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This is my latest completion. Well nearly completed. It still needs a drop tank 🙄 Anyways Heinrich Bartels was an ace with an impressive 99 victories. Fifty against western Allies. Like the fate of many experten, he himself would be shot down and killed (December 23rd 1944). He was likely shot down by Col. David Schilling, the CO of the famous 56th FG. Bartel's remains were found in the wreckage of his plane 23 years later in January 1968. Either way it's an interesting story. As far as I know there's no photos of this plane so my rendition is 100% speculative. I used nearby W.nrs to model the planes physical features and camouflage. The markings were based on scarce period photos of .IV JG27 109s. All the major markings were painted from masks cut on my Silhouette. Lynn Ritger's extensive records show this plane being built at Mtt. Regansberg sometime in December 1944. That means the plane was practically new when lost on December 23 1944 so weathering was deliberately kept light. The kit itself is the 25 year old Hasegawa 1/48 Bf109G-10. They're a simple fun build. This one was built with my normal MO. Nearly OOB with a few minor tweaks. I added photo etch seat belts and main gear well roofs from an old Eduard brass set I found the spares box. I replaced the DF loop with fine copper beading wire from the Walmart craft aisle. I rolled the soft copper wire flatter for a more authentic cross section. The Moraine antenna and Pitot tube were brought closer to scale with bits of brass tubing and wire. As always I concentrated my efforts more on geometry, fit and finish, than tiny details. I used old Aeromaster decals from the early 90s for the "Marga", swastikas and limited stencils. The W.nrs were built from individual Railway digits. That was kind of a PITA. It took a couple of tries to get it close to right. A typesetter, I am not. This is the first completion of two late war 109s I built concurrently. I like the second one better and will show that one soon. I hope you enjoyed this one for now. Be well Ron

This is my build of the Hasegawa 1/72 Tornado F.3, enhanced with the FlightPath F.3 detail set and some Xtradecal markings. I was in two minds what markings to do for this, when I started out I fancied the early 5 squadron markings with the red chevron and tail band. In the end, though, my Leuchars past won out and we instead have a much more restrained 43 sqn machine. ZE961/GA, along with sister ship ZE962/GB, was delivered to the Fife base on the afternoon of the Battle of Britain airshow in September 1989. Being an impressionable young lad at the time, I was always more interested in the shiny new stuff so these were one of the highlights of the day for me. 50 year old me would rather I had paid more attention to the Phantoms but there we go! Oddly, I don't have any pictures of the two F.3s. Maybe they were surrounded by crowds and I didn't have the patience to deal with that. The FlightPath set was a challenge. It provides a lot of stuff - resin hindenberger tanks, sidewinders, skyflash, PE front undercarriage doors, replacement wing pylons, aerials and a refuelling probe. What it does not supply (in my opinion) is anything approaching usable instructions. I appreciate that these kind of detail sets are for advanced modellers (which I am not) but at least some better diagrams of the where all the bits go would have been nice, as well as a guide to which bits were which. I didn't use all the set - a lot of the PE is still in the box (and I lost one of the metal pylons so had to use the kit ones mated to the metal sidewinder rails) but seeing the finished result I think it was worth the effort. I particularly like the IFR probe, having it open adds a little bit of interest. The alignment of it is not quite right but its acceptable from a distance. The tanks in the FlightPath set are also a better size than the kit tanks. All that resin and metal does make her very heavy, if someone breaks into my house I may be able to take them out with an F.3! There was a nervous moment when I stood her up for the first time after attaching the tanks 😬 I didn't use the FlightPath missiles as they were a pain to assemble (9 bits for each!). Instead I got some ResKit AIM-9s which are lovely and went with the kit Skyflashes which look suitable missile-like. Painted with Xtracolor enamels, which sprayed really well, and then coated with Mr Hobby satin when decalled. That was a mistake as it reacted with the Xtracolor in a number of places where it went on quite wet. I managed to sand back some of the damage and the rest is hidden, so don't tell anyone 🙂 Weathering used W&N oils, Humbrol weathering powder for the tail and a Flory wash. I started out thinking she was going to be factory fresh as on that Saturday in 1989, but couldn't help grubbying her up a bit. The tail is still clean by F.3 standards, though! Anyway, on with some pictures. And finally a phone shot attempting to show the detail in the cockpit from the FlightPath set. You can just about see the rear view mirrors mounted on the canopy, and the TV displays on the navigator's coaming. I'm not usually bothered about detailing cockpits, but I think these are really nice details, and were not hard to do. Thanks for looking - and thanks to everyone who chipped on the WIP thread, its been a long slog - but then I'm no quick builder! Al.

