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Back in June this year I was annoyed by the lack of good Ju 88 A-4 kits on the market. The Revell kit has become unobtainable, Italeri isn't worth its price, Zvezda is morally impossible to buy and Hasegawa is scarce too. Don't even start on the ancient kits! So I wrote a polite message to Hobby 2000 producers and I got an equally polite answer to my enquiry: It's a matter of when, rather than if, they told me. That's great news! Now, let's just wait for that to happen V-P

I inherited this model from the late Tom Weinel, former F8U Crusader pilot, model builder and Naval Aviation curmudgeon. It arrived in a largely-constructed state, but i needed to take a few steps backwards in order to fix some elemental construction issues in order to get some assemblies to play well with each other- mainly the upper fuselage seam and the leading edges of the wing. Either due to kit design or operator error, the wing did not "sit" in proper alignment with the fuselage saddle when i test fit it. As usual, i wrote an extensive "Deep Dive" (some may call it an incoherent, rambling diatribe) on building this huge Douglas monster. It is available here: Let me get the executive summary out of the way. Subject: Douglas A3D-1 Skywarrior, BuAer No. 135431 from VAH-123. NAS Whidbey Island, WA, 1962. Kit: Hasegawa A3B Skywarrior, Kit No. 04041 Scale: 1/72 (You'll need to pay me to build a bigger one) Additional Parts Used: Resin Nose Radome and 20MM tail Gun installation from Hasegawa A3D-2 Skywarrior "Early Version", kit No. 00029; resin main wheels from Reskit, part no. RS72-0170. Paints Used: Tamiya Acrylics mixed to FS595 specs per guidance found over at www.replikator.club; Tamiya LP-series metallic lacquers and Mr Color Lacquers for the undersides and the faded orange. Decals: National Insignia from Fundekals sheet FD 72-011; BuAer Numbers and Modex codes robbed from Microscale sheet 72-26 and Zotz RA-5 Vigilante decal sheet; Itty Bitty BuAer numbers kluged together from a couple of Eagle Strike/AeroMaster F-4 decal sheets. Modifications/Additions: "Blunt" nose and tail cut from fuselage and replaced with earlier version nose and tail from the Hasegawa "Early Version" kit. The Quickboost conversion parts i think are identical, and should work as well. Intake Bullets had the oil cooler inlets drilled out and plugged with tubing of smaller inside diameter; Bullets were subsequently filed, sanded, and re-profiled to make them more pointed. Intakes were cut from front of nacelle and seams were filled on inside; subsequently primed, masked and painted the insides before re-attaching to the nacelle. Aerodynamic fairings removed from inboard sides of engine pylons and corresponding gaps and cavities filled. Inboard wing slat panel lines eradicated. This was required in order to backdate the aircraft to A3D-1 standard. Locating pins on the nacelles removed and replaced with longer, more substantial pins made from Copper rod. Nacelles were painted and weathered prior to mounting on the wings, towards the very end of the painting stage. Anti-collision beacons removed. Fuselage Fuel Vent Mast replaced with smaller, earlier version, mounted on underside of left tailplane. Void between top of nosewheel tyre and inner side of nosewheel fork opened out and cleaned up Multiple layers of filler, added to rear of canopy at the base to improve the profile and integrate it better with surrounding fuselage sheet metal. Weathering: Panel lines highlighted with mix of Model Master Grey enamels; Oil, Lubricant, and Hydraulic leaks depicted with Windsor & Newton Payne's Grey artists oils; Hand prints and foot traffic depicted with Tamiya Weathering Master, Set B "Soot". Shadowing on landing gear, flap tracks, gear doors etc. done with a wash of water, Future, and Tamiya Flat Black. This model came to me with the interior already assembled and painted, so with the exception of a wash i added, some seam filling and the addition of masking tape belts, there is nothing else added. Late in construction i discovered the model did not have sufficient nose weight, so i fixed this by mixing copper BB shot with 5 minute epoxy