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Opinions on Special Hobby kits

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  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Katy, TX
Opinions on Special Hobby kits
Posted by Aggieman on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 6:46 AM

I'm interested in acquiring a particular kit (Petlyakov Pe-2 dive bomber) in 1/48.  Looking through the Squadron catalog I find that Special Hobby has this kit in this scale.  I've never built one of their kits.  The description indicates it is a limited-run injection mold, making me wonder about its quality.  Can anyone share their opinions of this manufacturer (before I drop roughly $50 on this kit; living in Texas where Squadron is based I have to pay sales tax on top of shipping, argh, and I didn't find it for cheaper anywhere else).

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Mandeville, LA USA
Posted by wedfactory on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:05 AM

Cybermodeler has reviews of several of the Special Hobby kits. They don't have a review for the kit you are looking for but reading these reviews might give you an idea of the quality of their kits.

http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft48_s.shtml

Hope this helps somewhat...

wedmodelfactory.com

On the workbench: 1:48 F-15 / 1:48 F-14 / 1:48 B-25 / 1:48 Rafale B / 1:48 AR-234 / 1:48 Stuka / 1:48 A-10 / 1:48 KI-46 / 1:72 XB-35 / 1:72 SU-24 / 1:72 X-29 / 1:72 MIG-37 / 1:48 HO-229 / 1:32 HE-162 / 1:48 F-111

  • Member since
    June 2006
  • From: Tampa, FL USA
Posted by The Mad Klingon on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:15 AM

My experience with Special Hobby (admittedly limited) is they produce interesting subjects but are rough little kits with lots of flash and simple detail. 

  • Member since
    November 2004
  • From: Cat Central, NC
Posted by Bronto on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:30 AM

Special Hobby kits are very buildable, although they will take more effort than the typical Tamigawa kit.  Most contain resin and PE detail parts.  Once the mating edges are cleaned up the fit of the parts generally is decent, although test-fitting several times before actual gluing is essential.  There also are no normal location marks and guide pegs/holes to help you with alignment of the parts.

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: Chicago, IL
Posted by mike_espo on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:37 AM

Not crazy about them. I attempted to build Earhart's Lockheed L-10 electra. Had to pitch it as it was unbuildable and dubious accuracy. However, I hear that the newer kits are improvements, but they are a little overpriced. No

Intresting subjects though. Wink

On the workbench:

Trumpeter 148 MiG -21F 

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: A Spartan in the Wolverine State
Posted by rjkplasticmod on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:44 AM

Most of their older kits are challenging builds, comparable to the early MPM kits.  I've only built one of their newer releases & it wasn.t bad, but still required more effort than most main stream kits.  I'm not familiar with the kit your interested in, but I believe it's one of the early releases.

Regards,  Rick

RICK At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, But I Don't Remember It All...
  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: Chicago, IL
Posted by mike_espo on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 8:37 AM

Yes. The Lockheed L-10 Electra was a 1999 release, I think.

On the workbench:

Trumpeter 148 MiG -21F 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by Gigatron on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 8:59 AM

I have their X-15A-2 kit.  The panel line and rivet detail kit is superb.  It looks to match up with the real deal and it seems to be in scale.  The included resin and PE make up for a lot of the missing molded in detail, but I'm sure it's designed that way.

But, there are places where detail is glaringly absent and could have easily been covered by the resin parts.  And some of the injected pieces are overly simplisitc, while others were molded out of register (i.e. the two piece mold didn't line up correctly, so half the piece is shifted).

The two biggest problems, for me, are 1) the sprue attachment point are blobs and spill over onto the part, making for un-necessary clean up and 2) complete lack of locating tabs and alignment pins.  Having to guess where something should go isn't nearly as much fun as you'd think.  And when you have a 20"+ long fuselage to glue together, not having alignment pins is a pain - unless you're an octopuss.

But, like I said, the included resin and PE does help build up to a nice kit (for the X-15, anyway).

