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G'day All, The latest off the bench. Hasegawa 1/48 SAAB Draken. Mostly OOB except for metal probes, extra external tanks & pylons and the Sidewinders. Cheers, Motty.

Hi, While I had planned to take a break from building, I couldn't resist starting on something new. Time to build the oldest kit from my stash, bought in 2003. It will be this old P-47, while it was still active and not so derelict. P-47D-40-RA 600 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr The first session went rather fast. The major parts fit really well. I was able to start painting and built the wings with main landing gear wells. IMG_4833 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr The second session was much slower due to all the cockpit details. I am not being fussy here, and will use what the kit provides. IMG_4834 by Wlad Franco-Valias, on Flickr That's where things are at now. Next I'll add Future to the instrument panel dials, rub off the bronze green from the cockpit floor and rudder pedals to show the duraluminum underneath. Then start putting things together. It's great to be back on a styrene model, rather than polyurethane resin. Cheers, Wlad

Hello I wish to present my 1/72nd scale Mitsubishi F-2A Hasegawa to you. I started this model from a box bought a while ago. It was a F-2 prototype boxing, hence the white plastic. That said, the parts provided by Hasegawa are the same for all their 1/72nd scale Mitsubishi F-2s be it prototype or operational versions. * The decals are from a (excellent) DXM decal sheet. * The engine nozzle is a Reskit nozzle which has the advantage of being more detailed and offering an open nozzle, which is often the case with parked F-2As. * The wheels are also from Reskit. Note that the ones in the kit are actually quite good. * The ejection seat is a Wolpack Design in resin that advantageously replaces the part supplied with the kit * Some of the cockpit detailing elements are photoetched and come from an Eduard PE sheet. The model is a very good Hasegawa, sharp and quite complete, quite close in its design to the F-16 kits of the brand. However, no part of the F-2 is common to those of the F-16 and it is easy to see that this model is much more recent in design than the F-16s. As usual with Hasegawa, the cockpit is simplified and will have to be detailed (photo-etched + resin seat), as well as the gear wells (scratch). All the F-2 boxes at the 1/72nd Hasegawa that I know of allow you to build either a single-seat F-2A or a two-seat F-2B. This means that it is necessary to join the front (specific A or and the rear (common part) of the upper part of the fuselage. Nothing complicated, a very small amount of dry fitting is recommended to perfect the adjustment. Even if this model is very good we can't deny the plus and advantages brought by the newer Fine Milds F-2s. The assembly is very traditional and starts with the cockpit and the construction of certain details that will quickly find their place when the fuselage is closed. In this respect, the integration of the Reskit nozzle requires preparatory work that it is better to prepare. Not liking this white plastic, I quickly applied a layer of gray paint as a primer... Before continuing with a general paint in the lightest blue of the camouflage obtained by mixing (Gunze 50% H56 + 50% H25 about - I deliberately modulate to have variations in shade) After several freehand attempts, I decided to use cardboard masks for the application of the darkest blue (Tamiya 3/4 XF17 +1/4 XF8 approximately) The radome and antennas are much clearer than the recommended H317 (Dark gull gray). I went for an H325 (Light gull gray) slightly lightened. The rest of the assembly is quite traditional and consists of setting up and painting the different details and antennas, detailing the landing gear and pipes in flexible metal wire then gluing, careful installation of the decals and simple weathering avoiding excesses. Best to you all Eric B.

This is my first build here. About a year ago I managed to buy such a kit from hands. And I got guns by Master this week. But I want to build A3's variant in Tamiya's kit 61037. First I installed the wheels bay. I cut the plastic incorrectly and cracks formed. I will remove them later. It was also difficult to install the bay in the center. I was upset when I found a stumps on the cockpit floor for his legs. So I made a elements that, in general terms, repeated the original. I will install leg bindings after painting. Edward's photoetch is often flat in cases where it is not. I made a handle instead of a flat piece. Engines are always my headache. Only if you are building a large scale model you are not be cut with a scalpel and your desk will not be covered in your blood when you remove the pushers of cylinders. I had made the pushers out of copper wire. My set is A4, but I want A3, so I had made new panels with holes. I wish you a enjoy watching

I was interested when the aggressor paint scheme was revealed in real life, and when Hasegawa announced a special edition I ordered it directly from Japan. Until I got the kit I had not realised how big the F-35 is, very similar length, width, wing area and fuselage bulk to a rhino, as second photo shows, much bigger than a Viper. So that along with the gray and stealth markings will discourage a large collection. The Hasegawa kit has a fairly detailed inlet structure so as the aggressor's seem unarmed there's some interest there. No AM available as far as I am aware, so apart from the inlet the interest will be the paint (and the large decals). Asia GB starts next week so I am unsure when I will start this. Chris

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.

