Hobby Boss have published photographs showing boxarts, painting schemes and of course sprues of their three latest model kits in 1/48 scale: Kittyhawk, Mustang and Corsair.



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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Unfortunately for, by far, the more ambitious kit of the three, the F4U-4 (the others being not really serious and more the equivalent of Monogram "snap-tite" in quality), I compared the F4U-4's provided early windshield (the only offered option in that box) with the identical rounded windshield in my Tamiya Corsair (which is near-perfect in shape)...

It is not a close match at all: The base of the Tamiya windshield has much more squarish lower corners when viewed in an overhead view. It is possible the Tamiya windshield is adaptable to the Hobby Boss kit (likely only with some difficulty), but this would be at the full loss of the Tamiya kit, unless a Squadron canopy is available...

One can only hope the later style of windshield presumably to be offered by Hobby Boss will be more accurate, though many modellers will find the current early type rounded windshield provided as somewhat acceptable, as always...

For exacting WWII builders however, this is not good news as the early rounded windshield is required for any WWII subject: The early windshields seemed a bit rare to me for the post-war era markings offered by Hobby Boss, and I would be wary of trusting Hobby Boss on this feature.

The main value of this kit, for demmanding modellers, could be the use of the lower wing center section, and the prop, to help make easier the infamously difficult (and expensive)CMK -4 conversion for the Tamiya kit.

Adapting he resin lower center wing of the CMK conversion to the Tamiya kit is said to be a very difficult job, but unfortunately the Hobby boss wheel wells are inaccurate in shape, which might nullify the value of adapting them in the same way...

The CMK cowl is marginally acceptable, but with a too small or otherwise wrong chin inlet, so it remains to be seen if the Hobby Boss kit has something to offer here...

The HB prop hub is said to have a too short spinner hub, but that could be a very minor issue compared to getting the CMK prop's individual blades to sit at the same angle and pitch in perfect unisson... It might still be worth getting the Hobby Boss just for the prop...

Gaston

Here we go yet again, condemning the kits simply by viewing the pictures of the sprues.

Never mind that we should be thanking Hobby Boss for introducing a range of kits with a smaller part count.

Gaston, you are sounding like a broken record. Please give it a rest and show us some of your work, like your very soon to be mythical Airfix Spit XII.

Why is there a need to attack this kit based on pictures of the sprue? Why not wait until you get the kit in your hands before giving everyone your standard " fatally flawed" comment?

We should be thankful for egg-plane type simplified kits there is absolutely zero market for, except, that is, for swindling grannys looking for a grandson's birthday present? Here's what the "thankful" people on Hyperscale had to say about it:

Possibly the worst P-40 ever kitted?
March 4 2012 at 4:03 PM
Roy Sutherland (Login roysutherl)
HyperScale Forums
from IP address 24.6.25.23


Response to Hobby Boss 1/48 Mustang nearly here.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I say that without hesitation. No amount of lens distortion could possibly explain the horrible shapes on that horrible fuselage. There are screaming errors in the entire outline of the fuselage, canopy, prop, spinner, drop tank.

I don't need to see this kit in the flesh. It was designed by guys who have no idea what this hobby is about. None.

The P-51 is maginally better, but again, the fuselage is rife with shape errors. The canopy is awful, the wheelwells bare a very passing resemblance, the droptanks are blobby, the wheels are total fiction. Even the stick looks to be from another aircraft. The canopy brace is a cartoon, the bomb shackles are enormous!

Unless you don't care in the least about accuracy, and don't mind your models looking like they were tooled off drawings from a comic book. I'd stay FAR away.

A scathing review, based ONLY on the content. Nothing to do with who produced it. I have no axes to grind."

Found among others here:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1330852123/Hobby+Boss+1-48+Mustang+nearly+here.....


Now for the apparent "real" kit that is more of a concern to actual modellers, the F4U-4, the cunning and knowledge of the people working on this kit can be gauged here, as they had virtually no research to do since they merely had to use the excellent Tamiya kit part as a reference (I could not copy the enlarged Hobby Boss image so it is fuzzy here, but plenty good enough for the purpose):



A generous assesment of what it looks like over the Tamiya part at the same angle:



In addition, the wheel wells are said to be the same wrong ones as the 1/32 kit...

As I said, the Hobby Boss kit is of marginal interest for its prop, engine front(?) and maybe the cowling, for those with the CMK conversion.

Other than that, the existence of this kit means we will likely not see within two or three decades a serious manufacturer tackle this important Corsair variant. Nothing to be thankful for...

And to think this is the same company whose Avenger pummelled the Accurate Miniatures kit into sawdust, and whose 1/48 T-34 is still probably the most stunning kit I have ever seen...

I'll leave you to the noble task of keeping people uninformed until they have parted with money...

Gaston

Gaston,

You, like the fools over on Hyperscale, are more than happy to bag a kit without any hesitation. It was my post that started that plethora of crap and dribble from most of the posters. I AM looking forward to seeing this kit and having a go at it. Knowing how well Hobby Boss have done on kits like the Forger, Demon, Me-262 and Ta-152, I am sure they have a good chance of getting this one right too.I look forward to building it and showing what a little effort can do in creating a MODEL of a plane.

There must be a plethora of "swindling grannies" (what a charming turn of phrase you do have) in London, then, since, when my local shop received a delivery of egg-planes from Hasegawa, it sold out in days. I don't suppose that it could have something to do with the majority of people being able to remember that this is a hobby, and supposed to be FUN, not a continuous drip-drip of the miseries?
Edgar

If every single kit that hit the market with 100% perfection , the whiners and complainers would be out of job ......


For your view of what the hobby is is your opinion and too subjest to others who miss this idea of what this hobby is our should be - is not your place to say on how others find or get their enjoyment out of it . For the masses who will buy these kit won't even know what is wrong or right about the kits . They will enjoy building them as a mean for relaxing ....


Now with that all said , I would get the mustang , it does look like it would be an enjoyable build for the weekend .

Gaston and viper should move in together and argue amongst them selfs.

It is interesting watching these two though considering both of them don't actually build anything and think that there opinion actually matters to people that do.

And just so you know the best models I've seen built were only containing about 40% of the original kit that's why they call it a parts box.and I have also seen perfect examples come from 10.00 kits.

If you actually did build something you would understand that a good kit dosnt come from the manufacture it comes from the modeler who turns it into something exceptional because they have imagination which you two lack.

As for egg planes that's like saying why build a robot or a dinosaur again imagination.You two need to find a new home and quit smudging everyone's review's with your negativity.