Sven Harjacek Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Hello guys, I'm preparing to start work on a 1/72 F/A-18C. Now, I already have Hasegawa's A version with bits needed to convert it to the C version. After further reading, most people seem to think that the Academy version is superior to the one by Hasegawa. Could someone articulate why is it so? Are there any major improvements in the Academy kit and should I consider buying it instead of using the Hasegawa one? Thanks and kind regards, Sven. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 To my eyes, Academy is better shaped in the nose area. It has much better surface details and a nice seat of weapons. It's main drawback are main landing gear shape and shallow landing gear wells. Here's my Academy from last year Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nfiler Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Academy hands down. Fit and assembly are far better. No ugly nose seam to try to clean up and make look right. And the rear fuselage sides actually fit. Only real drawback is the vertical fins are different is shape. What that means is if you want to use any of the wide variety of markings from Hasegawa or aftermarket decal suppliers they might not be a good fit at all. Both companies have kits for the whole range of A thru D versions so that is not much of a consideration as to which one to build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I'd go with Academy too. Superior detail, and to my eyes, better shaped nose/windscreen transition. If using aftermarket decals, there may indeed be a need to adjust them to Academy fins. The only drawback is that @$%#! main landing gear. This however can be fixed, either by replacing kit gear with ones from some other kit (like Italeri), or by cutting and repositioning them. Here is the link to my first two attempts at doing so. Hope this helps. Whatever Your choice will be, I'll gladly check out Your build :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RiderFan Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 The Academy plastic is better in pretty much every way possible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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