Matt, my impression is that the Hasegawa Kurogane will be a bit more accurate and better detailed than the Tamiya kit. It certainly appears to have a better undercarriage, and the second figure in the Hasegawa kit is a light machine gunner who is aiming his gun out the open left side of the windshield. I do not think there will be as much difference between these Kurogane kits as there was between the Willys jeeps.
It is a shame both companies chose to do the earlier 3-seat version, since there is also a later Kurogane 4-seater that has been preserved, and would have made a very nice alternative. The Hasegawa kit does have a lug tire tread pattern for the wheels. From the photos, it appears they are virtually identical in basic shape and larger details. Probably, if you built both kits and displayed them close together, it would be hard to tell which was which.
The Hasegawa Isuzu TX-40 truck seems to be a nicely detailed and accurate model, ansd this may sway purchases, depending on whether you are buying the vehicles to go with Japanese aircraft model or for military modeling. If the latter, then the package with the Isuzu truck and Kurogane car would be the better combo.
Now that you mention it, I am a bit surprised by the simple looking tire detail on the Tamiya offering. You do bring up a good point, and one which I was unaware of, with the preserved four seater example. On the mention of the Hasgawa Jeep, I have two and two Bandai and will pick up two from Tamiya, and will change up their roles. The new Africa equipment set looks terrific, and should sit well on one of the Hasegawa offerings. I would love to also pick up the TX-40, but would not mind the Nick either. Too many kits not enough space and funds.
Any thoughts on a new 88mm or is Bandai the way to go? I would love to do a 88mm being towed by an SdKfz 7.
It's good to have a friend here at my shoulder, with a little time to spend, til I find love again -F. C. Collins W. C. Bickhardt
Ah, the joys of trying to decide whether or not to hang onto the old Bandai stuff in hopes something better will come along..... The Bandai 88 is of course the early Flak 18, and if Tamiya should do a new 88, it would most likely be the later Flak 36/37, which was more common for most of the later war years. They would be complementary, not direct competitors, and that's all to the good.
I have a policy of keeping the unique Bandai kits that are salvageable, and selling them only when they are superceded by newer kits with better detail and molding. I would have sold all my Bandai Shermans with the release of the Hobby Boss kits, except the Bandai lower hulls are all for the M4A2/M10 TD diesel-powered versions, so I need the Bandai kits to make more accurate diesel Shermans and Wolverines..... Those Bandai late Shermans also have good sharp nose transmissions and some other features I can use. Much of the Bandai detailing, though, is just not up to snuff these days. Even the bogie trucks will need a LOT of work.
If there were nothing else, I'd do the work on the Bandais, but the Hobby Boss Shermans, bad as the hulls (and some turrets) are, can be saved cheaply with the Faxon/Iron Division/Formations hulls and turrets, and with the bonus of vastly improved details. The HB Shermans have so many spare parts, especially suspension components, they can supply details to other kits with the spares. Maybe I WON'T have to cut open the Tamiya bogies around the return rollers.....
Ahhhh, yes I was ignoring the variant diffferential. I would love to see a 48th 36/37, throw down an SdKfz. 7 for towing and we are all set!!
MAN, it's a good thing I am not wanting to model any Shermans! If I do build one, it will be for the sole purpose of my Hobby Boss LCM-3. THAT itself is a really nice and somewhat overlooked, IMHO.
Cheers,
Matt
It's good to have a friend here at my shoulder, with a little time to spend, til I find love again -F. C. Collins W. C. Bickhardt
Ref that LCM3, the hull is too deep if you want to display it out of the water; I am sure we discussed this in a previous thread! Of course, if you waterline it, no problem....
Unless someone comes along with a sharpie and draws a line, saying "cut here" I am not really going to know what to do, and most likely will leave it. Did you have blue prnts or comparison drawings up at point?
It's good to have a friend here at my shoulder, with a little time to spend, til I find love again -F. C. Collins W. C. Bickhardt
Hope you can pick the bones out of these articles! Essentially the Hobbyboss hull is too tall, and it is just a matter of working out where to saw it up so you can reuse the bits, and some filler, to reassemble it in a better-proportioned way. It will look a lot better, if you know what you are looking for, but only you can decide if you want to tackle it. We'd love to see it though, if you do! Hey, we'd love to see it whichever way you go! I can send a scan of the plans if you think it would help.
I have already decided to restrict the Tamiya bogies as much as possible to those Shermans and related vehicles that had sand shields, or the M10/M36 lower hull side plates, since all these cover up the solid return rollers. Of all the simplifying Tamiya did on their 1/48 kits, the cast in place return rollers are about the hardest things to deal with. When I have to rework this area, I suspect my Dremel will get a real workout..... Thank heavens the Hobby Boss Shermans all have spare bogies, and in moments of extreme despair, I have considered grafting the tops of the Bandai Sherman bogies to the bottoms of the Tamiya bogies to have separate return rollers.
Dave Reed (Login dave37167) Registered Users 67.177.172.176
We will know shortly.....
February 12 2008, 9:07 PM
I should have the Hasegawa version around the 20th. I have my Tamiya kit built- typical Tamiya precision....added a couple of things(mentioned in an earlier post)....but 99% OOB. The few things Lu did to his Tamiya kit, probably won't be needed on the Hasegawa kit. I agree with Bruce, I think the Hasegawa kit will be better detailed...but the windshirld opening mechs will probably best be served by Hauler when Jan gets one out. I'm building my Tamiya kit per their color instructions...I think. I'm waiting to see what the color notations are in the Hasegawa kit. It IS a shame that hey both chose the three seat version, but, once again, the one upsmanship card has been played. I'm just glad they did ANY....
Spanky is building his for a contest soon, so he hopefully will post his pics and comments when finished.
I like the idea of the extra goodies offered with the Hasegawa kit, also !!
HTH, Dave
Thank heavens the Hobby Boss Shermans all have spare bogies, and in moments of extreme despair, I have considered grafting the tops of the Bandai Sherman bogies to the bottoms of the Tamiya bogies to have separate return rollers.