Acadamy, Hasegawa and Fujimi CF-18 comparison build

[phantom]

OK, this is what I plan to start building some time next week.

A comparison build. All in 1/72. The Acadamy, Hasegawa and Fujimi. All to built as Canadian Hornets with fancy tail (only) markings.

The decals will be Canmilair and Leading edge.

As of now, I think they will be built out of the box with landing gear down and canopy closed. We'll see.

Edited July 1, 2008 by CraigSargent

[ChernayaAkula]

Oh, this is gonna be interesting! ;)

[Matt Shropshire]

You have my attention

[Aggressor Supporter]

This should be good.

[Jack-Swiss]

Really interesting and will follow with interest!!!

Cheers

[phantom]

And it begins. First the tried and true Hasegawa. We have all built it. I have at least 30 times.

When I compare it to these other two kits however .You really see there is not much to it. Out of the box you would think the other two kits will turn circles around the Hasegawa, but!!!!!! Hasegawa has the price right.

I picked up this kit for $12. Of course they go for more now-a-days, but if you look hard enough they can be found for a good price.

Nothing but air to air missiles, and they are chunky. Decals for the spot light, but most boxings of this kit do not have the spot. Only the earliest and SOME Canadian specials, (not all.)

Next the Acadamy.

On opening the box we see A LOT of stuff not included with Hasegawa. Weapons and lots of them. A very secure separetly bagged clear section. Very nice decals (mind you have have not had much luck with Acadamy's 1/32 scale Hornet decals) Excellent lookking cockpit, and a part count that must be near double if not more then Hasegawa.

Also, it is the only one that comes with the modern bird slicers on the nose. Nice exhaust not unlike the Hasegawa 1/48 way of doing things. Very impressive so far......But how will it build up? Oh yes, its not cheap. double the Hasegawa at $26. But then again, some new Hasegawas cost much more then that. Still much better then.........

The Fujimi. this one I got off a trade some time ago.

Out of the box, looks impressive. I can see the fuel tanks look wrong as everyone says and I have not even begun to build. Same basic set up as the Acadamy, or perhaps it would be correct to say Acadamy has the same basic set up as Fujimi, as Fujimis kit has been around longer.

Comes with a tiny photo etch fret. Not many weapons, but it does have full intake trucks that neither Hasegawa or Acadamy has. The Fujimi also is the only one that comes with the radar.

Big problem wit the Fujimi, is the price. Stupid high. I have found Hasegawa 1/48 scale Hornets for less then the $45 this model goes for. I would think the initial price would be the MAIN reason we don't see to many Fujimi Hornets built.

OK, on with the build, (after I fix a curtain rod in the kitchen.)

[CraigSargent]

In regards to the Fujimi Hornet, I'm sure you'll get to the nose shape problems, but the fuel tanks are actually not that bad. The main issue is the shape of the rear fin.

It should be noted that Fujimi give you two of the round tanks (lower centre sprue) and one of the earlier style oval cross section tanks (upper right sprue), which is no longer in use on most aircraft (USN TPS jets still seem to carry them from time to time).

[phantom]

And away we go.

HAsegawa cockpit. Well......I am not going to measure the sucker to real life, mainly as I do not have a CF-18 handy right at the moment. But.

Sides are very skinny, control stick, very thick and chunky. Seat is a blob. The control panel is flat and a rather nice decal is provided for that. To be honest in 1/72 I find a decal for the control panel is acceptable. Mostly as I tend to build them with the canopy closed. ** Does** come with a pilot who shall be used at a later date. And from past builds aI know that adding the pilot and closing the canopy takes care of the seat blob and lack of detail issues.

Acadamy. I would guess a two seater is coming. This really looks like the 1/48 Hasegawa kit scaled down. More believable side controls, with raised detail. Can't comment on how accurate, but it looks acceptable. Control stick is very thin and easy to break. In fact think its missing some detail. Good thing there are two in the kit.

The control panel is excellent. High raised detail and the only kit with the detail under the panel by the floor. Panel locks into the tub wonderful. Has decals for the sides and LED screens.

