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Junkers Ju-87G-2 Stuka "Rudel" 1:48 Hasegawa History Even before the Battle of Stalingrad, German concern about the large quantity of Soviet mobile armour on the Eastern Front during 1942 resulted in the formation of an experimental air-to-ground anti-tank unit. Tests showed that arming the Junkers Ju87 Stuka with a 37mm cannon under each wing promised the optimal tank-busting weapon. This Ju87 variant was designated the Junkers Ju87G Kanonenvogel (cannon-bird). The Ju87G-2 was developed from the long-wing Ju87D-5 Stuka dive bomber. It was a rugged design powered by a single Junkers Jumo 211J-1 twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. The type displayed outstanding qualities as a tool for precision ground attack. However, in the air the Ju87G-2 was both cumbersome and slow. Defensive armament was limited to 7.9 mm Mauser MG 81Z twin-mounted machine guns at the rear of the large glasshouse canopy. A total of 174 G-2s were built before production of all Ju 87 variants ceased in October 1944. The Ju87G began its career in February 1943 in the battles for the Kuban peninsula in Southern Russia. It was at this time that Oberstleutnant Hans-Ulrich Rudel began tank-busting operations, having recently become the first Luftwaffe pilot to fly 1000 operational missions. Later, in July 1943, Rudel took part in the epic tank battle for the Kursk salient. More than 350 Ju87's participated in these operations, including a handful of production Ju87Gs. Rudel went on to fly no fewer than 2,530 sorties and notched up a total of 2,000 targets destroyed; including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery pieces, a destroyer, 2 cruisers, the Soviet battleship Marat, 70 landing craft, 4 armoured trains, several bridges and 9 aircraft. Given the shortcomings of the Ju87G in terms of its speed, agility and defensive capability this speaks volumes for the piloting skills of Rudel himself and the marksmanship of his rear gunners. Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most decorated serviceman of all the fighting arms of the German forces. He was the only recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. Unswervingly dedicated to waging war against the enemies of the Third Reich, Rudel continued in active service following injuries sustained in February 1945 that resulted in a leg amputation. Such was his prowess and notoriety, that the Soviets placed a significant bounty on his head. Wisely deciding to evade capture at Russian hands, in a final act Rudel led three Ju87s and four Focke-Wulf FW 190s westward from Bohemia. He surrendered to U.S. forces, on 8 May 1945. The Model This kit was originally released in 1998 with new parts added to the new tool dating back to 1991. That said, the moulds are obviously wearing well as there is no sign of flash or imperfections, just a number of moulding pips. Detail is finely done with engraved and raised details as required. Construction looks to be pretty straightforward and there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable pitfalls in the build, which if it’s to their usual standard will be a breeze. Construction begins with the two place cockpit, which consists of the pilots’ seat, joystick, centre bulkhead, radio stack, gunners’ seat machine gun mount base, machine gun mount and the twin machine gun itself. The details are quite sparse and could do with the addition of seatbelts at the very least. Each side wall is fitted to their respective fuselage sides before fitting the cockpit assembly and the fuselage being closed up. The engine/front fuselage is made up of two halves, the radiator tub, radiator, and two sets of exhaust stubs. The propeller is, which is assembled from the backplate, three separate blades poly cap holder, poly cap and spinner. This is the then fitted to the engine assembly. The upper coaming and lower fuselage panels are then fitted, followed by the rear fuselage panel, containing separate circular access panel. The wing is then assembled using the single piece lower wing section and the two upper wings, ensuring that the modeller has drilled the correct holes out for the fitting of the gun pods. The flaps and ailerons are moulded integrally, whilst making for a simpler build it would have been nice to have the ability to position them as per the modellers’ wishes. The wing, engine assembly and the two horizontal tailplanes are assembled to the fuselage, in addition to the tailplane end plates and port wing landing light cover. Next up, the two main undercarriage units are constructed, each consisting of the halves for the spats and for the separate the wheels. With the model on its back the undercarriage mounts are fitted, as are the underwing radiator covers, mass balances, pitot probe, and tailplane struts. The 37mm anti-tank guns are made up of two halves, one of which is moulded with the gun barrel. With these put together the two aerodynamic fins are added to each side of the rear pod, whilst the front and rear mounting supports are fitted to the top of each weapon. Are then fitted in to the pre drilled holes in the lower wing. Once the tailwheel has been attached the model can be turned over and the four piece windscreen and canopy can be fitted, with the rear cockpits sliding section attached to its two mounting plates and the aerial mast fitted to the fixed centre section. Decals The decals, printed onto a medium sized sheet look to be well printed, with little sign of carrier film with the exception of the outline crosses and a couple of access panel stencils. The register is good and they appear nicely opaque, including the yellow and white markings. The sheet provides markings for two of Rudel’s’ aircraft one stating it’s from Hungary 1945, which I think is a typo and should really be 1944 as it states he was an Oberleutenant. The other is from his time as Oberst JG2 in Germany May 1945. Swastikas are provided, and, much like the Fw-190 reviewed earlier this year it appears they have been positioned on the sheet in such a way as to be easily removable for the German market. Rudel's Ju87G-2 Kanonenvogel of Schlachtgeschwader 2 (SG 2) "Immelmann" Werk-Nr. 494193 wore standard splinter camouflage of RLM 70/71 black green/dark green on its upper surfaces with RLM 65 light blue undersides. The crosses and swastika were painted in the simplified fashion of the last months of the war. The yellow fuselage band provided a means for rapid identification of Axis machines on the Eastern Front. The tactical yellow "V" marking under the port wing was introduced on aircraft operating over the Hungarian sector and is indicative of Luftflotte 4 machines. The commodore's chevron and bars were painted black with a white border. Conclusion This is yet another welcome re-release and makes for an interesting subject through the pilots impressive war record. The model is a bit simplified when compared to more modern releases, but it has stood the test of time and should be an easy and stress free build. The inclusion of seat belts and perhaps other sundry items could make the cockpit more interesting especially as the canopy is large and clear. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Kawasaki T-4 'Blue Impulse 2013' 1:72 Hasegawa - Limted Edition Double Kit Boxing Even though most would associate Kawasaki with the Motorcycles they make, Kawasaki are one of those mega Japanese companies which seem to make everything! They make Ships, Trains, Cars, Motorcycles Engines; and importantly for us Aircraft. The Kawasaki T-4 is know as an Intermediate Jet Trainer. It is used exclusively by the Japanese Air Self Defence Force. The JASDF realised in the late 1970s that they needed to replace their existing Jet Trainers (The Lockheed T-33 & Fuji T-1) with a single type. This aircraft was to be known as the MT-X programme. In 1981 Kawasaki was selected as the main contractor under this programme. It was planned to build 220 aircraft with an in-service date of 1988. Given the requirements of the programme for an advanced two seat trainer it is no shock that the final result looks very similar to other two seat trainers. In total 208 production aircraft were built along with 4 prototypes. Deliveries started in 1988 as per the plan! At least 5 of these aircraft were lost at Matsushima AB during the devastating Tsunami in 2011. Blue Impulse The most visible presence the T-4 makes is that it has been used since 1995 by the Blue Impulse, the Aerobatic Display Team of the Japanese Air Self Defence Force. The Blue Impulse Team were formed in 1960 Flying the then F-86 Sabre, in 1982 they transitioned to the Mitsubishi T-2; and then in 1995 to the Kawasaki T-4. The team currently fly seven T-4s, though only six display at one time. The team aircraft are painted blue and white following previous schemes. They are equipped with a smoke system which can generate white, red, blue and yellow smoke. The Kit The Hasegawa T-4 kit is the only current kit of the T-4 in 1:72 scale, the kit was tooled back in 1989 and has been steadily re-released ever since. This Double boxing has been released with markings for the 2013 Blue Impulse Aerobatic Display Team. Construction starts with the cockpit, you get a basic cockpit tub into which two seats and instrument panels are added along with the control columns. Decals are provided for the instrument panels and side consoles. After adding the cockpit, and the forward gear well the fuselage can be closed up.. The wings (traditional top & bottom construction) can then be joined to the fuselage along with the tail planes and intakes, once this is done the exhausts can be added along with the main and nose landing gear. Finally the modeller can decide to add external tanks if they wish. Blue Impulse aircraft have been seen displaying with and without these tanks. Decals The decals are the star of this re-boxing. Decals are provided to make any two of the Blue Impulse Team. Conclusion This is not a new tool by any means, but neither is it an ancient tooling that is crying out to be replaced. For this scale the detail included in the kit is sufficient for a great many of us, and for the T-4 it is the only game in town in this scale, with little likelihood of a new tooling, given that it is not widely used outside Japan. Overall I would recommend this kit. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