Ive just noticed that this build took exactly a year, which by my standards is actually good going. The main challenge on this build was to see if I could fit a Honda engine into a classic mini as per the real world conversations. Thankfully I did and hence here we are 😁. I've thoroughly enjoyed building this (which is the main point, isn't it? ) and learned a few new skills along the way and very much appreciated all you comments and input along the way - Andy Just incase you didn't notice my WIP thread, here it is and more importantly where have you been? 🤣😂. Just be warned there are lots of micro updates. So with out future ado, the beauty shots 😍 A couple of double exposures (created in photoshop) Some construction photos These just seemed appropriate 😁 Thanks for looking, oh and "Hang on a minute, lads. I've got a great idea." - Andy

This is my last Hasegawa model. The kit includes a set of the most awful tracks I have ever seen. Here they are in all their glory............. The "guide teeth" are an almost continuous ridge along the centre line. The destructions look like standard Hasegawa, not bad and reasonably easy to follow. There's a paragraph at the foot of the paint scheme that points out that, as an early Jagdpanzer IV this should have Zimmerit. I've seen after market zimmerit for this kit but I'm not minded to spend any more on it. I'm going to attempt a mod to a later version, post September 1944 when Zimmerit was stopped. JP IVs continued in production until November 1944 when somebody dropped a lot of HE onto the Vomag factory where JP IVs were being built so this will be representing a JP IV from almost the end of production of the L/48 version. On examination of the parts there appears to be a bit of an issue with the rear panel. The cylinders on the back panel behind the idlers on both sides do not line up with the rear of the idler axles, they're offset above them. I don't want to sabotage the strength of the running gear, particularly as the tracks might prove to be a bit tight, so I think this will be left as it is. The early versions had two ports for an MG42, one each side of the main gun. The left hand MG was difficult to use. (Probably gave the driver a headache.) So it was deleted in later models. So I've filled the left hand port and will sand it smooth when dry. Thanks for looking in.

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.

