Tale of Two Georges - Finished Product(s)

[StyrenePilot1970]

Started the 1/48 Tamiya N1K1 George just before Christmas 2020. Discovered I had the Hasegawa kit of the same subject in the stash, so a duel build began. The decals in the Tamiya kit were unusable (old, cracked) and the Hinomarus in the Hasegawa kit were damaged. I used aftermarket "meatballs" and the Hasegawa kit had two machines from the same squadron, so I elected to build those. I decided to weather one less than the other. 

 

Both good kits, with the Hasegawa edging out the Tamiya slightly for finesse of detail. Here they are:

 

Hasegawa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tamiya

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Josip]

Not my cup of tea, but really nice. Tamiya is probably the older kit. 

[Gary Brantley]

That's a great dual-build!   They both look really good; I enjoyed the comparison Pilot!

[RadMax8]

Just recently picked up a Hasegawa George myself to add more Japanese planes to my stash. Very impressive builds, these will look nice together on display. 
 

Thanks for sharing!

[Toryu]

Two superb models! Your colour choices, particularly the topside D1 dark green, look very convincing. When I read 'Two Georges' I first thought I will see a N1K1-J and a N1K2-J, but it's a nice idea to contrast two George 11 from different kits. The greatest weakness of the Tamiya kit becomes obvious when you compare the profiles - the nose contour is out of shape. The Hasegawa cowling is much better but still not fully accurate. The best  front representation - surprise! - is offered by the vintage Otaki/Arii kit. A combination with the Hasegawa fuselage would render the best result.

Being a Japanese warplane enthusiast I always wondered why three kit manufacturers sell this rare airplane which isn't favoured by many modellers (and none is satisfactory). There is an excellent aftermarket cockpit set but nobody offers an improvement for the complicated telescopic undercarriage legs which again none of the kits provides.

 

In view of all these issues your models are a great tribute to this unusual fighter.