21st Kokusho A6M2-K Zero Fighter Trainer 1:48 Hasegawa History Whilst the Japanese Zero naval fighter is known the world over, it’s not so well known that there was a 2 seat trainer variant. The A6M2-K was designed and built at the 21st Naval Depot at Sasebo Naval Arsenal and was also built at the Hitachi plant in Chiba. The design was based on either a standard Model 21 or Model 22 A6M Zero. The conversion required the front cockpit be moved forward, and the new cockpit for the instructor to be fitted behind. This included a full instrument panel, and full dual controls. The instructor had a full sliding canopy, but the students cockpit was open with only small doors either side to aid accessibility easier. Two strakes were fitted either side of the rear fuselage to assist in spin recovery. The type served as a transitional trainer from the beginning of 1944 and were also utilised as target tugs trailing streamer type targets from pods beneath the outer wings. The A6M2-K used a larger fixed tailwheel than the standard aircraft and also had the outer gear doors removed to save weight. The Model Originally released in 2011this kit is still fairly new so naturally the moulding is very good. The finesse on the details such as rivets and panel lines is very nice indeed. There is no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips, plus no sign of imperfections on the review example. The instructions are well printed, clear and easy to read. Rather unusually the kit comes with two complete fuselages. The first is a single seater, and shares the sprue with the standard engine, cowling and propellers, whilst the second is the twin seater and subject of this build along with the interior required to build the trainer version. In fact you will end up with a lot of parts for the spares box once the kit has been built. The build begins with the assembly of the two pilot figures, each with separate torso, (with head attached), legs and arms. Next up is the cockpit or cockpits in this case. The single piece floor is fitted with a bulkhead, seat, seat supports, rudder pedals, joystick and instrument panel for each pilot. On the trainees’ instrument panel the gunsight and upper machine gun breeches are attached. As is usual with this type of kit from Hasegawa the sidewalls are separate and go to form a cockpit tub when joined to the bulkheads and floor. Before fitting the port sidewall though, two consoles need to be fitted, one for each cockpit. The completed cockpit assembly is then fitted to one half of the fuselage along with the tail wheel bulkhead and single piece tail wheel/oleo. The fuselage is then closed up and the upper forward decking attached and fitted with the machine gun barrels, whilst the rear decking is attached aft of the rear cockpit. The Sakae engine consists of engine mount, the two cylinder banks and the crankcase with connecting rods. When assembled it is fitted the fuselage and covered with the single piece cowling. The engine exhausts are then attached as are the horizontal tailplanes. There are optional tail cones, the normal solid type and an open tubular affair, which looks like it should be part of an anti-spin chute arrangement. The two upper wing sections are glued to the lower single piece item before the aileron trim tab panel lines are filled and sanded as per the instructions. A number of location holes in the lower wing also need filling and the trim tab actuating rods need to be removed. The completed wing is then fitted to the fuselage, followed by the lower engine fairing, with oil cooler, the cockpit role over bars and anti-spin strakes. The separate navigation light lenses are also fitted at this point, as are the aileron control horns. The main undercarriage consists of single piece wheels/tyres, oleo and outer bay doors, which can be left off as these were often removed to save weight. The undercarriage is then fitted into position and the outer doors attached, again these can be left off if required. The target streaming units, which look like rocket launchers in reverse, are made up of the two halves of the tube and capped off either end. They are fitted to the pylon, which is complete with separate sway braces and attached to the outer wings. With the model now standing on its undercarriage the pilots can be fitted and the four piece canopy arrangement attached. It is possible to pose the rear cockpits canopy open and the aerial mast is fitted to the fixed centre section. Lastly, the three individual propeller blades are assembled to the back plate, the spinner is then added and the completed propeller is fitted to the aircraft. Other than painting and decaling, the build is complete. Decals The decals from the latest batch of Japanese aircraft kits from Hasegawa have been pretty good, and it’s no different with this kit. Well printed, with thin carrier film, they are in good register and nicely opaque. Only the walkways on both wings and the identification numbers have any significant visible film, but on a nice glossy finish this shouldn’t silver too much. There are three aircraft for which markings are provided. All are from the Tsukuba Flying Group and both are in the distinctive and very colourful orange and black scheme, and are aircraft numbers 401. 407 and 415. Conclusion This is certainly an oddity I hadn’t heard of before receiving the kit and researching for the review. It will look great amongst a collection of Japanese aircraft, and in such a bright scheme it will certainly stand out. This will make a nice mojo lifter or weekend kit to while the hours away, and should turn out to be a fun build. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

McDonnell Douglas F-15I Ra’am 1:48 Hasegawa History The F-15I is operated by the Israeli Air Force where it is known as the Ra'am (Thunder). It is a dual-seat ground attack aircraft powered by two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines, and is based on the F-15E. The Ra'am is similar to the F-15E, but features several different avionic systems to meet Israeli requirements. To facilitate night-time strikes, the F-15Is were initially fitted with Sharpshooter targeting pods designed for Israeli F-16s. The Sharpshooter pod was less capable than the LANTIRN pods used on USAF F-15Es; Israel later purchased 30 LANTIRN pods. The F-15Is initially lacked Radar Warning Receivers, thus Israel installed its own electronic warfare equipment, the Elisra SPS-2110, as well as a new central computer and embedded GPS/INS system. All sensors can be slaved to the Display And Sight Helmet, (DASH), helmet-mounted sight, providing both crew members a means of targeting which the F-15E lacks. The F-15I uses the APG-70I radar whose terrain mapping capability can be used to locate targets that are otherwise difficult to spot—e.g., missile batteries, tanks and structures—in adverse conditions such as heavy fog or rain. The radar can detect large airliner-sized targets at 150 nautical miles, and fighter-sized targets at 56 nautical miles, although it has a reduced resolution one-third below the standard USAF APG-70. The Model Unfortunately I can’t find what date that this kit was originally released other than my usual database suggests if could have been as far back as 1991. If that’s the case then the moulds are still in remarkably good condition. The kit comes in a very attractive top opening box with what looks like a photo of a Ra’am in a landing configuration somewhere in Israel. Inside the box is packed with 11 main sprues of light grey styrene, a number of smaller sprues and one of clear styrene. The details, such as the finely engraved panel lines are sharp and crisp. There is no sign of flash or imperfections and only a few moulding pips. There are quite a few parts provided that are destined to go straight into the spares box as, according to the instructions part diagram many aren’t required for this version and are subsequently greyed out. Having gone through the stages in the instructions it doesn’t appear to be overly difficult although some areas of the kit will need to be removed so that the Ra’am specific items can be added. Naturally the build begins with the cockpit, the twin tub is fitted with two sets of rudder pedals and joysticks, which is a bit of a surprise as I hadn’t realised any version of the F-15E was dual control. Anyway, the pilot and RIO instrument panels are fitted once painted. There are no decals provided for either the instrument panels or the side consoles so careful painting will be the order of the day. The two ejection seats, each constructed of the squab/seat back, primary gun and frame, plus the two sides are assembled and each fitted with the seat pan firing handle. The mid coaming and rear cockpit side walls are now attached and the whole assembly is sandwiched between the two halves of the separate nose structure. The kit doesn’t come with any seatbelts so it might be better to replace these with aftermarket items, as even though two pilots are included, only one is seated, the other is posed as if climbing up the access ladder. Each intake is made up of two halves and the intake ramp, which when joined together are attached in position on the upper section of the mid/rear fuselage once the ramp has been fitted. The intake trunking on each side is provided into upper and lower halves and capped off at one end with the engine fan disc. These assemblies are then fitted to the lower halve of the fuselage and the intake lip ramps are attached. Several holes will need to be opened up depending on what stores the modeller is intending to fit. The rear fuselage ECM tips are removed along with the central fairing. Before closing up the fuselage, the two exhaust nozzles are assembled form a rear “dustbin”, with engine exhaust disc pre-moulded, and the exhaust petals, are fitted into position. The rear cockpit fairing is also attached allowing the nose assembly to be joined to the rest of the fuselage. The port and starboard wings are each assembled from the upper section with the lower outer pre-moulded and the separate inner panels. The assembled wings are then attached to the fuselage, along with the single piece horizontal tailplanes, vertical tails and new ECM parts to replace those removed earlier. Each conformal fuel tank is a single moulding, onto which the individual side pylons and single piece, triple hardpoint, long lower pylons are attached, along with their associated crutch pads. Each CFT also has an auxiliary intake fitted. These are then attached to their respective sides of the fuselage and the rear mounted chaff and flare dispensers, plus arrester hook are fitted. Whilst the model is upside down the undercarriage assemblies can be fitted. Each of the main units consist of two piece wheels/tyres, main oleo, retraction jack, plus main and rear undercarriage bay doors, the main sections of which are usually closed. The nose wheel is similar in construction, but with a single piece wheel/tyre, oleo, retraction jack, two nose wheel leg landing lights, main door, (again, usually shut) and rear bay door. With everything else in place the model can be turned right side up and fitted with the airbrake and actuator jack, if the airbrake is to be shown retracted, omit the jack. For the cockpit there is a second mid coaming fitted just behind the pilot’s seat and the rear coaming behind the RIO’s seat. The mid coaming is where the canopy actuator is fitted. Before fitting the windscreen and canopy the HUD glass needs to be attached. The two pitot probes, one on each side of the nose are attached, as is the four piece access ladder and the optional RIO figure, completing the build. The kit comes with a good selection of weapons, which is unusual coming from Hasegawa and there is a nice diagram showing what can be mounted where. Although it’s possible for the aircraft to have three 600 gallon drop tanks fitted, only two are provided. Not too much of a problem as I’m sure it’s the bombs that will be most important to F-15I modellers. The kit comes with:- 2 x 600gal drop tanks 4 x AIM-120C AMRAAM 4 x AIM-7F Sparrow 4 x AIM-9L Sidewinders 12 x Mk20 Rockeye 1 x AN/AAQ-28 Litening pod 1 x AN/AAQ-13 Navigation pod Decals The large decal sheet is covered in small items, with very few of them actually belonging to the unit or national markings. The vast majority are stencils for the aircraft, while the rest are markings and stencils for the weapons. The decals look to be very well printed, being nice and thin, in good register and opaque. The carrier film is virtually nonexistent and really can only be seen in some of the walk/don’t walk decals. The three different styles of Eagle heads are particularly well done. Three aircraft, each from the 69th squadron are given, No’s 235, 250 and No 267. Conclusion This is really my first look at a Hasegawa F-15 and I really liked what I saw. IT may not be the cutting edge of F-15 models, as I’m sure newer releases from other manufacturers are more advanced in features and production methods. This one though looks right, and although I can’t tell what the fit and build is like just by looking in the box, I’d imagine it’d go together without too much fuss, and then the real fun begins with the fabulous Israeli camouflage. It is this which really makes it stand out from the crowd. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