and i poured it in through the opening for the lower entrance hatch/bailout chute (having masked off the surrounding surfaces first, to prevent epoxy drips from ruining the finish). The model was a test case for closing up 90-degree gaps by using a combination of black woodworking CA, and bare metal foil. The result was a joint that was not eliminated, per se but mitigated to a degree where it was appropriate for scale. This allowed me to delay engine installation until after the model had been painted. Since the model came to me with the wings assembled, it was not practical to cut out, and depict the aerodynamically actuated Douglas slats (something of an Ed Heinemann design trademark). While it would make the model more accurate, it would definitely complicate the assembly task in the construction end game. BuAer 135431 was the 39th Skywarrior built, and was part of the second batch of A3D-1s. Originally delivered in overall gloss sea blue, it was assigned to NATC at Pax River and served as a service test aircraft. I'm not sure if it ever went to sea with an operational squadron, but it was re-painted in the Light Gull Grey over Gloss White paint scheme and assigned to VAH-123; the west coast A3D Fleet Replacement Group. Many of the aircraft in the squadron wore high visibility Fluorescent Orange markings as a preventative measure against midair collisions. The dayglo did not stand up to the elements very well, losing its fluorescence first, then fading to a pumpkin orange colour before the dayglo wore away exposing the white primer underneath. I based this model off a profile photo found in the Aerofax book on the A3D, written by the late Rene Francillon. Other photos taken of different aircraft from the same squadron helped to "Fill in" the knowledge gaps, so the markings represent something of an only partly informed, educated guess. Omission of the twin 20MM cannon in the tail was not an oversight; Early on in the service testing and evaluation, the gun system showed poor reliability and it's effectiveness as a defensive measure was uncertain at best. This was my first test using the Tamiya LP- series of metallic lacquers and For the most part they worked well. I used a 50-50 mix of LP-11 Silver and LP-61 Metallic Gray for the stainless steel "hot sections" on the aft engine nacelles. Masking the canopy framing was difficult and only made bearable by using the KV Models vinyl A3D canopy masks. They are accurately cut but they are somewhat thick and occasionally they had difficulty adhering to some of the tighter radii on the upper canopy. Eduard masks would have been my first choice, since the washi-paper material is thinner and it sticks well enough to the clear part, but not too well. The thickness and tenacity of the KV masks combined with the multiple coats of filler, primer, paint, and clear coats resulted in chipping when the masks were removed the first time. This required substantial re-work. Speaking of the canopy, it's thin and clear, but the attachment to the fuselage is problematical because it sits on a curved "saddle", as it were. Also, built from the box, the canopy profile has an exaggerated bubble shape when simply placed onto the model. The A3D canopy was actually integrated fully into the surrounding sheet metal structure and it was not installed as an afterthought. I applied multiple layers (3, i think) of Mr Surfacer 500 to the back of the canopy to build up the profile and blend it in more seamlessly with the upper fuselage. However, i think it was definitely worth the effort. I would like to take more photographs of the finished model, but right now i need to take a breather and ponder my next project. I have another Buccaneer close to the finish line, a Boeing 720B in progress and of course there's still more decals to put on the Phantom. As the largest and heaviest aircraft to serve aboard a carrier, the A3D makes an impressive centre piece in a Carrier-Based Naval Aviation collection. While it seems somewhat simplified compared to contemporary offerings from Academy, Airfix, and Clear Prop etc. It's a good starting point for just about any A3D Skywarrior one would choose to build. Fly Navy!

