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F-4J Phantom showdown


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This is a interesting showdown. Not only new kit vs old, but also a comparison of the best available version of the kit. If I am not mistaken, that Hasegawa kit has metal landing gear, rubber tires and PE, and as we all know the Eduard kit has PE, resin parts, and a very nice decal sheet.  A battle of enhanced kits. I like it.

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Yep, both will be out of the box, except the Hasegawa decals, did the Black Bunny years ago. Think that one will be VF-102. The Eduard will get the Blue Marine scheme.

 

 

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The cockpit of the Eduard wins, but not by much. You can not beat photo etch compared to hand painting, but the fiddliness of the photo-etch is annoying.

 

The older (1986) Hasegawa is on the left, the 2019 Eduard is right.

 

IJSLSI3.jpg

 

The cloth cover for the Hasegawa is missing a lot of detail that IS included in their later kits of the F-4J. The wires hanging out of the rear council on the Hasegawa are a nice touch.

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Both models are on page 2 here. The new kid on the block easily took several hours more time to get to this point. Easily 10 times the number of parts, but very nice parts.

 

To keep it fair I did not add anything to the intake of the Hasegawa except for paint to simulate the engine down the tube. Eduard clearly wins here.

 

IvQSJMJ.jpg

 

However you need to install the main landing gear at THIS point. Which is a problem so early in the build as the kit gets moved around. Another thing is the cut off points from the sprue are a little different on the Eduard kit. Very easy to miss them when sanding everything smooth. Which of course makes assembly a tad harder. But if you sand them correctly you get a superior fit.

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Not much work this week, or today my day off. I caught the Eduard kit basicly to near the same point of the Hasegawa kit. At this point the panel lines and cockpit is noticably better on the newer kit. But, not really that noticeable at a distance of a couple feet.

 

Nj720qh.jpg

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The fancy metal and rubber Hasegawa tires chemically broke down over the last 35 years. The main wheels are "ok". But the front wheels have disintegrated. The regular issue kit front wheels are painted in the photo ready to go.

 

The Eduard of course comes with masks. Something I seldom use, but as long as they are included I might as well give them a shot.

 

 S24DX9A.jpg

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The bottoms are together except for tanks, weapons and weathering. The Eduard clearly wins this race. It has all the warts added to the J late in service. Also they look more realistic then the Hasegawa.

 

fOqACe3.jpg

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So far the builds, while not following the instructions order of build, are at the same point more or less. Now the differences of the many more parts in the Eduard box is going to come into play. Don't worry, much more colour will come as we go along.

 

VmRpHkR.jpg

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The photo-etch on the window sills for the Hasegawa looks better then the lack of such from the Eduard, however once the windows are on you won't notice the difference. The Colour photo-etch clearly is better looking then my paint job on the Hasegawa.

 

3bP6RGu.jpg

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I just put the entire thing on the edge of the lip. The Eduard does not "come" wit the folded wing. I just make them that way. Done that with Hasegawa too. Just cut off the wing tip and glue in place. Someone makes a resin plug, but that area is SO small that I think its not worth the time or expense.

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Ya know what, I think the old Hasegawa wins in some ways here. The photo etch for the canopy and cockpit is much better the the Eduards/Academy. The Academy however has better overall extras. Such as the ejection seats, and engines. The Eduards cockpit panels are of course much better then I can paint by hand.Plus the dropped flaps and refuelling probe. The Hasegawa is a much easier build, The Academys landing gear is flimsy and all though better looking, it is no where near as strong.

 

NUJQT7y.jpg

 

Another advantage the Acedemy/Eduard has is age. The decals have yellowed over the past 35 years on the Hasegawa kit. Also the front tires had disintegrated over the past 3 decades.

Still, .........so have I.

 

Y0j9nQb.jpg

 

 

9ZaL6Do.jpg

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Great finish. This is exactly what I had in mind when I dreamed up this GB.  I have yet to finish and Academy Phantom, but I am pretty far along with one and I observed the same things you have.

 

What did you think about about the keel section, the area after the exhausts on the Eduard/Academy kit?

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