Question for the Tomcat experts

[Chris Kethan]

I just got back from the LHS, where I manged to only buy what was on my list and NO extra kits. ;)

While I was there, I was looking at the 1/48 Hasegawa Tomcats and the 'Red Rippers' boxing caught my eye. Here's my question.... Are the decals in these hasegawa kits worth using? The only hasegawa jet kits I have built are the A-4C and the A-7E. Both of those kits had pretty decent decals.

I like the VF-11 retro scheme, but I wasn't sure about the kit decals.

Something I also noticed was the 'Jolly Rogers' boxing of the kit was $17 MORE than the others.

TIA,

Chris

[Jay Chladek]

By and large, I think Hasegawa sheets for the F-14s tend to be pretty accurate. Reason being is that research photos of the subjects tend to be pretty numerous and if Hasegawa has good research photos, they tend to do good research on the decal schemes.

On some subjects, they've made some bad blunders, but I don't recall hearing anything bad about their F-14 sheets.

[Skull Leader]

Their newer decals seem to be far better than their older ones. The decal sheets in the recent slew of Tomcat releases has been pretty good in terms of physical decal quality. (note: I make no comments about accuracy)

[dreammh]

I have always heard Hasegawa having problems with white on their decal sheets. And rather thick too. Not sure of newer decals quality (on their F-14s).

I will stick to Microscale printed decals still.

[kap64]

I've heard a complaint or two that the whites can be a little off white sometimes, but I haven't seen it to be that bad unless you hold something very white near it.

[raptor22]

All the decals from those "newer/current" Tomcat kits are very good... why? Because they are printed by Cartograf, not Hasegawa. Hasegawa decals are thicker than my dog's nine-inch skull! Not so for Cartograf. I'm not sure if Cartograf's decals are as thin as Micro Scale's (as in TwoBobs and many other aftermarket decal providers), but they're pretty decent. Also, a lot of the "white vs cream" color issue on Cartograf is much better than Hasegawa decals.

How do you know if they are printed by Cartograf?

1) Look at the front of the box, towards the lower right/left corner and try to find if there's a small red box.

2) Look at the decal sheet itself, and towards the bottom, there's usually something that says "DECALS CREATED/INSPIRED BY CARTOGRAF".

(In order of release) VF-103, VF-213, VF-11, VF-32, VF-143, VF-101 all have decals printed by Cartograf.

Some of the older kits have decals by Cartograf too, like VF-154 History. Unfortunately, the VF-102 kit did not have Cartograf decals... :blink:

The upcoming VF-2 Bounty Hunters kit will most likely have Cartograf decals as well (as what it seems to be that tiny red box on the box cover)... and you can surely bet on that the future VF-31 kit (already announced in 1/72... I dont see why Hase wont milk more money for a 1/48 VF-31 kit) will be printed by Cartograf.

Edited September 20, 2006 by raptor22

[VFA-103guy]

I'm just going to add on to what's been said concerning the latest hasegawa kit decals for the F-14's.

For th emost part, the decals are nicely done, printed by Cartograph, and are about 85-90% accurate.

I can't speak for the other squadrons, but the VF-103 decals are fairly accurate for what they have included, but there are some mistakes. I can also say the VF-11 decals are pretty darn close and have a higher accuracy rating.

If you want 99.9999% accurate VF-103 last cruise decals in 48th, our VF-103 last tomcat cruise sheet is the way to go. This was in no way a shameless plug for VF-Decals. :blink:

[David Walker]

If you want 99.9999% accurate VF-103 last cruise decals in 48th, our VF-103 last tomcat cruise sheet is the way to go. This was in no way a shameless plug for VF-Decals. :blink:

Yes it is, but it's justified.

[Chris Kethan]

Thanks for all the timely replies, gentlemen!

Now I need to make a run back down there to pick up the kit!

Chris