Giorgio N Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 (edited) Or maybe a better title could be "Can I really build a kit in 5-6 weeks only ?" The answer is probably not, but I'd like to give it a try with this one ! Some background: the Mitsubishi T-2 was the answer to a JASDF requirement for a high performance training aircraft. For this role the Jaguar T was considered and it must be said that the japanese aircraft owes a lot to the Jaguar design and uses the same engine, arranged in the same way in an airframe that is very similar to the Jaguar... A kind of Jaguar copy it might be, but I've always found the T-2 (and its single seater descendent F-1) to be a very attractive aircraft. I'm not really much into models of aerobatic aircraft, but I find myself very attracted to the T-2 in Blue Impulse colour. I first built the hasegawa kit many years ago as a kid but this was later "rebuilt" in other markings after having been shot down by a most dangerous opponent: the domestic cat ! Of course as soon as I saw another Blue Impulse kit I had to buy it and here's a good chance to build it.... The 1/72 hasegawa T-2 kit has been around for many years and can be found in many different boxes. There's always been a dedicated Blue Impulse box but these have had different covers. This is the one I have: The kit dates from a few years before hasegawa started using recessed panel lines, so it features delicate raised lines. These however are now a bit too delicate, guess the moulds are aging... As shown in the pic. above, the kit is moulded in dark blue. It might be great for those modellers who will use the decals supplied, but personally I prefer a more neutral light grey. As the kit is also available in standard T-2 form, the sprues containg all the pylons and the tanks, plus a couple of sidewinders that will not be used. The F-1 kit actually shares most parts too, as the F-1 is basically a T-2 with a fairing over the rear canopy... The decals are the usual hasegawa style, and I'll try to use as little of these as possible ! White decals over a dark blue scheme rarely work well, especially if the decals are hasegawa's..... The plan is to use the two gunze paints specifically made for this scheme. I'd have liked to build this OOB, but there are some things that I really feel I have to modify. First of all, I'm rescribing all the panel lines. The reason is that some might disappear due to sanding etc, and better rescribe them all at that point. Some intakes and vents also really need to be improved. The cockpit is another area that needs improvements: the kit has decals for instrument panels and consolles, and something must be done here. For this, the main documentation will come from the Bunrin-Do book on the... F-1! As the two are very similar it will be ok Edited July 23, 2012 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Looking forward to this, Giorgio. I love the look of the T-2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricP Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Looking forward to this build too! Those Hasegawa decals are quite par for the course ... the whites are never "white", not even when new, so the best thing to do is to paint the white areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 "I first built the hasegawa kit many years ago as a kid but this was later "rebuilt" in other markings after having been shot down by a most dangerous opponent: the domestic cat !" LOL! Looks like a real nice that kit matey, be following this one myself with great interest Browsing this fine forum really is hurting my bank balance! Every time I take a look at an aircraft such as this I think to myself... 'Now wouldn't that be a nice little project....' I then set about trying to fine the model and when I do, nine times out of ten, I buy it! I bet my postman is starting to hate me, over the last few weeks there's been a pretty much constant stream of parcels arriving daily! I have quite the stash now! Models enough I think for at least the next year.... Time to reign it in I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 (edited) Thanks guys, I hope my build will do justice to this fine looking aircraft. Small progress: the last couple of days have been spent doing a most annoying job: rescribing ! Now normally the hard plastic used by hasegawa lends itself well to rescribing, yet I'm kind of struggling with this one. One reason is probably that some curves are really tight and rescribing across these is not easy at all. Still, the wings and part of the fuselages are done. During the rescribing process I made a couple of mistakes, and these were corrected with typewriter correction fluid (the one dispended with a kind of pen, very easy to use). However a comparison with pictures on the bunrin-do book showed that some of the panel lines on the wing actually are rivet lines... I'll have to decide if leave everything as is or fill these lines. The same book showed that the kit lacks some panel lines and these were added based on the drawings accompanying the book. More rescribing will follow, as soon as I get rid of the stomach bug that hit me 2 days ago... Together with the rescribing another few things will have to be added: the kit lacks some grills that are very evident in pictures of the real T-2, especially in the gun area. It should be said however that the first T-2s had no gun and I believe the hasegawa kit has decals for both aircrafts with and without gun. Eric, totally agree with you ! I can't understand how hasegawa can keep offering such decals... Dan, if you don't mind spending a bit more, I'd suggest the 1/48 kit above this. I have the 1/48 F-1 and it's a very nice kit, although the cockpit is not as detailed as it could be. While hasegawa has a (deserved) reputation for being an expensive brand, hasegawa kits can often be found heavily discounted and my F-1 came for £20, a very decent prince IMHO. Edited July 26, 2012 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gajman Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Wow, this GB is bringing some amazing schemes to the fore. Looking forward to seeing this one completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Keep up the great work, Giorgio. The "white" decals in my Kawasaki T-4 Blue Impulse build were just as bad! I'm looking forward to seeing some more pictures, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Unfortunately things have been getting slow, mainly because I lost a week due to a very annoying flue... I was fit enough to write but not to work on the model.. Anyway, there's some small progress. I really didn't like the gun gas vents on the kit as there were represented by raised panel lines... as this area is very prominent on the real aircraft, I decided to cut the plastic and rebuild everything. Here's the gun area waiting to be cleaned a bit Definitely better than the original ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Nice work so far Giorgio - hope you are feeling better now! