Hasegawa has re-released their “J” mark (Japanese) F-4EJ Phantom II. And that is a great thing, as this model is a pleasure to assemble. The box has 8 grey sprues, one clear sprue (for a total of 132 pieces), and a very large decal sheet with markings for five 8SQ aircrafts, including stencils for one airframe.

Regarding the stencils – they are the proper color. These airplanes were “hand-me downs” from other squadrons and they arrived in a two-gray interceptor camouflage. When transferred to a maritime strike squadron, their stencils were masked off and the aircraft were painted over, leaving a grey surrounding to the stencils –which are black. Only after the airplanes were sent for overhaul at the maintenance shop did they get re-painted and new stencils (in white) were applied. If you look carefully to the box image, you can see the grey surrounding area in the stencils.

The Aircraft

The T-28 Trojan was built by North American Aviation as a training replacement for the venerable and very dated T-6 Texan. The Navy wanted a tandem, tricycled training aircraft to train recruits to the new aircraft entering service. The contract was signed for VSN2S in 1946. The Army, also wanting to replace their T-6’s, contracted for their version of the VSN2S, the T-28 Trojan. In 1949, the newly formed United States Air Force and the Navy took delivery of the first T-28 Trainers.

The Model Kit

Roden’s T-28 has a very respectable cockpit included in their kit. Their biggest weakness is in the seats and instrument panels. The Roden cockpit is composed of 17 parts, where the Aires tops out at 45, which include the individual components for each seat belt. Aires has developed a complete replacement that not only addresses these weaknesses, but also improves the side consoles without a lot of scratchbuilding.