bianfuxia Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 (edited) Goodness this GB came around quickly...somehow I thought I had a few months ahead of me! Here's a quick build to warm up - Hasegawa's 1/72 Kawasaki T-4 jet trainer. This is a nice kit, and looks pretty straightforward. It dates to 1996 according to Scalemates, noting that there was an older version in 1989. Scalemates says this one is a new tool but it does seem weird that they'd do a new tool in 89 and again in 96. Anyway: It comes with a wide range of options - all of them grey jets but with a cool selection of tail emblems. Edited May 15, 2022 by bianfuxia 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz23 Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 I've always liked these trainers and the different Japanese tail emblems look very nice, look forward to seeing this one built up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 Love the selection of markings. Those could come in handy for future projects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Welcome along with a great looking trainer, I had forgotten about these and how nice they look. This should be a nice straightforward build, I love the selection of tail emblems, the Cobra 7 Samurai ones are my fav. Good luck with the build, hopefully an enjoyable one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 16, 2022 Author Share Posted April 16, 2022 Well, it's nearly the end of the 16th where I live, so I started this today. Didn't do much - just painted the base of the cockpit and did the seats. This is a quicky OOB build for me. Since taking the pics I have also done the instrument panel decals. It's pretty standard Hasegawa fare. The fuselage looks like it will fit well enough together, though it's not perfect. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 17, 2022 Author Share Posted April 17, 2022 So far this is a really nice kit and also one that's a quick and easy build. Here's what I have done since the last post. Painted the undercarriage: Done the cockpit and seats with brush painted seatbelts (based on an upgrade set you can get for this kit which I saw on 1999.co.jp): (I swear I followed the instructions but it seems like the side panels are on the wrong sides). Put the fuselage together - very good fit: And added the wings: I fully expect to finish this by the end of the week, it's so easy! 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 gee she's coming along nicely and quickly too. At the rate you'll be able to build a couple of dozen before it finishes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 Great start,beautiful looking aircraft she is too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 Looks like a nice build. I have the earlier tooling of this aircraft which alas only has decals for a particularly garish prototype/early test aircraft. Seeing how well you're putting this one together I may well get one of the later ones & bury the other one in my stock. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 18, 2022 Author Share Posted April 18, 2022 13 hours ago, trickyrich said: gee she's coming along nicely and quickly too. At the rate you'll be able to build a couple of dozen before it finishes! Haha that's the plan. I have SO MUCH STUFF for this Japan Group Build I don't know where to start really. 2 hours ago, stevej60 said: Great start,beautiful looking aircraft she is too. thanks! 2 hours ago, stevehnz said: Looks like a nice build. I have the earlier tooling of this aircraft which alas only has decals for a particularly garish prototype/early test aircraft. Seeing how well you're putting this one together I may well get one of the later ones & bury the other one in my stock. Steve. They're very affordable at HobbySearch. I wanted to get the Blue Impulse one, too, but it has a mix of decals and paint for the aerobatics scheme which always puts me off - either give me all the decals or make me mask the whole thing, but not half-half! Too hard to match a paint-shade to the decal colour... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Great to see an Alphajet cousin with the red sun! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 Made a little more progress lately. Unfortunately on the underside the fit wasn't quite as good as it is on the top side. The little seat fell out when I dropped the plane on the bench, but has since been stuck back in place. Today hopefully I will find time to sand off the putty. The intake fit is pretty good based on a test fit I did, and I have also already painted the wheels and undercarriage. So the next bit will be painting! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 at least the join is underneath and pretty well hidden. Not sure of the filler you're using, but other than sanding you could try using a cotton bud and a bit of nail polish remover. It sort of dissolves th filler a little allowing you to "wipe off" the filler gradually rather than sanding it. It help save any detail around the filled area. Craig (Modelling Minion) put me into this. Just test out the nail polish remover first of some plastic, it should be ok, I use the stuff from the supermarket with no problems at all. Plus sometimes you get a really shiny area after sanding or polishing bits compared to the surrounding plastic, again a wee bit of nail polish remover and a cotton bud makes it all dull and even again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 (edited) Good tips thanks. That stuff was just Tamiya White Putty but today I bought a bottle of Vallejo Plastic Putty - I don't normally watch modelling videos on YouTube but somehow it happened (many people's famous last words on YouTube, I guess, when wondering how they ended up watching "insanely cute cate snuggles up to second hand iguana thinking it was a Pokemon"...or whatever) but anyway maybe that stuff will be better. I think the nail polish remover probably had to be done when the putty was still wet though right? I'll try it next time! Edited April 27, 2022 by bianfuxia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 