IJNS Yahagi Hasegawa 1:350 Yahagi was the second of the four vessels completed in the Agano-class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla. Yahagi was completed at Sasebo Navy Yard on 29 December 1943 and was dispatched to Singapore for patrols of Lingga and for training in February 1944. In May, it departed Singapore for Tawi Tawi with the aircraft carriers Taiho, Zuikaku and Shokaku and cruisers Myoko and Haguro. The Battle of the Philippine Sea occurred on 19 June 1944. Yahagi was in Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's “Force A” to oppose the American Fifth Fleet in a "decisive battle" off Saipan as command ship for DesDiv 10's Asagumo, DesDiv 17's Urakaze, Isokaze and Tanikaze, DesDiv 61's Wakatsuki, Hatsuzuki, Akizuki and Shimotsuki, screening the aircraft carriers. On 19 June 1944 the Mobile Fleet's aircraft attacked USN Task Force 58, but suffer overwhelming aircraft losses in the "Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot". Yahagi and Urakaze rescued 570 crewmen from the carrier Shokaku after it was torpedoed by USS Cavalla. After dry dock and refitting at Kure from late June – early July 1944, Yahagi was fitted with two additional triple-mount Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun mounts amidships (bringing its total to 48 barrels) and a Type 13 air-search and a Type 22 surface-search radar set. On 8 July 1944, Yahagi departed Kure with troops, and numerous battleships, cruisers and destroyers to return to Singapore. On 22 October 1944, Yahagi was in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Second Section of Force "A" of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force: (Center Force), commanding DesRon 10's DesDiv 2's Kiyoshimo, DesDiv 4's Nowaki and DesDiv 17's Urakaze, Yukikaze, Hamakaze and Isokaze. It is accompanied by battleships Kongo and the Haruna and cruisers Tone, Chikuma, Kumano and Suzuya. During the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944, the fleet endures 11 raids by over 250 Task Force 38 carrier aircraft from the USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Essex (CV-9), USS Intrepid (CV-11), USS Franklin (CV-13), USS Lexington (CV-16) and USS Cabot (CVL-28). Although Japanese battleship Musashi was sunk and Yamato and Nagato were hit, Yahagi was unscathed. Likewise in the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, Yahagi fought its way through the battle without damage. On 26 October 1944, Force A was attacked by 80 carrier aircraft off Panay, followed by 30 USAAF B-24 Liberator heavy bombers and an additional 60 carrier-based aircraft. Throughout these attacks Yahagi was not hit and returned to Brunei safely. On 16 November 1944, DesRon 10 was deactivated and Yahagi was assigned as the flagship of Rear Admiral Komura Keizo's new DesRon 2. Yahagi was ordered back to Japan on the same day for refit. It remained in Japanese home waters until March 1945. On 6 April 1945, Yahagi received orders for "Operation Ten-Go", to attack the American invasion force on Okinawa. Yahagi was ordered to accompany Yamato from Tokushima for its final suicide mission against the American fleet. At 1220 on 7 April 1945 the Yamato force was attacked by waves of 386 aircraft (180 fighters, 75 bombers, 131 torpedo planes) from Task Force 58. At 12:46, a torpedo hit Yahagi directly in her engine room, killing the entire engineering room crew and bringing her to a complete stop. Dead in the water, Yahagi was hit by at least six more torpedoes and 12 bombs by succeeding waves of air attacks. Japanese destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to Yahagi's aid but was attacked, heavily damaged, and sank sometime later. Yahagi capsized and sank at 14:05 at 30°47′N 128°08′E taking 445 crewmen with her. Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Tameichi Hara were among the survivors rescued by Hatsushimo and Yukikaze. Her survivors could see the Yamato in the distance, still steaming south as U.S. aircraft continued their attacks. However, in reality, Yamato was only minutes away from sinking. Yahagi was removed from the Navy List on 20 June 1945. The Model The kit comes in the standard Hasegawa style box with a great artists rendition of the Yahagi at sea on the Japanese Navy’s last mission. Inside the two hull parts are mounted on a separate “shelf”, on which there is also a rolled up poster of the cover art. Pulling the shelf out, the modeller is confronted with eleven sprues of grey styrene and one of clear. There is also a nice decal sheet, a sheet of self adhesive flags and a length of metal anchor chain. The parts are beautifully moulded with some exquisite detail, no sign of flash, just quite a few moulding pips, particularly on the smaller parts. Some are on quite fragile pipework which will need some care to remove and clean up. Since the Yahagi is the sister ship to the IJN cruiser Agano, reviewed HERE the majority of the parts are the same as is the build, therefore it seems a little disingenuous to repeat myself here. Suffice it to say that the kit will build into a very nice model. As with the Agano there are several detail sets available from Hasegawa which would have been nicer to have them included as they are rather expensive, but make the model into a real stunner. These sets for the Yahagi are the same as those for the Agano and have also been reviewed on this site HERE The ship can only be built full hull with no option of water lining it without major surgery, which may be a problem for some modellers. Decals The decal sheet provides a full set of insignia for the two aircraft, plus range of markings for the ship. The decals are well printed and in good register. They are slightly matt and should settle down pretty well with softener and setting solution, as experienced on other ship models from Hasegawa. Whilst there are flags included on the decal sheet, there is also a sheet of self adhesive flags which are a lot stronger and will last longer on the completed model. Conclusion Whilst this is almost a complete re-release of the IJNS Agano there are enough parts to make it different. With the ships history, being part of the Last Mission, it will make an interesting addition to any collection. Just a shame that the etch detail sets aren’t included in the box as they really do make a difference. Amerang Hasegawa Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Afternoon everyone I've started my next project the rather splendid Hasegawa Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc which I managed to pick up for £17.49 from Modlezone just before they ceased trading. She's going to be built pretty much OOB with only a few additions from Eduard, HGW, Aires, Brengun, Airscale and Eagle strike...scratch the OOB she will have a few additions! So here I am as of now. The cockpit is 85% complete with only the seat belts to be fabricated, a few more additions from the Eduard set and some weathering... I'm sorry the pictures aren't the best. As ever any comments are more than welcome. Yours aye Iain

McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom II “Vandy 75” 1:48 Hasegawa The history of the F-4 Phantom is too well known to re-write it here, suffice it to say that it has proven itself to be one of the best aircraft of its type built to date. The Hasegawa kit is probably equally as well known was still regarded as the best 1/48 scale kit available up until perhaps when Academy released their B and C versions. The original Hasegawa F-4 was released around 1980 and has seen many re-releases of the various versions from that date, along with new or additional parts they included new decals and the moulds were refreshed with engraved details to replace the raised details. This version of the Phantom the F-4S comes with commemorative decals for the 75th anniversary of Air Test and Evaluation squadron VX-4. The thing with the Hasegawa Phantom kits is that you know exactly what you’re going to get. The moulds are obviously holding up well as there is no sign of flash or imperfections, on the review sample at least, the details are still nice and crisp. It’s not perfect by any means but a good looking model is quite easy to achieve. Plus there is more aftermarket for these kits than you can throw a stick at, so the world is your lobster in deciding how detailed you want to make your kit. What you do get in this release is the strengthening panels for under the wing and around the main wheel bays. These are provided in what looks like etched nickel and are pretty easy to fit. For those that haven’t built one construction begins with the two pilots, each with separate heads, complete with bone dome, masks and oxygen hose. The pilot has a separate right arm, whilst the navigator has a separate left arm. The ejection seats are assembled from the singe piece squab/backrest/headrest, the two seat sides; primary ejection gun and headbox cover with firing handles moulded integrally. The twin seat tub is fitted with the rear bulkhead, navigators’ instrument panel with separate radar joystick, mid bulkhead, pilots joystick, rudder pedals and instrument panel. The instrument panels and side consoles need to be carefully painted as there are no decals included. The nosewheel bay is then glued to the bottom of the completed cockpit tub and affixed to one side of the fuselage followed by the separate sidewalls. The fuselage halves are then joined together and the two piece air intakes are attached. The blank wall that Hasegawa provide at the rear of the intakes needs to be painted black, or the modeller could produce a photo/decal to reproduce the intake and fan face before fitting the kit parts. Alternatively some homemade or aftermarket intake blanks could be use to hide the shortcoming. With the intakes in place the two ECM fins are fitted to each side. The single piece lower wing isn’t fitted with the outer wing panels; these are moulded with the upper wing sections, thus ensuring the correct dihedral on these panels. With the upper wings fixed to the lower section the wing fence on the leading edge at the fold join needs to be removed and a new part fitted further back along the join. The outer wing slats are also fitted at this time. The completed wing can then be joined to the fuselage assembly, followed by the single piece exhausts, horizontal tailplanes, fin top, two part nosecone, rear canopy fairing, the ejector seats and the pilots. Turning the model over onto its back the nose wheel, consisting of the oleo, separate scissor link, twin nose wheels and retraction jacks are assembled and fitted to the nosewheel bay. The main door retraction mechanism, main door, nose door with aerial attached are then fitted, as are the openings for the two nose intakes. Once the etched strengthening straps have been carefully removed from the fret the can be fitted into their appropriate positions forward of the main wheel bays and airbrakes. Each main undercarriage assembly is made up of two wheel halves, oleo, retraction jack and main bay door; these are then fitted into place. The small outer doors are then attached, followed by the inner doors and their linkages. The airbrakes can be posed either extended or retracted with the addition of the actuator jack if extended. The catapult stop hooks and their mounting plates are then fitted to the forward inner wing. To complete the fuselage the intake splitter plates and cockpit glazing parts are attached, the modeller can pose the canopies open or closed as desired. The model also comes with three two piece drop tanks, one for the centreline station and two for the outer wing stations. The inner wing pylons are fitted with twin launch rails and attached to the inner wing station. The kit does come with four Sidewinder and four Sparrow missiles should the modeller wish to fit them. Decals The decal sheet is smaller than normal due to the fact that there aren’t any stencils, probably due to this particular scheme. The gold 75th anniversary markings look great on the sheet with good density and opacity and in register. There is very little carrier film visible with the sole exceptions being the air intake warnings, but being affixed on gloss paint this shouldn’t cause too many problems with silvering. It certainly a lovely looking scheme. Conclusion Yes it’s another Hasegawa Phantom re-release. But in 1:48 this is still the one to get if you want an F-4S. I have built a few in my time modelling and have always enjoyed the build so maybe it’s time for me to do another? If you haven’t built one then now’s the time as you can’t have a model collection without at least one Phantom in it. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Kawanishi N1K2-J Shinden-kai (George) 1:32 Hasegawa History The N1K2-J Shinden-kai (George) was a single-seat, all-metal monoplane fighter with a enclosed cockpit. The George holds a unique place in the history of airplane construction. This land-based interceptor was based on the N1K1, which had been designed to support amphibious operations. The first prototype N1K1 (Kyofu) (Mighty Wind) was flown on May 6, 1942, and mass production began in May of 1943. However, when the first seaplanes started to arrive on the front, the situation in the Pacific theatre had changed so that this type of plane was simply no longer needed. Therefore, a land version project of the fighter was developed as a private initiative, based on the Kyofu. Originally it was planned that the only distinction between the two planes was that the Shinden-Kai would have retractable landing gear instead of floats, but it was quickly decided that the engine should be replaced with a more powerful alternative. In addition to having a more powerful engine it was decided to fit a large four bladed propeller. The size of the propeller and the mid-wing arrangement meant that the undercarriage oleos had to be designed to be telescopic, allowing them to take up less space when retracted. The land-based version made its first flight on December 12, 1942. The prototype's private designation was the X1, and in mass production its designation became N1K1-J Shinden (Purple Lightning). Production began in August of 1943. The new fighter proved to be an excellent interceptor. However, its operation was complicated by the frequent failure of its engine, the Homare 21, the complex design of its chassis, and its ineffective brakes. Consequently, the number of the N1K1-J's non-combat losses was very high. The next model of the Shinden was designed to eliminate these shortcomings. The aircraft's redesign began simultaneously with the N1K1-J's military trials. The N1K2-J's first flight was made on December 31, 1943. The production model was designated the Shinden-Kai («Purple Lightning Improved») Model 21 Marine Fighter-Interceptor. The new model, like its predecessor, featured a 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, the Nakajima Homare 21 NK9H, with a takeoff power of 1820 hp. It also retained the basic wing construction and armament of the N1K1-J. However, the Shinden-Kai was really a new plane. During the planning phase, special attention was given to ensuring ease of production and, at least to some extent, the use of readily available materials. Unlike its predecessor, this model had a low-wing design which allowed the use of conventional landing gear. The new design was finally rid of the N1K1-J's main operational problems. The shape of the fuselage was completely changed and somewhat lengthened, and the vertical tail fin was completely redesigned. The empty weight of the aircraft was decreased by 240 kilograms. The N1K2-J was armed with 4 Type 99 Model 2, 20mm wing-mounted cannons. The inner pair was provided with 200 rounds of ammunition each and the outer had 250 each (900 rounds in total). On the two pylons suspended underneath its wings, the aircraft could carry two 250-kg type 98 or two 60-kg type 97 bombs. Or, it could carry unguided 60-kg No.27 rockets. In addition, an extra 400-liter fuel tank could be installed under the fuselage. Unfortunately, because its center of gravity was towards the plane's rear, the N1K2-J was somewhat difficult to control, and was usually flown by experienced pilots (especially former Zero pilots) after they underwent retraining. The Model Unusually these days, this kit is a full, brand new tool from Hasegawa and it is up to their usual standards. The attractive box, (with an artists impression of the aircraft flying over puffy clouds, surrounded by a white border on the top), isnt exactly stuffed with styrene, but what is provided is very cleanly moulded, with fine details and with enough detail where it counts to make it a nice model to build. There are nine sprues of medium grey styrene and one of clear, along with four poly caps and decal sheet. The instructions are well printed, very clear and easy to read. The build, which is covered in 17 steps, begins with the included pilot figure. This is a very well moulded multi part assembly, with front and rear torso, separate legs and arms, including alternative styles of head, one with the leather helmet open and one with the helmet fastened up. Fitted with the separate parachute pack and after a careful painting session it will make a nice addition to the completed model. Next up is the instrument panel, which is attached to the forward bulkhead, has moulded instrument bezels, but uses four blocks of decals for the faces. Depending on how these settle it might be an idea to fit each face separately, much like using an Airscale set. A drop of Aqua gloss or Kleer can be used to seal the decals, with the added advantage of drying to look like the instrument glass. The gunsight is made up of the support structure, internal armoured glass and two clear reticules. This is then fitted to the top of the instrument panel. The cockpit, which consists of the floor, seat back, seat bucket, seat supports, seat cushion, rudder pedals, four piece radio and side console tops. Before the cockpit can be fitted to the fuselage, the two side walls need to be installed, along with control leavers and a pair of oxygen bottles on either side. The instrument panel, rear bulkhead and sidewalls are assembled to produce a cockpit box structure. The two front sections of the fuselage are glued together with the addition of three bulkheads along their length. There is a panel that needs to be removed from the port side fuselage, just aft of the cockpit opening and the panel lines re-instated, (there is a diagram showing what needs to be done). With the forward fuselage assembled the cockpit tub is slid into position from the bottom. The single piece lower wing is fitted out with the main spar and just in front of that are the two main wheel inner bays. The two upper wing sections are then attached to the lower wing, ensuring that the fragile inner flap race is not damaged, to the top of the upper wing panels are fitted the aileron linkage fairings. Remember to drill out the holes it the drop tanks are to be fitted. The kit comes with separate flaps, which can be posed extended or retracted, depending win which hinge parts you choose. With the wings done, its onto the tail assembly. This consists of the two tail halves, which includes the fin and rudder and the upper and lower halves of each horizontal tailplane, which are attached to the tail once assembled. The mainplanes are then attached to the fuselage, followed by the tailplane assembly, which, due to the solid plug shouldnt cause too many problems with fit and as the join is on a panel line it shouldnt need any filler, but careful fitting will always pay dividends. The main wings are then fitted with the four cannon barrels and the separate clear navigation lights and pitot probe. The main undercarriage consists of the main oleos, separate scissor link, brake pipe and two piece gear bay doors. The tyres are in two halves with separate inner and outer hubs, when assembled these are attached to the oleo axles. With the model on its back there are two cannon bay panels to be fitted, one on each outer wing panel and another on the centreline of the fuselage. The main undercarriage assemblies, retraction jacks, inner bay doors with associated retraction links, single tail wheels are attached, along with two footsteps on the inner wing fairing are also attached. The optionally positioned flaps can now be fitted as can the centreline drop tank, (if fitted), which consists of two halves and separate crutch plates. With the main structure complete its on with the powerplant. For the propeller each of the separate blades are fitted to the hub which is fitted to the backplate and enclosed with the spinner. The cowling is then assembled with the addition of the cooling gill. The engine is made up of the front and rear cylinder banks, two sets of valve rods at the front plus the intake and exhaust manifolds to the rear. The reduction gearbox, with separate pipework and fastener ring is attached to the front. The completed engine is then attached to the fuselage followed by the cowling and finally the propeller. The build is completed with the attachment of the windscreen, pilots headrest, radio aerial, rear canopy and sliding canopy, with grab handles fitted Decals The decals are printed by Hasegawa themselves and do look very well done. Apart from the aircraft identification numbers there is very little carrier film to be seen. Opacity and register is good and the decals are slightly matt. There is a choice of two aircraft, both in dark green over silver colour schemes and full stencils for one aircraft. These are:- Aircraft No. 343-15 of the 343rd Naval Flying Group, 301st Fighter Squadron, piloted by Squadron Leader Lt. Naoshi Kanno Matsuyama, April 1945 Aircraft No.343-03 of the 343rd Naval Fighter Group, 407th Fighter Squadron, flown by W.O. Kouji Ohara Matsuyama, April 1945 Conclusion This is a lovely looking kit and should build into a very attractive looking model. The detail is there for those who just want to build out of the box, but there is still plenty of scope for superdetailing. The pilot figure is always a nice to have addition, but it would have been nice to have some separate seat belts if he was not to be used. Highly recommended. Usual caveats apply, in that you may comment on the kit, but please leave pricing out of any comments. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Two of Japan's finest ever sports cars, both products of their era, both designed by the same guy, Albrecht Goertz. The 2000GT was a Yamaha proposal which Nissan turned down, and Toyota didn't. The Z-car is Datsun through and through... What a lovely car, and what a great kit... bestest, M.

