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What 109 to buy


Stinger16

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I have built several of each kits and both have their pros and cons. The Revell one is cheaper in Europe (i dont know if it's true in the US), and have more inner details in my opinion (the cockpit is nice from the box), and more options (both early and late canopies and tails, large and small wheels....). The dihedral is more accurate than on the Hasegawa kit. On the other hand there are several little acuracy flaws, like the cowling guns spacing, the cowl bulges size, or the spinner so if you want something accurate you may need some Alleycat correction sets.

The Hasegawa kit is older but it's more straightforward, with no surprise and no difficulties. You have more aftermarket options with a pretty cheap but nice Aires resin cockpit. You almost dont need any correction except that you have to putty a panel line on the engine cowling (actually a seam between the cowling and the fuselage). However you wont have any version options in the box, so you have to choose a kit matching the aicraft you want to build (early or late canopy, small or large size, small bean shape or large wheel housings on the wings, small or tall tail...)

 

Hope this helps !

Edited by Zero77
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I have built several of each kits and both have their pros and cons. The Revell one is cheaper in Europe (i dont know if it's true in the US), and have more inner details in my opinion (the cockpit is nice from the box), and more options (both early and late canopies and tails, large and small wheels....). The dihedral is more accurate than on the Hasegawa kit. On the other hand there are several little acuracy flaws, like the cowling guns spacing, the cowl bulges size, or the spinner so if you want something accurate you may need some Alleycat correction sets.

The Hasegawa kit is older but it's more straightforward, with no surprise and no difficulties. You have more aftermarket options with a pretty cheap but nice Aires resin cockpit. You almost dont need any correction except that you have to putty a panel line on the engine cowling (actually a seam between the cowling and the fuselage). However you wont have any version options in the box, so you have to choose a kit matching the aicraft you want to build (early or late canopy, small or large size, small bean shape or large wheel housings on the wings, small or tall tail...)

 

Hope this helps !

 

The Revell kit is cheaper in the US as well.

 

Agree with everything you said, they both have their strong and weak points but if I'm building just one 109 for my collection I'm going with Hasegawa.  Since they both have minor flaws the Hasegawa's ease of assembly and straight-forward construction make it the more appealing choice for me.

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Another vote for Hasegawa, simple build very accurate and looks awesome when finished. I still have a hard time figuring Revell miss on the cowling, bulges and spinner. They should redo the spinner like Hasegawa did on there newer Bf 109F-4 which is very well shaped. I feel the same on the FW 190 as well, Hasegawa wins again.

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I built the Revell G-6.  Added the Alleycat correction set which helped address most of the kit's issues (cowling, elevators with those thick discs, the kit seat with the molded on seatbelts, solid exhausts, solid cooling scoops, misshaped radiator, etc). Also added the Aires cockpit which was a huge improvement over the crappy kit one.   Had major fit problems with the Aires resin, literally put 20 hours of work into trying to get it to fit without throwing off the geometry of the kit nose / windshield, etc.   Finally got it all together but it wasn't 100% perfect. 

 

In retrospect, I should have gone with the Hase kit.   One should not have to purchase a boatload of correction sets for "new tool" product.  That being said, if you aren't concerned with absolute accuracy, proceed with the Revell product.   Minus all the resin, it would build up quite easily and when completed, looks close enough to keep most people happy. 

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There is no G6 to recommend as such. The Revell, Trumpeter and Hasegawa have good and bad points.

 

The Hasegawa is the easiest to build, then the Trumpeter and finally the Revell but none is really difficult to build as such.

 

The Trumpeter kit is the only one with riveted surfaces and also the only kit for which there is no aftermarket item to solve the main issue (the shape under the nose). In Europe, I would recommend the Revell kit with the Alleycat correction set (cheapest option). For the Hasegawa kit option, I would recommend at least a new spinner, new exhausts and a resin cockpit. I think Aires/Quickboost released all those items. For a more detailed assessment of all the kits, have a look at the relevant tweak lists on LSP.

 

Hth

 

Thierry

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Well I want to do a G-5 and have gone the Revell route because I got the base kit G-6 for a steal. However by the time I've added aftermarket to correct the kit issues it's not so much of a steal, sure most of it like the Brassin cockpit is not an essential upgrade I picked one up at the Eduard stand at SMW because it looks good and I've yet to have any fit issues like I do with Aires stuff, plus I was there to pick up other stuff too so thought why not? I've got a hold of the Amur nose correction set which I really like the look of, Barracuda Spinner, Eduard wheels, and Eduard bronze gear legs, to me, those are what's required, optional stuff was the Barracuda upper wing sections and as I'm building a G-5 armed with cannon gondolas I picked up a set of those from Barracuda also. All in all it's run me to about £70 for everything. Decals I can cobble together the markings from what's in my spares box plus the kit decals for stencils and crosses. To be honest, I'd have added much of the same stuff had I gone Hasegawa but the initial kit outlay would have been at least £30 for a Hasegawa one from HLJ and add shipping to that plus the lottery of customs charge or no customs charge if it sneaks through or gets caught the £15 I paid for the Revell kit won out. Whether any one builds better than the other I'm not too concerned about I have what I have and the way I build it'll look like a child built it regardless of what it cost or who made it.........

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