Hasegawa has re-released their 1/48 F-2A, this time as a “Detail Up” Limited Edition, with photoetch parts. The detail set includes seatbelts, landing gear wiring and some details for the underwing pylon stations and air discharging cones in the wings/tail section.

When opening the box you find 12 sprues for a total of 179 pieces. Typical of Hasegawa the underwing stores include drop tanks and, as a nice surprise, some air-to-air missiles (AAM-3, I’ve believe). This boxing has regular Hasegawa printed decals for 3 different versions of the F-2A in Japanese service.

Construction starts with the cockpit and with the air intake. Both subassemblies have good fit and decent detail, but probably the cockpit instrument panel could use a PE replacement, even more considering how visible it is under the clear bubble canopy. I wished the PE fret would have included some instrument panel detail.

Plus Model out of Czechoslovakia continues to add to its list of quality aftermarket and modeling supply products; this time with a package of wooden (yes wooden!) warning signs identifying an active mine field – perfect for a diorama, or even amongst a pile of detritus found in the back of a Maultier.

The package contains enough material to create 30 signs of two different styles. The signs and their posts are made from soft, laser-cut wood that look terrific.

The parts are protected in a sturdy plastic sleeve to prevent damage in shipping, and can easily be removed from their wooden ‘sprues’ using a hobby knife. Once clipped and touched with a sanding stick, they can be assembled using white glue or any other adhesive suitable for gluing wood.

Background

As the United States found itself drawn into World War II, it was clear to Army commanders from the outset that their standard 37mm anti-tank guns were obsolete in the face of German armor. Pressed for time to field a suitable replacement, the British 6 pounder was adapted to the needs of the US Army. Although considered too heavy by many elements of the US Army, and limited to primarily armor-piercing ammunition, the M1 eventually became the standard anti-tank gun of American infantry divisions by 1944. The type saw action with American, British, Russian, and Free French forces by the end of WWII, and was phased out in the early 1950’s, although some smaller armies still have examples still in service.

As I write this review, the real F-35C aircraft has recently been performing carrier qualification testing with the US Navy aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), which lasted about two weeks. The C-variant is the last release of the F-35 series following the A-variant that will be flown by the US Air Force and foreign nations purchasing a land-based plane, and the B-model, meant for Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capabilities required by the US Marine Corps and a few other nations. The F-35C is the navalized version of the plane, which has stronger landing gear, longer wings with hinged tips (for storage onboard aircraft carriers), a tailhook, and the largest internal fuel stores of the three versions. If you follow any articles about the F-35, you already know that it is one of the most controversial aircraft ever produced for the United States, and some initial foreign interests have dried up due to early production issues.

This is a multimedia kit comprised of 470+ styrene parts on 24 sprues, DS tracks, one photo-etched fret, decals and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together. The DS tracks are misshaped with the guide horns flattened, there is substantial flash on the side, and the locating holes to glue the ends together do not line up with the pins on the other end. I tried to salvage these by using the Hobby Trax forms to straighten the guide horns. Generally I was successful, but if your model is to be shown in a contest, I suggest that you replace the tracks with individual links (Magic Tracks or Fruil).

Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues with additional new sprues added to create a new variant. Dragon has done so with this kit, and you will have some sprues using the same letter but are called out on the instructions with a separate color (see sprues blue A & B).