hasegawa or tamiya??

I've been a while since my last post, but... I would like to tell you what I think of this great manufactures.

Well, I think that tamiya is far better than hasegawa in a lot of things, I'm gonna explain it, I've build 3 hasegawa model kits (cars) and all the other cars are from tamiya, less some models of strange brands when I was a kid. The first hasegawa was taka-q lemans built 14years ago, I can say that the overall quality was good, but.... didnt have too much pieces, also after that I built a tamiya nissan calsonic also from 24h lemans and... it had a complete engine bay, so.. from this two models... the difference only was this, but tamiya also dont have engine bay on several models so... 1:1 .

Months ago I built a lancia stratos san remo (alitalia one) and also again no engine bay, but good quality, the decals.... were easier to fit on the shape without microscale liquids or anything else, tamiya ones... sometimes are a bit difficult, so... another point to hasegawa, 2:1. Also this kit came with a piece of rubber to made the mud guards, tamiya kit would come in solid plastic so... another point 3:1.

So far hasegawa wins the match, but... here comes the problems, I still havent found a hasegawa kit with detailed engine, tamiya has lots of them, the rubber quality of the hasegawa tyres on the stratus was bad, something similar to a fujimi wheel and tyre set, so.... one point for the tamiya rubber 3:2.

Now I'm doing a lancia superdelta 92 wrc, it comes with photoetched parts!, also the seatbelts, not a shi... pair of decals like tamiya, so... this should be more than one point but... one more only, 4:2, also looks of the hood... well, very detailed, but this ends here, anything else is far far far far better on a tamiya model!!!!!!, so... this remains in 4:10 for tamiya, I'm gonna explain, the instructions... pffffff, they dont know the semigloss black, only black, or flat black, all the mufflers are burnt iron, allways the same, silver or aluminium... and a little more colors, where a tamiya kit could have 4 different colors, this only have one or two, the interior of the lancia is suppossed to be steel color, and a few things silver, the mats of a kind of grey and.. basically nothing more!! can you believe it????
But this isnt all, the side panels that in all the tamiya cars are separately for easy paint and building, are placed together, and you are supposeed to paint the sides grey, placing a decal and paint somethings of flat black (as ever no semigloss) pffff, frustrating, yes yes, it can be paintend with brush, but... you also have to place the buckets and the seatbelts with the side panels!!

And I havent talked about the plastic quality, SUC..!, one piece of the rollcage was broken before even taken it out from the sprue, you also have to cut several times a thin layer of plastic that is where a hole is suppossed to be.... there is also the same thin layer around the body.... pffff, I think that its enough, the only good think about hasegawa is the photoetched that have some models and the decal quality, also the rubber for the mud guard that also comes with the lancia.

So... if there is a model from tamiya, and from hasegawa... I'd buy it from tamiya without thinking about it, tamiya has decals for seatbelts.... but a set or do them by yourself! pfff, and the prices... are more expensive thatn tamiya ones.

Sorry for the long thread :rolleyes:

Tamiya or Hasegawa? I'd say both! Or: Fujimi! :lol:

I'm actualy building the 962 Omron. It permitted me to make a comparison between the two kits of 962... And I must say at the end that voting for one or other is just a question of personal taste: both aren't completely accurate, both have their shortcomings and good points, both need work to be completed satisfyingly...

And more than that: if a brand made kits worse than Hasegawa or Fujimi, or Revell in terms of molding quality and parts-fitting (Tamiya's excellence!), I would buy it anyway if this brand permitted me to have on my desk these AM Vanquish, Lambo Gallardo, Pagani Zonda, Bertone Lancia Strato's, Alfa 33, Bugatti Atlantic, EB110 SS, etc, I'm dreaming of!

Like so many aircraft modellers, I find Tamiya kits are great, but can't help prefering building East-European short-run kits, that need lot of extra work to be done, but offer us the models we were dreaming of...

Thanks to Tamiya for the quality!

And thanks to the others for the "non-politicaly-correct" models!

-Miura lover-

Cadguy said it best - The kit doesnt make a good model - the builder does.

I know that a modeler can turn a bad model in a good one, or a good one in a complete disaster :p but.. I was talking about quality.

Of course if there is a model that hasegawa has and tamiya doesnt.... I'd buy it like I've done with these models, but anyways tamiya overall quality is better, a normal tamiya kit only with seatbelts turns in a really good model, if its well done of course, but a hasegawa one... needs to search and improve a lot the paint process, and its more difficult to build than a tamiya one, for planes... I dont have nothing to say, I love hasegawa planes!

p9o1r1sche where can i see pics of that enzo in your sig?

i think i tend to go for the car as oppsoed to the brand.
i mean, saying no to the only kit of the maclaren f1 in 1/24 (if it will ever exist) just cos it's not made by tamiya, hasegawa or fujimi is a bit daft.

i like to say,
if it doesn't fit, make it fit.
if it's a little bit wrong, fix it.

p9o1r1sche where can i see pics of that enzo in your sig?

