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Eurofighter Typhoon - Single Seat - Hasegawa 1:72


woody37

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Eurofighter Typhoon Single Seater
1:72 Hasegawa


box.jpg


With the need for a new combat fighter in the UK going back as far as 1971, failed collaborations between the UK, West Germany and France resulted in a new proposal by the British, German, Italian and Spanish for a new aircraft (EAP) in the mid 80's. France withdrawn due to their insistence on a design that was capable of operating from carriers; the ultimate solution being met by their Rafale programme. Eventually, agreement was made between the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to share the development and manufacture for what would become the Eurofighter. Whist the project was plagued by political and financial problems; it's now in service with 6 nations with other possibilities under evaluation. Key features of the Typhoon are a Multi-role canard delta wing layout with an intake design under the fuselage much the same and the F-16. A glass cockpit using three main monitors in combination with HOTAS, voice recognition and HUD allow a reduced workload for the pilot, the voice recognition system only being used for non-critical functions. A key safety feature is the Low Speed Recovery System that is designed to prevent loss of control at low speed, high AoA situations as well as an auto recovery on the press of a button in the event of pilot disorientation. The aircraft is capable of super cruise (i.e. Supersonic flight without afterburner). In tests (both planned and unplanned), the Typhoon has demonstrated simulated kills against competition such as the F-22 and F-16. Whilst initial air-ground capability was somewhat limited, existing and planned upgrades will evolve this capability considerably. Air-ship ability is also needed by 2017, this all round ability adding to the aircrafts export potential. Whist not designed as a 'Stealth Aircraft', the radar signature is only about 25% of the tornado's emissions.

The Kit
Revell have already established themselves in the market with their rendition of the modern day Tiffie, but that hasn't stopped Hasegawa wanted their piece of the pie. Comparisons between Revell and Hasegawa kits often produce emotion where the retail price is concerned, indeed, current price for this kit is around £40, much higher than the Revell kit. Whilst the Revell kit is undoubtedly greater value for money, for some, this isn't the ultimate criteria for making a purchase.

So what are the first impressions ? Well, you get a huge amount of parts for such a small aircraft. 195 to be precise with no less than 9 light grey sprues and two clear sprues, one containing a rather impressive stand. Detail is typical Hasegawa with very refined surface detailing. A criticism often made of Hasegawa kits is the lack of weapon options, however, they appear to have to have taken this on board here as I'll come to later.

General assembly is similar to the Revell kit, the main difference being a separate tail. As with most kits, construction starts with the cockpit. The tub has some adequately moulded detail although the switch panels can be replaced with decals. The forward panel fits to the nicely detailed front combing section and again, can either be painted or decaled. The pilots seat is made in three parts and somewhat simplistic without any seatbelts. A resin replacement would be a good solution here or at least some additional seatbelts of some kind. With the cockpit assembled, it's then sandwiched between the two fuselage halves. Exterior detailing on the fuselage is quite stunning, more refined than the Revell kit which is a big plus on 1/72 scale. I can't see any evidence of sink marks on these parts. The tail goes on next, and again, I'm impressed with details here such as the small exhaust ports on the base of the tail, very sharply produced.

fuse.jpg

Close up of fuselage halves & cockpit

fuse1.jpg


The relatively complex assembly of the lower fuselage and engines follows on. Exhausts are little basic but adequate. The airbrake inner surface is fitted followed by the front wheel well and an intake blanking plate. The plate blanks off the intake about 35mm from the inlet opening. The intake splitter arrangement is fitted to the fuselage and lower wing section. Before fitting the top halves of the wings, you will need to decide whether to open up the holes for the pylons. You will also need to decide whether you'll be fitting the centre tank or not as this will require either a blank or slotted part to be fitted. Again, surface detail on the wings is very nice with refined panel detail and recesses such as the chaff dispensers. With a suitable wash, this will come alive. The wing assembly now fits to the fuselage.
 