Background Another project starts. This is a build that I’ve been intending to start for some time, but I was holding out to see if I could secure some of the previously available aftermarket parts to help with some additional details; they’re all (long?) out of production and availability is tending towards zero but after several years of periodic searching, a few months ago I stumbled on an auction of the kit “with lots of extras”, including Eduard phot-etch (although I already had a set), two sets of decals and, the much sought-for, Wolfpack-designs resin folded wings. I won the auction and the parts have sat waiting my attention since. The other parts I sought, I have all but given up looking for, these being the XMM resin intakes; but more of that later. I’ve got the Aires cockpit (early ICAP II) set, in fact I’ve two of them (probably a case of ordering parts when I’d forgotten I already had a set) and some ResKit wheels. The rest will need tinkering with the kit itself. I also bought a Kinetic kit, and some aftermarket parts, purely for research, but I’m sure that I’ll build that too one day (when I’ve more storage space perhaps). I remember that I built this model back in the 80s; I though it was quite early in the 80s due to where we lived when I made it, but I’m not going to trust my memory on this as Scalemates has the later boxings (which I think it was) only emerging in the late 80s. I think that I built it, an early Hasegawa F14A (aftermarket decals – low vis VF111) and an A-4E (or M?) at about the same time. I’d used low vis aftermarket decals rather than the hi-vis ones in the kit… so I’m quite sure it was this actual boxing. I remember struggling with the split forward canopy (why do they do it like that?) and remembering that the decals were quite pale against the colour I’d finished it in using Humbrol enamels… but that’s about it. So, here we are almost 4 decades later, with the same kit on the bench, but with a hope of producing a better end result; I’ll certainly be spending a little longer on this build… so I hope you’ll be patient with me as I go along this journey. Hasegawa Prowler project commences by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Wings The first thing I wanted to check is whether the wings were ok. I’d read that some of them were cast short, or small (?) so I kept my fingers crossed and removed them from their casting pieces and did a few test fits on the fuselage halves. I think I’d seen from other’s use that they come up a little short at the exhaust, but a slither of plasticard will sort that when they’re installed, but the test fit seemed positive. Some filler and fettling will be required to get a seamless join, but that’s just modelling. Kit parts and resin wings test fit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr In looking at the wings more closely, I realized that both of the outer pieces were warped a little (after years of being in their bag on the casting pieces). The photo shows the extent of the warp. Slightly warped outer wings by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I forgot to take a post-process photo, but after advice from a good mate I put some ‘nearly’ boiling water in a bowl and immersed each one (at a time) into the bowl for a few seconds then removed it and applied gentle pressure by hand to bend it the other way and straighten it. After two or three attempts on each wing, they were straight. I accomplished this during a quiet moment in the kitchen one Saturday evening whilst the good wife was watching Eurovision in the front room; I think my time was better spent. I’d been thinking about how I’ll present the model once finished; it’s a long-term plan, but one that needs considering through the build rather than at the end. I’ve a spare Trumpeter display case (316mm x 276mm x 136mm) the other two of which I made ‘concrete apron’ display boards upon which to display my wings-forward Tomcats, with ACMI pod fits) I used one of these boards to place the model on, along with an A-6, just to see if both could be accommodated with wings folded. I used my Italieri A-6E Tram for this purpose… although the Trumpeter one may arrive before I get started on that. The Italieri kit looks ‘ok’ but is a little simpler that what I’d like to model, but we’ll see how things go. And yes, I know there’s a Trumpeter EA-6B due too… no doubt it’ll be available once I’m part way through this build. We’ll see. But, a plan for the two alongside each other on a board presented as a carrier deck (I have the Brengun etched tie-downs set somewhere) will be considered. A number of Reedoak figures will be painted up, and maybe some of the Fujimi figures I have too for the background. I’ve some Verlinden tractors that could compliment the scene too... so this will not be a short build. But those resin wings will mean that such a display is possible. Planning a display by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr The model So, lets get started with the model. One thing, before we do. I’m not sure when the model I had was made, but the mouldings weren’t as crisp as I remembered. A year or two ago, I picked up a pair of kits with very tatty boxes for a very good price – which were in Hasegawa/Hales boxes: a Tracker and a Prowler. Boxes and decals had suffered damp issues and were shot but the kits are fine. The prowler in this instance is a nice and crisp moulding, so I’ll use this one for the majority of the build, although some re-engraving will be undertaken to deepen some of the around-panel lines and add a few fasteners. The fuselage is a little warped, but pulls together neatly with a little tape around the extremities. The other fuselage will serve as a practice piece for trials of modifications to come… and with a pair of Aires cockpits, I’m sure I’ll build that one too at some point. One other advantage of the older boxing is that it came with darkened glazing. I need to look at these and compare them with what I want the model to eventually look like. The forward windscreen will have the ‘armoured glass’ blue tint but the canopies will need their unique gold tint (gold plate to protect the crew from the high-energy radio frequency emissions of the aircraft jamming antennas) and how I apply that will be something to experiment with… so I might not use the dark-tinted pieces after all. I’ll be building this in an order that suits my approach; I’ll not be following the instructions except where I need to; let’s face it, this isn’t the most complicated of kits… but what I’m doing means there will be a certain amount of sub assembly done and jumping around to get to where I’ll need to get it too in the end. Cockpit So, having said the above, the first part of the build starts with the cockpit anyway. The kit parts in this regard are quite shameful. Yes, Eduard initially went to great trouble to add parts to improve this area, but the resin replacement part that came along (with its photo etch parts too) is certainly the standard to beat. The Aires cockpit in firstly removed from its moulding parts and the main components (not all of them) assembled using tape and blue