I've build at least 6 1/48 scale Hasegawa Zeros and they've all been great - good fit, easy to assemble, accurate, and well-detailed. That is why I was absolutely shocked by the poor fit, terrible and inaccurate assembly instructions, and awful molded detail of this model in 1/32 scale. I had to look that the box several times to really convince myself this was a Hasegawa model. Even though the Tamiya versions are several times more expensive, I'd have to recommend them if you really want a satisfactory 1/32 Zero.

I am building this kit at the moment and It has been a beautiful build. I have had zero problem with fit on this kit. I don't know what problems the other reviewer had with this kit, but I am having no issues at all with recommending this kit at all. I think that if you take your time and dry fit this kit goes together wonderfully. I have found the detail to be very good. The cockpit is very nice. the detail on the out side of the kit is recessed and very fine and crisp. The pilot figure is wonderful, but I don't intend to have him in my aircraft. The engine detail is good and I think that you can add the right extras to bring it into the fore front of model engines. The structure of the kit is robust and sturdy. It is a solid good kit. If I can figure out how to do it I will post some pictures of the finished model on the store page when finished. So, if you are a fan of the aircraft of Japan, I would say that for the price this is an amazing kit. Like all Hasagawa kits it is worth the time and effort to put into your collection.

This kit has been around since the mid 70's and it still makes for a good building experience and a fairly accurate model of a late Zero. It will require some dry fitting to ensure a good fit between some of the larger pieces but nothing that needs major work. The decals are of decent quality and color density. The painting instructions do need to be updated if you have an older version of this kit (90's or earlier issues). If you don't mind the challenges that some older kits present at times this kit is still a good bet for a simple build that results in a nice replica of a late Zero.