parts layout is not the same as the Hasegawa F-18 sprue trees, the near per batmen details can’t be denied. Basically, imagine the surface detail of the Hasegawa F/A-18A, twice as deep and twice as wide and you’ll get a good idea of what the Hobby Boss F-18A looks like as that’s exactly what it is. Just about all the panel line plotting and fastener detail is the same as on the Hasegawa kit.

The surface panel line detail just does not have the finesse and crispness of the Hasegawa Hornet and some of the rivet/fastener detail has the “bullet-hole†effect going on, especially on the upper wings. Some of the riveting runs right through fuel panels, as opposed to Hasegawa’s tooling that actually has those panels with proper perimeter fastener detail. Where as Hasegawa accurately tooled in realistic vent detail, most of these areas are only scribed in as panel lines, with no real depth.

The whole kit is engineered the same as the Hasegawa F-18, everything from the fuselage break down to the stores. Even the wing tanks are per the Hasegawa kit, too short (1/4†IIRC), yet even more proof the Hobby Boss F-18A is a copy-cat kit.

The kit was not copied to the full extent as the MLG struts are generically done in plastic form. The MLG struts have the same problem as in the Monogram kit, where the main shock struts are not symmetrically round, having more of an oval cross section. The H.B. MLG detail is lacking and no way compares to the metal and plastic detail combination that’s in the Hasegawa kit. The nose strut suffers from the same lack of detail. On top of that, the torque links are ridiculously too long, being more than “twice†the length that they should be. These will have to be cut down and properly rebuilt, else box stock they’ll end up looking quite strange.

The cockpit in the Hasegawa kit was a bit weak in detail, but at least what is there is a lot more accurate detail than Hobby Boss’s efforts. The H.B. tub and the rest of the pit, is quite soft in detail. The console boxes are over stated, being too heavily raised and spacing too far apart. Other than the console box recessed fastener detail, there’s practically no console switchology at all! The instro panel is too wide; a result of the overly wide glare shield and front canopy, with the main canopy following suit. I can’t tell if the fuel panel is the analog or later digital type, as there’s just a couple of raised squares to represent that area.

The canopy being on the wide side also is not engineered as per Hasegawa’s full main canopy. The HB main canopy is segmented from the canopy frame just as in the Monogram kit which quite turn off and an example of how “not†to engineer a canopy. The Hasegawa main canopy is one piece thus makes for a cleaner mask and end result.

Also, the front windscreen does not have framing raised or recessed, on the arch open end.

There are two seats included; the NACES SJU-17, and the SJU 5/6. They both look like the same seat, but they are different in the head rest and side structure. The SJU-17 is the one with the ribbing side frame detail, while has the narrow profile head rest. The SJU 5/6 is also is plagued with bullet hole riveting. The kit instructions call out for the “wrong seat†(SJU-17) as the correct call out should be for the SJU-5/6 for F-18As.

Both kits have punch marks on the inside of the gear doors, but while the Hasegawa kit’s are restrained and easy to fill, on the contrary the Hobby Boss kit gear doors are quite heavy with a rough surface. The exhaust break down is near identical and also the nozzles suffer from the same sink lines as in the Hasegawa kit, go figure. They are also a bit longer in length. The intake openings/mouths are too large and have quite an inaccurate profile, being squared on the bottom of the mouth. I did find the pylons to be nice, as they actually used some restraint here and did not over due the detail.

Overall, the only slight advantage the HB F-18 has over the Hasegawa kit is the additional weapons sprues, but unfortunately they are not that good. There’s a mixed batch of HARMs, JDAMs, LGBs, Harpoons, Mk-82s, Aim-7, and AIM-9s. All of the detail is quite generic and nothing close to the level of detail found in the Hasegawa weapons sets, or those found in other kits, like the Revell F-18E, Hasegawa F-16CJ, or Tamiya F-16CJ. The AIM-9s AIM-7s are too thin in diameter, and also seem to be too short. The JDAMs just plain “disappointing†and is an ordinance that’s not used on the early production Hornets, as JDAMs didn’t even exist at the time. I found the same problem with their A-10 kit, as this is yet another example of Hobby Boss not doing thorough research of their subject matter.