tack (why are there so many spellings of this?) to look at it’s fit into the fuselage. I was prepared for some serious surgery here, knowing that few Aires cockpit tubs fit without some cleaning out of the kit sides, and this was no exception… except, where the instructions said to remove material (insides of cockpit side steps and the bits to cut away) wasn’t far off all that was needed; which was good. Aires cockpit pieces removed from 'sprue' by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr The cockpit for this kit is certainly exquisite; whilst many of the parts Aires produce are stunning, in this instance, with such a large open tub, the detail is not only amazing, but there’s a lot of it and it will all be visible once the kit is finished, so it’s worth spending time on to get right. Fuselage surgery started with removing the front coaming and the rear cockpit rear panel; I used a 0.9mm drill in a pin vice to add holes on the cut side of the parts, trimmed away with some sprue cutters and then removed the remaining pieces with an abrasive bit in a mini-drill which made short work of the Hasegawa plastic. Fortunately, the plastic in the kit is typical Hasegawa, being quite firm (rather than the soft plastic of certain Margate based companies – although that now has improved considerably) so cutting away was measured but with some success. The inner faces of the cockpit area identified by Aires were also removed using the min-drill, along with some thinning of the central arch prior to a first test fit. First cut... drill and cutaway for Aires cockpit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr A test fit was undertaken using lots of tape and blue tack to hold it all together. Several times, this would be undertaken until I was satisfied that enough material had been removed to allow a more stress-free fit of the tub. The only real positive locating guide is that of the lip on the rear of the rear cockpit, so I let that be my guide. This suggested that the front coaming was a little short of where it needed to be and after several attempts at verifying this I decided that some research may be needed to see of more revising was required. First test fit before (lots of) fettling by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Looking at how another modeler had used the Aires part, I noticed in one photo that he’d cut and shimmed the cockpit tub to lengthen it. I decided that I would try the same… but noted that it didn’t need much. The cut, down the middle of the section between cockpits was made using a fine saw, the cut width being 0.5mm (I measured this for reference later, seeing how much material the cut would remove and thus shorten the tub… I then added a shim of plasticard (about 1mm) thus giving a net lengthening of 0.5mm. The photo shows a crude reassembly prior to test fit with a much thicker piece inserted… which I decided was too thick after a quick first fit and replaced with the thinner piece I mentioned. Decided cockpit needed lengthening by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr But a further test fit now put the front cockpit coaming closer to the front of the cut out, which I viewed as much better. Another reference point (looking at photos) is the position of the throttles (just visible in photos) and how far aft they are of the rear of the windscreen frame. Later photos will see the windscreen piece sat on the fuselage halves, that I used to make this check… and I was happy that the slight lengthening put these is about the right location. Lengthened cockpit... better fit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Another view, this time looking forward into that delightful resin cockpit tub. Forward looking view of cockpit test fit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I superglued the insert in the tub and then took this forward with further test fits as I started to apply the cockpit frame pieces around the exterior. Spliced cockpit with 1mm insert by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr The side pieces needed some fettling to get to settle and some trimming to sit where I wanted them to sit. The instructions suggested glueing the side sill onto the vertical inside pieces, but I found it better to trim the inside pieces to sit inside the cockpit walls and then fir the sills… for a more repeatable fit. At this point, I was still using blue tack to hold the tub in place so ‘fit’ was a little variable. Test fit, adding the surrounds by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr With the tub held in place this way, I used a sharp pencil to mark off the underside of the tub at the front and rear so that I could add four ‘shelves’ onto which the tub would sit. To give a positive location at the rear, I also beefed-up the rear frame to hold the tub positively and to fill-in the gaps that were otherwise evident around the cockpit’s rear. At the bottom of the picture you will also see a curved piece of plasticard that I attached to close-out the remaining gap forward of the coaming; I secured this with small triangles of plasticard/plastic strut, secured with superglue. In this photo you can probably also see the tabs I added to the fuselage halves to help give a better, more positive alignment of the two halves. Note that the between cockpits arch is now much, much thinner to allow the resin panels to sit with less stress on it. Packing out the rear section and braces for cockpit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Here’s another image of the cockpit tub with the forward frame added. There’s lots more detail to add to the rear bulkhead of the front cockpit (and a bit to the rear) but I’ll tackle that later. For now, I’ll move on to another area of the kit. Cockpit forward piece added - gap filler by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Intakes So, let’s talk intakes. The kit is quite disappointing in this area as, quite simply, they’re blank. Having failed to find a set of the Russian XXM resin intakes anywhere, I pondered alternatives. The easy approach would be to just leave them. No, that wasn’t going to work for me. I thought about scratch building some intake blanks (I’d need exhaust blanks too), but when I looked through my reference library I failed to find (m)any photos that convinced me that these were used at any time apart from when the aircraft was stored in the hangar bay (or perhaps during an ocean transit). I found just one photo and that was of the exhausts blanked! So… what to do? I decided to dig out my A6 kits (Italieri A-6E and Fujimi EA-6A) and see how they tackled it. Well… that was enlightening! Each of the A6 kits has an attempt at providing some form of passage through to a compressor disc, but the Italieri compressor disk is tiny and whilst the Fujimi disk is the right size at about 10mm diameter (scaled from dimensions for a P&W J52) the intake itself is a little oddly shaped. However, both have cut-out intake splitter plates; the Fujimi kit has a half-diameter trunking piece. The intake shapes are however varied. The first photo shows the Hasegawa kit ‘blank’ intake alongside the