The second of my little display of mostly colourful Starfighters is this Italian F-104S in the markings of the 1996 Tiger Meet. Up to then, most "Tigers" had rather simple paint schemes, mostly consisting of tigerstripes partially or on the whole planes. This jet, however, was spectacular with a tiger schown ripping through the jet's structure. Cutting Edge made a nice decal sheet for this which I used. The biggest challenge for me was the reproduction of the feathered edge between the blue and silver areas, the latter not being natural metal, but painted in bright silver. The Hasegawa kit is nice, but the canopy is far too shallow, which can be easily seen already when comparing the actual model with the kit box illustration. So the seat does not fit when the canopy is closed and has to be massively grinded down. Other than that, there were no problems building the model. Marcus

Finally complete after many many self induced screw ups. A great kit, fits well. I installed an Eduard cockpit and after market weapons and decals.

For years I couldn't find a Hasegawa A-4C. A-4Es, A-4Ms, and TA-4Js were fairly plentiful, but the C Model eluded me. This year I was able to snag one. Bulleye decals, who say this particular machine was later sold to Argentina and used it during the Falklands war, where it claimed a hit on a RN carrier. Not enough an expert about that particular war to know if that is true. Great decals, though. Xtracolor light gull gray over Tamiya Liquid Surfacer Primer White (my fav white.) Sealed with Testors Dullcote. Added a Hasegawa Mk. 84 2000 pound practice bomb in "practice bomb blue" and an OD tail assembly. Weathering with oils Added a complete belly shot.

I've been working on improving my model photography lately. I figured while the stuff is set up I'll snap shots of older builds that haven't been RFI'd before, or at least think so. Hopefully this is allowable because I have a few more coming. This is Hasegawa 1/48 Bf109G-10. Other than swapping the tail with a Hasegawa Bf109G-6, it's out of the box. I have a real shine for the Hasegawa 109s. They're a quick and easy build and look like a 109 when done. Or at least close enough for me. This plane was poorly photographed after the surrender. It's a later model 109 with an early style short tail and segmented spinner. The previous theater markings and I believe tactical number were painted over. All that combined the Luftflotte 4 yellow cowling and rudder really appeals to me. I thought it was a cool Frankenstein of a 109. I call it my Franken-nine. I guessed at the colors and marking. Please be kind, this was built years before the current wave of research surfaced. This kit, like most of my older builds was finished with a mix of Aeromaster, Floquil and Modelmaster enamels. Weathering was done old school with pastels and a mix of washes and spatters of a Pollyscale color called Dirt. That's it for now. Hope you like it.

Hi, Sabrejet told us that it is possible to fit the slatted wing of the Revell F-86D to Hasegawa's F-86F-30. I'm going to try that here while building Captain Harold Fisher's "Paper Tiger". The Hasegawa wing and Revell fuselage can then be used to build an F-86D. Best to make that an in-flight one as the slats will be represented only by an engraved line and thus look retracted. I'm mainly aiming to build Paper Tiger here, the F-86D would be secondary. I'm still commited to an F-35A, a Valiant B Mk2 and an F-4EJ in other GB's. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi all. This GB has finally started and I'm delighted about it. My participation will be with the Hasegawa kit in 1/72 scale to represent the B variant. I'm not sure yet if I'll use any aftermarket extras such as wheels or a pilot's seat or if I'll build it OOB. In any case and as I said in the chat, in a couple of days I'm going on vacation and I'll be away of Spain for about a month so I won't be able to include updates on this build, but I'll be following all of you eagerly to see progress on your F-35s. Good luck to all. For now just a picture of the boxart image. Andrés.

Well I've not actually started yet, but I thought posting this would stop me procrastinating and make a start. I'm not usually a fan of wide arches and large spoilers, however there was something about the transkit from C1 that really appealed to me, so then I decided to go the whole hog and throw in the Honda engine. I think this will be a long term project and will probably build a few side projects along the way (against my better judgement) as and when I get stuck or confused, which could be often. Plus I've still got the City to finish - Andy

I'm jumping in late with this one. Having just returned form a 6 week overseas trip to Europe and Singapore I could not commit to a build before hand. I think 3 weeks should be enough time for a simple Haseagwa kit.

After 2023 (link) newsletters, the Hasegawa news for January 2024. Source: http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/month/202401/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of interest, the 1/48th A-4C Skyhawk kit - ref. PT22 - is coming back ! http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/pt22/ Also interesting for quarter scaler: http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/07529/ V.P.

Your kind comments about the F-86D Sabre Dog convinced me to inspect the heaps of dust in my model boneyard with more scrutiny, and this Delta Dart looks really too good to be thrown away. It seems that only Hasegawa made a Dart in 1/72 a long time ago. So the model has raised panel lines, but generally nice detail. Also, the kit included the weapons as well, without forcing the customer to invest additional monea into the Hasegawa weapon sets. However, I cannot remember where I got the nice commemorative markings from, Superscale maybe? Regards, Marcus

