Calling Hasegawa and Tamiya experts

[galfa]

Hi,

What are the pros & cons of the Tamiya and Hasegawa FW 190A 1/48 kits ?

Thank you.

[Hal Marshman Sr]

The Tamiya -A kits are quite decent, perhaps erring somewhat with undersized wheels. The Hasegawa A-3 and A-4 are very problematical, assembly-wise. later versions such as the -5, -6, and -8 are quite good, and go together much easier. Others may want to go into greater detail, but these are my own assessments kept simple. Hal Sr

Tamiya A-8

Tamiya A-3

Edited November 1, 2011 by Hal Marshman Sr

[crazydon]

If you want a A-8 Hasegawa is the best on the market these days

[toniosky]

If you want a A-8 Hasegawa is the best on the market these days

The definition of "best" is quite subjective. Though harder to build, I would personally go for Eduard

Edited November 1, 2011 by toniosky

[ChesshireCat]

If you want a A-8 Hasegawa is the best on the market these days

sell it and buy Eduard

gary

[Dave Williams]

Aren't the some the Haesgawa 190A/Fs ex-Trimaster/DML molds? I think they were always finicky about fit, especially the multi-part cowling.

[Hal Marshman Sr]

Yeah, that would be the A3-A4 kits. From A-5 thru A-8, they're new mold. Hal Sr

[usrbinkevin]

I like tamiya for the A-8/R2. It comes with a few goodies, such as pre cut canopy masks, but the extra armor plating around the cockpit is made up of paper card stock. And like hal said, resin wheels help it out alot. Hasegawa is cheaper though. And I think that the eduard kit is actually re-issued trimaster molds. I used to be an eduard fw-190 fanatic, so I understand that there is some discrepancy over that fact.

[toniosky]

And I think that the eduard kit is actually re-issued trimaster molds.

Nope

[DonSS3]

I keep hearing about the Trimaster/DML cowl assembly issues. I don't recall any problems at all when I built mine some years ago.

I'm just your basic "average" modeler, I'm not that adept. <_<

[ch9862]

What are the pros & cons of the Tamiya and Hasegawa FW 190A 1/48 kits ?

Tamiya Fw-190 A/F kits fit very well but have some accuracy issues.

Hasegawa Fw-190 A-5 and later fit very well and are the most accurate in 48th. Hasegawa A-3 / A-4 are more accurate than Tamiya, but have been criticized for lousy fit - although I built one and lived to tell the tale.

Eduard is lower on my list - it is not an easy build and has accuracy issues.

Dragon / Trimaster kits are more accurate than Tamiya (or Eduard), but present fit issues - in my mind they have been eclipsed by Hasegawa kits.

HTH

[ch9862]

Aren't the some the Haesgawa 190A/Fs ex-Trimaster/DML molds? I think they were always finicky about fit, especially the multi-part cowling.

For completeness.

Hasegawa reboxed Dragon A-4 long time ago (think 1990s). First with "normal" markings than with ones inspired by a comic book. Those kits did have the same plastic as Dragon - including some Trimaster sprues.

Hasegawa's recent A-3/A-4/early F (I think they made one or two?) have one sprue in common with the Dragon kits, but the rest is newly tooled by Hasegawa (and nothing in common with Trimaster).

Their later A/F versions (from A-5 on) are all newly tooled.

HTH

[Robertson]

For completeness.

Hasegawa's recent A-3/A-4/early F (I think they made one or two?) have one sprue in common with the Dragon kits, but the rest is newly tooled by Hasegawa (and nothing in common with Trimaster).

Their later A/F versions (from A-5 on) are all newly tooled.

HTH

Except for the above mentionned points, Hasegawa is far and away the best choice, in fact the only choice. The only real problem is the shape of the prop blades.

Strong point of the Tamiya compared to Hasegawa: Prop. Everything else is inferior by a wide margin, except for Tamiya's thinner tailplanes.

Worst current kit of the FW-190A is by far the Eduard. Tubular cowl, too thin tail with a too thick fin, wrong armoured ring and awful blown canopy are the highlights.

The Dragon kit is a distant second behind Hasegawa, and looks strange because of a 1/50 scale cowl. Blown canopy is also badly off, but not anywhere near as much as Eduard's.