Seat, very nice but the cushions are rather thick, only seat of the three that has the seat belts molded in. (upper only)

Only seat which has the parachute pack as well. Also the only one with the ejection seat decals on the side, an excellent touch.

Fujimi. Only one which looks like the hell hole is an option at this early stage, (but I think Acadamy will cover this issue later in the build.) Side is not unlike the Acadamy. Best decals of the three for the controls. Control stick looks the best out of the three as well.

Control panel is better then the Acadamy, looks a bit more detailed. But the rather nice decal will cover any difference.

The seat is very nice, but unless I just have not found it (not in the instructions either) it is lacking the parachute cover. Certainly looks like one belongs on the seat.

[phantom]

All right, the Academy gets a extra point here.

Seperate under nose palet to use either standard or late issue mesh grills. Very nice.

Now, all 3 models have the forward fuseledge under way. I know the Hasegawa, every time I have done it so far, putty has been required. But for the parts breakdown this stage will wait until the other models catch up.

The Academy, even with the very nice palet is very fiddely here. Not what I would consider a positive alignment. In fact I think it is using too many parts.

Same deal if not worse for the Fujimi. All though it is easier to tell everything is lined up here, there is a massive part count.

The Academy and Fujimi have much more detail and MUCH better panel lines. But my camera is too cheap to show this detail at this point. Hopefully it will be more apparent later in the build.

Right, more Wednesday or early next week.

[CraigSargent]

Only thing about the Academy nose is that for some strange reason, the vents are recessed into the panel. On the real aircraft they are flush. Bit strange.

Nice progress Shawn. Watching with interest.

[Aggressor Supporter]

I like your presentation! Looking forward to seeing more.

[phantom]

Intakes. Hasegawa. Well.........Hasegawa does not come with any. Just a back plate you paint black. Also I always find this the worst part of the 1/72 Hasegawa build. Lining up those side walls to the rear of the plane. The intake lips are not so bad, just wish they went further back.

Also, I remember many of the Hasegawa Hornets I built in the past, this area was problematic. Its really just a matter of practice I guess. This one seems to line up ok.

Academy. The Academy hornet has no intake trunking at all. BUT!!! A little black paint at the bottom does the trick and it looks MUCh more relistic then the Hasegawa, the depth is not bad...not bad at all. Also you may note Academy has you pretty much build the entire fuseledge at this point. Its freakin AWESOME!!! But I'll give more on this later when the other kits catch up to this point.

Fujimi. This one ACTUALLY has INTAKE trunks. Very nice but imposible to get ride of the seems on a model this small. The fan face is also very nice but you can not see them after they are installed. Also note ,the entire rear half of the plane will be needed to be added to the front. I figure this will be interesting when the time to put it all together comes.

At this point of the build Fujimi pulls ahead. But the Academy is not far behind.

Edited June 27, 2008 by phantom

[phantom]

Main assembly.

Hasegawa. Having a lot of trouble here. It seems not to go on straight this build. Taking a lot of pressure and super glue. As you see its still taped for drying at the rear. I am trying to avoid putty this time to later try and show the difference in panel lines. In fact under the wing root I have a gap I may end up having to putty but we shall see tomorrow if that is still required.

If everything were straight, and normally for me it is. This is the part of the build I would have figured Hsegawa would have the upper hand. But as you can see, that is not the case this time.

Next Academy. Very nice. The top (especially at the nose) snap into place. The rear is super. Next to no sanding required. I am very impressed by this model so far and it wins this part of the build hands down.

Fujimi. Well, it is very nice. But dang talk about a lot of seperate parts. I have left off the LEX at this point just to show how many parts are involved. I fear that this model might end up with some gaps or alignment issues but so far so good.

[Brutus]

Informative presentation Shawn, will be following it closely.

[Eri]

I had problems fitting the front fuse to the main body. The bottom didnt flush instead there s a sudden rise in the contours.

Almost completed my 1/72 Academy

Chosen the 2003 decals

[phantom]

Wing time. Actually all of them turned out pretty good for this point. Hasegawa being the easiest. Less parts so less chance to screw up.

Hasegawa is a one part wing (each side.) Note the radome has a slight gap. Which I do not recall ever happening before.