Nakajima Ki-84 Type 4 Fighter Hayate (Frank) 1:48 Hasegawa History "Forget it - it's a Frank." It is said that this comment was made frequently by USAAF personnel watching radar screens on Okinawa in the closing weeks of the Pacific War. It was customary to watch for a contact to appear and then to scramble P-51 Mustangs to intercept the enemy aircraft. But when the blip was moving so fast that it was inferred to be one of the advanced new Japanese Hayate fighters it would be assumed that the P-51s would stand no chance of catching the intruder. Generally regarded as the best Japanese fighter of World War Two, the Hayate, (Hurricane) was nonetheless not without its problems. Much of its superlative all-round performance stemmed from its extremely advanced direct-injection engine, the Army's first version of the Navy NK9A. Yet this same engine gave constant trouble and demanded skilled maintenance. T. Koyama designed the Ki-84 to greater strength factors than any previous Japanese warplane - yet poor heat-treatment of high-strength steel had the consequence that the landing gears often snapped. Progressive deterioration in quality control meant that pilots never knew how individual aircraft would perform, whether the brakes would work, and even whether - in attempting to intercept B-29 Superfortresses over Japan - they would be able to climb high enough. Despite these problems the Hayate was essentially a superb fighter - a captured Ki-84-1a was to out climb and outmanoeuvre a P-47 Thunderbolt, and a P-51. The first batches were sent to China, where the 22nd. Sentai, when equipped with the new fighter, were able to fly rings around Chennault's 14th Air Force. The 22nd Sentai was later moved to the Philippines, where problems overtook them, with many accidents and shortages and extremely poor serviceability. Frequent bombing of the Musashi engine factory, and the desperate need to conserve raw materials (the shortages resulting primarily from the American submarine blockade) led to various projects and prototypes made of wood or steel. Total production of the Ki-84 still reached 3,514, showing the importance of the design to the Japanese forces. The Model Originally released in 2000 this is another example of Hasegawas superb mould design and upkeep. Inside the very attractive box, with a very nice painting of a Ki84 flying solo above the clouds, are seven sprues of medium grey styrene and one of clear, along with 8 grey and 4 black poly caps. From reading reviews of the day and researching the type, the kit was very well regarded as almost, but not quite the perfect model kit being both accurate and nicely detailed. I see no reason why this has changed with this release, so expect it to be a fun and enjoyable build. There are only nine build sequences in the instructions and as is the norm the build begins with the cockpit. The cockpit floor is fitted out with more levers, apart from the regulation joystick, than seems appropriate for a single seat fighter, but, whatever the real on looks like the seven included in the kit are certainly well represented, also fitted are the centre lower console and rudder pedals. To the now well populated floor the seat is attached, followed by the front and rear bulkheads, instrument panel with decal instruments, upper cannon breeches, and sidewalls, each kitted out with further controls and black boxes pre moulded and in need of some careful detail painting. The completed cockpit is then fitted to one half of the fuselage and with a poly cap in the tail wheel position the fuselage can be closed up. The lower wing is then fitted with five poly caps in the bomb and drop tank positions. The upper wing panels are then attached to eh lower wing, with the landing light fitted to the port side. The wing, single piece horizontal tailplanes and two part rudder are then attached to the fuselage completing the mainframe. The kits gives alternative main wheels, and some research should be carried out as only the later style should be used and the instructions don’t make it clear which is which. The single piece tyres have separate inner and outer hubs, with the inner one fitted with a poly can and the outer one with an unidentifiable part. The completed wheels are then attached to the oleo along with the main gear door. The engine is quite a simple single piece affair, but with the close cowl not much will be seen anyway. The engine is attached to the firewall onto which the multiple exhausts are also attached. The gearbox housing is in three parts, well four if you include the attachment ring and this is fitted to the front of the engine, the gearbox housing also accommodates another poly cap, whilst just above the housing an intake is fitted. The completed engine is the slid into the cowling and attached to the front of the fuselage. There is another intake, in three parts fitted on the centreline at the join where the cowling meets the forward lower fuselage. Flipping the model over the main undercarriage is attached, along with the inner bay doors and their respective retraction actuators, whilst to the rear the tailwheel is slotted into the previously fitted poly cap and finished off with the attachment of the two bay doors. The drop tank crutches, landing light cover, pitot probe, foot step and wing cannon barrels are all fitted along with the three piece oil cooler which is fitted under the starboard wing root. Check the orientation of the cooler as when first released the instructions showed this to be fitted the wrong way round and it cannot be presumed that Hasegawa have changed this. The individual navigation lights above and below each wing tip and either side of the fin are then attached. The three piece drop tanks are then assembled and slotted into position into the poly cap held within the wing. The flaps are separate items and can be posed up or down as per the modellers wishes. Turning the model over onto its wheels the gunsight, four piece head rest are attached before the windscreen, sliding canopy and fixed canopy sections are all fitted. The last operation is the assembly of the propeller, which consists of the single piece four bladed prop, axle pin and spinner; this is then slid into the poly cap within the gearbox housing completely the build. Decals Hasegawas own decals are well printed with very good density/opacity, no sign of carrier film on any of the decals, including the wing walk areas which would normally cause a problem, and in good register. They are slightly matt but thin and should settle down well. The modeller may wish to leave some of the markings off, such as the yellow leading edges and paint them instead. The decals provide markings for two aircraft, both in olive drab over grey-green, these are:- Ki84 No.62 flown by Capt. Shigeru Tsuruta of the Hitachi Flight Training squadron from June 1945. Ki84 No.762 flown by Capt. Yasuro Masaki, of the Hitachi Flight Training squadron from June 1945. Conclusion This is another welcome re-release from Hasegawa, and from reading build reviews from earlier releases it should be a fun and rewarding experience. It should make for a nice weekend build, or one to get the mojo going again after a difficult build of a lay off. Whatever the reason for building, it will be a nice addition to the collection, particularly if you're into Japanese aircraft. Very highly recommended Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Aichi D3A1 Type 99 (Val) 1:48 Hasegawa History The Aichi D3A, (Val) was a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all actions, including the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Aichi D3A was the first Japanese aircraft to bomb American targets in World War II, commencing with Pearl Harbor and U.S. bases in the Philippines, such as Clark Air Force Base. During the course of the Second World War, the Val dive bomber sank more Allied warships than any other Axis aircraft. In December 1939, the Navy ordered the aircraft as the Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber Model 11. The production models featured slightly smaller wings and increased power in the form of the 746 kW (1,000 hp) Kinsei 43 or 798 kW (1,070 hp) Kinsei 44. The directional instability problem was finally cured with the fitting of a long dorsal fin, and the aircraft actually became highly maneuverable. Armament was two forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) Type 97 machine guns, and one flexible 7.7 mm (.303 in) Type 92 machine gun in the rear cockpit for defence. Normal bomb load was a single 250 kg (550 lb) bomb carried under the fuselage, which was swung out under the propeller on release by a trapeze. Two additional 60 kg (130 lb) bombs could be carried on wing racks located under each wing outboard of the dive brakes. The D3A1 commenced carrier qualification trials aboard the Akagi and Kaga during 1940, while a small number of aircraft made their combat debut from land bases over China. Starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the D3A1 took part in all major Japanese carrier operations in the first 10 months of the war. They achieved their first major success against the Royal Navy during their Indian Ocean raid in April 1942. Val dive bombers scored over 80% hits with their bombs during attacks on two heavy cruisers and an aircraft carrier during the operation. During the course of the war, Val dive bombers had to frequently combine their attacks upon enemy warships with the IJN Kate torpedo bomber; consequently enemy vessels were often sunk by a combination strike of bombs and torpedoes. However, there were occasions when just the Vals would make the attacks, or at least score the sinking hits. Discounting the Pearl Harbor strike, which also used the Nakajima B5N used for level bombing and torpedo attacks, Val dive bombers were credited with sinking the following Allied warships. The Model Originally released in 2002 this kit has been re-released several times since, with new decals each time. This release is the same, with decals for the Indian Ocean Raid. Inside the attractively printed box are the six sprues of grey styrene and one of clear, along with a small sprue of four poly caps. The mouldings are standing the test of time well, with no sign of flash or imperfections other than quite a few moulding pips on the smaller parts, although being only twelve years old, so they should. Details are nicely moulded, including finely engraved panel lines and slightly deeper lines where necessary. The instructions aren’t quite as clear as some of Hasegawas other re-releases, particularly for the cockpit assembly, but with a bit of care it should all go together ok. The build with the construction of the forward cockpit bulkhead and the fitting of the upper machine gun breeches to said bulkhead, along with the instrument panel which has raised details, yet the decal that is meant to be used on it looks like it wouldn’t settle down that easily over them. The modeller can either remove the details on the panel or carefully remove each instrument from the decal and place them with the raised areas finishing them off with a drop of your favourite clear varnish. The side walls are populated with detailed parts, with spare magazines for the rear machine gun, throttle lever, additional instruments and one of the two optional bomb sights fitted to the starboard side, whilst the port side is fitted with additional spare machine gun magazines and mid brace tube. The cockpit floor is the fitted out with the mid bulkhead, pilots seat, joystick, rudder pedals, and the complex rear gunners seat assembly made up of the seat, three machine gun support tubes, cross tube and machine gun, which can be posed either in the firing position or stowed on the gunners left hand side, next to his seat. The cockpit tub is then assembled from the sub assemblies of the floor, instrument panel, port and starboard side walls plus the rear bulkhead and the whole lot sandwiched between the fuselage halves as they are closed up. The centre console, with central compass, interior bracing and additional instrument for the gunner are then attached between the pilot and gunner positions. Next it’s on with the wings, which consist of a single piece lower wing and two upper panels. Ensure that you open up the holes in the lower wing if you wish to fit the bombs. The completed wing is then attached to the fuselage along with the two single piece horizontal tailplanes. The single piece engine is fitted with a poly cap and finished off with the fitting of the gearbox cover. The cowling is assembled from two halves and a separate nose section. There are two types of bomb included, the large 250kg which is mounted on the centreline and the two 60kg bombs fitted to pylons on the outer wings. Each bomb comes in multiple parts including pylons, sway braces, fins and the trapeze mechanism for the 250kg bomb. The main wheels are simple fixed affairs and are made of inner and outer spats into which the single piece wheels are fitted. With all the sub-assemblies built up they can be fitted to the aircraft. Before fitting the engine thought, there are the two separate exhaust stacks that need to be attached on the underside of the firewall. Additionally, there are a pair of dive brakes, landing lamp, aileron trim tab linkages, arrestor hook, tailwheel and arrestor cable guard attached. The single piece three bladed prop fitted with a two part hub assembly then slid into place, to be held by the poly cap previously fitted to the engine assembly. Finally the pitot probe, clear navigation light parts and canopy/canopies are attached, with the option of multiple open panels or single piece closed arrangement, each with the aerial mast fixed on the centre section fixed part. Decals The decals provide markings for four aircraft, each of which took part in the Indian Ocean raid. Aichi D3A1 EI-238 flying from Shokaku Aichi D3A1 EII-203 flying from Zuikaku Aichi D3A1 AI-203 flying from Akagi Aichi D3A1 AI-206 also flying from Akagi As usual, the decals are well printed with good opacity and in register. There is little or no sign of carrier film, with the exception of the horizontal tailplane stripes on which the film is very noticeable. A good coat of gloss varnish and some good setting and softening solution will go a long way to get rid of any silvering in this area, or you may want to discard them are paint them instead. Conclusion Even though it’s another re-release, it’s good to see the Val out again as it is an important part of Japanese Naval Aviation history. There is nothing difficult in the build, in fact some areas are perhaps a little simplified, particularly the engine. Certainly the interior will require a good bit of detail painting to bring it all out, but the simple colour schemes mean that this would make a nice weekend build without any AM getting in the way and will look good in any collection. Highly recommend. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Bought these quite recently as I have a soft spot for the Hurricane but wanted to do something different than BoB. Hoping to make a start this weekend. Whilst there's some additional goodies that will find their way in to the builds, the main goal is to have some relatively simple sanity builds with the focus being on the paintwork and weathering rather than being crammed with every detail imaginable. To prevent Troy from telling me off , I've started to sand the panels on the sides which should have the corrugated form right across the join. Only done one side of one kit so far using a round file. Wasn't brilliant, but hope to improve for the others. Wasn't a disaster either!

Hi everybody, here I present my currently finished RF-4E, built of Hasegawa J.A.S.F.D (07230) kit. I used addiionally Aires pilot seats, Hi Decal Line decals, Master tubes and probes, Steel Scorpion "Remove before flight" pendants (correct word?..) and Eduard painting masks. I finished my Phantom in Iranian markings: 62nd TFS, 61st TFW, Islamic Iranian Air Force (IRIAF), TFB.6, Bushehr, 1985. Thanx to Arkady72 for stencil decals! Model was paited using Lifecolor, Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylics and Mr. Hobby and Model Master metalizers. I hope you enjoy!