There's a few in my AF gallery.

sure, if there is a model that I want from any brand and tamiya doesnt make it... I'd buy it!, if I'd found a mitsubishi galant vr-4 00' not the one from rally or the old one from hasegawa, the j-spec of the 99' or so, I'D BUY IT BADLY!!! dont care about brand, bad tyres... aftermarket ones, bad fitment.... putty!! bad detail... I'd fix it!! I badly want to make a model of my car in the vr-4 version :banghead:

I tend to agree with doraemon's original conclusion. If given a choice, I'll take Tamiya thank you very much. They have the track record over and above pretty much everybody else. They do have flaws (translucent decals!), but have largely fixed them up recently. A good example is the modern WRC cars by Hasegawa and Tamiya - Corolla, Evo V, and Focus. In each case the Tamiya kit is overall superior, although the Hasegawa does have some advantages as well.

Having said that I love and will support Hasegawa, their recent choices of subject have been far more interesting to me than Tamiya's. Lancia 037 and a proper Stratos kits were sorely needed, nobody chose to except the kind folk at Hasegawa. Three cheers for the good guys!

how about the lack of engines in some tamiya kits?
being loyal to just one brand is a bit 'short-sighted'.

i say take what you need from who-ever makes it.
engine from revell, shell from tamiya, chassis from hasaegawa tyres+rims from fujimi.

staying 'within the box', so to speak, is kinda limiting don't you think?

hmmm, it seems that a few people only has understood what I've said, I mean that tamiya is better overall than tamiya, lack of engines... in wrc yes, no tamiya kit has an engine (as far as I know) but hasegawa either, tamiya kit has engines in the dtm or similar, and again, I wasnt talking about being focused on one brand, I've only said that IMO tamiya is far better than hasegawa in cars, a tamiya kit is easier to build, talking about plastic quality, and with seatbelts you get a good model, a hasegawa one with the photoetched seatbelt included... if you dont improve it...looks worth than the tamiya, building them like they are suppossed to be in the instructions, of course a good modeler can achieve c10 quality with a sh... revell model you know.

well, a bad workman always blames his tools...
or this case, kit....

as we say, a punch is a punch.
sometimes it's a good sometimes it's a bad one.
the only ones that count are the ones that connect good.

i like to buy/collect/make the cars that i like and i don't really care who makes the kit.
i kinda like the challenge that arises in buying kits from the 70s (i.e revell 365 boxer... i mean, who else makes one?) and making it right.

i have to say that from what i've seen, tamiya do make 'better' kits.
but like i say, saying 'no' to a kit because of the brand is a bit silly.

i have to say that from what i've seen, tamiya do make 'better' kits.
but like i say, saying 'no' to a kit because of the brand is a bit silly.

Sounds like you are agreeing Drunkymonkey! Why some of us will buy expensive and crappy resin kits to help us build the car we want. However if a cheaper, well engineered, fully detailed, injection molded version were also available who wouldn't buy the TamiyaHasigawaFujimiRevellWhatever? It is a question of value for money and time available to correct all that needs to be corrected in order to build an accaptable replica. One simply buys the best base kit to start with, whatever the make. Given a choice Tamiya is normaly the best bet.

well, does better quality mean the same thing as best?
well, i guess it kinda does, but it doesn't mean a hill of beans (my favourite phrase for the day) if the most complete kit is made by someone other than tamiya/hasegawa.

i would always go for the more complete kit and then 'fix-it up' rather than buying the 'better' kit and then sourcing parts.

and come on, how many of you were disappointed with the tamiya 350z kit?
i don't care that the bodyshell is near perfect with virtually no mould lines and flash.
nor do i care that the parts (the very few that there are) fit together perfectly.
the wheels don't steer, the chassis/suspension is a let down, no engine.....
give me my 'crummy' revell 365 boxer kit anyday.

does anyone get what i mean?

Ok, guys, let's say the truth now!
I'm not rich. I don't own much money. Modeling is an expensive hobby for me. But, as anybody else here, I'm sure that if I had -for the same subject- to choose between the Tamiya kit or another brand's one... I'd take BOTH!!!!! :lol:

As I had said one time before, you're all welcome into the Never-Satisfied-Modelers-Club! :lol:

Did I forget to mention this: lol! :lol: & :lol: & :lol:

I'd take BOTH!!!!! :lol:

You've hit the nail on the head there my friend!