Robertson

[Leo Etgen]

Hi guys

I do not have the Tamiya or the Hasegawa kits so what little I know of them is based on what I have read online and not through personal experience. It is generally held that the Tamiya kit is the easiest to assemble and overall is okay for most builders although as mentioned previously by others the main landing gear legs and main wheels are undersized. I have also read that the propeller blades included in the A-8/R2 boxing are supposed to represent the wider wooden type often fitted to Fieseler built Sturmbocks but are noticeably inaccurate. Regarding the Hasegawa release, I must admit that I know very little on these except that they appear to be based on the well regarded 1/32 scale offering. The 1/48 scale version seems to be equally well regarded by knowledgeable people but I do have some concern about the rear fuselage which, based on photographs by ch9862 and posted in a previous thread of his, appears to me to be noticeably too flat on the top. As I mentioned earlier, I do not have this kit and I am just going by online photographs which is quite unreliable so I might well be in error on this point but it does appear to me that this is the case. The Eduard kit is very well detailed and with the addition of the appropriate Eduard engine set can even be built with a very nice rendition of the BMW 801 engine. The kit also includes extensive options and painting masks and in my opinion is excellent value for the money. Unfortunately, it does have a number of inaccuracies, the most notable being the too thick tail and the engine cowl does appear to look rather oddly cylindrical and it will require much patience to assemble. My personal favorite is the Dragon offering which is actually the 20 plus year old Trimaster kit. Overall, it is very accurate in outline and very well detailed even by today’s standards. It does have its problems, though, like the others, these being mainly inaccurate propellers and main wheels, the stance of the main landing gear and buildability troubles caused by the aging and deterioration of the molds such as warped fuselages and poor fit not to mention the legendary five piece engine cowl. It also shares a problem found on every one of these kits – the machine gun cowl is too bulbous. It should be mentioned that there are available aftermarket solutions for the majority of the inaccuracies of these kits such as the propeller, machine gun cowl, main wheels and even the too thick tail of the Eduard kit in the future.

Horrido!

Leo

[ChesshireCat]

Hi guys

I do not have the Tamiya or the Hasegawa kits so what little I know of them is based on what I have read online and not through personal experience. It is generally held that the Tamiya kit is the easiest to assemble and overall is okay for most builders although as mentioned previously by others the main landing gear legs and main wheels are undersized. I have also read that the propeller blades included in the A-8/R2 boxing are supposed to represent the wider wooden type often fitted to Fieseler built Sturmbocks but are noticeably inaccurate. Regarding the Hasegawa release, I must admit that I know very little on these except that they appear to be based on the well regarded 1/32 scale offering. The 1/48 scale version seems to be equally well regarded by knowledgeable people but I do have some concern about the rear fuselage which, based on photographs by ch9862 and posted in a previous thread of his, appears to me to be noticeably too flat on the top. As I mentioned earlier, I do not have this kit and I am just going by online photographs which is quite unreliable so I might well be in error on this point but it does appear to me that this is the case. The Eduard kit is very well detailed and with the addition of the appropriate Eduard engine set can even be built with a very nice rendition of the BMW 801 engine. The kit also includes extensive options and painting masks and in my opinion is excellent value for the money. Unfortunately, it does have a number of inaccuracies, the most notable being the too thick tail and the engine cowl does appear to look rather oddly cylindrical and it will require much patience to assemble. My personal favorite is the Dragon offering which is actually the 20 plus year old Trimaster kit. Overall, it is very accurate in outline and very well detailed even by today’s standards. It does have its problems, though, like the others, these being mainly inaccurate propellers and main wheels, the stance of the main landing gear and buildability troubles caused by the aging and deterioration of the molds such as warped fuselages and poor fit not to mention the legendary five piece engine cowl. It also shares a problem found on every one of these kits – the machine gun cowl is too bulbous. It should be mentioned that there are available aftermarket solutions for the majority of the inaccuracies of these kits such as the propeller, machine gun cowl, main wheels and even the too thick tail of the Eduard kit in the future.

Horrido!

