1:48 F/A-22 Raptor: Hasegawa or Academy

[Jeff]

Dear all,

The Hasegawa 1:48 F/A-22 Raptor (PT45) was just out in Hong Kong, and I have a hard to choose in between the Hasegawa or Academy, given the price of both kits are almost the same (UML is running some steep discounts on the new Hasegawa raptor, i think is $380 HKD, same as the Academy).

How bad is the Hasegawa in terms of the raise panel lines? Can I just use sanding to make it less pronounced?

Thanks,

Jeffrey

Edited March 16, 2010 by Jeff

[LanceB]

Just my 2 yen, but personally if I was to get a 1/48 Raptor I'd get the Hasegawa. It has some drawbacks: the surface detail is overdone, but not as badly as it often looks in pictures that you see online (including those Hasegawa released some months ago). Some sanding will be needed to knock the raised details down for sure, but I don't think it would be anywhere near as time consuming as, say, sanding out a Hobbycraft B-36 to get a smooth surface for applying a natural metal finish. Also, you are limited to an A2A load, no JDAM or SDB option out of the box, and no underwing pylons or tanks. The AMRAAMs cannot be easily built in the deployed position (you'd have to section up the launchers and rebuild them).

The Academy kit has a smooth finish. It has JDAMs, pylons and drop tanks if you want those. I believe the option is there for extended AMRAAM/JDAM racks.

However the Academy radome looks all wrong, being too blunt and with too much of an upwards curve on the lower side of the nose. There is also a "crease" running the length of the forward fuselage, from the intakes to the tip of the radome. On the Academy kit this seems parallel to the ground, whereas on the real thing and on the Hasegawa kit it angles down as it goes forward through the radome. The Academy vertical stabs are also (so say those who would know their Raptors) too small all around, whereas Hasegawa got the size right.

I personally think Hasegawa has done a much better job of capturing the overall shape of the F-22, especially around the front end. For me, that radome is a deal breaker when it comes to the Academy kit. I would rather sand the entire outer surface to knock that detail down than try to fix the nose. However, if money was no object I would get both and use the Hasegawa forward fuselage and vertical stabs with the Academy main fuselage, wings and stabilators. But unless I win the lottery or something like that...

[Paolo Maglio]

hasegawa, hands down but Academy come with better decals.

[afterburner]

If you are looking to get the 'look' of a Raptor, both kits will satisfy your needs. I've built the Academy and personally, it looks the part and was a fantastic build as well. I thoroughly enjoyed building that kit and bought 2 more as a result. The Hasegawa will build to their usual high standards as well and they did throw in a PE sheet for the exhausts.

If you are going for accuracy- hard to say.

[Dave Williams]

My take on it is that the raised detail on the Hasegawa is a fairly big issue. It is quite noticeable and just looks wrong to me as is. True, if you use a wash for highlighting, it makes it worse, but even with just paining, it can still be seen. A common response is to say just sand it. You can sand it completely off and make it smooth, but you’ll probably lose some of the molded in vents and other detail that probably should be there. You can try to knock it down, but then the problem becomes how to do it uniformly, how to sand to a uniform thickness so the detail is just visible without going too much or too little in places and softening the edges of the detail.

It really is a choice that comes down to the factors that are important to individual modelers. The Hasegawa kit is clearly more accurate (except for the big inaccuracy of the boilerplate surface detail) and better detailed. The Academy kit has a better decal sheet, more stores options, and is probably cheaper in the US, but it does have some shape issues.

I don’t see there being a “right†answer to this question. People just have to look at what’s important to them and pick the one they want. Build one, enjoy it, and don’t worry whether people think you should have picked the other kit.

[RedHeadKevin]

Has anyone tried building up the low sections on the surface of the Hasegawa kit, rather than sanding down the raised sections? Like, mask off the raised panels, and spray some Mr. Surfacer into the indentations?

[Jeff]

Dear all,

I just bought the hasegawa kit. From the looks of the kit, the raise panel lines wasn't that bad, maybe the photos made it look worst. Anyways, I got the one without the photo-etch parts thus the lowered price.

[deadmeat]

Any thoughts on the assebly of the air intakes on the Has kit? I took a wack at the Academy kit a while back and gave up trying to sort out the intakes.

[Jeff]

Any thoughts on the assebly of the air intakes on the Has kit? I took a wack at the Academy kit a while back and gave up trying to sort out the intakes.

Nope, I just got the kit a few hours so I am just too lazy to examine the kit.

Anyways, here are a couple of shots of the upper and bottom fuselage which most people are concerned with:

[Jeff]

[RedHeadKevin]

I'm afraid that even if the panel lines are more subtle, you're still going to have complaints, and they'll be warrented. The real Raptor has an essentially smooth finish, so ANY raised panels are incorrect. However, I think this kit still has a lot going for it.

[DutyCat]

OMG, those raised panels are horrific. I can't believe they engineered the kit like that. I am glad I only do 1/72 and don't have to choose.

[Jeff]

OMG, those raised panels are horrific. I can't believe they engineered the kit like that. I am glad I only do 1/72 and don't have to choose.

Yes, the raise panel llines look worst since the photos have more contrast with the use of my camera's flash.

[Dave Williams]

Thanks for the pictures. Unfortunately, I don’t think that detail, especially on the nose, is going to disappear under a coat of paint, especially if you airbrush it on.

