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F-14A Tamiya vs Hobby Boss 1/48


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I'll try to answer this objectively.

As always it starts with "it depends".

If you are looking for a later block F-14A and a choice of dropped slats and flaps are of paramount importance to you then, OOB, the Hobbyboss kit is what you want. With that choice comes some inaccuracies (intake angles, e.g.) and a plethora of rivets that are really not visible even up close on the real deal to name a few.

If you are looking for a early (mid to late 70s; very early 80s) era F-14A and positionsble flaps/ slats are not important, but extreme accuracy is (as well as ZERO fit issues) then, OOB, the Tamiya kit is your choice.

Beyond that, I leave it to you.

 

From a personal standpoint I would say Tamiya. Their tooling suggests a late model F-14A will follow… I will wait for that.

 

Marc B.

Edited by Modelmkr
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Well, that's a personal choice/ budget thing. I can't speak to yours.

The Tamiya kit can be got overseas with sporadic low cost shipping for as little as $70 USD.

I've seen the Hobbyboss go for more.

 

IMHO, I don't mind paying extra for accuracy and a precision fit that has to be experienced to be believed (Tamiya).

 

Marc B.

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9 minutes ago, Darren Roberts said:

Until the AMK kit comes out. Then it will be Tamiya for the A and AMK for the D. I'm working on a B conversion for the Tamiya kit, so that will be covered as well.

Oh thank God...

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Whenever anyone mentions "price hike" my eyes tend to glaze over. One thing to keep in mind is plastic these days for the most part is not cheap. Yes, Tamiya gets a lot of the blame for this as even back in the 70s they were pushing triple digits on some kit prices (such as the 1/32 Tomcat which some vendors were selling for about $70) when most everything else was in the $10 to $20 range and $30 kits were very rare due to how much a dollar could buy back then.

 

Say what you will about Tamiya, but in my experience you get what you pay for. Every modern Tamiya subject I have built, and even something as ancient as their Brewster Buffalo (engineered in the 1970s) has fit together very well and not produced a hassle in building it. Usually, problems I have encountered tend to be self inflicted ones. Detail on the plastic bits tends to be superior to some resin and you can end up with a very good subject, even if you build it out of the box with no aftermarket resin at all. At the same time, a Tamiya kit usually isn't going to be over-engineered for its own sake and the instructions are going to clearly call out what goes where. You can't always say that with other manufacturers.

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Well, the HB has the infamous air intakes. And while the kit does come with extended slats and flaps it should be pointed out that these areas of the HB Tomcat have their own set of problems to deal with - especially if modeled in the extended position.

I set out to rebuild the flaps and slats on my HB kit and only came halfway before giving up. But that's me.

 

Tamiya (or AMK) for me, please! :thumbsup:

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22 hours ago, marcinko said:

Also in your view the price hike it`s justified for Tamiya ?

Keep in mind doing business in Japan is different than other parts of Asia. Prices of labour and production are vastly different. Over the last few years even Japanese owned businesses seek to have production done outside of Japan. So it all depends how you view it. Myself, I don't mind keeping the Tamiya monster fed, but I don't expect everyone to have the same views.

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21 hours ago, Solo said:

Tamiya, absolutely Tamiya.

If you want to compare, you can see here, there are a lot of pictures comparing parts of Tamiya's kit and Eduard's Danger Zone (Hobby Boss kit):

http://modelwork.pl/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=55721

 

Thank you so much for sharing that link!

 

It is a great comparison. It shows to me that HB did a pretty good job. Details are quite good compared to Tamiya. Frankly by just looking at the pictures (I do not have either kits) HB can be actually more suitable for my building style since I do lots of coats of paints and future etc.. I would love to see both kits side by side when they are finished to compare the intakes and the front fuselages. Until now, I did not realize HB details were this good. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

I'm now the proud owner of four Tamiya Tomcats. If Tamiya keeps making them, I'll keep buying them!