Fujimi kit. Intakes... to see the compressor disk or just a blank? by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr A further comparison of the three kits sees the manufacturers attempts at intake shape. Let’s be honest here… this is nothing new (ever looked at the intakes offered on A-7s, of F-100s come to that) so the shape of these seems to be a challenge for most companies. I think in isolation, you could probably get away with any of them, but together they do tend to jump out a bit. I presume that there would have been subtle differences in the Prowler intake from that of the intruder, but not too much. I think the Hasegawa kit item shape isn’t too far off, although it is still a little egg-shaped (rather than symmetrical which I think it should be), but it’s possibly close enough; the Italieri seems too squashed and the Fujimi just too round… but… that was not the point of the exercise, so let’s use what we have and move on. Comparing intake lip shapes ... prowler and intruders by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr The intention was therefore to produce some form of trunking that would allow the compressor disk to be seen through the intake. I’ll use the Fujimi disk for now (as it’s about the right size – close enough) and attempt to fabricate something. Time for some prototyping! Because I’d already invested time on the fuselage parts I’m using, and because I didn’t trust myself to get this right first time, as I’d not tried this sort of thing before, I grabbed the fuselage parts from the other kit (header photo). Approximating what I could see in the Fujimi kit, and in looking at photos of the XMM pieces online, I set about the drill and cut process, opening up holes in the splitter plate piece and the fuselage intake section. Intake splitter plate and fuselage drill cut and file by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I’d no idea what diameter of plastic tube I’d need (and I didn’t have any!) so I made a tube section from plasticard which I formed around the body of a pen and secured the two layers with Tamiya thin. I then guessed the shape that I’d need to cut out of this for a first test fit – then fettled more and more. First prototype components by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr A first test fit revealed lots of fettling would be needed, but that the approach might produce what I sought. First prototype test fit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Clearly, I’d need something a little stronger, so I guesstimated the tube diameter and popped out to get some from a local model shop, settling in the end for some Evergreen 11.1mm diameter tube. A second prototype was made using this tube, with more an more refining of the shape to give a better ‘sit’ inside the fuselage. I also attacked the inside of the outer intake with white (fine) milliput to sculpt the intake trunking shape. I remember using the old green stuff years ago, but this was my first time using the white – and yes, I set a 7 minute timer when mixing/kneading the two-arts mix to ensure I got a good mix of the two white parts. Once attached and cured (overnight) some sanding, filing and cutting away (with a sharp blade) were necessary to get the shape I was after. It’s not perfect, but it’s a test piece and more care will be needed for the final item(s). This also shows the repairs to the now-fragile splitter plate piece, the fuselage hole now reduced in size and the prototype#2 trunking. Second prototype components by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr A test fit shows where this will go; still far from perfect but getting-there! Second prototype test fit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr A third prototype was then made, trying to make it to match the shape of the second, in which I’d constantly added and removed sections for a better fit. Some repairs were needed to strengthen the corners of this… but this was still better than the second. The main tube is made from two sections that are spliced at an angle to ‘curve’ the tube… it’s not enough yet, so some more curving is needed. The next one may be three rather than two pieces. Second and third prototype pieces by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr The following photos show some of the test fits that I eventually achieved with No. 3. It’s still far from perfect but it’s getting there. So, some points to make here… 1. The intake trunking fouls the rear of the nose gear bay piece. I removed a lot of material off the outer corner of the gear bay and ultimately filed a flat onto the trunking to allow a stress-free fit. It’s till tight, so some further fettling will be required with the next version. 2. The inside face of the crew-access ladder is now paper thin. The XMM parts replace this altogether on one of the A6 kit parts, and it’d be better to do so here, but I’m still experimenting. As the photos sow, this doesn’t give a seamless trunking on the outer faces, but they’ll be difficult to see with the finished model – only the inner faces will be easy to see (see photos) so it might be good enough. Let’s see what prototype no. 4 gives me! 3. The intake piece needs tidying up between the outer part and splitter plate, to fill-in the corners seamlessly. Something that I’ll need to try when I come to final assembly of these parts. 4. The outer diameter has an additional tube piece glued to the outside to allow this to ‘sit’ against the fuselage outer wall and present a bonding surface to secure it. 5. Inner face has a ‘flat’ filed away where it meets the nose gear bay corner. 6. The front of the trunking has a small tab that secures to the inside of the fuselage, again, to allow correct positioning and to secure the part with glue. Third prototype test fit #1 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Third prototype test fit #2 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Third prototype test fit #3 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Third prototype test fit #4 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Prototype 3 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Third prototype test fit #5 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Third prototype test fit #6 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Third prototype test fit #7 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr So, that’s it for now. I need to use the parts I’ve made, and the holes I’ve cut, as templates to try the other side and hopefully improve again on the design and assembly. It’s a lot of effort (more than I’ve tacked before) and I’m still not 100% convinced that I can pull it off… but I’ll give it a go. I still need to determine how I’ll present a seamless trunking throughout the whole of the final assembly; but let’s get it’s structure and design sorted first. I guess I could always go back to plan b and add intake blanks if the end result isn’t good enough, but let’s see how this goes. I’m in no rush. Thanks for reading… and please throw you comments my way… especially any positive suggestions that could help this further. Cheers, Jonathan