-Fred

 

  • Member since
    May 2015
Posted by Gordon D. King on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 1:50 PM

I built the X-15A-2 kit. It did require a lot of work to clean up the parts but otherwise it went together quite well. I enjoyed the challenge. I have  the Model 10 Electra but I haven't started it yet.

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: Chicago, IL
Posted by mike_espo on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 2:27 PM

Gordon D. King

I built the X-15A-2 kit. It did require a lot of work to clean up the parts but otherwise it went together quite well. I enjoyed the challenge. I have  the Model 10 Electra but I haven't started it yet.

Good Luck!!!Toast

On the workbench:

Trumpeter 148 MiG -21F 

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Cary, North Carolina
Posted by M1Carbine on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 2:33 PM

I have the F2G corsair (Marine\Navy markings)  the kit is stunning. Panel detail, resin engine bits.  Looks good to me.  Please let me know how yours comes out if you purchase the kit.

 

Bob

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Tacoma, WA
Posted by blunce on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 5:49 PM

I've built two, one (pictured) was just completed.  While I wouldn't mind if I never built another one, they do have alot of subjects you can't get anywhere else, but like mentioned, lack detail, mounting holes or even locations for things like landing gear.  With some work, they can be built up to a rather nice representation of the real thing.  It's no Tamiyagawa kit though!

NOT unbuildable Earhart L-10E Electra

 

  • Member since
    May 2015
Posted by Gordon D. King on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 6:22 PM

That's a great looking model. I hope my turns out as nice.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Paterson, Australia
Posted by Aus Smurf on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:14 PM

I've bought the 1/48 Sack 6 from special and found the resin is good but the  injection molding will require a little cleaning up of the furry edges. But I have seen worse from Revell.

2 centsHappy wife, more toys for me.Geeked

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: Chicago, IL
Posted by mike_espo on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 9:08 PM

Nice job! Toast Bow DownI threw mine out because when compared to drawings, the rear fuselage was way too skinney. I tried to compensate for that by building it up, it just did not look right. Also, engines are wrong, cowlings are too small, had immense difficulty with cabin floor. With all that, I just lost interest and patience. I probably should have kept it, but my current projects are much more easier: Big Smile

Academy P-26 peashooter and Classic Airframes Vampire FB.5 and soon the Accurate Miniatures F3F-1 Cool all in 1/48.  

On the workbench:

Trumpeter 148 MiG -21F 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: NYC, USA
Posted by waikong on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 10:12 PM

I don't see the pe-2 from special hobby on squadron, do you mean the pe-2 from MPM?

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Katy, TX
Posted by Aggieman on Thursday, March 4, 2010 6:26 AM

^

Squadron does have a Special Hobby kit but it's actually the PE-3, which is the fighter variant derived from the PE-2 dive bomber variant.  This is actually the kit I've been interested in but the MPM kit is a bit cheaper.  The description of the MPM PE-2/PE-3 kit reads exactly the same as the Special Hobby kit, which leads me to another question - who is MPM?  Are they connected to Special Hobby or might this be a repop?

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: NYC, USA
Posted by waikong on Thursday, March 4, 2010 11:49 AM

As far as I know, MPM, Special Hobby, and Azur are all part of a bigger 'MPM Group' Czech company. Hence many of their kits are rebox of others with different decals or such. I'm not exactly sure what the marketing difference between these two, as almost everyone refers to them as MPM/Special Hobby. Nor can I figure out why the Special Hobby one cost more.

I have the MPM Pe-2 kit actually.

  • Member since
    March 2005
Posted by philo426 on Thursday, March 4, 2010 5:01 PM

I built the Czech Model/Special Hobby Me-309 and it is a pretty good kit.I did have to use some filler on the fuselage and wing root seams but it wa not a major deal! Here it is !  

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Hobart, Tasmania
Posted by Konigwolf13 on Thursday, March 4, 2010 5:21 PM

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