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Hasegawa vs Hobby Boss 1/48 F-14: Which is better?


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That review, though 'just' in some respects, is pretty subjective. A lot of his reasoning is all over the place - and what's with the excessive exclamation marks? I can see the funny side though - imagine a modern day review of the Hasegawa Tomcat. Many of the issues he has highlighted in his 'review' are just as bad or lacking in the Hasegawa kit (stab ECM size, poor fit of the late gun vent panels, poor and outdated cockpit etc). The intake issue, while credible, is not as bad as people make out. I've had a look at the Zacto thread and it seems the issue in 1/32 is being exacerbated by measuring, in photos, the lower lip against the lower INTAKE RAMP rather than the upper intake lip.

Hey ho. Each to their own. For my money, I'm happy to buy and build these kits. They offer a hell of a lot of value out of the box, accurate late cockpits, easily remedied solutions, great fit. Decals wrong for timeframe? I'm a big fan of Fightertown for accurate decals, so they're a must anyway.

Having built both the Hasegawa and HB kits, I like both - but prefer the HB kit.

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Here is yet another thread with photos and my thoughts about the intakes and the kit: Better 1/48 Tomcat kit?

I've had a look at the Zacto thread and it seems the issue in 1/32 is being exacerbated by measuring, in photos, the lower lip against the lower INTAKE RAMP rather than the upper intake lip.

If you take the time to look past the first page where people are complaining about the intakes and the incorrect INTAKE RAMP, you'll find that I corrected a lot more than the ramp to lower lip angle. Starting on page 2 of the thread you can see the huge difference between the correction, which has a rectangular opening, and the kit part which has a sort of parallelogram opening with almost vertical side walls.

I pointed this out in the thread linked above where you were saying that the 1/48 kit had been corrected. Did you ever bother to measure the parts I asjked about in that thread?

:cheers:/>

Edited by Zactoman
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Not quite sure on your point there (seems to be more a thread on how terribly expensive the HB cat is) - the wheels are wrong? Hasegawa has the 'horrible' vinyl tyres too, so that 'must' need replacing as well.

Phoenix pallets too slim - ok, I'll give you that, but you'd probably need a Wolfpack update set for a Hasegawa Tomcat as they don't come with the BRU's needed for a bombcat. Chin pod not right - surprisingly neither is Hasegawas.

It seems whichever F-14 is available has shortfalls of its own. This is understandable - I would love to know of a perfect-in-every-way model - and will require some degree of fix. I simply maintain that overall, the HB package offers more OOB and isn't as hideously inaccurate as people and forums seem to make out. ;)

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To be honest I didn't think this thread won't get this many posts. So I'll just reply to most people's questions and responses. I keep all the panels on every plane I make closed (except for the landing gear) mainly because I like displaying the plane's outline in all it's glory. Also, I try to keep my planes as "compact" as possible, as if they were on a carrier, this prevents and loose parts from breaking off when someone accidentally brushes by them. I have lost many a randome tip to incidents like that. :lol:/> However, if I do continue with this potential build, I see it as a waste of money (and assembly time) to build a Has or HB kit with the cockpits and other panels closed. If that were the case then I might as well just buy an Academy kit and possibly refurbish it with spare parts into a D, it will cost a lot less. Bear in mind I do have a spare double chin pod and GE nozzles (from an Academy F-15J) so it is a possibility.

I see the issue with the intakes of the HB, they look a bit too much like an F-15. And once seen, it cannot be unseen :lol:/> That being said, in most viewing angles, no one would really see the difference, and quite frankly, I'm the only F-14 enthusiast I know within a 1000 mile radius whoul would notice. Also, the HB's details made my jaw drop the first time I saw it, even more so than when I first saw the Has kit. The over-riveting problem doesn't really bother me too.

Edited by Jason Amigo
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This question also interested me when I deciding which one to buy. After reading many forums,I decide to buy HB. Problem with intakes doesn't bother me,rivets on the wings will be removed, and I like to have many options with

open panels and full weapons in the box. I also buy Big Eduard for F-14B.

I think both kits are great,and either way,after asembly ,we got beautiful model of F-14.

I got few more models to do before this F-14 and I would like to know something about painting it.

I will do F-14B VF-103 Jolly Roger Last Flight and I like to know what paints to use for it. Is it the same as Santa Cat ? (blue-gray/light gray)

If anyone can help me with that... Because I read different opinions on paint schemes and didn't find clear answer.

Edited by Woody_
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This question also interested me when I deciding which one to buy. After reading many forums,I decide to buy HB. Problem with intakes doesn't bother me,rivets on the wings will be removed, and I like to have many options with

open panels and full weapons in the box. I also buy Big Eduard for F-14B.

