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1/48 F-4U corsair kit advice


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Wanting to do an OOB non-folded wing Corsair, and was scoping what was available locally

the choices are:

Tamiya appx 30 dollars

Academy appx 20 dollars

HobbyBoss appx 60 dollars

Revell appx 25 dollars

Minicraft appx 50 dollars

Hasegawa appx 40 dollars

Of them all I have built one of the Tamiya kits (very nice) but am not certain how the build would go with the unfolded wings. The other I built (way back when) was the Monogram kit, which I assume is the Revell kit here.

Now with due trepidation of creating a wave of invective about one kit or another, can anyone point out why the Minicraft and HobbyBoss kits would be worth going for over the others considering the price? Pardon me for being naïve, but generally I feel that the price should reflect the quality and contents of the kit.

Beyond this, any particular high point to any of the kits above?

Cheers

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Wanting to do an OOB non-folded wing Corsair, and was scoping what was available locally

the choices are:

Tamiya appx 30 dollars

Academy appx 20 dollars

HobbyBoss appx 60 dollars

Revell appx 25 dollars

Minicraft appx 50 dollars

Hasegawa appx 40 dollars

Of them all I have built one of the Tamiya kits (very nice) but am not certain how the build would go with the unfolded wings. The other I built (way back when) was the Monogram kit, which I assume is the Revell kit here.

Now with due trepidation of creating a wave of invective about one kit or another, can anyone point out why the Minicraft and HobbyBoss kits would be worth going for over the others considering the price? Pardon me for being naïve, but generally I feel that the price should reflect the quality and contents of the kit.

Beyond this, any particular high point to any of the kits above?

Cheers

Well, the Minicraft (I assume F4U-5N) and the Academy (I assume F4U-4 or -4B) can both be considered low points -- serious shape and accuracy issues of which forum discussions are easy to search out.

I agree that the Tamiya Corsairs are the cream of the crop you mentioned, but you should bear in mind that the three Tamiya offerings are all early Corsairs (-1. -1A and -1D). The Hasegawa kit you mention, given its price tag, must be one of their relatively recent late-model Corsairs -- they did a -5/-5N, -7, and AU-1. They're all good kits if you don't mind spending the money and would rather do a post-WW2 bird.

As for the Hobby Boss F4U-4, it's the most recent of the bunch and probably the most controversial. The following short blurb from a HyperScale review by Brad Fallon sums it up pretty well:

"Hobby Boss’s 1/48 F4U-4 kits have some very positive features, and may be built into excellent models. However, the high quality of the plastic parts, and the kit’s accuracy in some key areas, make Hobby Boss’s omissions and errors elsewhere hard to fathom. Are the kits the best 1/48 F4U-4s now available? Probably, but you’ll need to do some correction work if you want to turn the kit into an accurate F4U-4 model."

I personally wouldn't spend $60 for it.

Cheers,

Pip

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Another vote for Tamiya. I didn't have any issues when I built mine with the wings spread. I had some serious fit issues around the nose of Hasegawa -5N, but I know other guys that haven't had any problems at all, so I guess it's just me...

Tamiya F4U-2 port wing:

F4U4.jpg

Starboard wing:

F4U7.jpg

My Hasegawa -5N build is here:

http://s20.photobucket.com/user/DDonSS3/library/Built%20Models/Hasegawa%20F4U-5N

Wing root intake, port side:

RIntakeSeam1.jpg

Upper nose seam before filing, filling and sanding:

CowlSeamTop.jpg

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As mentioned in the build link, assemble the wings before attaching them together, top to bottom, make the top wing complete then the bottom wing complete.

Beware if you add the wing spars, they usually leave a sink mark where they glue to the wing top, and it is noticeable once finished.

Curt

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