lower_wing.jpg

Close up of lower wing sprue

lower_wing1.jpg

wings.jpg

Close up of upper wings and tail

wings1.jpg

weapon4.jpg


With the basic airframe now together, focus turns to the smaller parts like the landing gear and quite an array of protruding parts such as FLIR pod. Hasegawa have managed to produce some very fine parts indeed, where necessary, the plastic is very thin retaining as much scale thickness as is possible with injection moulded plastic. The undercarriage looks solid with good detailing such as the brake callipers on the main wheels. The only complaint observed are two ejector pin marks on the nose wheel tyre which will need some delicate filling. You do have the choice of either having the undercarriage dropped or an ‘in-flight' option. Included in the kit is a pilot figure which can be added if you prefer to have figures in your builds. With a separate head and arms you have some scope for manipulating the pose too !
 
 

weapon3.jpg

Close up of main wheels and pilot

weapon3a.jpg

Now for the armament selection. There are 5 layouts given in the instructions:

 
  • Close air Support
  • Suppression of Enemy air Defence
  • Multi/Swing Role - RAF
  • Multi/Swing Role - Luftwaffe
  • Air Superiority
The following weapons/tanks are included in the kit:
  • 1500 litre drop tanks x3
  • Storm Shadow Air Launched Cruise Missiles x2
  • 3. Taurus KEPD350 Air Launched Cruise Missiles x2
  • AIM-120 AMRAAM x4 (carefully note instructions for fin removal)
  • Meteor BVRAAM x4 (carefully note instructions for fin removal)
  • Brimstone guided missiles x6 (3 per multi-pylon)
  • IRIS-T AAM x4
  • ASRAAM x4
  • ALARM x4
The weapons are finely moulded with very thin fins and decals are supplied for where necessary on them. I suggest taking some time to dwell on the options, which obviously be somewhat determined by your chosen nationality, but no matter what you choose, you'll be accumulating some great spares. An example of the effort put in here is that the Taurus cruise missiles each have 11 parts to them.

Brimstone & Storm Shadows

weapon1.jpg

IRIS-T, AMRAAM, Meteor, ALARM, ASRAAM

weapon2.jpg

Close up of AMRAAM, Meteor, IRIS-T

waepon2a.jpg

Close up of 1500 litre drop tanks

weapon5.jpg


The instructions show the canopy to be installed in the closed position, however as the rear canopy combing is a separate part as is the canopy, it shouldn't be too difficult to fit it in an open position. The clear parts are free from distortion and apart from the windscreen and canopy also contain the array of lighters and HUD carried by the aircraft. There is a slight seam along the centre of the canopy which you may want to sand out, however it's very subtle so if you're not confident at doing this, you could leave it as is.
 

clear1.jpg

clear2.jpg


Included in this boxing, but possibly not in future releases is a clear stand. The stand comes with a separate instruction sheet bringing me to this conclusion. You can either fit the stand into the slot that is used by the centre pylon or a second option is a cradle attachment that allows the centre pylon to be fitted.
 
 

stand.jpg


Markings
A very fine decal sheet is included. It's a very busy sheet as not only are there many stencils for the aircraft itself, but several for the various weapons included too. Register and sharpness are superb with some quite intricate detail in the stencils and squadron markings. Options provided are:
 
  • RAF -3 Sqn
  • RAF - 17 Sqn
  • Luftwaffe - JG74 as seen in the Red Flag exercise in 2012

decal.jpg


Conclusion
This is a great kit overall. There are a few criticisms I can make such as the detail in the seat and perhaps cockpit switch panels. Also some prominent ejector marks in the nose wheel tyre, however in my opinion, the finish is more refined than the Revell kit, particularly where surface detail is concerned. The weapon options are superb and a definite improvement for Hasegawa. The shape and general outline of the kit looks to be very good from what I can tell in doing the in-box review. Whether all this is enough to help you part with alot more money over the competition is personal choice.

See Spence's excellent build of the kit HERE.

Review sample courtesy of
logo.jpg UK distributors for logo.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

Now been discontinued, now their no doubt more expense special boxing is close to release not happy

I just bought this (literally 15 minutes ago) from RCECHO in Hong Kong through Amazon. Only $35 USD - I think that's a pretty good price. Here is the US Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0098CXXGO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

Cheers,

Bill

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