I think both kits are great,and either way,after asembly ,we got beautiful model of F-14.

I got few more models to do before this F-14 and I would like to know something about painting it.

I will do F-14B VF-103 Jolly Roger Last Flight and I like to know what paints to use for it. Is it the same as Santa Cat ? (blue-gray/light gray)

If anyone can help me with that... Because I read different opinions on paint schemes and didn't find clear answer.

If I'm not mistaken, its your usual low-vis paint scheme. Light ghost grey bottom, dark ghost grey top or blue grey top (see Darren Roberts builds). You don't have to be finicky about the paint scheme itself, since the usual TPS always have some touch-ups done on it.

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Here is yet another thread with photos and my thoughts about the intakes and the kit: Better 1/48 Tomcat kit?

If you take the time to look past the first page where people are complaining about the intakes and the incorrect INTAKE RAMP, you'll find that I corrected a lot more than the ramp to lower lip angle. Starting on page 2 of the thread you can see the huge difference between the correction, which has a rectangular opening, and the kit part which has a sort of parallelogram opening with almost vertical side walls.

I pointed this out in the thread linked above where you were saying that the 1/48 kit had been corrected. Did you ever bother to measure the parts I asjked about in that thread?

:cheers:/>/>

Hey Zactoman,

unfortunately I don't have calipers and programs to check the angles and yes, looking at your corrected intakes I can see what you mean in some respects. I honestly don't think there's a vertical side on the intake though. You and Brian have obviously worked on these things for real so you know your stuff. The point I was making earlier was that in yiur intake thread there is a picture where clearly the lower lip is being measured against the intake ramp, not the upper lip. This makes a vast difference (and probably means the insides ARE more vertical than I think). I just think for all its faults, none are insurmountable beyond simple fixes and it would seem no F-14 is without faults.

For me, I like them, they offer more, I feel, than the Hase F-14, but that is my take and I can't change others perceptions or biases. Happy modelling. ;)

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Here is yet another thread with photos and my thoughts about the intakes and the kit: Better 1/48 Tomcat kit?

If you take the time to look past the first page where people are complaining about the intakes and the incorrect INTAKE RAMP, you'll find that I corrected a lot more than the ramp to lower lip angle. Starting on page 2 of the thread you can see the huge difference between the correction, which has a rectangular opening, and the kit part which has a sort of parallelogram opening with almost vertical side walls.

I pointed this out in the thread linked above where you were saying that the 1/48 kit had been corrected. Did you ever bother to measure the parts I asjked about in that thread?

:cheers:/>/>

Finally a reply from somebody that's done some serious measuring and corrections! I for one prefer to build big jets in 1/72nd scale, but also do a few in 1/48th and even a very few in 1/32nd. All my Tomcats are in 1/72nd, and have most of them sans the Academy. I like the Fujimi, but also like the Hasegawa and H.B. I'd really like to see you scale down the F14 items to 1/72nd and 1/48th. I'd jump on them in a heart beat!! The only Tomcats I have interest in are the "A" model. Yet many of us out there have little desire to build a 1/32 Tomcat ( I simply don't have that kind of space!).

gary

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At the risk of flogging this already very dead horse even more, I will add my final thoughts. The f14 is my favourite jet and a 1/48 scale version with all the bells and whistles has been a goal of mine for some time. When choosing between the has and hb kits, ask yourself this question, detail vs shape. The hb kit does have overall better detail but to be sure, the shape is not as good as the has kit and I dont just mean the intakes. There is a long list of albeit small, subtle inaccuracies that the has kit scores more highly in. Off the top of my head these are,

1 the chin palletes are not deep enough

2 the pitot tube joins the radome too high up the radome

3 the lower lip of the front windscreen side panes are not curved enough

4 the windscreen frames are too pinched at the base when viewed from front on

5 the rear edge of the canopy is too slanted

6 I am convinced the cross section of the forward fuselage isnt quite right, a touch too triangular

People like zactoman and myself are concerned with shape accuracy, (I love the aircraft for its lines not for its good looking cockpit) to each their own. I will sign off by saying that imho the italeri kit is prett underrated in terms of shape, go check what darren roberts, the jedi master of the f 14 produced with this particular kit, granted with a ton of AM.

Edited by dryguy
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If I'm not mistaken, its your usual low-vis paint scheme. Light ghost grey bottom, dark ghost grey top or blue grey top (see Darren Roberts builds). You don't have to be finicky about the paint scheme itself, since the usual TPS always have some touch-ups done on it.

Thank you for the answer,I think I will go with light gray/blue gray because I have this paints,for my F-14B Jolly Rogers Last flight.