no it can be quite old and it'll still work, it just take a bit more time, but it'll still dissolve the filler without damaging the plastic..... just don't drown it in the stuff. It loves paint! I pretty much only use the white tamiya stuff, though I recently bought some of the grey stuff as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 10, 2022 Author Share Posted May 10, 2022 The bottom came up ok after some sanding today. I noticed that the join on the underside of the engines at the back there was not great, but honestly I don't really mind. That would take quite a bit of sanding for little return given you won't see it when it's sitting on the shelf. I added the intakes which fit quite nicely and the tailplanes. And then the airframe was done! This is the first coat of paint - FS 36375 is called for. Gunze 308 is what the instructions say but I used Vallejo Model Colour 990, Light Grey. It's quite matt but that's ok too. Home stretch for this one now. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 FS36375 is Light Ghost Grey (standard underside color of the USN TPS schemes) and when not completely soaked in oil & hydraulic fluid is a matte finish, so no problem there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 I put on another coat of grey last night and i think it's done. Also test-fitted the canopy and as expected for a Hasegawa kit it's pretty much perfect. Still kicking myself about putting the cockpit side panel decals on the wrong side but I guess this is that rare left-handed trainer...it's no big deal but a reminder to check more carefully next time. I need to touch up paint on the joystick too. Tonight I will do the undercarriage and maybe also the decals. It's pretty much finished! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 15, 2022 Author Share Posted May 15, 2022 The last few steps were the decals. Sometimes I don't bother with all the small markings but as this plane is a pretty blank template I thought I'd better make the effort. This is obviously still wet with Mr Mark Softer. The grey lines were one big decal, but I carefully trimmed the carrier film out from the center so it was just the grey stripe and attached red roundel. If I was doing this again I think I'd paint the orange areas rather than use the decals, even noting how much I usually struggle to get a good finish from orange paint. Anyway, after the decals I added the canopy, put on the undercarriage doors, and painted the canopy frame. I'm calling this FINISHED. The unit is the 302nd squadron based at Misawa air base, located at the northern end of Japan's main island. It has the awesome red and blue eagle on the tail, which was why I chose it. Apart from the T-4, this unit flies the F-35 and is one of the squadrons tasked with the air defence of Tokyo. Before the F-35s came into service three years ago, the 302nd's fighter jet was the F-4EJkai. Copyright free via wikipedia credit: Josephus37. Supposedly the eagle layout represents "302" - three elements to the blue, a white "0", and two feet on the eagle. Copyright free via wikipedia credit: Jerry Gunner. There's a pic of the aircraft I built - 627 - on this link. I'll take some better pics for the gallery when I see some sun here. thanks for looking! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Oh very nice!!! Sorry I missed the middle part of the build...way too many things going on! She looked to be a nice wee model and she turned out really nice. Wow you're plowing through the builds, and we aren't even half way yet...... so what's next on the Japanese GB build list.........no pressure! 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 15, 2022 Author Share Posted May 15, 2022 2 hours ago, trickyrich said: Oh very nice!!! Sorry I missed the middle part of the build...way too many things going on! She looked to be a nice wee model and she turned out really nice. Wow you're plowing through the builds, and we aren't even half way yet...... so what's next on the Japanese GB build list.........no pressure! 🤣 Haha yeah I've been enthusiastic for this one. Now I have to go back to the Matchbox GB and fulfil my promise to build the Auto Union racing car. In that GB it seems like there's a reasonable chance we will actually build literally every MB kit there ever was so I don't want to let the side down. But then back here I've already started the T-2, and then I have a cool RF-4EJ that I'd like to do. Beyond that also I'd like to do the M41 tank with a Godzilla background. If there's still juice in me after that then maybe one of the two F-104s I still have, or I also have about 6 JMSDF ships ... I could do this GB for 12 months at a build a fortnight and still not run out! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 23, 2022 Share Posted May 23, 2022 That has come up really nicely. It is a neat little aircraft, I can see the one on my HLJ wish list entering my private warehouse before long & joining the earlier version among my stock. I'm most impressed with this as a kit & your finishing on it. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 23, 2022 Author Share Posted May 23, 2022 Thank you! Yes I was pleasantly surprised at what a fun and easy kit it was. Since last pics I noticed I forgot to paint the middle canopy frame. I've done it now and hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and I can put some pics in the gallery. I had my eye on the aerobatics boxing - Blue Impulse I think it is - but it's let down by the decal sheet which provides some but not all of the blue areas. It's kind of all or nothing for me with that I reckon. But I'd happily build this again in some other markings if there are any. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 Awesome finish . Well done Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 26, 2022 Author Share Posted May 26, 2022 On 5/25/2022 at 1:18 AM, Grandboof said: Awesome finish . Well done Martin H thanks Martin! Here are the final pics just taken outside. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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