Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird with D-21B Drone. 1:72 Hasegawa

[Shar2]

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird with D-21B Drone

Hasegawa 1:72

Rather than repeat the great review done by our very own Paul AH HERE this review will concentrate on the drone as the SR-71 is exactly the same.

The kit does come in a very attractive open top box with an artists impression of the aircraft, complete with drone, at speed climbing through the clouds. Inside you get the upper and lower halves of the fuselage/wings plus two sprues of black styrene and one small sprue of clear styrene. The plastic is really quite hard and brittle which doesn’t bode well for cutting out.

Being the same kit as the Gravestone version the build of the parent aircraft is exactly the same. The only difference in this version is the inclusion of the D-21B drone. Which is assembled from upper and lower fuselage sections with the wings pre-moulded just like the SR-71. To this assembly the exhaust nozzle is fitted aft along with the fin, whilst at the front the two piece nose section with pre-moulded pitot probe is fitted at the front. The pylon on which the drone is mounted is a two piece affair which went assembled is fitted to the parent aircraft through two slots that need to be opened up before the main fuselage pieces are glued together. The slots are well marked on the inside so shouldn’t prove too much of a problem to open and clean up. With the pylon in place and both aircraft and drone painted up the drone can be fitted in position.

Decals

The decal sheet not only provides the cockpit instrument panels and side consoles, but also a complete set of wing walk stripes, stencils and insignia. The choice of two aircraft can be built these are:-

• US Air Force Test Aircraft 17950 with D-21B Drone 507 based at Area 51with both aircraft in overall black scheme

• US Air Force Test Aircraft 06940 with D-21 Drone based at Area 51 in silver and black scheme with the drone overall silver with the nose and wing leading edges in black.

Conclusion

This is not the most complex kit in the world to build but it will require a good paint job to bring out the interesting nature of the beasts. I personally prefer the silver scheme as it contrasts nicely with the all black model normally seen. I’m not sure of the plastic Hasegawa use in this kit as it does seem extraordinarily hard compared with their other kits and I’m not sure how well it will react with normal liquid poly that I use. Still, it’s an interesting subject and will look good in any collection.

Walkround photos available HERE

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[theplasticsurgeon]

Thanks for a great review Dave.

I had always wondered if this kit is related to the Monogram one. Comparison of your parts photos and my instructions leads me to say NO. Similar, but neither is a re-box of the other.

If I ever find one of these at an affordable price, I could add it to my collection.

Having the Monogram, Italeri (trainer version) and Academy Blackbirds - this would be a Silver one.

[HOUSTON]

Agreed with theplasticsurgeon ..great review.

[Giorgio N]

I can see a small problem with this box: 06940 was not an SR-71 but an M-21, a variant of the original A-12. This differed from the SR-71 in several aspects, starting with a different shape of the nose and ending with a shorter tail cone. The shape of the cockpit area is also quite different between the 2 aircrafts and so is the bottom of the front fuselage. So any modeller interested in building 06940 will have to do a lot of work if the goal is an accurate reproduction of this sircraft.

17950 was a true SR-71 and in fact was the very first built but I am not sure if this ever carried the D-21 drone.

[Caerbannog]

From what I have heared the Academy one is strongly refering to the Hasegawa SR-71 - but the Hasegawa is reported to have better fitting at least.

The Monogram has the over all best SR-71 shape and a nice cockpit but raised panel lines. The Italeri nose is too pointy - a good A-12 nose actually when I compare it to drawings (I know...) so makes a good M-21 (the drone mother ship, which was no SR-71!), has the best engines but panel lines are raised too.

I currently have the Monogram version which will build into a SR-71A (I wanted to do the trainer with left overs from Italeri kit but the fuselarge shape is very different of the two kits), one Italeri for M-21 and one Italerie for an A-12. And the recent Academy edition for just 15 Euro mainly for the impressive Cartograph decal sheet (it is still on the way to me but I expect the decals to be worth this price).

Rene

[Caerbannog]

A short update: Meanwhile my Academy SR-71 arrived and it looks very close to th epictures of the Hasegawa version. Even the sprue layout is looking the same except for some minor differences. The moulding of the Academy kit has some flaws which would need filler. Seam lines are scribed but the triangular panels around the chimes are not there (same as Hasegawa).

The only "bigger" difference I spot so far is that the Academy after burner "meshs" are molded open and not closed.

The decals make a very good impression as I hoped. So I will build the Academy kit with/for my son and keep the decals :-)

Rene