Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 It is said that comparisons are odious. Well, being called odious is nowhere near the worst that has been said about me... I will be building the new Airfix Beaufighter as well as the Hasegawa one, comparing them as I go. My problem is that I can never make things easy for myself. I could simply build the OOB. That would certainly provide me with a good comparison. But noooooo.... I'm going to mess 'em about. The Airfix kit will be built as a Mk. VIf with a radar nose and non-standard camouflage scheme. The Hasegawa kit will be built as a RAAF Mk. Ic, with flat tailplanes and Australian colours. Hold on tight, rider! 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Go for it Enzo,.....looking forward to this mate! cheers Tony 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 (edited) Airfix Right! Let's start with the Airfix kit. This will be built as ND243/Q Kampala Queen, a Mk. VIf of 46 Sqn based at Gambut, Libya in September 1944. The 46 Sqn detachment was operating from Gambut in co-operation with HMS Ulster Queen, a Royal Navy fighter direction ship in an attempt to intercept enemy night transport flights over the Aegean sea. The tactics were successful. On 26 September 1944, W/O Roy Butler and W/O RF Graham used this aircraft to shoot down a Do 24 and two Ju 52s. Two nights later they shot down a Ju 188 in this aircraft. ND243 was equipped with a thimble nose. No 46 Sqn's aircraft wore a non-standard colour scheme. The standard night fighter scheme was used for the uppersurfaces with Night undersurfaces. Decals will be from Print Scale sheet 72-082. The thimble nose is a resin part from AML. It is designed for the Hasegawa kit so it remains to be seen how it suits the Airfix kit. I'll also be using some Eduard "superfabric" seatbelts to dress up the interior. Edited September 4, 2015 by Enzo Matrix 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I shall be watching with great interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Me too,......there is a great account of the co-operation between the Beaufighters and the FDO on HMS Ulster Queen in the book Aegean Fighters by Brian Cull, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 (edited) Hasegawa Moving on to the Hasegawa kit. This will be built as A19-40 EH-G, a Mk. Ic of 31 Sqn RAAF based at Coomalie Creek, Northern Territory on 9 October 1943. On that date, Sqn Ldr "Butch" Gordon and Sgt Ron Jordon were flying this aircraft on an attack on installations on Selaroe island in the Arafura sea. They were intercepted by a Ki-45 "Nick" which Gordon promptly shot down. Minutes later a second Nick attacked and managed to make some strikes on the Beaufighter before Gordon also shot it down. The damage to the Beaufighter was so severe that Gordon had to abandon the mission and attempted to make landfall in Australia. He managed to reach Livingstone where he successfully crash-landed the aircraft. Gordon and Jordon walked away from the crash, but A19-40 was a write-off. Gordon went on to become the RAAF's only Beaufighter ace. Many Australian Beaufighters of this era were painted in RAF colours but the instruction sheet from the High Planes Beaufighter kit provides a compelling argument that A19-40 had been repainted in RAAF colours, so that's how I'm going to represent it. Decals will again be from Print Scale sheet 72-082. The flat tailplanes are also from AML. As with the Airfix kit, the interior will be dressed up with Eduard "superfabric" seatbelts. Edited September 4, 2015 by Enzo Matrix 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Could you post a photo where you hold the fuselage halves of the Airfix and the Hasegawa together so we can see the length difference ? That would be very interesting ... Cheers anyways ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Thanks for doing this. im not familiar with the Hasegawa one but my money is on Airfix! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Could you post a photo where you hold the fuselage halves of the Airfix and the Hasegawa together so we can see the length difference ? That would be very interesting ... I certainly will. It's not only the fuselage of the Hasegawa kit that is shorter, it's the wingspan as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Comparing the two kits from my own stash the Hasegawa still holds up well as it is an excellent kit in my opinion but the Airfix has the edge on detail. The surprise omission is the fact that Airfix have made no allowance for the pilot's cabin door bulkhead (For want of a better description) and leave the interior see through from one crew section to the other. Not a serious omission and easily rectified but, given their attention to detail recently, unexpected. I am really looking forward to your comparison Enzo. Regards Jim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 An already interesting thread has become all the more so with a bit of history about both machines. Nice start Enzo. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Airfix Sprue shots. Please note that this is not how the kit will arrive. I got a bit carried away and had the main parts removed from the sprues within minutes of the kit arriving! The panel lines are very good indeed - slightly deeper than the likes of Eduard but similar to Academy. The sprue gates are smaller than a lot of their earlier kits but they are still wider than many other manufacturers. To be honest I don't have a problem with this. It is obvious that some thought has been given to the positioning of the sprue gates as well so you don't get any in awkward positions. Airfix have given some thought to the engineering of the kit. The wings fit onto spars which extend through the fuselage - just like the real thing. Airfix also seem to have an eye on the future. There are long and short intakes included even though neither of the kit options requires the short ones. The tailplane and fin assembly would lend itself to earlier and later versions. Simply provide a flat tailplane assembly for the Mk.I and a different fin for the later Mk.X. While I'm on the subject of tailplanes, there are two sets in the kit. As the weight of successive versions increased, the Beaufighter started to suffer instability problems especially when the radar nose was introduced. The initial attempt to improve the situation led to the introduction of wider chord elevators. Both the wide and narrow chord elevators are included in the kit (but not as separate parts) so you will need to do some research to match these with your chosen subject. The instability problems were finally rectified with the introduction of an extended fin. This is not included in the kit but I have no doubt that some resin manufacturers are busily working on it. Airfix probably has plans as well. A single small sprue could hold the extended fin, thimble nose and Firedog-style RP rails - maybe even a target winch! