| Thanks for the help you guys! My main concern is that Hasegawa rereleases their kits so often that I'm never sure if I'm buying one of their older raised panel kits or a new tooling kit that is the better one.
Chris |
Hi Chris, when I lived in London, my I.P.M.S. club (Hornchurch) used to stage the internationally known 'Southern Expo' shows (annually) over a week-end & would often feature new kits at the show.
We had numerous guys who would often build kits (on commision) for the likes of Osprey (model) books & Tamiya magazine & Scale Modeller & the like.
As an avid F.8 Crusader fan myself, I well remember the buzz going round, about Hasegawa's (then) latest release, of a totally new-tooling & various (hardcore types) bringing their 'old' 1/48 Monogram kit's to the show, to (sadly) be sold off for a 'fiver' (£ 5), & then be replaced by the 'new kid on the block' ; the new Hasegawa kit retailing at £ 22.50.
That was in 2003.
Same kinda thing happened with the 1/48th Hasegawa P.47's (pick 'em up for a 'tenner' = £ 10), when Tamiya bought out their
£ 28 new release.
Many I.P.M.S. types are like that; ditch the older kits for a new one ~
So the Monogram F.8 became 'old hat' in 2003 (I've still got two & I STILL rate it as a good kit but like their F.105's, they DO have
raised panel-lines).
Look for a
White Hasegawa box-surround with a broad Red stripe & (inevitably) dated (sometime) around the 2002/2003 mark.
It HAS got (thin)
recessed panel-lines, so you can run your (subtle) weathering inks, into
.
I've (hopefully) included some pic's of another guy's F.8, to give you an idea of the newer kit's appearance........