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 She's starting to look good now, Giorgio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Some very small progress: I started doing something on the cockpit. This is not very detailed in the kit, with flat panels and decals. Had the decals been good I'd have used these, but they are just some black-on-clear representation of instruments and don't look good. So I decided to do something on the instrument panels at least. Here's a pic of the front cockpit panel: Now the magnification on the picture shows clearly that I'm not very good at cutting bits and gluing them straight ! Still, keep in mind that the whole panel is little more than 10 mm wide (as shown by the cutting mat below). I'll see what it looks like when painted, hopefully it will be decent enough for a anopy down build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Nice cutting mat! Cheers Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 Interestingly the cutting mat is japanese too... Some more update today.... everything is taking time as the country has been hit by a heatwave and working on the modelling table with 37°C is not easy... especially in a big city where there's no wind at all. While I tried to do something on the instrument panels, I used the kit supplied decals for the consoles, with the small addition of the bump for the throttles (and the throttles made by a bit of plasticard rod). Panels and consoles are here: And once assembled they look like this: The cockpit tub needed some plastic bits to make it fit better with not gaps in the fuselage. This is definitely not a modern kit ! Still, with some work, the pit entered the fuselage: The effect is not bad. Sure it could have been better but I have to accept that my modelling skills are not that good. Note that seats and sticks will be added at a later time. With the cockpit in, it was time to add some weight and close the fuselage: The fit was not bad but not great either and some filler was needed on the fuselage undersides: Some panel lines have also been added but others will have to wait until the surfaces have been properly filled and finished. A quick dry-fit of the wing showed that this fits very well... and starts to show the beautiful lines of the T-2 ! There are 2 more weeks left to finish, maybe I can complete this... at least if the painting stage goes smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyR Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Coming along nicely Giorgio, as you say, it's really taking on the sleek smooth lines of the T2 now . Funny, I never really took to the single stick Jaguar, but always preferred the two seater, mainly because it seemed a more balanced shape - the Mitzi is even better!! - Two weeks left?? go for it mate, should be plenty of time to wrap this one up to a really eyecatching finish. Tony R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Thanks Tony, I'm not sure if I'll make it in time though... painting the complicated scheme will not be easy ! I might use the decals, but they look really bad, with the white being the usual hasegawa dull and yellowish style... I'll try though !!! There has been some progress over the previous week. The airframe has been practically completed, with the intakes being the most delicate part to work on, mainly because the auxiliary doors were a pain to rescribe ! Here's the model with the intakes and the wing added: I wasn't sure about the canopy: glue it now or wait ? In the end I decided to glue it and this meant doing something on the ejection seats... mainly adding a cushion ! Seat belts were then added to the painted seat... the result is maybe not great but still it's not too bad either: I was happy with the instrument panel once they were in place: the 3-dimensional efect of the plastic bits made quite a difference when seen through the canopy. The panels looked more realistic even if the instruments were not straight. I should do this more often.... Final picture for today: the airframe complete with the canopy and the ventral fins. Plan for today is spraying a coat of primer, hoping that there's no big issue to sort on the surface finish. Once this is done, it will be time for a coat of white... and then it will be the moment I fear most: masking the scheme ! Thanks for looking ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 She is looking great, Giorgio! I have always loved the "jaguaresque" lines of the T2. I hope that you can get her finished in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Nice job Giorgio - another great build in this GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpion Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 looking very nice indeed.i didnt even know of this kit untill i came across this post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Thanks everyone, glad you like it ! Unfortunately the primer I just spraid on revealed that some work is needed to tidy up several junction lines... some more filling and sanding will be needed ! This one is not really one of the more recent hasegawa shake-n-bake kits unfortunately... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Oh, that's a shame. I really hope that you can still finish her in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Unfortunately I tried but didn't manage to complete the painting. The model now has a coat of white on.... there are still 2 blues to add. I knew that it would have been hard for me to build a model in 6 weeks only. Sorry guys ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 That's a real shame, Giorgio. I hope to see her in the RFI section soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyR Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 A real bummer mate!!, Was looking forward to seeing this one on display in the gallery, Never mind, keep going on it and as AD says, we'll look forward to seeing it in the RFI section instead. Tony R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Very sorry guys not to able to show the completed model in time. I'll start a new thread in the Work in Progress section of the forum, so the build will not be lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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