#13/2025 Hasegawa kit with Max Models decals, which are a reprint of a Rising Decals sheet. The decals are thin and tend to wrap, also when moved around on the model surface they are rather elastic and rubberish. Painted with Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue, EZ Line for the antenna wires and plastic rods used for the landing gear indicators. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235153814-under-new-management148-kawasaki-ki-61-i-tei-hien-tony-usmc/ This aircraft was captured by the Marines and flown at Okinawa by VMF-322 in May 1945. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Hi all and here's a latest from me, an F-104G backdated to a NF-104A Starfighter which was used as a trainer for the X-15 and planned Boeing X-20. Built for the F-104 group build here, here's a link to the short build thread here. Kit: Hasegawa 1/72 F-104G Starfighter 'Vikings'. The kit has the larger rudder as well as parts for the smooth gear doors and earlier ejection seat. Build: Mostly OOB but with mods for NF-104 Mods: Wingtips extended with plasticard, intake cones extended with plastic rod (should be pointier! ) Rocket motor scratchbuilt from kit wingtip tank. Extended nose probe from sewing needle Paints: Tamiya, Mr Hobby Super Metallics. Klear Decals: Caracal 72155 'Test and Drone Zippers'. These were really excellent and went on a treat. Scheme: Markings for 56-0762 flown by Chuck Yeager on December 10, 1963 to a height of 101, 600ft before loss of control led to his ejection and total loss of the aircraft (as dramatized in 'The Right Stuff') Special thanks to @Planebuilder62 and @murfv for sharing copies of scale plans and build articles which were a great help. If anyone is interested, this month's Airfix Model World magazine has a lovely build by Chirs Jones in 1/48 and an article on the history of this plane. Thanks for looking, take care and happy modelling. All the best, Dermot Hasegawa_NF-104_Starfighter (7) Hasegawa_NF-104_Starfighter (6) Hasegawa_NF-104_Starfighter (1) Hasegawa_NF-104_Starfighter (2) Hasegawa_NF-104_Starfighter (4) Hasegawa_NF-104_Starfighter (3)

1/72 Hasegawa Raiden - J2M3 (Jack) Oh, and it was all going so well. I recently finished off the Hasegawa Mitsubishi Raiden ( Jack) and discovered such a doozy of a fault ..... in my work. No, you'll have to find it! Firstly, those of you who have made this kit before will know that it is typical of Hasegawa's single engine Japanese Army and Navy fighters; a little basic perhaps, but an excellent model and very good value for money. No fit dramas, no instruction dramas, just a well engineered kit that goes together well. In fact, if there are problems, I'd be inclined folks to blame the modeller. I finished the kit as from the 352 Naval Kokutai, in a standard Hasegawa instructions green upper- and grey under fuselage. Gun barrels, pitot and radio aerial courtesy of albion alloys brass tube. Paints by Tamiya and Mr Color, varnishes by Windsor & Newton Galleria. I did have some very minor puttying to do, and I did have a serious carpet monster moment - the propellor and spinner went awol! This was a disaster, as there is only one spinner, and I was faced with a spinnerless kit. You'll notice I solved it - you'll not be surprised to know the spares box came to the rescue. The spinner is the front end of a bomb from an F-5e kit I made a while ago! It looks just like the spinner in the box art, and size and shape wise I think it is almost perfect. I just had to cut the blade cut outs out, fill the somewhat oversize gaps and there you are; a new spinner. The propellor is a second propellor from the kit. So you're wondering - what is the flaw in this kit? Hmmm, it won't take you long to see it .... Starting with the box art here are some photos of my 3rd build this year, thanks for looking.