GRAY LICHTGRAU - Model Master 2077 and GRAY MEDIUM - Model Master 1721 (like HB recomend for F-14B Santa Cat)

If anyone have different opinion,be free to comment,I'm glad to hear it.

Edited by Woody_
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the accuracy level of virtually every tomcat model in existence (especially in 1/48 scale) has been debated ad-nauseum on this site and yet it never fails to amaze me the almost clinical desire for people to ignore the search function to find pre-existing threads and either research them or add to them

Furthermore, maybe it's just me, but if you don't own the kit or haven't built it, then you really don't have a dog in this fight.

Rant mode off....

In response to the O/Ps question...

If you can snag the HB kit for at or less than what you'd pay for a Hasegawa kit (Squadron had them on sale a while back... and occasionally they can be found elsewhere for less than MSRP), then I'd say go for that. You really get a lot for your money, and the ease of build and all the weapons you get with the kit cancels out the difference in accuracy in the two kits for me.

Having said all of that, its typically much easier to find a hasegawa kit for less... and you'll be happy with the elbow grease and the result

Hasegawa= More accurate shape, more accurate detail

Hobby Boss= Easier to build, more open detail panels, full set of weapons in the box

either one is a win... and actually so long as you aren't building the Testors/fujimi 1/48 Tomcat, any other kit in the scale will at least look the part. (yes, even the old Revell)

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I just saw a $30 Hasegawa kit on Ebay :o/> This may throw a monkey wrench in all my plans...haha..in a good way hopefully. Right now I'm open to both options, so I'm just waiting for the best deal to come out. I haven't jumped on the $30 kit yet because I didn't expect to find a good bargain this early. Even though it is dirt cheap for a Has kit, I still have to time these things otherwise my production line of projects may get stuck-up if I get this one right away.

To be honest though, I really like the Revell kit, it was the first model I ever finished. Despite my extreme lack of experience then, it turned out a lot better than the two succeeding kits I built, purely because it's such a great kit. I have seen many Has lovers bash on it but to be honest, other than the raised panel lines, it can still stand toe to toe with the heavy hitting kits (Has and HB). My only issue (other than raised panel lines) is that the D version hasn't changed their cockpit panels.

Edited by Jason Amigo
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and actually so long as you aren't building the Testors/fujimi * 1/48 Tomcat, any other kit in the scale will at least look the part. (yes, even the old Revell)

*and Italeri :D

I will sign off by saying that imho the italeri kit is prett underrated in terms of shape

mmmhhh... Italeri front fuselage is too thin in section and it does not have the right "pear shape"... if you put Hasegawa and Italeri neighbors this is very noticeable (Hase is much more potbellied)

Edited by Alpagueur
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I believe so, you are not the first person that has said so, im only going with photos(sorry!) Havent built or bought the italeri 1 48 kit. Thers so much else wrong with it anyway(I promised

myself not to return to this thread oh well.....)

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If you can find the re-tooled box of the F-14D (with the fuel tanks, armaments, etc), you'll find new, nicely detailed set of F-14D instrument panels.

Thanks for the info...didn't know they did a retooling. I just wished they fixed the raised panel lines issue, if they did that then in terms of getting your money's worth, Revell would really give the other kits a run for their money.

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Hey All, Admittedly, I'm not much of a Tomcat guy when it comes to building them. I love(d) watching demos at

air shows, especially when the F-14 started wearing the GE motor. Anyway, this is a moot point, but it's too bad that Revellogram didn't re-do their cockpit when they put out their F-14D(kit#4729). For those of you who don't know, they simply put the office stuff from their A kits into their D kit. Too bad, because IMHO, the Revellogram A cockpit kit detail outdoes the Hasegawa A cockpit kit detail. If Revellogram would update their kits as necessary and do away with those raised panel lines, they would be right up there. I know we would pay more, but I still think they would really be competitive.

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...it's too bad that Revellogram didn't re-do their cockpit when they put out their F-14D(kit#4729). For those of you who don't know, they simply put the office stuff from their A kits into their D kit.

If you can find the re-tooled box of the F-14D (with the fuel tanks, armaments, etc), you'll find new, nicely detailed set of F-14D instrument panels.

As mentioned by Skull Leader, the updated "D" panels are included in their F-14D (kit #5527)

rm_5527_title.jpg

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As mentioned by Skull Leader, the updated "D" panels are included in their F-14D (kit #5527)

rm_5527_title.jpg

I'd add the small proviso that the side panels are the same as found in the A kit (which are accurate for an A/early B)/> but those are pretty hard details to pick out and only some of the panels changed for the D model anyway. The instrument panels are what everyone pays attention to anyway :D/>

(did you know the markings on that kit box are completely photoshopped? That wasn't really a VF-2 bird)

Edited by Skull Leader
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