Since I first saw the preview shots of the kit, my plan of attack was a mixture of building up the surface and sanding. I think masking off all of the raised panels is too time consuming, so I’d just mask off the vent screens and other fine detail and then spray it with Mr. Surfacer or Tamiya gray primer from a can. Then I’d sand the raised detail down to the bare plastic, using the difference between primed and bare plastic to help control the sanding to make sure it’s even on the raised areas and I’m not sanding into the flat areas that I want to keep built up. Maybe it will work.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Dave Williams

[shion]

Oh God.

Is it a Transformers 's movie special Edition?

[Jeff]

Oh God.

Is it a Transformers 's movie special Edition? :lol:

Well, the photos does really make the raised panel lines look bad. You have to see the kit in person to judge for yourself.

[Waco]

Well, the photos does really make the raised panel lines look bad. You have to see the kit in person to judge for yourself.

I've heard that quite a few times now. "The raised panel lines look bad in pictures, but they're more subtle in person." Well not on my copy of this kit. They're every bit as bad as they look. I think Dave Williams' technique is probably going to be the best way to attack this. You can't just sand down the raised areas, and you can't just fill in the depressed areas. It will require a combination of both. And it's going to be time consuming, and require a significant amount of skill to get the surface to look good in executing this whole correction process.

Nope...not worth my time. I'm getting rid of mine, and sticking with the Academy kit.

[shion]

Well, the photos does really make the raised panel lines look bad. You have to see the kit in person to judge for yourself.

Sorry but it isn't true.

I saw too many pics of this kit, on the net, in japanese magazines, on hasegawa web site, to believe this.

Thanx to God, I decided to cancel my order, thinking it didn't worth this amount of money.

Yes, it's Hasegawa,

yes, I love many Hasegawa kits,

yes, I mostly have hasegawa kits,

yes, I've got two dozens of Hasegawa hornets and a dozen of hasegawa superhornets.

But no, I will not buy a kit because "it's hasegawa",

no, I will not buy a 100 USD+ and sand its raised details,

no, I will not say these raised panels are all photos fault.

my opinion, hope that I didn't steal your joy.

[gotarheelz14]

I've heard that quite a few times now. "The raised panel lines look bad in pictures, but they're more subtle in person." Well not on my copy of this kit. They're every bit as bad as they look. I think Dave Williams' technique is probably going to be the best way to attack this. You can't just sand down the raised areas, and you can't just fill in the depressed areas. It will require a combination of both. And it's going to be time consuming, and require a significant amount of skill to get the surface to look good in executing this whole correction process.

Nope...not worth my time. I'm getting rid of mine, and sticking with the Academy kit.

Me too lol! Thanks for giving it to me haha

[Av8fan]

Thanks for the pics.

I hope you enjoy your build.

I hope you post pictures.

Well...were are the pictures???

Edit sorry..i reread that and I hope you realize I was kidding around re the build pictures.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Av8fan

[C-130CrewChief]

I would also like to see a build up of one of these. I built the Acad one and it took me a long time, but the results were good. I recommend it

Curt

[Netz]

I'm afraid that even if the panel lines are more subtle, you're still going to have complaints, and they'll be warrented. The real Raptor has an essentially smooth finish, so ANY raised panels are incorrect. However, I think this kit still has a lot going for it.

From what I've been told the paint is a bit rough similar to the Have Glass texture, and the details tooled by Hasegawa are for the most part accurate but just a bit exaggerated.

Thanks for the pictures. Unfortunately, I don’t think that detail, especially on the nose, is going to disappear under a coat of paint, especially if you airbrush it on.

Since I first saw the preview shots of the kit, my plan of attack was a mixture of building up the surface and sanding. I think masking off all of the raised panels is too time consuming, so I’d just mask off the vent screens and other fine detail and then spray it with Mr. Surfacer or Tamiya gray primer from a can. Then I’d sand the raised detail down to the bare plastic, using the difference between primed and bare plastic to help control the sanding to make sure it’s even on the raised areas and I’m not sanding into the flat areas that I want to keep built up. Maybe it will work.

You have the right idea, but I would first lightly hit the high spots with sand paper, then do the primer steps as you laid out, the raised surfaces do exist they are just blended in a bit more than Hasegawa tooled them.

Nope...not worth my time. I'm getting rid of mine, and sticking with the Academy kit.

So how much you want'in for that kit...???...

Curt

[Netz]

My take on it is that the raised detail on the Hasegawa is a fairly big issue. It is quite noticeable and just looks wrong to me as is. True, if you use a wash for highlighting, it makes it worse, but even with just paining, it can still be seen. A common response is to say just sand it. You can sand it completely off and make it smooth, but you’ll probably lose some of the molded in vents and other detail that probably should be there. You can try to knock it down, but then the problem becomes how to do it uniformly, how to sand to a uniform thickness so the detail is just visible without going too much or too little in places and softening the edges of the detail.

It really is a choice that comes down to the factors that are important to individual modelers. The Hasegawa kit is clearly more accurate (except for the big inaccuracy of the boilerplate surface detail) and better detailed. The Academy kit has a better decal sheet, more stores options, and is probably cheaper in the US, but it does have some shape issues.

I don’t see there being a “right†answer to this question. People just have to look at what’s important to them and pick the one they want. Build one, enjoy it, and don’t worry whether people think you should have picked the other kit.

Speaking of Boiler Plate, look what Eduard is offering for the Academy kit.

Curt

[Av8fan]

Hi Netz,

Sorry the link didnt work?

[Netz]

I guess it didn't make it past the sensors.

Not as good as the original, but here's another review.

Curt