Detail Set Intechangeability

[mcs1056]

Anyone have a WAG on how often a given detail set fits (or can be relatively easily modified to fit) a kit from a different manufacturer? On the opposite end, any that definitely do not go together well?

I have a few ships and planes I'd like to detail a bit, but there may not be readily available detail sets directly designed for, or indicated as applicable to, the model kit I have.

I'm happy to do mods to detail parts or the kits. 40 years of "Pound it til it fits. Paint it til it matches" on real jets has modifying stuff almost natural to me. I just don't want to waste money of definite no-go's.

Same would apply to 3D-printed stuff, I suppose.

 

[mcs1056]

I'll give a bad example:
I have a Revell 1/48 F-18.
MegaHobby has an Eduard 1/48 F-18 detail set advertised for a Hasegawa kit.

Would that be completely incompatible?

EDIT: Added Eduard reference.

 

[Jakko]

I sometimes wonder about that kind of thing myself, but one of the reasons sets are sold for specific makes of kit is because models from different manufacturers may not have exactly the same dimensions. Say you have, I don't know, an engine nozzle for a Revell F-16. Will it fit a Tamiya F-16 kit? Not if the Tamiya kit's fuselage is too big a diameter and Revell's is too small, for instance (no idea if they are, this is just an example pulled from thin air). This won't matter for some parts, of course: a replacement anti-aircraft machine gun intended for an Italeri Leopard 2 should fit fine on a Hobby Boss Leopard 2 as well, for example.

However, generally the only way to know for sure is to take the plunge. Reviews probably aren't likely to help, because reviewers often don't bother to check parts against different makes of kit, or even against real-world dimensions and the kit against those.