sroubos

I have all the variants of the Hasegawa and Tamiya kits with the exception of the Tamiya rounded-wing A6M3. I also have the clipped-wing FM A6M3. I think all these kits are superb to be honest. They are accurate, detailed and all of them are shake 'n bake. The Hasegawa kits have the lowest parts count but the majority of the difference is in the cockpit, which is fairly spartan. However I don't notice this once I have completed a kit so it's not an issue for me. Surface detail is very good but slightly less than on the Tamiya kits, but on par with the FM kits I would say. Biggest selling point though is the price. It's easy to get these kits for under a tenner and sometimes for a fiver. Hasegawa also do a number of subvariants that FM and Tamiya do not do. The FineMolds kit probably has the best cockpit but it's a close race with the Tamiya. Surface detail not as good. Of course the major issue is availability, it's an expensive import item if you can get it at all. Tamiya's kits are without a doubt some of the best 72nd kits out there. Simply perfect, lovely surface detail, amazing fit. They are pricier than the Hasegawa kits but more affordable than FM and easy to acquire.

I was surprised to see this has only just become available in stores in UK and The Netherlands. Sword's Ki-84s are very nice. They are not shake 'n bake but they build up very well indeed.

Nice. This is a reboxing with some new parts for the cowling from the original Ka-14 they released with a copy of Model Graphix magazine. It was pretty much only available as an import from Japan. Hopefully this boxing will be easier to obtain.

Didn't SBS just do a very nice resin kit of this?

You could argue Hasegawa have added the panel lines to make it easier for you to mask the panels for painting. I think if you mask them individually and leave out any panel line washes it will look pretty good. Personally I don't have the patience so I'll use the decals on my A. A third option is to fill the panel lines and use the decals, not a lot of additional work. Or be a real masochist and fill the panel lines, then mask the panels and paint them All in all, Hasegawa has given us enough options to model the RAM panels realistically I'd say. Oh and btw, that B version is UGLY. I've always found the C-version to be the most attractive version of the F-35.

Worse, they scaled it up to 72nd scale IIRC.

Well, I hadn't caught up with Airfix' new releases from 2016 and 2017 so no real loss on a personal level. I still need that B-25! It is a shame and a bit worrying though that Airfix have slowed down their catalog renewal so much. They were doing great about 5-6 years ago with loads of new tools coming out every year at great prices, but they seem to be struggling a bit. Hope it passes and we'lll see them back in form in a few years.

I have built a number of AZ kits, both older toolings and their more modern work and to be honest I find them quite decent in terms of both fit and detail. They are still short run and they do require a bit of filler here an there, but nothing major. The P-38F is my first RS kit and it is really quite a hard kit to put together. The fit of the cowling parts for instance is only approximate and will require filling, sanding, filling, sanding, priming, scribing, filling, sanding and priming to get right. Dry-fitting the fuselage, wings and tail booms does not instill much confidence and has led me to believe it will me much the same for the rest of the kit. The wheel bays, well let's just say it's a good thing they are on the underside of the plane. To be fair I don't mind so much - I'd rather have these kit available and choose not to build them rather than not having the choice at all.

The resolution is a bit low on that picture but it does refer to Saint-Exupéry so I suppose that is indeed his aircraft. And a very nice scheme it is too. I'd get the kit just for that but I'm currently building the F version of this kit and it is not a walk in the park. Bad fit all around. A lot of filling and sanding to get a halfway decent finish.

You'll have to pay me to take that off your hands. Revell should be fined for reboxing that... thing. Is this the Tei version Tamiya is releasing? Presumably they scaled down their 1/48 kit.

Any information on where and when this will be available?

Excellent news about that Hunter, I've waited for that. Is there a difference in plastic between the FGA9 and Mk6 kits? And does anybody know what the current options are to change it to a non-sawtooth? I'm also curious about the F-117, as far as I know the only F-117 Revell has done before is this ridiculous thing: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/143954-revell-4382-f-117-a-shadowhawk So is this a rebox from one of the other manufacturers or a new tool?

A Mig-15 with shoulder-mounted wings?! They couldn't even be bothered to change the number at Lavochkin?

Slightly disappointed to see this is an EasyAssembly kit. We are due a state of the art model of this plane. I'm not getting the Dragon as its just too pricey so I'm still interested if the price is right, but what I'm seeing here is not worth more than 15 quid for me to be honest, assuming it builds up well.

Which is what Revell did in Europe with a number of Hasegawa kits, I got their Mitchell, He-111 and Mosquito cheap that way.