Leo

I have every one of the kits mentioned and some others as well. And as I said before the Eduard is by far the best to build an A5, A6, A7, A8, and even an A9. I like the Trimaster as well, but not over the Eduard. None are perfect for sure (sorry but nobody has built a 100% perfect kit). I don't think the 190's mentioned are as good as the old A.M. Avenger and probably not as good as the new ME109F2 from Zvezda. I really like the Tamiya A3 so much that I bought several of them from Hobby Lobby when they closed them out ($9 a piece). I liked the Tamiya F8, but I think an Eduard A8 converted to an F8 would be that much nicer. I wish somebody would have done a 1/32 FW190 with the attention that Tamiya paid to their Spitfires. Perhaps in the future? Also who is going to market the after market tail assembly for the Eduard kit?

gary

[Leo Etgen]

Hi Chesshire Cat

Many thanks for your post. I agree with you that I would prefer the Eduard offering over the Tamiya due to the fact that it is much better detailed, can be built with the BMW 801 engine exposed (the only Fw 190 kit in which this can be done aside of the ancient Hasegawa 1/32 scale one) and has a multitude of options such different main wheels, weapons packages, closed or open canopies (the only kit that offers this in any scale that I am aware of) and the painting masks as well as the options to build a BMW 801 TU powered late A-8 or BMW 801 TS powered A-9. It does appear that the problems that I listed with this kit will be addressed by the Karaya resin correction set that will include propeller blades and spinner, complete cockpit interior, tail section, machine gun cowl, canopy, and landing gear (unfortunately for me it appears all the tires will be weighted – I HATE weighted tires!!! – my apologies for the rant). You can see a preview of this set at http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9805. Regarding the 1/32 scale Fw 190 A-8 at the same level of accuracy and detail as the recent Tamiya releases in this scale I too wish that something like that would happen but for the time being I have no idea if that might occur and I have not read anything that would suggest that it will in the near future. I think that it is possible to bring the Hasegawa 1/32 scale Fw 190 kits to a level on par with the Tamiya 1/32 scale Zeke, Spitfire and Mustang kits but you will have to spend a small fortune on Eagle Parts, Eduard, Aires, Quickboost and Aber/Master Model/RB Model aftermarket parts to do so.

Horrido!

Leo

[randypandy831]

eduard makes awesome 190's but aren't the easiest to build. lots of detail and the open cowling is a plus.

tamiya has its issues but the it's a simple kit with awesome fit as always.

hasegawa like tamiya has its issues but i hate the cowling. i built two and they both gave me problems. some parts want to fit and some don't. cowling being the crappy fit and the wing to cowling fit is blah. some had this problem and some didn't.

im not crazy about accuracy and i don't build for shows. im happy with the tamiya kit.

[The Mikester]

Hi Chesshire Cat

Many thanks for your post. I agree with you that I would prefer the Eduard offering over the Tamiya due to the fact that it is much better detailed, can be built with the BMW 801 engine exposed (the only Fw 190 kit in which this can be done aside of the ancient Hasegawa 1/32 scale one) and has a multitude of options such different main wheels, weapons packages, closed or open canopies (the only kit that offers this in any scale that I am aware of) and the painting masks as well as the options to build a BMW 801 TU powered late A-8 or BMW 801 TS powered A-9. It does appear that the problems that I listed with this kit will be addressed by the Karaya resin correction set that will include propeller blades and spinner, complete cockpit interior, tail section, machine gun cowl, canopy, and landing gear (unfortunately for me it appears all the tires will be weighted – I HATE weighted tires!!! – my apologies for the rant). You can see a preview of this set at http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9805. Regarding the 1/32 scale Fw 190 A-8 at the same level of accuracy and detail as the recent Tamiya releases in this scale I too wish that something like that would happen but for the time being I have no idea if that might occur and I have not read anything that would suggest that it will in the near future. I think that it is possible to bring the Hasegawa 1/32 scale Fw 190 kits to a level on par with the Tamiya 1/32 scale Zeke, Spitfire and Mustang kits but you will have to spend a small fortune on Eagle Parts, Eduard, Aires, Quickboost and Aber/Master Model/RB Model aftermarket parts to do so.

Horrido!

Leo

Leo,

You have to hope that Tamiya will throw Luftwaffe fans a bone in 1/32 at some point, when is the question? Oh well, lots of stuff to build in the interim!