Someone said that Hobby Boss’s new F/A-18A is now the Hornet to have in 48th? That’s simple not true. The Hasegawa kit is still the most accurate and “best†Legacy F-18 in this scale. The Hobby Boss knock-off is a good kit, but just falls short across the board compared to the best 48th F/A-18, Hasegawa. It does however, eclipse the Monogram kit for second place and would make a good alternative “if†it can be found for a lot cheaper price than it’s currently marketed as. In any case, you’ll still be way ahead of the game just getting the Hasegawa F-18A/C kit in the first place.

This is an "obvious copy", that should take "NO" credit for any R & D, since that of course was already done by Hasegawa. I have trouble recommending such pirating or other manufactures' kits, since the pirating manufactures benefits from the original manufacture that actually did all the leg work in R & D in the first place. The parts that HB did do on their own simply are poorly done. This is the result when HB is obligated to R & D parts of their own.

Edited December 14, 2007 by Netz

[aerofan]

Pablo's Build shows off all of Hobby Boss's short comings, I can't see paying the same price or more for a "Copy" of the Hasegawa kit, just because it comes with weapons doesn't make it the better buy, As there's already been inquiries about intake and Exhaust covers to deal with the HB's inaccurate tooling,

And that's just the tip of the ice burg as to Hobby Boss's inaccuracies.

Here's an in depth review I found over on Hyper Scale almost a year ago.

Curt

I’ve heard quite a few boast on this kit already, but having only briefly seen it through friend’s possession; I was not able to look at the kit in depth. My example arrived not to long ago and I finally got a chance to take a good look at it, comparing it to the Hasegawa kit.

First off, this kit represents an “early†production F/A-18A, as per the short stub upper antennas fairings of the vertical tail, contrary to the unappealing box art. They also include the vertical tail beef up brackets and the LEX fences, which contradict the early style tails. I may be wrong, but I don’t recall any F/A-18A with the early stub antenna vertical tails configured with the beef up brackets and LEX Fences. In any case, it would have made a lot more sense to have included the later configuration F/A-18A verticals with the extended antenna fairings, seeing how just about all F/A-18A in service today do not have the early style verticals.

Much has been said about other Hobby Boss kit subjects being copies of other manufactures’ kits and in this case that claim holds true. It is in “fact†a copy of Hasegawa’s 48th F-18A, with a few alterations. Though the parts layout is not the same as the Hasegawa F-18 sprue trees, the near per batmen details can’t be denied. Basically, imagine the surface detail of the Hasegawa F/A-18A, twice as deep and twice as wide and you’ll get a good idea of what the Hobby Boss F-18A looks like as that’s exactly what it is. Just about all the panel line plotting and fastener detail is the same as on the Hasegawa kit.

The surface panel line detail just does not have the finesse and crispness of the Hasegawa Hornet and some of the rivet/fastener detail has the “bullet-hole†effect going on, especially on the upper wings. Some of the riveting runs right through fuel panels, as opposed to Hasegawa’s tooling that actually has those panels with proper perimeter fastener detail. Where as Hasegawa accurately tooled in realistic vent detail, most of these areas are only scribed in as panel lines, with no real depth.

The whole kit is engineered the same as the Hasegawa F-18, everything from the fuselage break down to the stores. Even the wing tanks are per the Hasegawa kit, too short (1/4†IIRC), yet even more proof the Hobby Boss F-18A is a copy-cat kit.

The kit was not copied to the full extent as the MLG struts are generically done in plastic form. The MLG struts have the same problem as in the Monogram kit, where the main shock struts are not symmetrically round, having more of an oval cross section. The H.B. MLG detail is lacking and no way compares to the metal and plastic detail combination that’s in the Hasegawa kit. The nose strut suffers from the same lack of detail. On top of that, the torque links are ridiculously too long, being more than “twice†the length that they should be. These will have to be cut down and properly rebuilt, else box stock they’ll end up looking quite strange.

The cockpit in the Hasegawa kit was a bit weak in detail, but at least what is there is a lot more accurate detail than Hobby Boss’s efforts. The H.B. tub and the rest of the pit, is quite soft in detail. The console boxes are over stated, being too heavily raised and spacing too far apart. Other than the console box recessed fastener detail, there’s practically no console switchology at all! The instro panel is too wide; a result of the overly wide glare shield and front canopy, with the main canopy following suit. I can’t tell if the fuel panel is the analog or later digital type, as there’s just a couple of raised squares to represent that area.

