Hasegawa panel on the left got an unused gunsight from the Tamiya kit -
Hasegawa getting a much slimmed down and de-life vested pilot, something HAS to be put on that massive Hasegawa "THRONE"
Academy seat got some spare seatbelts.
Tamiya cockpit is a small kit in itself - BRAVO, TAMIYA! More like this please! The instrument panel IS very nice as is, but this has a Yahu panel on top of it.
P-47 had large open area in front of instrument panel, all the red area on the Academy can be safely removed without impacting canopy fit. Also need to remove if correcting the inst panel position -
Neat feature on Tamiya wings - these two ribs mate, making a very stiff wing that doesn't flex in when handling or during the sanding to come - surface detail is amazing.
Pick your favorite curse word, I used it. Currently trying to bring it back to some form of clear - glue on my thumb and had no idea it was there.....grrrrrrrrrrrrr
Tail feathers on - rudder checker patterns from Rising Decals are great - matches the Tamiya mold perfectly, on both the Hasegawa and Academy molds the decal needs a bit of trimming, as the rudders on both are too short. - using each individual kit's fuselage and wing insignias, Academy is oddly brittle and will crack easily while putting it in place, Tamiya is thick but settles down well, the Hasegawa is a bit fragile.
Pylons on, gear assembled. Hasegawa wheels got the Tamiya 'hubcaps', the Academy wheels were filled with putty, and details inked on. Tailwheels on too - Tamiya's is a clever three part trap, angling the doors out at the right angles. Very slick.
Academy- no cowl on yet as I had to paint the firewall after the engine was installed - have I said the Academy decals are not good? Avoid them if you have spares.
Hasegawa pilot is cocked a bit to the left - blame it on the enormous throne of seat, or let's just imagine he's leaning out to see over that enormous nose as he taxis.....
More Academy irritation, the antenna is much too far forward, the canopy can't be posed open - moving it 13mm aft, basing that distance off of Tamiya's placement. It's also 5mm too tall.
Christian This is very mesmerizing. Thank you for posting the side-by-side-by-side comparisons!
25 November 2023, 13:38
Casey Beckett Thank you gentlemen! The side by side was a happy accident when starting just to keep the three shades of grey kits straight - neat to see how molds have progressed over the years. I realize even the Tamiya mold is almost 20 years old now, but just compare it's cockpit and surface detail on the skin to the 25 year old Academy, and the (WOW) now 49 year old Hasegawa;, reboxed how many times now? Back to the bench now, looking to have airframes togeth6er and primed today - will post more pics this evening.
Cheers yall!
25 November 2023, 14:09
Andy Ball I like the 3-way action!....when I built Tam's I thought it was brilliant...interesting to see how it fairs...great progress BTW
18 December 2023, 11:49
Casey Beckett Thank you - will post more pics tomorrow - nearing the end - Tamiya beats the others by miles -
19 December 2023, 02:42
Pierre Pierre Very interesting thank you for posting
19 December 2023, 05:01
Moreno Baruffini I agree with the above! Super interesting, thanks for posting!
19 December 2023, 06:45
CaptGPF Holy cow! How you don't mix up the parts between the kits is a feat in its own right. Love how they are coming together!
19 December 2023, 07:02
Album info
Academy, Hasegawa, and Tamiya P-47D kits, all at once, fast, same unit markings from 346TH FS in Italy. No crazy detail sets, just decals and the builds. Well, I AM going to use ONE Yah6u instrument panel just cause I have it.
Black checkertail unit, all natural metal, using same paints on each kit, and yall be the Judges -
Building Tamiya kit as 'Hellsapoppin"
Building Academy kit as "Iron Ass"
Building Hasegawa kit as "Wave of Destruction"
Christian
Casey Beckett
Andy Ball
Moreno Baruffini
CaptGPF
