Hasegawa 109 Accuracy: is it?

[dodgem37]

'How do you guys that have built em feel?'

I've built 2, and am finishing up 3 from the Shelf of Doom. Parts fit, the fidelity of the detail that is there is clean and crisp, having sharp edges and corners.  Parts count is low.  Construction is simple and easy.  Building and painting instructions are easy to read.  Decals are applied easily.  Open to After Market detail and correction sets.  I like the kit.

 

Hasegawas' kits follow the Keep It Simple Stupid philosophy.  Unlike Tamiya.

Sincerely,

Mark

[ade rowlands]

I’ll say this for the Cyber Hobby E-4/7 I know this thread is about the Hasegawa kits but if you want an E-4/7 I’m currently building my 4th go at the Cyber Hobby kit. If you want cowls off it’s superb. If you want closed up it’s a sanding shimming hacking bits off nightmare. But does look good with a big yellow nose. I’ve basically taken 4 goes to get it to a place I’m happy with. Each one has been a progression in working things out. I’ve basically eradicated the engine bearers, made nothing of the engine other than the block and that’s only to stick the exhaust to. The cowl gun deck has been more or less taken out from the gun barrels backwards, including the gun breeches. The instrument panel can be done away with as I have or can be made to work with some contour sanding. Other than that front area it’s a nice build with a nice cockpit. 

[thierry laurent]

The cyber hobby Emil is indeed the only 109 that has the combination of easy assembly, accurate details and the lack of any dimensional issue. No other large scale 109 kit is similar regarding such a combination. The engine area is indeed a common issue but it is not comparable to the Eduard one that is noticeably more difficult to solve. 

 

The Hasegawa G6-14 is easy to assemble but has the details of a 1/48th kit and has some dimensional issues in the nose area (too rounded spinner and Beule location because of length issue). The G10/K4 is noticeably worse (fat spine). Unfortunately, there is (still) no final late 109!

 

The last Hasegawa release - the Friedrich- is the best 109 they produced (correct nose length and accurately shaped propeller). 

 

I made detailed reviews of most 109s. Just have a look in the tweak list section of the articles tab on the LSP website. 

 

Hth

 

Thierry 

[tucohoward]

22 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

What does "accurate" even mean?  The "only" "accurate" 109 is the Dragon E-4?  By what standard?  Are the stitches in the rudder rib tapes precisely the same scale size as the original 1/1 scale ones?  If not, then it's not "accurate".  Is the radio compartment hatch 0.0000002 mm too wide?  If so, then it's not "accurate".  

Perhaps you could say that subjectively speaking, the Dragon E-4 is the best *looking* 109, but you can't say it's the most "accurate" without a whole lot more information.

 

We toss "accurate" around a lot (I do as well), but it's inaccurate to use that term when we're talking about artistic sculptures of airplanes here.  And that's what we're talking about.  These are not miniature aircraft.  They are sculptures.  They are art.  Art is not perfect (save for some works by Mozart and Beethoven).

Lynn is noted authority on 109’s. He has published books on them and the 109 Lair is his website and is a friend of mine, so I respect his opinion. Personally I am not as concerned as a lot of people are about accuracy as long as it looks good to me. We all want different things from a kit. You like detailed wheel wells and for me that’s the one area on this kit I have never used any AM. Nobody ever looks at them.

Jay

[Kahunaminor]

Well it looks as though your prayers for an E 3/4/7 may be answered with the release of the HGW kit with CH plastic and added goodies! Watching and hoping for a good price point!

 

Regards,

[MikeMaben]

On 6/11/2019 at 5:10 PM, Jennings Heilig said:

  The "only" "accurate" 109 is the Dragon E-4?  By what standard? 

 

Every other 1/32 E-4 available.

 

On 6/11/2019 at 5:10 PM, Jennings Heilig said:

    Perhaps you could say that subjectively speaking, the Dragon E-4 is the best *looking* 109, but you can't say it's the most "accurate" without a whole lot more information.

 

Sure you can. Start counting flaws and the one with the least flaws is the most accurate. 

 

There aren't any better Gs than Hasegawa's currently available. I have them all excetpt

the G-10. The G-14 has the same bum spinner that's in the G-6 but the rest have the improved

spinner. The Fs have full fuselage halfs but the rest have the split. Barracuda has very nice

replacement spinner/blade sets.

So Gaz if have found some at a nice price, I'd go for it.

 

 

[Kais]

Gazza,

start with the 109 F, you won't be disappointed.
 

[nmayhew]

On 6/12/2019 at 11:35 AM, thierry laurent said:

The cyber hobby Emil is indeed the only 109 that has the combination of easy assembly, accurate details and the lack of any dimensional issue. No other large scale 109 kit is similar regarding such a combination. The engine area is indeed a common issue but it is not comparable to the Eduard one that is noticeably more difficult to solve. 

 

The Hasegawa G6-14 is easy to assemble but has the details of a 1/48th kit and has some dimensional issues in the nose area (too rounded spinner and Beule location because of length issue). The G10/K4 is noticeably worse (fat spine). Unfortunately, there is (still) no final late 109!

 

The last Hasegawa release - the Friedrich- is the best 109 they produced (correct nose length and accurately shaped propeller). 