Kawasaki Ki-100-I Koh (Tony) 1:48 Hasegawa History Originally powered by a Kawasaki Ha-140 inline engine and designated the Ki-61 the aircraft was redesigned in October 1944 to be fitted with a Mitsubishi Ha-112 twin row radial engine and re-designated the Ki-100. The ability to fit a wide radial into a narrow fuselage came from studying an imported Fw-190. At first, there were problems with the aircraft now being found to be very tail-heavy, but the removal of a large lead counterbalance, which had been placed in the Ki-61-II-KAI's rear fuselage to balance the increasingly heavy Ha-140 engine, restored the center of gravity (cg). As a result, on 1 February 1945, the new model was flown for the first time. Without the need for the heavy coolant radiator and other fittings required for a liquid-cooled engine, the Ki-100 was 329 kg (725 lb) lighter than the Ki-61-II, reducing the wing loading from 189 kg/m² (38.8 lb/ft²) to 175 kg/m² (35.8 lb/ft²). This had an immediate positive effect on the flight characteristics, enhancing landing and takeoff qualities as well as imparting increased manoeuvrability and a tighter turning circle. The army general staff was amazed by the flight characteristics of the plane, which surpassed the Hien's in all but maximum speed (degraded by a maximum of 29 km/h [18 mph] by the larger area of the radial engine's front cowling), and the model was ordered to be put in production as the Army Fighter Type 5. The company's name was Ki-100-1-Ko. All of the airframes were remanufactured from Ki-61-II Kai and Ki-61-III airframes; the integral engine mount/cowling side panel was cut off the fuselage and a tubular steel engine mount was bolted to the firewall/bulkhead. Many of the redundant fittings from the liquid-cooled engine, such as the ventral radiator shutter actuator, were still kept. The first 271 aircraft, or Ki-100-1-Ko, with the raised "razorback" rear fuselage were rolled out of the factory between March and June 1945. A further 118 Ki-100 I-Otsu were built with a cut-down rear fuselage and new rear-view canopy from May through to the end of July 1945. This version also featured a modified oil cooler under the engine in a more streamlined fairing. The engine was reliable in contrast to the mechanical nightmares of the Nakajima Ki-84, Kawasaki Ki-61, and Kawanishi N1K-J that kept many aircraft grounded. Although slow in level flight for 1945, unlike most Japanese fighters, the Ki-100 could dive with P-51 Mustangs and hold the speed on pullout. Two problems which hampered the effective employment of Japanese fighters towards the end of the war were unreliable electrical systems; that of the Ki-100 were less problematic than most other aircraft types, although the fuse-boxes caused problems; and poor radio communications, which was generic throughout the war. The armament was two fuselage-mounted 20 mm Ho-5 cannons, each with 200 rpg. These were complemented by two wing-mounted 12.7 mm (.50 in) Ho-103 machine guns with 250 rpg. Army units to be equipped with this model included the following Sentai: 5th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 59th, 111th, 112th, 200th and 244th and the 81st Independent Fighter Company. Along with the previously named Army air units, pilots were trained through the Akeno and Hitachi (Mito) Army Flying Schools. Many of the Akeno and Hitachi instructors, who were often seconded from operational units, flew combat missions (this deployment was a notable spreading out of the very few fighters that were operational, but many of these wings were only partially re-equipped). The Ki-100 made its combat debut on the night of 9 March 1945 and suffered its first loss on 7 April 1945, when a Ki-100 flown by Master Sergeant Yasuo Hiema of the 18th Sentai was shot down by a B-29 after "attacking the formation again and again". Allied aircrews soon realised that they were facing a formidable new fighter. Although far fewer Ki-100s were available than the Ki-84s, it was perceived to be one of the most important fighters in the inventory. However, during interception of the high-flying B-29s (the B-29 raids soon became low-level missions) the new Japanese fighters struggled as the Ha-112-II engine performance decreased at high altitudes. The most effective way to attack the Superfortress was by making very dangerous head-on attacks, changing their approach path as they neared the bombers. A failure while attempting this was deadly, because of the concentration of defensive fire from the bombers. In this type of combat, the Navy's Mitsubishi J2M Raiden was superior. An overall assessment of the effectiveness of the Ki-100 rated it highly in agility, and a well-handled Ki-100 was able to outmanoeuvre any American fighter, including the formidable P-51D Mustangs and the P-47N Thunderbolts which were escorting the B-29 raids over Japan by that time, and was comparable in speed, especially at medium altitudes. In the hands of an experienced pilot, the Ki-100 was a deadly opponent and, together with the Army's Ki-84 and the Navy's Kawanishi N1K-J, the only other Japanese fighters being able to defeat the latest Allied types. The Model The original version of this kit was released in 1996 but other than the 1999 release of the re-tooled version with the cut down rear fuselage there isn’t any other information on the provenance of the moulds. But, judging on the simple nature of the build it looks to date from the original. That said, if this kit is from the original moulds then they are holding up very well. There is no sign of flash or sink marks and only a few moulding pips. On the inside of each wing tip there are a number of small nodules which will need removing to ensure a good fit. The six sprues of grey styrene and three sprues of clear are very well moulded with finely reproduced panel lines and fasteners. The styrene does appear to be rather soft, so be gentle when sanding and filing. The instructions are well printed, clear and easy to read. The build takes place over twelve operations and looks fairly straight forward. The build begins with the cockpit, which consists of the floor, seat back, seat bucket, seat adjustment lever, rudder pedals, and front bulkhead. Before the cockpit can be fitted to the fuselage, the two side walls need to be installed, along with the hydraulic valve control box, (most parts are actually labelled in the instructions), on the port side wall. With these and the cockpit fitted the instrument panel, with associated decal is fitted to the underside of the coaming. Also fitted at this stage are the upper cannon barrels, exhausts, oil cooler intake, single piece engine cylinders, and gearbox cover. The fuselage halves can then be closed up. To complete the fuselage the cowling nose ring and cannon troughs are attached. The single piece lower wing and two upper wing sections are joined together, after which they can be fitted to the fuselage, along with the horizontal tail planes. Each main undercarriage is made up of a single piece oleo, including the scissor link, single piece main wheel/tyre and the outer bay door. Also constructed at this point are the two drop tanks, each made up of two halves and the pylon. With the model on its back the main undercarriage can be fitted along with the inner bay doors and their associated retraction links, single piece tail wheel, belly fairing, drop tanks and oil cooler exhaust door. The final parts to be attached are the three piece propeller, consisting of the three bladed prop, back plate and spinner, the rear decking after of the cockpit, including radio and headrest, single piece canopy, aerial, pitot probe and landing light cover. Other than painting, the build is complete. Decals The Hasegawa printed decals look pretty good, although perhaps a tad thick, so will need some softener and setting solution to get them to bed down properly. Register is good as in the opacity, and there isn’t much in the way of carrier film. Two aircraft are depicted on the decals, both flying with the 59th Flight Regiment, aircraft No 47 and aircraft No. 153 Conclusion I’ve usually chosen the Ki-61 as one of my favourite Japanese aircraft and didn’t realise the Ki-100 was derived from it. That said it’s a good looking aircraft and will look great next to the inline engined variant. It isn’t a complex kit by any stretch of the imagination, but with a nice paint job, it will look good in any collection. Recommended Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Focke Wulf Fw190F-8 1:48 Hasegawa History Arguably one of the best fighters of the time, the Fw 190 was widely used during the Second World War. A total of over 20,000 were produced, including some 6,000 fighter-bomber variants. The 190 remained in production from 1941 until the end of the war, going through multiple redesigns. The Fw.190 made a name for itself as a true Luftwaffe workhorse and was used in a wide variety of roles, including a high-altitude interceptor (especially the Fw.190D), escort fighter, fighter-bomber and night fighter. When the Fw 190 started flying operationally over France in August 1941, it quickly proved itself to be superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V. The 190 wrested air superiority away from the RAF until the introduction of the vastly improved Spitfire Mk. IX in July 1942 restored qualitative parity. The Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the Eastern Front in November/December 1942; though Soviet pilots considered the Bf 109 the greater threat, the Fw 190 made a significant impact. The fighter and its pilots proved just as capable as the Bf 109 in aerial combat, and in the opinion of German pilots who flew both, provided increased firepower and manoeuvrability at low to medium altitude. The Fw 190 became the backbone of the Jagdwaffe, along with the Bf 109. On the Eastern Front, and was versatile enough to use in Schlachtgeschwader (Battle Wings or Strike Wings), specialised ground attack units which achieved much success against Soviet ground forces. As an interceptor, the Fw 190 underwent improvements to make it effective at high altitude, enabling it to maintain relatively equal with its Allied opponents. The Fw 190A series performance decreased at high altitudes (usually 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and above), which reduced its effectiveness as a high-altitude interceptor, but this problem was mostly rectified in later models, particularly in the Junkers Jumo 213 inline-engine Focke Wulf Fw 190D series, which was introduced in September 1944. In spite of its successes, it never entirely replaced the Bf 109. The Fw.19 F-8 was the most mass-produced variant of the Fw.190F series, based on the Fw.190A-8. The Fw 190 F-8 differed from the A-8 model in having a slightly modified injector on the compressor which allowed for increased performance at lower altitudes for several minutes. The F-8 was also fitted with the improved FuG 16 ZS radio unit, which provided much better communication with ground combat units. Armament of the Fw 190 F-8 was two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots and two 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns above the engine. According to Ministry of Aviation acceptance reports, at least 3,400 F-8s were built, and probably several hundred more were built in December 1944 and from February to May 1945. Dozens of F-8s served as various test beds for anti-tank armament, including the WGr.28 280 mm air-to-ground missile, probably based on the projectiles from the Nbw 41 heavy ground-barrage rocket system, and the 88 mm (3.46 in) Panzerschreck 2 rockets, Panzerblitz 1 and R4M rockets. The Model Originally released in 2011 this kit has now been reboxed by Hasegawa, this time with a new set of decals and a different weapon load. The box artwork shows this well with a representation of the aircraft banking to port with the large bomb on its centreline. The styrene inside the box is of the usual Hasegawa fare, nicely moulded with fine panels lines, no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips on the seven grey sprues of varying sizes and one sprue of clear styrene. Instructions are not as clear as some of their kits but are certainly usable. Spread over thirteen operations, the build begins with the cockpit which consists of the tub, with the rear decking integrally moulded, separate seat, side consoles, rudder pedals, and joystick. The instrument panel requires the details to be sanded away so that the instrument decal can be applied. Alternatively you could use the individual decals found on the Airscale products, and keep the surface details. Seatbelts are not provided so these will have to be sourced from elsewhere or assembled out of Tamiya tape. With the cockpit completed it can be affixed to one side of the fuselage, along with the trim wheel on the starboard fuselage side wall, after which the fuselage can be closed up. The main undercarriage bays are made up of the front wing spare face, wheel wells and central bracing structure. The bay assembly is then glued into position on the single piece lower wing. The upper wing sections are then fitted to the lower wing, the machine gun bulges are then fitted to the their respective positions on the upper wings, followed by the upper nose decking and horizontal tailplanes. With the fuselage almost complete, it’s on to the engine and cowling. The cowling consists of upper and lower sections, two side pieces, front section and an internal intake part. Putting the completed cowling assembly to one side, construction of the engine can begin. The valve rods are attached to the combined cylinder banks/bulkhead. There is not much in the way of detail for the cylinders, but to be honest there won’t be anything seen once the cowling has been fitted. With e valve rods in place, the gearbox back plate is fitted to the front of the engine, followed by the gearbox, into which a poly retaining part has been added, followed by the fan disc. The completed engine is then attached to the forward fuselage, along with the exhaust pipes on either side and finished off with the cowling.. With the fuselage upside down, the undercarriage can be attached. Each main undercarriage assembly is made up of the main oleo, separate scissor link single piece wheels and gear bar door. The tail wheel also has a separate single piece wheel which is attached to the tail wheel oleo and supporting structure and finished off with the attachment of the other side of the wheel yoke. The main undercarriage assemblies, once fitted into position are completed with the attachment of a retraction jack for each leg. Additional parts fitted at this point include the wing root gun barrels, boarding step, outer wing panels, and the centreline bomb rack which is made up out of two front halves, a single piece rear section and completed with the fitting of the four crutch pads. The bomb itself is assembled from the two nose halves, two tail halves, two separate fins and the tail ring. Part of the lowest fin needs to have a section removed to give the required ground clearance. The bomb can then be fitted to the carrier. The final sub-assemblies of the build are the propeller, (consisting of the single piece propeller, back plate and spinner), optional styles of canopy with alternative armour plate supporting structure, three piece gunsight, and windscreen which can then all be fitted to the model. Lastly the pitot probe and wing tip nav lights are attached, Decals The decal sheet is very well printed by Hasegawa themselves, in good register, nicely opaque and slightly glossy. Surprisingly full swastikas are included, so I don’t think this kit will be on sale in Germany, although they are placed on the sheet in such a way as to be easily removed. The are full stencils for one aircraft and the option of two aircraft markings. Fw-190F-8 A3+18 11./KG200 March 1945, RLM74 and RLM 75 over RLM 76, with RLM75 mottle on the fuselage sides. Fw-190F-8 A3+LV 11./KG200 1945, RLM74 and RLM 75 over RLM76 with no mottling. Conclusion This is another nice re-release from Hasegawa and well up to their usual standards. The detail is very nice straight out of the box, and apart from the addition of seatbelts shouldn’t really need anything else. The unusual fin arrangement of the 1000kg bomb makes it a little more interesting and will make a nice addition to any collection. Recommended Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Hi All, This was a two year long odyssey, most of which was finished in the month of January. The build thread with its woeful photos is HERE. This is the best model kit I've ever had the pleasure of building. Practically flawless fit, beautiful mouldings and clever, well-designed construction with sensible instructions and build progression. Well worth the £130-odd quid the kit retails at. I also used the three Hasegawa PE sets, which help you realise exactly what quality PE is, quite a lot better than even the mighty WEM/GMM manage to produce. I paid £80 for the kit, and the same for the PE and still think it's a bargain! The Agano-class of four ships were meant to replace the otherwise-needed Tenryu, Sendai and Nagara-class of interwar-built light cruisers in the destroyer leader role. Although fast and fine-looking ships, they were barely better armed than a Kagero-class destroyer with just six 6-in guns and a light AA armament of two twin 3-in and four 25mm mounts as built. Their strength was their speed, heavy torpedo armament and aircraft handling facilities featuring two "Jake" floatplanes. Of the four built, only one survived the war - Agano fell prey to US submarines as did her sister Noshiro. Yahagi escorted the Yamato on her final kamikaze sortie in April 1945, joining her at the bottom of the Pacific. Sakawa was captured intact and used for repatriation of troops until being expended as a target in the Bikini atomic tests in 1946. All photos as ever credit to IPMS Farnborough, taken by the ever-patient Chris Bradley! Happy to answer any questions etc, Al

