'Threads'
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'Threads' |
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A Discussion on the Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.IX
Kit
source: Hyperscale
(thanks to Brett Green for permission)
(Bold Italics are added by the Webmaster to clarify the text or correct known errors. Some comments have been edited for clarity)
Tony
Bell
How to correct the Hasegawa Spit IX fuselage?
Tue Sep 2
I recall seeing somewhere on the 'net an image of the Hasegawa Spitfire fuselage
halves that had been cut up and shimmed out to the correct dimensions.
Does anyone out there know what I'm on about and, better yet, remember what the
URL might be?
Roy
Sutherland
Don't bother... IT'S UNDERSCALE!!!
Wed Sep 3
This subject keeps coming up. The problem is not that the fuselage is short.
It's underscale. That is; too short, too slim, too narrow, cockpit opening and
canopy too small.
To the Spitfire aficionado, the Hasegawa Spit IX looks like a kid with really
big ears (I should know!). Lengthening the fuselage will just create a overly
sleek looking fuselage.
If you really want a good Mark IX, do the minor fixes to the ICM fuselage, add a
vacu-formed canopy and stick it all on Hasegawa's very nice C wing. Also, highly
recommended are all the add on bits from Ultracast, as neither kit has a prop
and spinner or exhausts that are worth a damn.
If you aren't that fussy, build the Hasegawa kit and be happy with it.
Bruce
Archer
Correcting the Hasegawa Fuselage
Wed Sep 3
Tony,
The problem with just adding a plug is the Spitfire rear fuselage is subtlety
curved along the upper edge. Just adding a plug gives a "stepped"
effect. The 4 mm ( it is actually 3.9 mm, not the 3 mentioned) is all along the
rear fuselage. So a series of cuts would have to be made and the upper fuselage
re-shaped.
Adding the ICM rear fuselage would do it (as per Jim Kiker) at a lot less money
than the Loon fuselage.
Check out my comparison here on Hyperscale ( http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/spitfirecomparisonba_1.htm
).
Regardless of what is said here, or what is told to you as the gospel, remember
you should please you. Build what YOU want to build the way YOU want to build
it.
Jim
Kiker
One more thought...
Tue Sep 2 21:24:08 2003
Hi Tony,
(snip)
I'm currently working on a Hasegawa Mk IX. While the fit is terrific, there are
a number of minor things I would have preferred to have been done differently.
Nonetheless, I have come up with one more way to partially solve the length
problem that seems to be working. I compared the Hasegawa fuselage with the ICM
one, and sure enough, you can see the differences. Wanting to be rid of most of
the Hasegawa shortage but with a less invasive procedure than the one you asked
about, I noticed that if I held the two different kit's fuselages so that they
match, in height, about 1 & 1/4" behind the rear of the cockpits, that
the ICM kit gave me about 1/8" extra length.
What I have done is to cut all four kit fuselage pieces at that point, then
matched the two Hasegawa front halves with the two ICM rear halves. I'll use the
ICM kit horizontal tails, and the Hasegawa rudder fits with only a little fuss.
The fuselage panel lines on the ICM pieces that run front to back will need to
be filled and rescribed, but that's just four straight lines. Of course, this
really only cures the length from the wing back, but it is an easy though
incomplete cure. I had a couple of early ICM's available which I will not use
owing to their other problems, so I had a couple of excess kits to play with. On
the other hand, the later production ICM kits have cured most of the sink mark
problems, and they really do make excellent models. But I had this Hasegawa kit,
see, and I wanted to try one, so this was my attempt to fix most of the problem
with one shot. I also found I had to recontour the Hasegawa kit pieces just at
the rear edge of the wing fairings, but again, it's a simple thing to do.
By the way, the beautiful Ultracast resin under cowling pieces for the ICM kit
will not fit the Hasegawa kit; it's "too short" (by about .030").
I'll replace the exhausts and reshape the kit's spinner (the resin piece looks
too small to my eyes, but your mileage may vary) and call it a Spitfire.
All in all, I agree with the Boffins; using a late production ICM kit is really
the best way to go, but if you want to try the Hasegawa kit and you'd rather not
totally hack up the fuselage, this is a workable intermediate method. I'll post
pics in due course.
Toby
Nelson
Loon Models has a resin fuselage
Tue Sep 2
...that corrects the kit; it directly replaces the kit's fuselage. Check it out
at http://www.loonmodels.com/
I saw it at OK City and it looked really nice--scribing matches the kit's very
well, and the casting was very clean. Can't comment on the accuracy. It's up to
you if a "correct" fuselage is worth almost $20!
Bob
Perry
I have that one
Tue Sep 2
Bought it in an unaccustomed fit of extravagance. It's a lovely piece of work
and it certainly looks the part. It does include cannon bulges (drop fit is
excellent) and different tailplanes.
I haven't compared it to drawings, nor do I have a real Spitfire IX handy to
compare. I don't own a micrometer, either.
The kicker is, as you suggest, the price. That $20 US price turns into $30
Canadian, plus the bounty paid to the postman for importing it, and that took it
to near $50 - against $30 for the original kit.
I'm not telling my wife about that part!
G.
Boyd
Mix and match is my solution
Tue Sep 2
I bought some Airfix Mk Vs which I will use rear of the firewall. Get the
Ultracast nose, and use some of the wonderful sets out there for seats and
cockpits--although the Hasegawa kit is very nice inside. Or just go OOB with a
new spinner--I couldn't really tell how far off the Mk IX was myself until some
of the experts here pointed it out. Bob Swaddling and Derek certainly know the
Spit by touch and by smell, so one must really respect their judgment on the
matter. The spinner is a bit weird even to my eye. Still it is so much better
than the early Monogram, Starfix or first-edition Occidental kit. I really love
Hasegawa's scribing on this one.
ICM kits are a tad cruder but correct in outline. I have seem some great builds
of that one and some Dr. Moreau builds (get me off the island!).
The Airfix thing has been a dream of mine for sometime. Maybe I'll do that next
instead of one of the terrific 1/32 scale aircraft I have in the queue. . .
Bob
Perry
Here you go
Tue Sep 2
http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/correctingspitfireix_1.htm
Derek
Pennington
Tony, why bother. The total inaccuracy of the kit
Tue Sep 2
is about 3mm, spread along its entire length. But if you are really concerned
about the length
inaccuracy, get yourself an ICM kit.
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