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1/48 FA-18A-D Legacy Hornet - Hasegawa or Kinetic?


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It has been a while, but I have built them both.  I would say I prefer the Hasegawa kit for ease of building.  The front end of the Kinetic kit has you deal with the refueling probe and it is a bit more complicated.  I also think the panel lines stand out a little more consistently on the Hasegawa.  In the end they both make up into nice looking planes.  The Kinetic probably has more up to date details.  Good luck

 

Geoff M

 

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Building the Kinetic right now, will go back to the modeling table in a little while. So far impressed with it, but haven't gotten to the front part yet. Will keep you posted. 

As for Hasegawa, they have some odd solutions that I am not the biggest fan of, but will be able to give a better opinion in a couple of days. 

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The Kinetic kit includes features the Hasegawa kit doesn't, like engine intakes, refuelling probe and the option to model the wings folded.

Those features, plus the way the nose and windscreen connect, caused some headaches for me. There are solutions out there for making those steps easier, I just didn't find them before I built mine. Otherwise I would say the construction of the two is pretty similar.

Both build into nice finished models. If I build another Hornet it will be Kinetic though.

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I find the biggest difference in intakes. They do kind of show on a Hornet. Also, the Hasegawa panel lines are a bit too delicate. On a BA jet i guess that's a non-issue. It's been a while since I built the Hase kit though. I like the cockpit better, the IP coaming seems a bit better detailed, albeit the shroud extends too far imho. Still, I'd rather use resin cockpit. The newer boxing have finally some upgrade parts, slanted antennae, iff, double chaff/flare buckets.

The Kinetic kit has more interesting options, such as correct screen vents under the nose. I don't like the IFF, as it seems a bit too small. And the clear parts are sort of too thick (except the HUD glass, that is super thin). The windscreen is a pain, however I reglued the nose assembly and windscreen like three times and it did not came out too bad. Much better than I was expecting. Kinetic has some interesting seats, like SJU-17's with SJU-5/6 parachute pack. A quick fix, or a replacement seat and You are set.

I got probably as many Kinetic as Hasegawa kits (like 5 of each). And can't wait to start building a Hasegawa kit for some comparison sake. It's next on my to-do list for 1/48.

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I chose Hasegawa. Had built the Hasegawa before. Never had the Kinetic one. But looking at the online build photos and reviews, Kinetic looked too finicky for what I had in mind. Also, older Kinetic boxings had the vertical stab' top line pretty flat (though I think they fixed it later).

 

If you want a base straightforward Hornet and you will AM the bells and whistles, Hasegawa is best IMO. Somewhere in the progress section I have a Hasegawa C going on, and there you can see a few tips on how to avoid seams and steps. 

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I’ve switched over to Kinetic. Both are great and both have their quirks. 
 

Pros for Hasegawa: Better IP coaming, landing gear, slightly easier nose attachment. 

 

Pros for Kinetic: more accurate shape (original release had the flat tails that have been corrected). The spine, rudder, and front end are more accurate to the real thing. It also has the kink twist in the wingtips. Weapons pylons are better shaped, the fuel tanks have a longer more correct length, probes are better sized, various nose configurations (A/C/late C), late center line pylon and LERX vents. Some boxing’s have A/B/C/D parts (but they only have the B RIO coaming), seats are NACES (Hasegawa only ever had SJU-5 for the earlier A/B). Cockpit has more detail and side walls. Full length intakes. Separate gear bays as provisioned to allow easy AM wheel bay inserts. Multiple versions of nose gear and Correct nose gear door antenna (Hasegawa had it backwards). 
 

both kits have tricky nose to body and aft body attachments. Kinetic is more fragile as is and requires a bit of a workaround or careful assembly but not hard. I also find both have steps when assembling the intake lips. (But there’s construction order fixes for both). Kinetic early release had a bad bump of plastic and windscreen attachment that required some trimming and work. But they fixed it and the new windscreen fits much better. I’ve become a bigger Kinetic fan and think the kit looks better and is not more work to build. I’ve borrowed the Hasegawa IP and would love to have more copies, But I haven’t found a way to incorporate the Hasegawa gear. 
 

Bottom line for me is both are great and equal in effort. But I get much more from the Kinetic kit. And if you’re buying them

new, Kinetic is cheaper in many cases. 
brian
 

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1 hour ago, Brian P: Fightertown Decals said:

 

Bottom line for me is both are great and equal in effort. But I get much more from the Kinetic kit. And if you’re buying them

new, Kinetic is cheaper in many cases. 
brian
 

Well, I am buying new, and the only Hasegawa kit that I could find at the usual places I deal with was an FA-18D.  So I ended up ordering a pair of Kinetic 48030 FA-18A+/B/CF-188 kits for my Blue Angel single- and two-seaters.  Price was about the same as the Hasegawa D.  Probably going to do the 1987 season on at least one of them.

Edited by Joe Hegedus
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Which Kinetic kits have the fin shape corrected? I've got the F/A-18C boxing, KA48031.

 

Also, what would people recommend for a resin SJU-5/6? I've got a Black Box cockpit set that includes an SJU-5A and will probably go with that unless there are clearly better options.

Edited by seawinder
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21 hours ago, seawinder said:

Which Kinetic kits have the fin shape corrected? I've got the F/A-18C boxing, KA48031.

 

Also, what would people recommend for a resin SJU-5/6? I've got a Black Box cockpit set that includes an SJU-5A and will probably go with that unless there are clearly better options.

All of them got the updated fins. The only old ones out there are in the original 48031 boxing. But after they corrected it, 48031 boxes got them. It just depends when you bought it and if it was before or after the parts were corrected.

 

Aires/QB SJU-5 is the best one out there. QB version having molded in belts and Aires being PE. 
brian 

Edited by Brian P: Fightertown Decals
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 I know others have contributed but I thought I’d throw in my two cents. Personally I believe the Kinetic kit edges out the Hasegawa by a little. Still though the Hasegawa hornet is still very good. The Kinetic kit has the parts included to replicate just about all minor differences across different versions of the legacy hornet.

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