I've just returned to modelling after a break of about 8 years. Since then I've completed 3 and a half models - a Tamiya 1/48 Skyray, Hasegawa 1/48 A-4K and F-104G, and I'm half way through a Hasegawa 1/72 RF-4E.
What first struck me on opening the boxes was the impressive level of detail and the good, crisp moulding, although there was a bit less detail in the Tamiya kit. Having made them though I'm now seriously disillusioned with Hasegawa.
The F-104G had some nice detail and very nice surface detail - but I'm convinced some of it was too heavy (the sunk rivets are far too deep for the scale) and some of it can't be accurate (I may be wrong but I'm sure the F-104 doesn't have all those rivets on the upper surface of the wing). But parts of it didn't go together well.
The story's the same with the A-4, lots of nice detail but very poor fit in places - in particular the fit of the upper fuselage, and the wing root join wasn't great. The fin tip is a different thickness from the fin. It's the same with the wing root inserts where the gun barrels go. Same story with the RF-4E - on mine (and I've checked that I've put it together right) the cross sections of the forward and rear fuselage parts don't match where they meet. The wing design is illogical - the trailing edge is one piece but, instead of incorporating the whole of the underside of the flap in the upper part, it stops at mid-chord. And don't get me started on the lack of weapons! These kits are all expensive enough, to have to go and buy a weapons set as well is insulting.
On the other hand the Skyray was simpler, went together well and made up into a nice model. And the Hasegawa kits I remember fondly from before my 8 year break are the older, simpler kits of more interesting subjects, like the B-47, F-106, P-3 and Neptune. It's annoying that the kit designers now seem to concentrate on amazing us with detail, but deliver kits that don't go together quite as well as they should.
I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to stick to interesting subjects, I don't care how much detail is in the kit, I'll add my own if I need to. I'll get a lot more enjoyment and value out of a cheaper kit that I can detail or convert to my satisfaction than I will from an expensive, over-detailed Hasegawa kit that doesn't fit together as well as an equivalent Tamiya kit would and doesn't come with any stores. So my next few models will be from old favourites like the Revell Voodoo, Revell Shackleton and Airfix U-2 I've got lined up. I expect these kits to need more work than Hasegawa, and I've got a feeling I'm going to enjoy them more.