Hobby Boss How hard do they suck and in what ways?

[Jim62]

So Last night I watched some review and build videos of Hobby Boss planes I'm Planning on ordering in a couple of weeks. Brewster Buffalo, A5m2 Claude, MS. 406 all of them super expensive elsewhere. They look like real nice products I can see where a lot of guys are going to be off put by the lack extra parts and decals. Look for me in the Trade Buy section looking for left over decals. But I think they will do for me. I'll have to see how a couple build and paint up btu I'm guessing it is going to be better than the Smer J.2 (MiG-15) I'm working on right now with it's raised panel lines and misaligned fuselage.

Not sure what scale you are building or your price range but Tamiya has a great 1/48 Brewster Buffalo kit for a good price and you can't go wrong with Tamiya. I'm currently building my first Hobby Boss model and it doesn't make me want to buy another.

 

[urumomo]

" I'm currently building my first Hobby Boss model and it doesn't make me want to buy another. "
LOL ,
I know the feeling -- what kit ?

 

[Jim62]

" I'm currently building my first Hobby Boss model and it doesn't make me want to buy another. "
LOL ,
I know the feeling -- what kit ?

F6F-3 Hellcat. I probably should have gone with folded wings but I went wings down and the fit is lackluster to say the least and I decided to torture myself with a Revell P-61 at the same time. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment but it will make my next Tamiya build feel like a vacation.

 

[urumomo]

Oh , Man ! , the Beast and a serving of some old Revell on the side .
Dang .
Are you some kinda professional ??

 

[Jim62]

Oh , Man ! , the Beast and a serving of some old Revell on the side .
Dang .
Are you some kinda professional ??

Not at all just been back at this since 2018 and I just enjoy the heck out of it. For the life of me though I don't know why I picked up the P-61 it is truly going to be a test of patience for me and I'm really just glad to be getting it out of the stash and done. I don't usually build more than one at a time but the wife is busy with tax season and it leaves me a lot of time to myself to fill.

 

[lancerunolfsson]

Not sure what scale you are building or your price range but Tamiya has a great 1/48 Brewster Buffalo kit for a good price and you can't go wrong with Tamiya. I'm currently building my first Hobby Boss model and it doesn't make me want to buy another.

I haven't built anything since '93 and before that nothing since '70. I've picked 1/72 scale and aircraft. I'm Building a Smer Shenyang J.2 right now I'm spending a lot of time with sandpaper and puty and I'm not good at it (yet?). None of the parts fit together too terribly well. Or I was not too good at making them. I have a feeling I am going to go through quite a few little airplanes before I get past 6th Grader level. Which was the last time I was putting together many models. I think I was putting together mostly 1/48 Revell, Monogram etc. back then and I don't remember it being so hard. But I was not trying to putty the seams etc. then.

 

[the Baron]

...a Revell P-61...

That's Monogram's kit, thank you very much.
It hurts my Monogram-buildin' soul when I see that, that...label, applied to classic Monogram kits.

I know contemporary modelers complain about it, but it's not a bad kit. But I do advise anyone thinking of building one to look for a second-hand kit, and to look for the original Monogram release, in the white box with the photo of the completed model on the lid. More recent pops, post-merger, seem to show more mold wear. There were some areas which required care, but the early issues weren't really that bad.

Of course, back then, we had Shep Paine's marvelous diorama tip sheet included. As a 13-year-old, building that kit, it was impressive for the detail, for its size, and for that diorama brochure. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen to that point. The next year, I got the B-17G for Christmas...

 

[the Baron]

Oh, that's cool, I didn't know HobbyBoss put out a Buffalo. I wonder if it's like their Wildcat, that is, derived from another company's tooling.

Ah, OK, the HobbyBoss Buffalo is in 1/72 scale? Not what I was thinking of. I thought it was 1/48 scale, and derived from Tamiya's kit.

 

[lancerunolfsson]

Ah, OK, the HobbyBoss Buffalo is in 1/72 scale? Not what I was thinking of. I thought it was 1/48 scale, and derived from Tamiya's kit.

All the build videos I watched were 1/72's and seemed to follow the same parts breakdown. So I thought they were original kits. They seemed to fit together very easily and well. That was the attraction to me. Though on second look the I-16 was another manufacturer.

 

[Jim62]

That's Monogram's kit, thank you very much.
It hurts my Monogram-buildin' soul when I see that, that...label, applied to classic Monogram kits.

I know contemporary modelers complain about it, but it's not a bad kit. But I do advise anyone thinking of building one to look for a second-hand kit, and to look for the original Monogram release, in the white box with the photo of the completed model on the lid. More recent pops, post-merger, seem to show more mold wear. There were some areas which required care, but the early issues weren't really that bad.

Of course, back then, we had Shep Paine's marvelous diorama tip sheet included. As a 13-year-old, building that kit, it was impressive for the detail, for its size, and for that diorama brochure. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen to that point. The next year, I got the B-17G for Christmas...

I bought a box that says Revell and don't care to be corrected that it was long ago a Monogram kit. I personally don't keep track of that stuff and it doesn't matter to me one bit.

 

[the Baron]

I bought a box that says Revell and don't care to be corrected that it was long ago a Monogram kit. I personally don't keep track of that stuff and it doesn't matter to me one bit.

Sorry, no insult intended, it was meant in more of a lighter tone. I grew up on Monogram-and Revell, too. Back in the day, there was a pretty intense rivalry. Both companies were bought out by different investors and merged in the mid-80s. That's when kits from either company were issued with one or the other label.

 

[Jim62]

Sorry, no insult intended, it was meant in more of a lighter tone. I grew up on Monogram-and Revell, too. Back in the day, there was a pretty intense rivalry. Both companies were bought out by different investors and merged in the mid-80s. That's when kits from either company were issued with one or the other label.

Not a problem I grew up on them too and when I got back at this I went straight to the old stuff. Though it was a nice trip down memory lane, I quickly found I did not care to do those anymore but the p-61 was purchased on a whim at Michael's and I'm finally attacking it just to get it out of the stash and see how much it can aggravate me. Then I have a line of Tamiya kits waiting and a couple with PE which I have yet to work with.

 

[stevethefish]

Hobby Boss kits in 48th scale are rather expensive here in Japan. I really wanted a kit of the YF-23 and HB has one in 1:48 scale, but it was just far more than I was willing to pay for. I ended up getting the simplistic Dragon one in 1:72 scale. Hobby Boss is distributed in Japan through Doyusha.

I currently have HB's 1:72 P-40B "Easy Fit" in my list of unfinished projects. It's a snap kit and the cockpit interior comes molded together as one piece. There's no instrumentation panel to speak of, and in fact that part of the cockpit is rounded for some reason. While the cockpit interior is lame, the outside is fairly well-detailed. The decal sheet lacks some decals. It's Charles Older's Hell's Angels #68 Flying Tigers kit. It lacks decals for the starboard registration number on the tail and the nose art under the cockpit. Other than that, the decals are nice quality. Someone I know said they have a German plane (I think it's a Fockewulf) in that same easy fit series and it has a full interior.

The only only other HB kit I have in my stash is the Su-47 Berkut. I've looked at the parts often and it seems like a decent enough kit. Currently their F-5 Tiger II is being redistributed and I'm tempted to pick it up.