Academy. 5 parts per wing. and the radome cone seems to have the best fit of them all.

[phantom]

Fujimi, gets bonus points at this time for the radar. The only 1/72 kit (I know of) that has one. Looks pretty acceptable, but I am going to save it for the spares box.

The wings are the most "complecated" of the bunch. But have the advantage of NOT having the holes pre drilled. This means I will not have to putty the outer holes closed like on the Hasegawa and the Academy.

The Fujimi also has the highest parts count again. The sidewinder raile are separete parts . The wings are two parts (top and bottom) and you (just like the Academy) have to add the actuators your self.

Sadly, NONE of these three models allow you to make the flaps down out of the box. The Academy appears the easiest to modify followed by the Fujimi. You would have to cut the flaps and make the actuators yourself.

[Fanakit]

very interesting, I will be following it

Thanks

[phantom]

Landing gear time.

Hasegawa, rather thick to the scale I think. Kind of klunky and tends to settle over time. Cats find this landing gear easy to destroy as history has proven.

Very basic, and the bays seem rather shallow. I tend to let the glue on these dry a while as the contact to the plane tends to be weak.

Academy. Ohhhhh ME LIKE!!!!!!!! The gear clicks in postion and appears strong right from the get go. Very thin and appears (to the eye) to be closer to scale then the clunky Hasegawa.

Only kit that comes with the forward bay landing gear retractor thing. Dammit Jim I was a feild medic NOT a landing gear tech.

Academy also comes with a clear lens for the lights, something the other two kits do not. Academy wins this round.

Fujimi. Not bad. Certainly better the the Hasegawa but I did not like the bay. Big gaps. I also did not like the attachment point, gear to bay. But the gear looks rather nice. Very much like the Academy in appearence.

[phantom]

Wheels are on, but the photos are not worth showing. (cheap camera)

Hasegawa, seem thick to the eye, but the wheel seems the most like an early Canadia wheel. Might be the best, but no tire tread.

Academy. Must be the latest C style, looks nothing like the Canadian wheel. Very nice tread.

Fujimi. Wow, thats some flat tires. Fujimi went with the bulged look, but I think its overdone. Wheels are ok,but next to no detail for the front wheels. Very faint engraving and hard to paint.

[Jack-Swiss]

Fantastic comparison build!!!!

I'm just learning mate!!!

Cheers

[GreyGhost]

Nice work Shawn ...

I'm wanting to pick up one of those new Academy kits myself ...

Gregg

[phantom]

All the tiny stuff is on.

Hasegawa. No real tiny parts. Overall it looks kind of thick compared to the other two. Afterwards I'll add some minor parts that the Academy and Fujimi come with out of the box. But overall the model fits pretty well and it looks like a Hornet.

It also sits higher and appears larger then the other two models.

The panel lines are VERY shallow and a great many less then the other two kits come with.

The Academy. Now THIS looks like a Hornet, at least it looks more like the 1/48 Hasegawa Hornet then the other two do. I have no idea how these guys measure out compared to the real thing. And I am not anal enough to measure a Hornet at the next airshow I attend.

All I know is THIS one looks the part.

This one comes with WAY better tiny bits which really add to the final product.

The panel lines are also the MOST pronounced and appear closest to the real thing without getting out a tape measure.

As of now, the Academy has MY vote as the most Hornet looking of the Hornets.

[phantom]

The Fujimi. OK. some issues at this point. This is the first model with bad fitting parts. The forward windscreen is way off. I'll fix it latter , as I want to just compare everything out of the box at this point.

A big gap formed and some paint got in there. Its fixable , no problem. But its more work latter that I will have to do.

Also, there is just SOMETHING that does not look right. It appears thicker then the Acadamy and just off compared to the Hasegawa.

It does however come with very nice small bits just as the Academy. But, at a MUCH higher price at the cash register. The windscreen is REALLY the only thing that is REALLY bugging me at this time.

[phantom]

In these shots you can see the difference in a pre paint. I copied the lines and you can see how the Academy is doing better in this regard to the others.

Again another vote for the Academy.

Next, some paint. Maybe today, maybe this weekend. We'll see, as there are people coming over this afternoon.