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Hasegawa Sprue shots again. This is typical Hasegawa fare. Having been in The Stash for a number of years, once again this kit has been well and truly fondled! Breakdown is similar to the Airfix kit with the exception of the tail area. Hasegawa chose a far more conventional route. The kit is intended to be all things to all people as Hasegawa issued virtually every version at one time or another. That means that there are lots of holes which have been flashed over for the modeller to open as required. The must be half a dozen on the spine aft of the pilot's canopy alone. There is even one on the side of the starboard rear fuselage to accommodate a target winch. As you can see the fin is also a separate part to allow the extended fin to be provided in other boxings. As this boxing is for an Australian-built Mk.21 there is a separate part for the Sperry autopilot housing. This will be carefully conserved to be used of an Airfix kit in the future. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Comparison time! The fuselages. It's a little difficult to see due to the Hasegawa kit having a rudder, but the Hasegawa fuselage is shorter than the Airfix one by about 5mm. From the rear canopy forward, the two kits match almost perfectly. The Hasegawa wings are also shorter by about 3mm, which will lead to an overall 6mm difference in the wingspan of the two kits. As far as I am aware, the High Planes kit is considered to be pretty much spot on for dimensions. I compared both kits to the High Planes one and the Airfix kit came out almost exactly the same as the HP one. Whether this will make the finished Hasegawa kit noticeably smaller than the Airfix one remains to be seen. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Gosh... I'm not sure if the camera has exaggerated the difference, however those Hasegawa wings look tiny in comparison to the new tooled Airfix kit!! .. and to think how much these have been going for? Great thread so far Enzo.. Looking forward to more. Cheers.. Dave 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Have you compare it to any drawings? - And proper dimensions? Since this looks that Hasegawa is in let say - 1:74... or Airfix in 1:70? Cheers J-W Edited September 5, 2015 by JWM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Great idea, Enzo. I'll be watching this one. I too am surprised by the size difference between the two! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowler0000 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Not my usual interest, but for some reason, i'm curious.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Nice comparisons,.......having looked at both of my own kits the undercarriage of the Hasegawa kit seems better (beefier?) to me and Hasegawa include a gun sight which is missing from the Airfix kit. Even so I do like the Airfix kit better, Cheers Tony 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 The Hasegawa engines look far better than the somewhat cruder Airfix offerings. In terms of length, ye olde Frog RAAF variant compares well to the Airfix and high Planes kits. Enzo, that radar nose will fit, but you'll have to remove the stepped bulkhead from the front of the Airfix fuselage and you'll need a small amount of filler. My own cloning attempts have confirmed it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Very different interpretations of the panel arrangement behind the rear cockpits. The Hase kit certainly fits together well. My new Airfix kit is on the water so I'm following with interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 I am not sure if I see it well but from fuselages comparison photo (post #14) the position of leading edge of wing compared to canopy is a bit different. Am I right or this is just a mirage? And IF I am right - which one is right? J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Gosh... I'm not sure if the camera has exaggerated the difference, however those Hasegawa wings look tiny in comparison to the new tooled Airfix kit!! .. and to think how much these have been going for? Great thread so far Enzo.. Looking forward to more. Cheers.. Dave I think it's partly due to that the Hase wing is closer to the camera. Only partly of course, there remains a noticable difference in the size Edit: I just went and compared too, at the root the Hase wing has the same size as the Airfix but the former starts to taper a bit too early and the result is that it is around 3mms shorter ... so it's not the width ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 After faffing around comparing things, it's time to get on with the builds. Here are the interiors of both kits built up and ready to go. The Hasegawa kit: And the Airfix: The Airfix kit has a much fuller interior. As Peter pointed out a few posts ago, the Hasegawa kit has a rear bulkhead for the cockpit which is missing from the Airfix kit. Neither kit has the heating tubes represented. Incidentally, I have opted to use the Yahu Models instrument panels on both kits. I have also cut away the forward bulkhead on the Airfix kit as recommended by The Wooksta! Here we see both fuselages closed up. The Airfix kit has the AML resin nose added. It fitted perfectly once the forward bulkhead had been removed. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 If comparison builds are odious some one should tell all the people following stixs spitfire thread! I personally love them and think you have made a great choice in build. The wings and fuselage look a lot big! That's nuts. Great work on the interior and I look forward to the rest of your work! Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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