Next in the cabinet is the Erich Harmann’s Bf109G-6 in temporary winter camo. The kit is the well known Hasegawa JT48 and is actually quite good. I added some Eduard parts for the cockpit, wheel bays and flaps. Painting was done the original way. I started with the standard mottled scheme and over sprayed it with the temporary winter scheme. The nose Tulip was also sprayed instead using the decals. During the process I ruined the Erla Haube and I had to order a complete new kit for this item alone, Luckily there is also a classic hood included in the kit so I can still build a new Bf109G-14. Thanks for watching.

Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden, (Jack) 1:32 Hasegawa History The J2M was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the A6M Zero to meet the 14-Shi (14th year of the Showa reign, or 1939) official specification. It was to be a strictly local-defence interceptor, intended to counter the threat of high-altitude bomber raids, and thus relied on speed, climb performance, and armament at the expense of manoeuvrability. The J2M was a sleek, but stubby craft with its over-sized Mitsubishi Kasei engine buried behind a long cowling, cooled by an intake fan and connected to the propeller with an extension shaft. Pilot visibility was poor, but a domed canopy introduced later in production partially alleviated this concern. Teething development problems stemming from the Kasei engine, unreliable propeller pitch change mechanism and the main undercarriage members led to a slowdown in production. A continual set of modifications resulted in new variants being introduced with the ultimate high-altitude variant, the J2M4 Model 34 flying for the first time in August 1944. It had a 1,420 hp Kasei 23c engine equipped with a turbo supercharger (mounted in the side of the fuselage just behind the engine) that allowed the rated power to be maintained up to 30,000 ft. Two upward-aimed, oblique-firing (aimed at seventy degrees) twenty mm cannons, mounted in the German Schräge Musik style, were fitted behind the cockpit with the four wing cannons retained. Unresolved difficulties with the turbo supercharger caused the project to be terminated after only two experimental J2M4s were built. The first few produced J2M2s were delivered to the development units in December 1942 but severe problems were encountered with the engines. Trials and improvements took almost a year and the first batch of the serial built J2M2 Model 11 was delivered to 381st Kokutai in December 1943. Parallel with the J2M2, production of the J2M3 Raiden Model 21 started. The first J2M3s appeared in October 1943 but deliveries to combat units started at the beginning of February 1944. The Raiden made its combat debut in June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Several J2Ms operated from Guam and Saipan and a small number of aircraft were deployed to the Philippines. Later, some J2Ms were based in chosen airfields for defending these areas and fighting against Soviet Naval Aviation units. Primarily designed to defend against the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the lack of a turbocharger handicapped the aircraft at high altitude. However, its four-cannon armament supplied effective firepower and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally. Insufficient numbers and the American switch to night bombing in March 1945 limited its effectiveness. Two captured J2Ms were U.S. Technical Air Intelligence Command (TAIC) tested using 92 octane fuel plus methanol, with the J2M2 (Jack11) achieving a speed of 655 km/h (407 mph) at 5,520 m (17,400 ft), and J2M3 (Jack21) achieving a speed of 671 km/h (417 mph) at 4,980 m (16,600 ft). The Model This kit was originally released in 2011 as one of Hasegawas 70th anniversary release schedule. This version is released as a limited edition with the markings of aircraft from the 302nd Flying Group. Since the moulds are still fairly new there is no sign of wear, so no flash and only one or two moulding pips too. The moulding is very nicely done, with fine recessed panel lines and fastener details as we’ve come to expect from Hasegawa. There are eight sprues of grey styrene and three of clear plus four vinyl retainers. The instructions are relatively clear and easy to read, in an A4 sized booklet format. The build starts with the cockpit and the instrument panel, which is attached to the forward bulkhead has moulded instrument bezels, but uses four blocks of decals for the faces. Depending on how these settle it might be an idea to fit each face separately, much like using an Airscale set. A drop of Aqua gloss or Kleer can be used to seal the decals, with the added advantage of drying to look like the instrument glass. The seat bucket is fitted with a support arm each side whilst the rear bulkhead is adorned with the seat adjustment bracket, adjustment handle, headrest and rear armoured plate. The radio set is assembled from four parts and fitted to the rear shelf, which is then attached to the rear of the bulkhead, with the seat assembly attached to the front. The sidewalls have well defined details moulded onto them and this is enhanced with additional parts and decals. The cockpit floor is fitted with the a console on the port side which also has a couple of smaller parts fitted, followed by the throttle lever on the port side floor, rudder pedals, joystick, undercarriage and flap levers on the starboard floor. The sub-assemblies are then fitted together, creating the sturdy cockpit structure. There are two parts that look like harness attachments fitted one per side of the headrest support structure, but the harness will need to be sourced from an aftermarket company as it is not included in the kit. What the kit does include is a very well moulded multi part pilot, with front and rear torso, separate legs and arms, including an alternative right arm plus three styles of head, one with a mask and oxygen hose, one with the leather helmet open and one with the helmet fastened up. Fitted with the separate parachute pack and after a careful painting session it will make a nice addition to the completed model no matter what flying state it is in. If you’re not going to use the pilot then Hasegawa have provided a separate seat cushion to be fitted. With the cockpit and pilot assembled it’s onto the fuselage. There are five bulkheads of various sizes and shapes to be fitted to the starboard side followed by the cockpit assembly. Inside the port fuselage a square hole has to be opened up and a lever assembly passed through, I believe this may be a canopy opening lever and only used on two of the aircraft options. The fuselage can then be closed up. The wing assembly begins with the assembly of the front spar, rear bulkhead and adjoining structure. This is then attached to the single piece lower wing section with the spar just aft of the wheel wells. There is also a block to be attached between the well bays and two strengthening spars attached to the outer sections of the wing. Before fitting the upper wing sections it should be decided whether the external fuel tank is going to be used or not as the flashed over holes will need to be opened up in the lower wing. On the insides of the upper wing sections the gun troughs also need opening up. The upper wings can now be attached to the lower wing and two clear parts, which I presume are some form of formation lighting are fitted to the top of each upper wing. The fuselage assembly is attached to the wing assembly, whilst the two part horizontal tailplanes are attached to the rear fuselage. The gun barrels, gun fairings, pitot probe and clear navigation lights are now attached. Next up is the assembly of the main undercarriage, each made up of the main oleo, two part scissor link, two part tyre, poly retainer, inner and outer hubs and main bay door. The inner doors are attached to the fuselage with their associated retraction linkages while the outer doors are fitted to the outer edge of the bay adjacent to the oleo attachment. The tail wheel, tail cone and a pair of lower wing panels are attached, followed by the main undercarriage assemblies. The optional drop tank consists of two halves with separate horizontal tail fins. Once complete it can be attached to the aircraft, between the undercarriage bays. With the main structure complete it’s on with the powerplant. Firstly the modeller will need to decide which of the two types of propeller blades to use, either the standard type or the high performance type. Each of the separate blades are then fitted to the hub and enclosed with the spinner, while to the rear a locating propshaft is attached. The cowling is then completed with an air intake fitted to underside of the single piece cowling and two blanks to be fitted to the upper machine gun trough. The internal structure is then assembled from the ducting, fixed stator with poly retainer fitted and rotating fan blades. This structure is fitted to the inside of the cowling. The engine is made up of the front and rear cylinder banks, two sets of valve rods at the front plus the intake and exhaust manifolds to the rear. The completed engine is then attached to the fuselage followed by the cowling and finally the propeller. The build continues with the attachment of a clear “armoured windscreen” and support structure to the upper decking between the cockpit and the cowling, plus optional Type 4 or Type 98 gun sight. The main windscreen is fitted out with a pair of grab handles, and then fitted to the front of the cockpit once the upper deck assembly has been attached. The two separate gun bay panels for the upper wings are fitted followed by the aerial and side window support structure, side windows, and canopy, and that is the build complete. Decals The quite large decal sheet provides markings for three aircraft, each of the 302nd Fighter Group. the colour schemes are the same for each aircraft and only the serial numbers changed and the 1st option having a yellow band around the rear fuselage. The decals are all nicely printed, in good register and with very little carrier film, even around the instrument blocks. While the decals appear to have been gloss once they seem to have lost the gloss coat and are now quite matt. They should settle well though on a good gloss coat with suitable setting and softening solutions. followed by a coat of gloss varnish followed by a coat of matt varnish. Conclusion I’ve always liked the Raiden, and this is very nice looking kit of a great looking aircraft. This will also make for a good alternative to the complex ZM release and also a fair bit cheaper. If you are going to comment on this review, please don’t bang on about Hasegawa pricing, as this one is actually quite reasonable. The detail is superb out of the box, but if you want to go the extra mile then the usual companies already have aftermarket parts for this kit. So if you fancy having a Raiden in your collection you can’t really go wrong with this one. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