Hi Folks, this time I introduce you my F/A-18C Hasegawa 1/72. I read several reviews of this kit and were all positive, at least the in-box reviews. When I started it was a very promising kit, althought I saw the assembly problems on the fuselage joints and the vertical fins. There was a gap of about 1 mm all along the lower join in one of the wings, the intakes had terrible fit and the quality of the main undercarraige is very poor. I actually don´t mind this too much as long as I can build it with some pleasure, but there was none... When I wet the eagle decals, these cracked in microscopic pieces.... I´ve should choose the Marines version... Anyway, this is the finished model. I used Eduard PE for the canopy and made the intake covers. The HARM missile comes from the Academy F-16C. The pre and post-shading almost went gone when matt varnished. I hope you like it and every critics/comments are welcomed. Best regards. Ignacio from Uruguay

I'm back again with these old kits from 1995. This time they are Fw190A-6's night fighter version. The black 8 is made with original Hasegawa decals, while I used OWL's decal for white 11. I made the Neptune radar dipoles from 0.2 brass wire. The Hasegawa-provided steel wire is too hard to be cut to the desired length. /Nanond The duo.

Missed the last couple but this time its my weekend off! As I seem to be working through the entire Airfix back catalogue right now I thought a fiver wasn't a lot to ask for this one so it's on it's way.Ok folk's my youngest has come to the rescue "help yourself to something from my stash" he said,sadly a 1/48 Trumpeter Iranian Tomcat was pushing it time wise even for me! So in place of the glassless Airfix Hurricane I've gone for Hasegawa's Mk2 which got even better on discovering the parts included for a MK1 so I can build Stanford Tuck's aircraft using the Airfix decals.

Sorry for the late post, shouldn't be that long an interval in the future. (from F-16.net) AF-02 is likely the most heavily used F-35 ever built, and arguably the most important airframe in the entire program. She was instrumental in testing and opening up key parts of the F-35A's flight envelope, and remains operational today (though probably should be replaced by a new aircraft.) Originally delivered in May 2010, to the integrated test force, it was assigned to the Flight Sciences program (the other being Mission systems) that was focused on expanding the envelope of the aircraft. AF-02 hit a lot of "firsts" milestones for the airframe - the first to hit 1000 hours, +9G, -3G, ect. Its work was critical for getting the F-35As into IOC in the next five years. When Hasegawa released the boxing, I immediately snapped it up. I used the AF-01 (known as Show horse) scheme on an Italeri F-35A - mostly just to get it out of my incomplete bin: I don't love the kit and I sorta rushed it at the end. I've built the F-35B boxing from the Hasegawa - I selected BF-85, which had a splash of colour on its tail. I'm a bit out of practice for taking photos for a GB, and this is a pretty easy kit, so don't expect too many updates and posts: I'm hoping to have this one done in a few weeks. I had started the pilots a few years ago, but somehow I managed to put the arms on one of each, and I seemed to have misplaced the fret with a remaining set of arms. I just took one off and made a single complete pilot. I intend to build this one in flight so I milliputed the inside and drilled a hole for the stand. This is what it will look like on a stand I have half a mind to make it look a bit more dynamic, like at high alpha or maybe pulling a hard turn to give the feeling of a challenging mission profile for the test aircraft Assembled the two sides - needed a few clips to make sure its snig. and there wa a slight misassembly - I'll have to sand it out. A few other gaps as well, which will take some work. Still a few gaps and a bit of tamiya thin got over the mode, but hopefully I'll be able to clear them up next time. Thanks for watching.

My entry in the group build will be this Hasegawa Corsair that I picked up cheap at a show a few years ago. It came in a ziplock bag with a photocopy of the box art, but all parts, decals and instructions are present. In addition I have a set of resin wheels and a Yahu instrument panel. Sprues: the after market: My intention is to do an overall sea blue Corsair from USS Bunker Hill with the big arrow G markings. Place holder for now. AW