Agreed. But honestly you really need to see and hold the Tamiya Tomcat to truly appreciate it. As great as photos and peoples testimonies are they just do not do this kit justice. I have two Tamiya F-14's myself but haven't started them yet as I have a lot of other projects that need finishing first. But I see Tamiya selling these kits as fast as they can produce them and they certainly have the 1/48 Tomcat market cornered right now (and even when the competition finally get their kit on the shelves Tamiya's is the 'A' which is arguably the most popular Tomcat version amongst the casual modeler).  I know the OP asked about the HB Tomcat's, but in regards the other F-14A kits available, its just a matter of time before we see the Hasegawa F-14's being sold off at a fraction of what they once were worth as once people see and build the Tamiya Tomcat there's just no going back to the hassle of the Hasegawa Tomcat's. The Academy, Monogram/Revell kits are already about as cheap as they are likely to get... but hey who knows. All my opinion of course.

 

Buy the Tamiya Tomcat and truly enjoy the kit!

 

Cheers!

Edited by Don
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9 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

I'm now the proud owner of four Tamiya Tomcats. If Tamiya keeps making them, I'll keep buying them!

 So, now you can sell me a couple of those Revell B/D kits(with the tanks & updated cockpits) that I KNOW you have the worlds remaining supply of....

 

(insert hopeful emoji thing here)

 

-Scott

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My opinion is that Tamiya beats every other Tomcat out there at the moment. Hobby Boss is a distant 3rd behind Hasegawa. For me, HB just doesn't cut it. Intakes are inexcusable, crazy rivets that don't exist, funky nose/canopy blend, main canopy aft angle is wrong, slats are straight and don't drop into the airflow, wings are a pain to close and slats are too big, exhausts are weak in shape and detail, the height of the gear is off, boarding steps are wrong shape... Not to say Hasegawa doesn't have flaws but they are all things I can build with. YMMV. And with the Tamiya kit (and future Tamiya releases) along with AMK's F-14D coming up, I'll be getting rid of almost all the other Tomcat brand kits. 

As for cost, I got my Tamiya for $72 shipped. Anywhere I look Hasegawa and Hobby Boss are that and up.

-brian

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39 minutes ago, Brian P: Fightertown Decals said:

My opinion is that Tamiya beats every other Tomcat out there at the moment. Hobby Boss is a distant 3rd behind Hasegawa. For me, HB just doesn't cut it. Intakes are inexcusable, crazy rivets that don't exist, funky nose/canopy blend, main canopy aft angle is wrong, slats are straight and don't drop into the airflow, wings are a pain to close and slats are too big, exhausts are weak in shape and detail, the height of the gear is off, boarding steps are wrong shape... Not to say Hasegawa doesn't have flaws but they are all things I can build with. YMMV. And with the Tamiya kit (and future Tamiya releases) along with AMK's F-14D coming up, I'll be getting rid of almost all the other Tomcat brand kits. 

As for cost, I got my Tamiya for $72 shipped. Anywhere I look Hasegawa and Hobby Boss are that and up.

-brian

 

Good rundown on the HB Tomcat, Brian. You mention all the errors I noticed when building mine plus then a few I had missed or forgotten about.

Not to beat a dead horse but regarding the HB intakes, not only is the general exterior shape a fair bit off the intake innards require a good deal of work to get together and make to look about right.

 

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48 minutes ago, Brian P: Fightertown Decals said:

 

As for cost, I got my Tamiya for $72 shipped. Anywhere I look Hasegawa and Hobby Boss are that and up.

-brian

 

I am in Europe (Romanian) and normally what I cannot find in my country I buy from Hannants, on their website (minus p&p) are the following

 

Tamiya - 75 pounds

HB - 53 pounds

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18 minutes ago, marcinko said:

 

I am in Europe (Romanian) and normally what I cannot find in my country I buy from Hannants, on their website (minus p&p) are the following

 

Tamiya - 75 pounds

HB - 53 pounds

 

Marcinko,

if you can find a seller that will ship to Romania, ebay.de is an excellent source for Far East kits inside EU.

 

Total costs comparable to Hong Kong (with shipping) but without feeding the customs monsters.

 

Vedran

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1 hour ago, dragonlance said:

 

Marcinko,

if you can find a seller that will ship to Romania, ebay.de is an excellent source for Far East kits inside EU.

 

Total costs comparable to Hong Kong (with shipping) but without feeding the customs monsters.

 

Vedran

 

I`ll check ebay,de, thanks for telling me

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all

 

Just pulled the trigger on a Tamiya -A as well. Not cheap but from what I can tell from the reviews worth it! Have the Verlinden seats...and might get a set of wheels. Decal wise VF84 bird 203 with the Japanese kill marks would be nice!

 

cheers

Uwe

 

 

Edited by anj4de
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