 

I made detailed reviews of most 109s. Just have a look in the tweak list section of the articles tab on the LSP website. 

 

Hth

 

Thierry 

 

Do you have a link to the tweaks list for the Cyberhobby 109?

 

i just had a look and couldn’t find it

[thierry laurent]

Unfortunately no as I did not write one for that kit. It is a pity as it would have been the shortest 109 one...

[STWilliams]

Just get the Hase kit and, if you don't like a particular aspect, you can guarantee that there will be some decent AM to replace it.

[ade rowlands]

Haven’t solved the Cyber Hobby kit cowl closed up problem after all *shakes fist* Thought I had it solved, but no. I had basically built up all the 4 cowl sections separate from the fuselage with the engine block placed inside as a sort of power egg. Damn thing is too tall and not by a small margin either. At least the thickness of the top or lower cowl depending on where you want to look at it so a good 2/3mm that you can’t really do anything about because it will make everything else look out of proportion. I’ll look at it again when I’ve got a couple of days off with fresh eyes. There may be a solution I’m not seeing after sitting down with the damn thing after working 12 hour shifts. There’s just detail to be lost all over those cowls if I take a saw to them. Hmm. Back to Hasegawa 109’s. My auction win G-14 arrived the other day. To be made up into the Hartmann scheme on the box top. I did get the 1/24 Trumpeter G-6 late to convert and attempt the same scheme. Just lost the will to carry on with that one when my own scratch building wasn’t up to standard. I have the 1/24 G-2 kit to do at some point. 

[thierry laurent]

This is not surprising as we are reaching here the limits of the plastic parts. Either you use an underscale engine, either you leave the cowl off, either you remove the engine or part of its external accessories/components. Tamiya possibly reached the best compromise with its inline engine single seat fighters but this pushes the technical possibilities to the limits and it is clear that the other companies are not yet at that level. Even Wingnuts cheated for some of their engine cowls!

 

If you want to avoid that, kit options without engines are easier to built.

[nmayhew]

3 hours ago, ade rowlands said:

Haven’t solved the Cyber Hobby kit cowl closed up problem after all *shakes fist* Thought I had it solved, but no. I had basically built up all the 4 cowl sections separate from the fuselage with the engine block placed inside as a sort of power egg. Damn thing is too tall and not by a small margin either. At least the thickness of the top or lower cowl depending on where you want to look at it so a good 2/3mm that you can’t really do anything about because it will make everything else look out of proportion. I’ll look at it again when I’ve got a couple of days off with fresh eyes. There may be a solution I’m not seeing after sitting down with the damn thing after working 12 hour shifts. There’s just detail to be lost all over those cowls if I take a saw to them. Hmm. Back to Hasegawa 109’s. My auction win G-14 arrived the other day. To be made up into the Hartmann scheme on the box top. I did get the 1/24 Trumpeter G-6 late to convert and attempt the same scheme. Just lost the will to carry on with that one when my own scratch building wasn’t up to standard. I have the 1/24 G-2 kit to do at some point. 

 

hmmm that's a shame but given others have built this and it looks perfectly fine, there's got to be a trick to it somewhere

 

did I read on a LSP Ron or was it DougN thread that someone followed the instructions to the letter for a Hyperscale build and it just fit as it should, and that it was the person's second guessing the instructions that caused all the problems?

 

if i can find the quote i'll let you know - i read literally a few days ago 

[Big Texan]

Some great comments here. Agree with them all. All the 109 kits out there, regardless of Hasegawa, Trumpeter, and others, all have their issues. That said, Hasegawa 109's are nice kits. There is a multitude of aftermarket out there that addresses some of the faults, whether it is in resin or photo etch. So, go big and build one!!! 

[ade rowlands]

5 hours ago, nmayhew said:

 

hmmm that's a shame but given others have built this and it looks perfectly fine, there's got to be a trick to it somewhere

 

did I read on a LSP Ron or was it DougN thread that someone followed the instructions to the letter for a Hyperscale build and it just fit as it should, and that it was the person's second guessing the instructions that caused all the problems?

 

if i can find the quote i'll let you know - i read literally a few days ago 

 

Well I built it to the instructions, exactly as they have it set out and the engine bearers interfere with the separate gun breech cover, as does the instrument panel coaming and parts of the machine guns themselves. Which is why I went and got rid of them all. When I realised they got in the way.  This isn’t my first go around with this kit and I’ve attempted the fix a few ways and got to the same sort of result. Poorly fitting cowls if you want it glued shut. I haven’t pushed too much in the gun breech cover part as I thought maybe I had done because it all lines up perfectly straight the way I’ve done it. If I’d pushed it down too much and squashed it I’d understand the issues I’m now having with my cowl being too tall. It seems fixing one thing causes problems in the other areas. I know it can be done. There’s photographic proof. What I need to do next is test the size of the spinner back plate to the opening in the nose it should back on to. If it fits as it should then I can’t take a saw to fix the cowl height, if it’s small I know I’ve gone wrong somehow, though I really don’t see how because all I’ve done is glue the 4 parts that make the lower cowl, 2 exhaust panels and the side panels/top cowl part together as they should be done. Liquid cement and no pressure so the shape wasn’t thrown out. This yellow nose B*stard is really turning out to be a proper B*stard too.