[ChesshireCat]

Hi Chesshire Cat

Many thanks for your post. I agree with you that I would prefer the Eduard offering over the Tamiya due to the fact that it is much better detailed, can be built with the BMW 801 engine exposed (the only Fw 190 kit in which this can be done aside of the ancient Hasegawa 1/32 scale one) and has a multitude of options such different main wheels, weapons packages, closed or open canopies (the only kit that offers this in any scale that I am aware of) and the painting masks as well as the options to build a BMW 801 TU powered late A-8 or BMW 801 TS powered A-9. It does appear that the problems that I listed with this kit will be addressed by the Karaya resin correction set that will include propeller blades and spinner, complete cockpit interior, tail section, machine gun cowl, canopy, and landing gear (unfortunately for me it appears all the tires will be weighted – I HATE weighted tires!!! – my apologies for the rant). You can see a preview of this set at http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9805. Regarding the 1/32 scale Fw 190 A-8 at the same level of accuracy and detail as the recent Tamiya releases in this scale I too wish that something like that would happen but for the time being I have no idea if that might occur and I have not read anything that would suggest that it will in the near future. I think that it is possible to bring the Hasegawa 1/32 scale Fw 190 kits to a level on par with the Tamiya 1/32 scale Zeke, Spitfire and Mustang kits but you will have to spend a small fortune on Eagle Parts, Eduard, Aires, Quickboost and Aber/Master Model/RB Model aftermarket parts to do so.

Horrido!

Leo

I kinda keep looking for Vector to do a major engine package for the BMW 801 series that will still fit inside the cowl with the covers closed or open. They could do it in various stages where a modeler could start out with the basic early engine and work his way thru it untill he got the one he was after. Right now I'm collecting bits and pieces for ground attack aircraft (want to do four or five different ones in 1/48th). Looks like I'm about 50% there after the latest inventory. Sure wish that somebody like Eduard or Hasegawa would give us a FW 190C to play with.

gary

[Leo Etgen]

Mike

Lately I am finding my self gravitating more towards 1/32 rather than 1/48, at least for single-engined fighters. It seems as if the kits that are generating the most buzz recently have all been in the larger scale: Cyber-Hobby’s Bf 109 E-4, Tamiya’s Mustang, Revell’s He 111 and Zoukei-Mura’s Skyraider. There have been some excellent kits in 1/48 such as Cyber-Hobby’s Bf 110 series and Zvezda’s Bf 109 F-2 that have been recently released but it seems as if the momentum is with 1/32. I was seeing that most people over on LSP are hoping that the next Tamiya 1/32 kit will be a Corsair but I honestly think that a Bf 109 G-6 or Fw 190 A-8 will have an immensely larger market than a Corsair globally.

Gary

I do wonder why with all the available aftermarket for the Hasegawa 1/32 scale Fw 190s no one has yet come out with a BMW 801 engine or at least the engine face. I know that Aires has a Jumo 213 for the Dora but nothing that I know of for the Anton. The kit supplied parts build up into an adequate representation, especially as most of it is covered by the cooling fan, but it would be nice to have the option to improve upon it without having to scratch build all the relevant details. Just one question: you mention that you are planning to convert the Eduard 1/48 scale Fw 190 A-8 to an F-8 or am I wrong? Why not just buy the F-8 version (kit number 8179)?

Horrido!

Leo

[The Mikester]

Mike

Lately I am finding my self gravitating more towards 1/32 rather than 1/48, at least for single-engined fighters. It seems as if the kits that are generating the most buzz recently have all been in the larger scale: Cyber-Hobby’s Bf 109 E-4, Tamiya’s Mustang, Revell’s He 111 and Zoukei-Mura’s Skyraider. There have been some excellent kits in 1/48 such as Cyber-Hobby’s Bf 110 series and Zvezda’s Bf 109 F-2 that have been recently released but it seems as if the momentum is with 1/32. I was seeing that most people over on LSP are hoping that the next Tamiya 1/32 kit will be a Corsair but I honestly think that a Bf 109 G-6 or Fw 190 A-8 will have an immensely larger market than a Corsair globally.

Horrido!

Leo

At this point I think the Corsair is a safer bet for Tamiya's next 1/32 release rather than a LW subject too. It will be interesting to see which way they go if and when they produce a Luftwaffe kit.