A pair of the finest Japanese sports cars -- either one you'd love to own, but only one costs the best part of a million dollars. Both excellent-looking curbside Hasegawa kits. Tamiya spray for the bodies: Racing White and Maroon (actually chestnut brown...) They're quite hard to photograph together, since the camera likes to assume that the Toyota is white (it's actually pale cream), and exposing for both dark brown and almost white in the same image is taxing, especially in artificial light. Wheels in Zero Paints graphite grey with bright silver highlights. The tyre tread diameter is the same, but the 240Z has much smaller wheels/deeper tyres... The interiors are under way, but they are both a symphony in blacks... though the 2000GT has some rather cool rosewood veneer highlights... bestest, M.

Lightning F.6 11 Sqn RAF Binbrook 1976 Yes, I know I should have just got on with that new Airfix Lightning, but this one had been in the pending pile for so many years that I just had to finish it. This is the Hasegawa / Frog / Revell F6 kit which I rescribed. I also fitted a new forward belly tank with guns so that I could use the big 11 Sqn fin badge from the Xtradecal sheet which was designed for F3s. Probably like most of us I have a few more Frog F6 kits in the attic and even though Airfix have now surpassed those old kits (thankyou, thankyou, thankyou Airfix) I'm sure I will still use a few from time to time because they are just pure nostalgia! XR773 / D was in the static park at the 1976 IAT at Greenham Common so I used one of my old slides to finish it. Alclad over polished Halfords grey primer (polished with toothpaste and elbow grease) and then a few brushed coats of Klear to give that grey / aluminium look and to ensure the decals went down well

ASF-X Shinden II "Kei Nagase Color" Hasegawa 1:72 Limited Edition In 2008 Taiga Heavy Industries was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence to begin developing the ASF-X. In 2014 the CTOL ASF-X-10 prototype 40-8011 made its maiden flight. After an additional year of testing it was formally accepted by the Ministry of Defence. 40-8011 as a test aircraft had problems with its electrical system, and structural cracking. Data from this was fed into the second prototype. In 2016 the second STOVL ASF-X-02 60-8002 was accepted by the Ministry of Defence and subjected to additional testing. Ultimately two of each prototype participated in in research and development programme. By this time the design showed every promise of living up to its proud name "Shinden II" According to legend the "Kei Nagase Color" paint scheme has its origins in the pre-development of the aircraft, when experiments were being undertaken for painting the airframe with a special stealth paint. Masking of reinforcement points resulted in a black and orange appearance which test pilot Kei Nagase found very appealing. In response mechanics later painted the units aircraft in this scheme. Source Ace Combat in the skies, ASCII Media works. Ace Combat Ace Combat is a Japanese hybrid arcade-simulation flight action video game published by the Namco Bandai Games company. Most games take place in fictionalised worlds loosely based on real life location, events and even wars. These games have been released on many different gaming platforms from 1996 up till the present. Over the years in Japan typical aircraft model kits have been detailed after aircraft used in the games. Hasegawa tapped into this market in 2000 with the issues of some 1.144 resin model kits, and has continued to do so ever since, as they have done so with the Idolmaster series as well, giving them another outlet for plastic model kits. The Kit On opening the box you are greeted by the two main fuselage halves and an additional 5 sprues all in a dark grey plastic. A large clear sprue for the stand, and a small clear sprue for the canopy. The quality of all parts is top notch as you would expect from Hasegawa. Detail is a mix of fine panel lines, and raised detail where it is needed. There is no flash evident any where. Construction starts with adding all the internal detail to the lower fuselage half. Engines and the vectored thrust nozzle are made up and added (the vectored flight nozzle can be positioned in normal or STOVL flight modes). The air intake is then made up and added to the top fuselage half. The tail units must be added at this stage, care must be taken with glue as these are designed to move. Once these are added the fuselage can then be closed up. If you are going to add under wing stores then its important to open up the holes before closing up the fuselage. Following the the wing tips are added. Two different parts are provided depending on whether you wish to model the aircraft in normal or STOVL flight. The cockpit is moulded into the upper fuselage but you still have to add an instrument panel, ejection seat and pilot figure (if you want). Following this landing gear can be added, and the gear doors positioned. These are also designed to be positioned closed if you are doing your model in flight, however you will need to remove the mounting tabs. The last thing to do is to add the underwing stores if you are using them. There are six pylons which you can fill with all air-2-air missles or a combination of missiles and rocket pods. Six missiles (which look like AMMRAM's) and four rocket pods are provided. Canopy The canopy for this kit is a one part affair. It is clear and crisp with no distortions. As well as the canopy the kit contains a large clear sprue which is stand should the modeller wish to display the model "in flight". This is a welcome addition to the kit and I hope Hasegawa include it in more. In a break from normal tradition the slot for the stand is cut in the model, and if you are not using the stand then a blanking plate is provided. Decals One of the stars of this kit is the massive decal sheet which just about fills the bottom of the box. The aircraft features a two tone paint scheme similar in many ways to the F-22 and F-35 minus the orange! The second shade of grey and orange are all provided as decal. Care will be needed with the larger ones, and outline decals as the inside is not all clear decal film; though this will help prevent large scale silvering. The decals are well printed and with care and the appropriate setting solutions should look very good when finished. Conclusion While there may not be as much excitement outside of Japan for these kits, they are excellent models and can be recommended if you want to build something different. As the part count if fairly low and the subject somewhat different from the norm this might be an ideal kit to get for a younger modeller to encourage them. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Kit: Hasegawa 1:32 ‘Nowotny’ edition. Paint: All Tamiya & Lifecolour acrylics. MIG weathering pigments (wheels & tyres). Decals: Eagle Cals, MicroScale & kit. Extras: Eduard ‘Zoom’ set. Cut & dropped elevators. Cut & repositioned tail wheel & rudder. Brake lines from various gauges of fuse wire. Master MG17 barrels (not in photo). Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5 5 Staffel I/JG54 Operation ‘Zitadelle’ Summer 1943 ….and we’re done. Thoroughly enjoyed this project. Kit went together with the minimum of fuss. Camouflage came-out exactly as it looked in my head before I began, something that doesn’t happen too often. Especially happy with the weathering on the underside and the way the MIG pigments settled in to the main wheels & tyres giving a dry/dusty ‘feel’. Built for the ‘Battle of Kursk’ Campaign/Group Build on www.modelersalliance.com . As ever happy to take any questions, criticism and comments. Thanks for taking the time to look, I’m off now to start decaling my TF-104…. That’s going to keep me busy for a while !! Ian

Hello, just a quick question, does anyone know why this kit has a choice of two keel inserts? The second, unused, one appears to be thinner and lacks the lumps and bumps of the other one. Cheers, Andrew

Well I am calling this one done. First completion in quite a few months and first for the year. It was started last year for a club Dambuster build. AJ-N, also known as ED912 had two RAAF Crew: Pilot Officer Leslie Gordon Knight, the pilot Flight Sergeant Robert George Thomas Kellow the Wireless operator. The club display was based around Australians in the raid and the aircraft they flew. ED912 attacked the Eder dam between 01:30 and 02:00 (17/05/43) and was the third aircraft to attack the dam. It performed one dummy run then went in for his final attack, the Upkeep hit the dam perfectly and breached it . The codeword "DINGHY" for a breach in the Eder was relayed to Harris, Wallis and Cochrane at Grantham.

Finally got round to starting this after picking it up at one of the shows this year for £29. So, the plan... To do one of the day schemes as a change! CMK surfaces set (ordered) - use the flaps lowered and possibly the tail parts slightly off neutral. Pavla larger intakes if they are correct for this aircraft????? Eduard zoom set for cockpit Correct the escape hatch position on the canopy and use Eduard masks As well as the questions I've posted in the WWII section, got some questions for those that have built the Hase kit... Has anyone used the CMK control surfaces set - if so, any advice? Anything to watch out for the Hase kit in general? Have you fitted the wings after painting or before? Quite fancy fitting the wings at the end to ease access. Shrouded / unshrouded exhausts? Treaded or untreaded tyres? Here's where I'm up to so far. Made some seatbelts and arm rests for the pilots seat, strangely, the Eduard Zoom set doesn't have the seatbelts included. Also filled the side windows which were omitted on later aircraft. A few need a bit more filling to hide them. Cheers