I think quite a few of you have come across this kit and modified it a bit or not started yet as I've seen quite a few references, but can't think of seeing an out of box build on here. For a basic pick-up, this one seems to have proved a popular kit as it keeps being reissued in various forms. I've just gone for the basic earlier version. For something which doesn't have an engine there seems to be quite a few pieces to the kit, and generally the moulding seems pretty well thought out in terms of attachment points and ejector pin locations (cab floor excepted). This is what you get for your money. At this stage I'm just trying to get some paint on while the summer weather is here, the build won't be starting until after the Focus (assuming I get that all painted and decalled before the weather turns - I'm slow like that!). The instructions start with the body, so first job is to clean it up. The mould lines seem to have generally been designed to accommodate those people who don't clean them up, so for the most part follow edges or trim pieces and have been fairly easy to clean up, just make sure if you're building one that you don't lose detail doing this. The worst ones are on the rear corners, but at least they proved easily sandable. This is how it was looking after scribing out the panel lines some more and cleaning up the mould lines. That does seem very shiny plastic doesn't it? Hopefully the primer grips better than it does on the spoons as I'd prefer not to be having to key it if I don't have to. However, the first thing to focus on was the bed which is made up of five flat pieces. Fortunately they've all fitted about perfectly so a good start. This is another part of the build which is needed right from the beginning, so this was my first task of the build. And today that bed got its primer. I'm really pleased with how it looks, a proper red oxide appearance. If I was doing a well worn example it would have been tempting to leave it like this, but as usual I'm not it it won't stay like this. Rubbish photo in one way as this is the bit of the bed you won't see, but that cutdown BBQ skewer to help with manhandling during painting is preventing it going the right way up. Still, it gives the idea. So that's my first report on this one. I've got a pretty good idea on where I want to go with it (fairly stock). The only question in my mind is whether to go with the stock steel wheels, or to put a set of gold Watanabes on it.

Hello Britmodellers, Here's my F-16N, more or less oob. Didn't come out entirely as I wanted, but it is what it is. Thanks for watching! Cheers, Luka

#12/2025 Next finished Chinese captured Japanese aircraft. Hasegawa kit with Kora decals, painted with MRP White Aluminium, control surfaces with Tamiya XF-14 IJA Green-Grey, EZ Line used for the antenna wires. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235153690-under-new-management148-nakajima-ki-84-i-ko-hayate-frank-chinese-communist-airforce/ As already mentioned with the previously posted Chinese Nationalist Hayabusa, after the defeat of Japan, the Chinese Nationalists and Communists capured a lot of lleft behind Japanese aircraft. The Communists used their Ki84 mainly as trainers. DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0023 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0024 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0025 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0026 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

I've been saving this one! Hasegawa RAAF F-111C kits are increasingly rare and are starting to fetch decent money. But not long after returning to modelling, my brother gifted me this precious one from his stash. Since then I've been waiting for the right time to build this, but with this GB I think that time has come! Along the way over the last few years I've picked up a few bits of aftermarket to add to what already is an excellent kit, by all accounts. In particular I have the Reskit cockpit module, plus seamless intakes from Hobartville Hobbies. No excuses not to make a decent model with that lot - hopefully I'll get the @trickyrich tick of approval! As for markings and decals, I'm planning to build A8-125, the first F-111C to land in Australia on delivery in June 1973, and the last F-111 to land at the type's retirement ceremony in December 2010 - making it the last F-111 flying anywhere in the world. (-125 is now in the safe hands of the RAAF Museum at Point Cook.) I'll be building -125 in its post Avionics Upgrade Program (AUP) configuration with the Reskit cockpit, and in the all-over gunship grey scheme. But for its tail markings I'm not 100% sure yet. With two Hasegawa decal sheets (I picked up one on Ebay) I have a few options, including the retirement scheme as well as the 6 Squadron 90th anniversary scheme with the red rudder and the standing kangaroo, which I'm leaning towards at this stage. That decision will be a ways off, given my current build rate, and I'm still finishing off my F-16. In time though, I'll take a decent swing at this. Thanks Bro! Gerard

F-106 Delta Darts in 1/72 scale Meng kit : 5th FIS, Minot, South Dakota, 1975 Trumpeter kit : F-106B New Jersey ANG, Atlantic City Airport, 1987 Hasegawa kit : Michigan ANG, Selfridge, 1976 Hasegawa kit : 2nd FIS, Wurtsmith, Michigan, 1972 Having just finished the impressive Meng F-106A kit I thought I would post it up with the other Delta Darts on my shelves. The 2nd FIS aircraft (horizontal yellow fin stripe) was a rebuild that was completed way back in the 1990s. It was originally built around 1977 in 87th FIS markings (red bull on the fin - no, not the current kind found in a can and on F1 cars). The Michigan ANG example was built in the last few months using Bare Metal Foil decals from a Hasegawa kit that had been in various attics for 40 years or so! The Trumpeter F-106B was also finished fairly recently. Anyway - on with the Meng. A very complete kit with lots of fine detail. Complete intake trunking and exhaust are included and look really good. The undercarriage and weapons bay assemblies are quite complex with numerous small parts and were quite fiddly to assemble. The instructions are reasonably clear but the location of some of those parts in the weapons bay could have been clearer. A very fine photo etch sheet is included which provides extremely small parts for the weapons bay doors as well as a boarding ladder. I discovered that photo etch was beyond my skills in this case and having ruined the ladder trying to bend it into shape, consigned the rest of the sheet to the bin. I did use some 3D printed decals for the cockpit and avionics bays though. I used the Kelik item K72112 which looked fantastic.