Good day to all, After a long delay, I am finally able to submit my fourth project for the year. Here are some of the highlights of this kit………. 1. Colors & paint brands used A. Airframe : Alclad Dull Aluminum, AK Extreme White Aluminum, AK Matt Aluminum, Tamiya Flat Red, Flat Black, Flat White, Olive Drab, Interior Yellow-Green & Flat Yellow. 2. Washes : Ammo Medium Gray, Tamiya Black, & Brown 3. Built straight out of the box including provided decals. 4. Uschi Fine bobbin thread for antenna wires. 5. Weathered with paint, pencils, washes, & chalk pastels. 6. Eduard canopy mask is a MUST HAVE for this kit. This one turned out to be a challenge and it was all centered on the nose section in front of the top gunner`s station. Understandably so, Hasegawa separated the nose sections on their Liberator kits to provide an early D / Delta variant and later J / Juliet version. I had to perform surgery inside the nose section to get multiple lead fishing sinkers for ballast so it would not turn into the dreaded “tail sitter”. That wasn`t enough so I added more sinkers under the top gunner`s turret and it proved enough. The nose section comes in three main clear parts and the interior pieces do not fit all that well to get a proper alignment. The decals turned out to be a nightmare as the first green - yellow ID bands broke into no less than 12 pieces . After a considerable amount of time, I was able to repair the damaged decal and proceed after spraying a clear gloss coat over the remaining sheet. Oddly, everything behind the top gunner`s turret went together very well and the wing spars help greatly when handling the model. Due to the complex nature of the nose section, I can only recommend this Hasegawa B-24 kit to those with some experience. Thank you in advance!!! Mike

Not exactly a refreshingly different subject but I needed to build something familiar and simple to get back into the swing of things. This old Hasegawa 109 fit the bill. This model is completely OOB. The only things added were aftermarket decals and masking tape seat belts. Other than the mottling coming out too soft, I'm pretty ok with it. This is what it was supposed to look like. Thanks for looking. Ron

Old Hasegawa 1:72 Fw190 from the 90's. It's one of the kits I keep coming back to do every once in a while despite newer, better kits becoming available. This time is an F variant which I add a scratch-built bomb rack and 3D-printed bombs. Cheers, Nanond

Hello everyone. Been a while since I got anything finished - started a few, but only finished this !. There's been some discussion on various FB pages and other modelling sites as to the validity of the markings, and I acknowledge that. But here she is all done with no photo trickery other than editing the size & shapes of the pics. All Tamiya acrylics & Mr Color lacquers with decals from various Eagle Cal sheets and a couple from the kit. As ever, please feel free to make any comments, criticisms or ask any Q's. Cheers from New Zealand. Ian.

Third completion for 2024, and second zipper, a late finish in Baby Boomers GB. RDAF F-104G R-699, US serial 63-12699 first flight June 5 1964, to Denmark November 1964 (NMF?) painted green October 1 1969 and as seen a bit (a lot?) worn at RAF Gutersloh in September 1975 and other dates and locations. Hasegawa F-104G Paulus Victor decals from @0viking0, very, very nice, but the individual numbers for the tail serial are tiny. Two Master pitot tube (first broke nearly at end) New Ware mask Painted mainly with lightened Humbrol 116, and then enamel aluminium and acrylics for the interior Humbrol washes Quinta 3D cockpit decals WIP at link: Photos also show Hasegawa AMI F-104S and RNorAF F-104G. Chris

I've built Crusader III & Flak 88 previously and combined them into one dio to make some battle scene. Here are the photos And some not photoshopped ones: Thanks for viewing 😉

So: Hasegawa F-104G, still bagged Paulus Victor decals Master pitot tube New Ware mask Humbrol 116 Some images from the net Should give me a model of RDAF F-104G R-699, US serial 63-12699 first flight June 5 1964, to Denmark November 1964 (NMF?) painted green October 1 1969 and a bit (a lot?) worn at RAF Gutersloh in September 1975, which fits the theme? Just waiting for Quinta 3D cockpit decals but we've got 11 days still? Chris

Made me a present and got myself a photo box😀 But my current build is not yet RFI, so I took an older build out of the cabinet to play around. This is the 1/48 Hasegawa P40-E built as a Kittyhawk Mk. 1a from 112 Sqn flown by F/O Neville Duke, based in Libya, Feb 1942. Aftermarket goodies: PE set from Eduard Barracuda Decals "P-40 from 112 Sqn" Wheels and Exhausts (sorry, can't remember the manufacturer. Bought all together with the kit as a bargain at eBay) I remember that all the fiddling around with the tiny PE wasn't my favorite pastime and exceeded sometimes my skills. (as did the Hasegawa engineering approach of the bisected fuselage which required quite some sanding...) And I noticed too late that this specific Kittyhawk had only 4 guns instead of the standard 6. Nevermind, overall I enjoyed the build.