Hi all, Here's my latest 3D printed kit update, this time for the Kinetic 1/48 Sea Harrier FRS1 and FA2 (they may also fit the Harrier Gr1/3 and T-Harriers). The update consists of two parts, including the prominent fan and then a representation of the compressor. As can be seen, there is an enormous improvement with these parts, when compared with the original kit part! Kinetic intake fan, selling for £6 plus £2.50 postage. See also, upgrade for the Hasegawa kit (will also fit kits that use the Hasegawa plastic - Revell & Hobby 2000). 3D printed upgrade featuring a two-piece fan. Hasegawa intake fan, now selling for £8 plus £2.50 postage. Cheers! Ben

Apologies for the typo on the subject title, I missed the Y on the end and can't find a way to delete the post or redo the title... Sweet! Just found out by doing an edit I can redo the typo-ed title! Life is good! Built this kit when I was 9 almost 10 back in 1973. My uncle came up from Houston on business and visited my dad and I in Dallas. He brought me this wonderful kit while he was up there. Way ahead of its time the Hasegawa kit featured real rubber tires, rubber hoses and a metal part for the cockpit canopy as well as very excellent fit, very little flash and lots of decent detailing. Extraordinary for time period. The kit featured a decently detailed cockpit, even better detailed General Electric J47-GE-7 with rubber hoses that can be taken in and out of the model (made it tail heavy), moderately decent gun bays with removable panels and leading edge slats that could be slid opened and closed. And if you did them right you could make the horizontal stabilizers movable, Bonus! Wheels could turn I think, I'll find out, and a sliding canopy that opened and closed. Yet another great kit for kids to actually play with. Novel idea eh? Yeah, I guess ya'll are right, I am trying to relive my childhood. At least parts of it. Now I get to try some new painting techniques with Alclad II metal paints https://alclad2.com/ the paint is made to airbrush only, lots to learn on this one to be certain. I am learning a lot from folks here and am looking forward to any hints and tips you guys have on painting realistic bare metal aircraft. I confess I miss my Testors Metal Masters they were fantastic and buff-able metallic paints. Too bad they got bought out then discontinued.

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.

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

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