Hi, Here's my entry for the F-16 Group Build that ended a couple weeks ago. I didn't manage to finish it on time, so I might as well post it here. Here's the build thread, if you're interested. >>>Ding Dong<<< It's the 1/48 Hasegawa F-16D, with a Black Box cockpit with terrible fitting seats, Aires exhaust, Kopecky Scale Models wheels, Wolf 3D pylons, Eduard AGM-65, Videoaviation SUU-20 and Afterburner Decals. Painted with Mr. Color. I had some bits to turn it into a later Block in the spares box and @exdraken helped me out. Thanks for looking. Pete

G'day people, I have completed the old (but still quite good) Hasegawa 1/72 F-20 for the Eighties GB, WIP here: My build represents one of the test testbed aircraft that were used for AIM-7Sparrow carriage and live-fire trials I made a few improvements as detailed in the WIP and I am happy with the results, cheers, Pappy

#11/2025 Next one fresh out of my dad´s factory. Hasegawa kit with Kora decals. This was Hasegawa´s first "III" version, released in 2014, kit No 7371. They took their "I/II" kit and added some resin parts like cowl, exhausts, etc. for a "III" version. For the rivet counters it´s still no correct "III" Main issue was the resin cowl which was too small in diameter, think also slightly too short. Before trashing the kit, my dad did a surgery. He cut the cowl apart into several pieces and inserted plastic sheet to increase the diamter. Not completely perfect but looks way better than before. It seems Hasegawa corrected that cowl issue with their follow up "III" kit No 7418. Markings were done with Kora decals which aren´t the best too. They are from their "new decal technology" line. Still on a single decal film and slighly translucent. Camo done with AK RC (old ones) Aluminium, Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown and a selfmixed green out of green paint leftovers. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235153008-under-new-management148-nakajima-ki-43-iii-ko-hayabusa-oscar-chinese-nationalist-airforce/ After Japan´s defeat, their troops left a lot of equipment behind on Chinese soil which found use during the Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Nationalists captured a bunch of different type Hayabusa planes. These were used to equip the 18th and 19th Squadron of the ROCAF 6th Fighter Group. But due to lack of spareparts and adequate mechanics, the Nationalists already phased out their Ki43 in 1946. The Chinese Communists could capture five Ki43 from the Nationalists in 1945 and used them as trainers. the last airworthy ones were decomissioned in 1952. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

I've had this kit for some time (the all-knowing .xls says "before 2000") and must have started it at some point... probably couldn't decide what version to build, so I put it aside, you know the drill.😊 There are certainly better kits out there, nonetheless: when I look at the box top painting, something in me smiles and says "No way this is not going to be built." Looking forward to getting it finished in this GB - the Falklands War was geographically far away, but nonetheless the subject of strong opinions among the people I spent my time with in the early 80s. I put this aside undecided, so I must pick it up undecided... on the one hand, this build only makes sense to me when I build an aircraft involved in the war - on the other hand, I love the box top painting (have I mentioned the box top painting?), so I might try to find an excuse involving images of HMS Hermes leaving for the Falklands in early 1982, with Sea Harriers still in their old livery. We will see. Sadly, the sexy Sea Eagle will have to remain for the spares box, only tanks and Sidewinders for this one. But there's a Buccaneer in the stash.😁 Very nice aftermarket nozzles are out there now, I might be tempted to add some. Still a lot of time for that!

Hello! Here are some work in progress photos, and a video showing the painting stages of this 1/48 Ju-87G-2 Stuka project. The Hasegawa kit is great as usual, with consistent and crisp panel line detail throughout. I added rivets in some areas where it would help with the weathering. For the cockpit, I used Eduard photoetch to fill in a lot of the detail and upgrade the Hasegawa kit. For the painting process, I worked closely with Michael Rinaldi on his Patreon and Coaching Calls to really improve my competence with the techniques he teaches. For example, using Mission Models Paints for the white allowed me to vary the types of chips that I got, with some areas having a more washed out look (crew path leading up to the gunner's station, front cowl), and others having sharper chips by adding more poly additive to the paint mix. All the chipping was done with a little bit of water, and also some areas were burnished with even less water. The exhaust streak was done with ATOM paints, which can be removed with Odorless Thinners to adjust the shape. however, due to me using a lot more Mission Models without the poly intermix, there was a higher risk of activating the Mission with the OT, so I didn't clean up the edges as much as I would've if this wasn't the case. Enjoy, and I hope to share the completed model sometime soon! Apologies for the whitebalance always changing. I wasn't aware that I was supposed to set it and not have it on auto, so forgive me!

