Hasegawa 1/72 Tomcat plastic

[RKic]

Hiya, 

I have a 1/72 Hasegawa F-14B Jolly Rogers Christmas Special markings boxing, and the kit has a very difficult to scribe plastic. The stuff has a glossy, hard exterior that my scibers can't seem to cut into unless I really push down pretty hard. This caused them to gouge more than cut. The plastic is also pretty brittle, and I have snapped a few small parts. 

My question is if all of the many incarnations of this kit have been cast in this crappy plastic? More specifically is the latest Atlantic Fleet boxing made from this stuff too? I like the kit, but scribing it has been an enormous pain in the fool.  Should I just go with Fine Molds for my future small-scale Tomcat needs? 

[Hoops]

The hasegawa molds have beenused a lot and definitely show their age. I have not had those problems with rescribing any that Inhave though. Overall the Finemolds kit is superior to Hasegawa, the disadvantage being no option for dropped flaps.

 

The only readily available Finemolds version right now is the A. Based on the sprue layout, the B is a logical next step but is not released yet. The D was was limited as part of the magazine release, I don't know if it will ever be released again otherwise.

 

Hoops

[RKic]

10 hours ago, Hoops said:

The hasegawa molds have beenused a lot and definitely show their age. I have not had those problems with rescribing any that Inhave though. Overall the Finemolds kit is superior to Hasegawa, the disadvantage being no option for dropped flaps.

 

The only readily available Finemolds version right now is the A. Based on the sprue layout, the B is a logical next step but is not released yet. The D was was limited as part of the magazine release, I don't know if it will ever be released again otherwise.

 

Hoops

Thanks for the info, Hoops. Certainly true that Hasegawa's many 80s era molds are getting tired, and could use a good cleaning up and stabilizing. 

I wish FineMolds kits were easier to find in the US. 

[Darren Roberts]

I hate that Hasegawa plastic from the 80's. I tried to do some conversion work on a 1/48 Tomcat and the plastic was so brittle the fuselage cracked in half when I tried to cut out a panel. You could literally snap pieces in half it was so brittle.

[Milo]

Was that kit stored in a non climate-controlled environment?  If it's been subject to extreme colds and heat, the plastic can get brittle.  Been there, done that!