The canopy being on the wide side also is not engineered as per Hasegawa’s full main canopy. The HB main canopy is segmented from the canopy frame just as in the Monogram kit which quite turn off and an example of how “not†to engineer a canopy. The Hasegawa main canopy is one piece thus makes for a cleaner mask and end result.

Also, the front windscreen does not have framing raised or recessed, on the arch open end.

There are two seats included; the NACES SJU-17, and the SJU 5/6. They both look like the same seat, but they are different in the head rest and side structure. The SJU-17 is the one with the ribbing side frame detail, while has the narrow profile head rest. The SJU 5/6 is also is plagued with bullet hole riveting. The kit instructions call out for the “wrong seat†(SJU-17) as the correct call out should be for the SJU-5/6 for F-18As.

Both kits have punch marks on the inside of the gear doors, but while the Hasegawa kit’s are restrained and easy to fill, on the contrary the Hobby Boss kit gear doors are quite heavy with a rough surface. The exhaust break down is near identical and also the nozzles suffer from the same sink lines as in the Hasegawa kit, go figure. They are also a bit longer in length. The intake openings/mouths are too large and have quite an inaccurate profile, being squared on the bottom of the mouth. I did find the pylons to be nice, as they actually used some restraint here and did not over due the detail.

Overall, the only slight advantage the HB F-18 has over the Hasegawa kit is the additional weapons sprues, but unfortunately they are not that good. There’s a mixed batch of HARMs, JDAMs, LGBs, Harpoons, Mk-82s, Aim-7, and AIM-9s. All of the detail is quite generic and nothing close to the level of detail found in the Hasegawa weapons sets, or those found in other kits, like the Revell F-18E, Hasegawa F-16CJ, or Tamiya F-16CJ. The AIM-9s AIM-7s are too thin in diameter, and also seem to be too short. The JDAMs just plain “disappointing†and is an ordinance that’s not used on the early production Hornets, as JDAMs didn’t even exist at the time. I found the same problem with their A-10 kit, as this is yet another example of Hobby Boss not doing thorough research of their subject matter.

Someone said that Hobby Boss’s new F/A-18A is now the Hornet to have in 48th? That’s simple not true. The Hasegawa kit is still the most accurate and “best†Legacy F-18 in this scale. The Hobby Boss knock-off is a good kit, but just falls short across the board compared to the best 48th F/A-18, Hasegawa. It does however, eclipse the Monogram kit for second place and would make a good alternative “if†it can be found for a lot cheaper price than it’s currently marketed as. In any case, you’ll still be way ahead of the game just getting the Hasegawa F-18A/C kit in the first place.

This is an "obvious copy", that should take "NO" credit for any R & D, since that of course was already done by Hasegawa. I have trouble recommending such pirating or other manufactures' kits, since the pirating manufactures benefits from the original manufacture that actually did all the leg work in R & D in the first place. The parts that HB did do on their own simply are poorly done. This is the result when HB is obligated to R & D parts of their own.

Thanks Curt. Having both HB and Hasegawa's F-18 Legacy Hornet, your comparsion is extremely helpful. Just because the HB has weapons shouldn't be a reason for it's price to be in the same/similar range with Hasegawa's. Pablo's build photos were also great help. My decision is to go with Hasegawa - will get the real deal and not the knock off. Thanks again to Curt, Pablo and others for helping me make a sound decision.

[Scooby]

Guys, I just got my HB f-18C hornet, question is there's a panel on the left side of the cockpit section that looks like a Canadian hornet, is it really like that or should I just putty it up ?

Regards

JJ

It is really like that, it is the gun door. Just don't open up the spot for the light.

[Scooby]

Putty it up if you're not building a Canadian aircraft. The tooling is designed to allow all variants a la Hasegawa. I've built the HB "A" version and it makes for a nice kit.Not too hard to drop the flaps either.

Stephen

No, the door is there. It is the gun arming door. We just mounted a light on some of the doors of our Hornets. Not all jets have the light installed all of the time. The light is required to be installed when we do Quick Reaction Duty.

[Julien (UK)]

I have seen the HB kit built up and it looks great. One of our club guys did a Kuwait one using Dave Roofs decals and it looked really great.

http://www.ipms-ipswich.org.uk/Nov07/Web11..._25__large.html

Julien