I'll be soon-ish joining the GB with this iconic RWD Lancia, the last and maybe the only true non-4WD supercar of the Group B era. TBC...

F-16AM 11 Squadron 'Arrows' Pakistan Air Force 2024 I was recently tempted by some 1/72 'Fab Scale' decals that had arrived at Hannants from China. These covered Pakistan Air Force F-16A and B that were involved in the shooting down of an Indian Mig 21 Bison during 2019. I fetched a standard Hasegawa F-16A kit from the attic and made a few changes such as the addition of the IFF antennas ahead of the canopy. The decals were matt finished surprisingly, so I was a bit concerned, but they went on fine applied over wet Klear with another Klear coat on top. So silvering wasn't an issue, but unfortunately the printed shades of grey were too light. This was frustrating as it wasn't possible to tell how much contrast there would be with the painted grey camo until they were applied. I was very careful to use the correct shades of grey for the camo but the stencils just disappeared so became unusable. Those really nice fin markings just didn't stand out the way they should which was the biggest disappointment. However it was too late to turn back so I pressed on! I used some grey stencils from a Daco F-16C sheet which were the right shade of dark grey. In the end I was kind of happy with a different F-16 for the collection - just a shame the fin markings don't stand out well enough. I attempted to tint the canopy using a mixture of Klear and acrylic paint, which looks ok in real life - even though most of my photos make it look a mess!

This is the oldish Hasegawa 1/72 kit. Despite being nearly 50 years old, the kit is surprisingly decent, with fine engraved lines and good decals, this boxing I think is 1992. It does lack cockpit detail and the decals are incorrect in this boxing for Scott's P-40E. Supplied is a serial number for the tail, which despite being incorrect, this aircraft had no serial painted on it and it lacks the white 7 for the rear fuselage (this came from the spares box). The 2014 dual boxing of the kit corrects these errors. A quick look online sees not very many 1/72 P-40E's available so for it's simple buildability and being fairly easy to come across, it's still up there with the best in scale for it's type. I rather hope Airfix might continue their P-40 line.

Allright as the topic says, firstimer for me. The build Can be seen here on Britmodeller. I usually build WW2 aircraft 1:32, with scratch and all that, but felt, need to develop my building and try new areas, step outside the comfort zone so to say, and damn i was surpised, ive never had this much fun in building for a long long time, the build became almost like an obsession gone out of control here 😁 , never frustration, the opposite all the way, also feels empty when its done. Ill do other builds between my 1:32 builds, as learn alot from ship modelling and wached others building ships here on the Britmodellers, and mighty fine builds going on here, and impressivie aswell as inspiring, new technicues, worked in an even smaller scale, and detailig and some scratch, rigging, and yes never worked with PE like this (yes seen others it a forest of PE parts on their ship modelling), glueing two PE IP Panels in an aircraft does not count here, ship modelling sure build skills indeed. Allright, this is what i can do for the moment, so enjoy. This will be displayed next to my sextant, yes its the real deal. /Mal

Hi, Ah, the 10th of May. Happy birthday to my beloved A-10. I'm going with the classic 1/72 Hasegawa A-10A. I'll be using Caracal sheet CD72112. Option 1 is for a NY ANG aircraft with extra markings from one of its deployments to Lechfeld AB during the 1980's. Cheers, Stefan.

Next build series is two exmaples of the Hasegawa Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 kit; one is the road car and the other is the 1991 Ivory Coast Rally vehicle driven to victory by Kenjiro Shinozuka and John Meadows. The road car kit is Hasegawa number 24001 (CD-1). I don't think this is Hasegawa's first 1/24th scale road car, but appears to be the first in the more modern series. When I say 'modern', the kit is very basic by recent Hasegawa standards. The engine bottom, front and rear diffs / gearboxes, drive shafts and all four prop shafts are molded in one big piece, for example. Plan is a two-tone paint job and simple period correct grey and black interior. The rally kit has the full photo-etch detail set common to Hasegawa rally kits of the time. Of course it also has the modifications for the Ivory Coast Rally, such as front bar and large spotlights. Despite being a Group A car this particular vehicle is right-hand drive; I had actually clipped off the RHD dash and put it back in the box before I read the instructions! Blue on the rear (can't be seen on box art) is paint and the big side decals will be fun around the door handle and side trim. No photos yet but I have made start on both bodies, which are now drying to the point that I am happy to mask for respective second colours. Fairly basic kits so painting the other pieces will not take too long, then just usual detail painting. Updates soon I hope. Grant.

