SPA Modeler

That resistance to Hasegawa reboxing thing on the internet always forgets one thing.

With Hasegwawa, when you get a rebox, you get new decal sheets with it. Sometimes they are from the aftermarket companies, including Cartograf.

With the other "shake and bake" company, Tamiya,,,,,you get the same decals, even if you buy a re-release 20 years newer than the others that you have in the stash. See the Tamiya 1/72 Skyray for an example of this,,,,,same decals for almost 30 years. And yes, the price has gone up over the decades for that model, too.

And buying 3 of something, and then aftermarket decals for them,,,,,adds up pretty fast, too.

So, we are looking at kits from Tamiya, with a rising price and no change in decals,,,,or from Hasegawa, with a rising cost and new decal sheets each time.

I'll take the side order of decals, please.

I forgot to mention another perk for Hasegawa new release boxings.

With some of them, you get extra parts that weren't included in the original release of that model. One example is the 1/72 Skyraider kit, with some of those you get older post WWII bombs that are perfect for the Intruder and Crusader models with "strange" bombloads.

The other kit with bonuses, that costs the same as a USAF F-4E model from them, is the USMC RF-4B boxings. Because those come with decals for both thick wing and thin wing RF-4B, they also come with two full sets of wings. (while still giving both sets of wheels, afterburners, etc, etc, that they all come with)

This allows me to build any RF-4B, or even an RF-4C,,,,,,,and have a "Hasegawa 1/72 conversion set" for either an F-4J or an F-4B, depending on what version of RF I build. There was a period where F-4J models were all over the place, but F-4B kits had gotten scarce. So, I bought the J and RF models,,,,and still have B's because of the conversion parts. (B kits come with options for the nose sensor, creating spares once one is chosen)

1/48 RF-4EJ Kai special edition is like that too,,,,,you get new decals for the fighter reconn upgrade version,,,,,and all three famous recce pods, even though you can only use one at a time on the centerline.

I have more duplicates than I do "one-offs".
P-51's and 109's top the list.
I have 30 P-51's, all variants A-H, and all scales(72-24). Plus another half dozen in the stash.
20 some-odd 109's under my belt too, also 72-24 and a good half dozen more stashed as well.
Most of my WW2 subjects are multiples...the "one-offs" are more modern/jets.

Well I went thru my 1/48 German aircraft a little while ago. I have 11 Me-109s and 7 FW-190s unbuilt, but no duplicates of kits themselves. Plus one 190 and three 109s built so far...

11 Spitfires... 9 P-51s... 8 P-40s...