Here's a kit I got off eBay for a song a few years ago and it's been staring at me from the stash ever since. It's true that the Tamiya version is the bee's knees and perhaps my all time favorite kit, but I've always been curious to see how this one compared to it. As I sat there working on the Tamiya Jug, I figured I'd drag this one out and build it right along with the Tamiya one. Please join me.
This one will don the makings of the 4th FG Duane Willard "Bee" Beeson. Unlike the 56th FG, the 4th hated the Jug. Beeson however liked it, as he was one of the few 4th FG pilots to achieve success in it. He was their first ace and would have 12 kills in the Jug. He would score the rest in the P-51. Beeson would finish the war with 19.5 kills only to die in 1947 from a brain tumor. He was only 25 years old.
On to the kit. I started with the cockpit. It's not bad, but nowhere near the level of Tamiya. For example, check out the seat comparison (Tamiya on the left).
I ended up using the Tamiya seat in this kit (I had a spare). I added some PE belts to spruce it up. The Dull Dark Green is a mix of XF-26 Deep Green and XF-8 Flat Blue. I used the supplied decal for the instrument panel. I think it turned out ok.
I turned my attention to the airframe. On the Hasegawa kit, the whole lower wing and fuselage is one piece (See picture). The fit is pretty bad and required ALOT of filling, sanding and re-scribing. The front seam was a trench and needed a styrene plug to fill.
The wingroots do fit nice though. This paricular kit seems to be void of the dreaded Hasegawa wing root gaps, which is a plus. This kit does not offer dropped flaps or open cowl flaps like Tamiya. It's my understanding the flaps should be raised when they were parked, so this is a non issue to me. I can also say Tamiya's overall surface detail is much better too. This kit is on the basic side.
I eventually got the frame to an acceptable place (seans filled and sanded). 8th AF Jugs at the time had white cowls rings and tail surface stripes. This was reportedly done so bomber crews, particularly the gunners, could distinguish them from Fw 190s. I suppose friendly fire was a problem when the fighters were zipping by at 350-400 mph. The XF-2 Flat White was sprayed cut with a touch of XF-19 Sky Gray to tone it down. I also sprayed where the insignias would go in anticipation of the Montex masks.
The white was taped off and Montex masks were used for the insignias.
I sprayed the underside XF-53 Neutral Grey which was then faded with XF-2 Flat White.
I used Blue Tac to mask off the demarcation lines then fired down Gunze Olive Drab. Their OD is perfect to my eye. I added XF-57 Buff then faded and streaked the surface. The Montex masks were removed and the insignias came out great.
I then turned my attention to the engine. I actually think its better than Tamiya's version. I added ignition wires with stereo wire. If you care to see how I do this, see this thread:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/149327.aspx
To compare, here's Tamiya's example. Note the cylinder cooling fins which are nearly non-existent.