Good day, Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. I stepped outside of my normal 1/72 scale subjects and spent some time with this superb kit from Hasegawa. I agreed to join some of my friends in a group project and it was decided that the Ki-44 would be the selection. Here are the highlights of the kit…………. 1. Airframe : AK Interactive Extreme Aluminum, Tamiya Nato Black XF-69, Flat Yellow XF-3, Flat Red XF-7, IJA Grey XF-14, Vallejo Dark Brown, Light Rust wash, AK Oil Stains , Fuel Stains, Brown, Medium Grey, Black pastels. 2. Propeller : Mission Models Japanese Propeller Brown MMP-115. 3. Cockpit : Mission Models Aotaki Blue-Green MMP-113, Gunze Silver seat, Tamiya Metallic Blue X-13, Rubber Black XF-85, Titanium Silver X-32, Tamiya Black & Brown wash. Painted Tamiya tape for the seat belts. 4. Engine : Tamiya Metallic Grey XF-56, Dark Iron XF-84, Dark Grey XF-24, Polly Scale Rust, Tamiya Black wash, Vallejo Light Rust wash. 5. Landing Gear : Gunze Silver, MRP Tire Black, Tamiya Metallic Grey XF-56, Polly Scale medium brown dry brush, Tamiya Black and Grey wash. Gear wells : Mission Models Aotake Blue-Green MMP-113 7. External wing tanks : Tamiya Sky Grey XF-19, Dry brush : Gunze Burnt Iron, Polly Scale Medium Brown, AK Fuel Stains. 8. EZ Line Rust color bobbin thread for the radio antenna. I found this to be a very enjoyable project. The fit between parts is superb and it comes with an excellent level of included detail within the cockpit and perfect recessed panel lines. Because of the high quality molds, I found no reason to add any aftermarket accessories. The decals were excellent and adhered well with setting solution. I added a metal wire for the brake lines for the main landing gear. I can recommend this very nice kit from Hasegawa for all skill levels due to the simple and straightforward nature of construction along with the great fit between parts. Thank you in advance. Respectfully, Mike

Convair TF-102A Delta Dagger 525th TFS / 86th TFW, Bitburg, Germany, 1968 This one was built back in 2003 using the old Hasegawa F-102A kit along with the Xtraparts conversion. I don't remember a great deal about building except lots of Milliput and lots of cutting out tiny squares of thin plasticard for those vortex generators on the canopy. I must have been better at using tiny quantities of superglue back then than I am now! Spent a long time rescribing the basic kit as well - and of course Milliputting and sanding the closed missile bay doors. Paint was Xtracolour Vietnam camo colours which I still think are the best for this scheme, with Humbrol Matt Cote over the top.

Last one from me, lads and lasses. This one was inspired by George Hall’s wonderful photography in the Osprey Superbase series. Much loved, this book was, as you can probably tell! I dreamed of walking the sunny Miramar flight line in its heyday. Fightertown USA, baby! This Scooter sports the famous (and, apparently later classified because it was just so effective) Heater/Ferris wraparound scheme. Devised in large part by ‘Heater’ Heatley, whose book largely inspired the movie. I love these ghost scheme colours. I was a bit disappointed to discover that the starboard side camo actually slants the opposite way - I spotted this aircraft in the background of a Tomcat picture elsewhere, but there you go, I’m very happy with it otherwise. The base is the Uschi Miramar print, there’s a Verlinden NC-5A power unit on there, ladder, Aerobonus Halon extinguisher (which is a lovely little kit in itself) and some scratch built chocks. Hope you like it, a reminder of a simpler time. I’m currently trying to find loving homes for my unstarted and unfinished kits, when I have my BM post count high enough they’ll be in the for sale section for your perusal, so keep an eye out😉

With a month still going on this GB, i decided to push my luck with a 1/72 Hasegawa F-104G, with CMK detail set and scratch build gun bay with Master M61 canon. I started today with all the cutting for the open bays as well as basic scratch building of the gun compartment. As with my 1/32 Zipper, i will do it in Danish livery, but this time i will do the gloss green finish.