Sword v Special Hobby Kittyhawks

[Seahawk]

I see both Sword and Special Hobby have brought out Kittyhawk I and III kits in 1/72.  I note that I can buy both Sword kits for less than either one of the Special Hobby ones.  Has anyone done a comparative evaluation of the 2 companies’ offerings?  For me accuracy and detail levels would be the main criteria though buildability is nice.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Luka]

I have only compared the Sword kits to the old Hasegawa P-40's. That said, I think the Sword kits are pretty good. I think their 2-in-1 boxings are just a great deal.
And actually, the Hase kits are also still very nice, but could do with some extra interior detail.

[Mark Joyce]

I have all those kits but have only built the Special Hobby P-40E/Mk. I. The Sword kit is nice and, as Luka mentioned, a great deal. But if you are mainly concerned with detail and accuracy, Special Hobby is the way to go; plus the kit almost fell together on its own.

 

Here's a link to a review I did on the Special Hobby kit over on Modeling Madness (hopefully it works. MM doesn't sometimes play well with some Internet providers):

 

https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/us/usaaf/p40/joyce40.htm

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[Seahawk]

1 hour ago, Luka said:

I have only compared the Sword kits to the old Hasegawa P-40's. That said, I think the Sword kits are pretty good. I think their 2-in-1 boxings are just a great deal.
And actually, the Hase kits are also still very nice, but could do with some extra interior detail.

The True Details cockpit interiors help a lot with the Hasegawa kits.  My main beef with the Hasegawa kits was the weedy prop.  Quickboost: are you listening?  (And no, I don't need just an expensive clone of the kit part.)

 

18 minutes ago, Mark Joyce said:

I have all those kits but have only built the Special Hobby P-40E/Mk. I. The Sword kit is nice and, as Luka mentioned, a great deal. But if you are mainly concerned with detail and accuracy, Special Hobby is the way to go; plus the kit almost fell together on its own.

 

Here's a link to a review I did on the Special Hobby kit over on Modeling Madness (hopefully it works. MM doesn't sometimes play well with some Internet providers):

 

https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/us/usaaf/p40/joyce40.htm

Thanks, Mark.  The link worked fine and show the Special Hobby kits well up there with the Hasegawa for surface detail and far surpassing them on internal detail.

[72modeler]

41 minutes ago, Seahawk said:

My main beef with the Hasegawa kits was the weedy prop

Those two points, plus the way they engineered the wings gave a very nice thin trailing edge, but gave you a nasty seam that had to be filled as well as making it very hard to do dropped flaps. Seems like almost all of the Hasegawa kits of that era had anemic props, regardless of kit! A shame, as their P-40 kits fit beautifully- the canopies just click into place, and are nicely scribed,  but have nothing in   the cockpit and shallow wheel bays, which are easily  fixed; they should have started with Tomahawks!

Mike

[Chuck1945]

I’ve built three SH  P-40 kits and am working on a fourth. The only problem I’ve encountered, and it has been true with all three, is getting the gunsight, instrument panel and covering shroud to fit properly with the windscreen fit.

[e8n2]

8 hours ago, Seahawk said:

The True Details cockpit interiors help a lot with the Hasegawa kits.  My main beef with the Hasegawa kits was the weedy prop.  Quickboost: are you listening?

According to Hannant's, Quickboost, Aerobonus, and Aires have been discontinued and once the existing stocks are gone, that's it.  No more.

Later,

Dave

[Wm Blecky]

2 hours ago, e8n2 said:

According to Hannant's, Quickboost, Aerobonus, and Aires have been discontinued and once the existing stocks are gone, that's it.  No more.

Later,

Dave

Do you mean the full line from those companies? and is it only Hannants who is not offering them any longer?

[Work In Progress]

1 hour ago, e8n2 said:

According to Hannant's, Quickboost, Aerobonus, and Aires have been discontinued and once the existing stocks are gone, that's it.  No more.

Later,

Dave

That's what they usually say when the items they list below are no longer available ex stock from the manufacturer: it doesn;t mean people are going out of business

[Paul Thompson]

What Hannants actually say is' We have just been told that lots of Aires, Aerobonus and Quickboost have been discontinued. See them in Limited Availability. No more when our remaining stock has  sold.'  Not the whole range(s).

 

Paul.

[e8n2]

18 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

What Hannants actually say is' We have just been told that lots of Aires, Aerobonus and Quickboost have been discontinued. See them in Limited Availability. No more when our remaining stock has  sold.'  Not the whole range(s).

 

Paul.

"Missed it by that much!"  Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 on "Get Smart".  When I read it a couple of weeks ago I was under the impression that all three were going bye bye.  Did manage to pick up a few items I had been meaning to get.

Later,

Dave