Kitty Hawk Sepecat Jaguar

[Crazy Snap Captain]

I love Jaguars. I really do. I reckon that they are one of the most attractive and cool jets ever to have burnt avgas. So it was with great excitement that I received my new tool Kitty Hawk Sepecat Jaguar A last year. Within 1 week it was on the shelf of doom. However, time heals wounds and bad modelling experiences and in the last few weeks I've finished 3 shelfers including a Hasegawa Apache (the parts count is huge) a Hasegawa Super Hornet that I didn't finish in time for the recent GB and also a Kinetic Mirage 2000D.

So the only one left was the KH jag. What a ridiculously over engineered, ill fitting POS. I've abandoned it again and have thrown it out. Vertical stab in 3 pieces with no alignment tabs, open panels with ill fitting pieces if you want them closed, pylons in two pieces i.e.not halves, just in two random pieces, no option to pose leading and trailing edges in closed position, engines that don't fit due to other parts being in the way, instruction sheet that is out of sync and quotes incorrect part numbers.

I'm no expert builder but I can get around most things. This kit is as if it designed to make you screw up. For a "modern" kit, this is p1ss poor.

Anyway, just wondering if the Heller kit is any better? Thanks for hearing my rant.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Crazy Snap Captain

[Crazy Snap Captain]

Double post.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Crazy Snap Captain

[ijozic]

Thanks for reporting the fit issues. I really wanted to buy the new Jaguar kit, but when I saw those fully extended leading edge slats (which looked rather odd to me, but I'm no Jaguar expert), plus the old school plain cockpit PE side controls (which means I need an aftermarket cockpit set to boot), I gave up.

[Ben Brown]

I picked up the 2-seater on sale at Squadron a while ago for $26. Seemed like a fair price. After reading about them over at Britmodeller, it sounds like the KH Jags fit about as well as the Airfix/Heller kits, but aren't as accurate in outline. One of the biggies is the curved wing leading edge, but that looks like it shouldn't be too hard to fix. I've slammed KH before on their use of 2-dimensional photo etched parts for the instrument panels and consoles. That's just lazy on their part. I think someone on BM has been able to swap in a Neomega cockpit intended for the Airfix kit, but those of us with the 2-seater are stuck. The afterburner nozzles also use PE unnecessarily. I looked into replacing them with some old Paragon nozzles, but the KH ones are much larger in diameter.I'm planning to start mine as my next project. We'll see how it goes.

Ben

[MoFo]

it sounds like the KH Jags fit about as well as the Airfix/Heller kits, but aren't as accurate in outline.

So fit's the same, Airfix is more accurate, KH is more detailed. :(

I think someone on BM has been able to swap in a Neomega cockpit intended for the Airfix kit, but those of us with the 2-seater are stuck.

http://www.neomega-resin.com/148th-jaguar-t2e-conversion-set-for-kittyhawk-and-airfix-kits-139-p.asp ? Just toss the superfluous fuselage bits?

[fulcrum1]

The Kitty Hawk Jaguar kit has molding issues so inspect before buying and if you can't, buy from a retailer that accepts returns. Kitty Hawk makes some good stuff, but some of their kits leave much to be desired at that price point. Also may want to look into the newer reboxed Revell kit as although it isn't as detailed I think it looks more like a Jaguar.

Edited November 26, 2015 by fulcrum1

[Ben Brown]

MoFo, interesting info about the Neomega set. I didn't think anything designed for the Airfix kit would fit the KH kit. I had the Paragon conversion for a while, and it was a little too short vertically to work with the KH kit. I'm just going to build mine with the canopies closed, and use some old Airfix decals to dress up the crappy PE consoles and instrument panels.

Ben

[Craig Baldwin]

I recently purchased the cockpit set and some decals for the decals for the Jag, but the more I read the less likely I will ever buy the is kit. I am kind of doubting actual modellers were involved in producing these kits.

[MoFo]

MoFo, interesting info about the Neomega set. I didn't think anything designed for the Airfix kit would fit the KH kit.

I have no idea (I read the reviews and skipped the KH kit), but if you can shoehorn Neomega's single seat cockpit into the single seat kit, it seems likely that you'd be able to make their two-seat cockpit fit the two-seat kit.

[Ben Brown]

I have no idea (I read the reviews and skipped the KH kit), but if you can shoehorn Neomega's single seat cockpit into the single seat kit, it seems likely that you'd be able to make their two-seat cockpit fit the two-seat kit.

True. I'm just not into that model enough to justify spending any more money on it. Once I finish the Hasegawa F-4 I'm working on, I'll tackle the Jag. I'll just keep my expectations low so I won't be disappointed. :D

Ben

[Laurent]

I am kind of doubting actual modellers were involved in producing these kits.

This kit belongs to the MiG-25 and Mirage F1 generation where "Song" gave the finger to anyone who dared to making negative comments. Things improved over the years.