ON A ROLL - HOT STUFF FROM HASEGAWA

SMN report:

Hasegawa of Japan is bringing us hot new and revised products at a pace-and-a-half. Here a taste of what’s in store - space, sci-fi, aviation, and... girls!

Dreamliner

The 1:200 scale Boeing 787 Dreamliner comes in two flavours, JAL (Japan Airlines) and ANA (All Nippon Airways), differentiated in several ways, such as the differing engines used by the two airlines. At this scale, the changes are visually minor, but Hasegawa has detailed everything you need for an accurate finished model.

Voyager

Real-space fans have a treat in store with the 1:48 scale Voyager space probe. Two were launched back in 1977, their mission to record data and information about the outer planets. After swooping past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, they are now drifting into interstellar space, beyond the Solar System. 

Golden Record

The Hasegawa kit includes a scale representation of the ‘Golden Record’, a video disc containing the sights and sounds of Earth. There’s one aboard each spacecraft, a time capsule message, just in case they bump into intelligent aliens, sometime in the distant future.

Flood of science-fiction

Sci-fi fans have their hands full with a bunch of Hasegawa releases. Perhaps the most interesting is the forward-sweep combat fighter to 1:72 scale, representing an aircraft featured in the PS3/XBox 360 video game ‘Ace Combat’. The machine is packed with  advanced design features, such as canted tail fins and swivelling engine exhaust. Convincing stuff this, even if it is pure fiction.

More sci-fi

Two more jets feature in the Hasegawa release list: a 1:48 scale Macrosse robocraft, and a 1:72 scale Macrosse Plus, in UN Spacy markings. Both are neat models, reissues of kits dating back to the 1980s. 

Robot attacker

Meantime Maschinen Krieger comes out shooting, with another 1:20 scale robotic fighting kit, the Grosse Hund, and very convincing it is too. 

Space fighter

The Creator Works single-seat space fighter is perhaps a little less so, if only because Star Wars and its X- and Y-Wings have trodden the same path so well. Still, this one’s not Star Wars, so brownie points for that, as well as for being to model aircraft-standard 1:72 scale.

Girl power

Last but not least, we have a series of combat jets painted in girlie shades, courtesy the Japanese anime series Idolmaster, which is hugely popular with young teens. Hmmm... an F-15 Eagle, F-22 Raptor and Sukhoi F-33 dolled up in pinks, greens and blues, plus pretty girls painted on the wings is a different take on the term 'warpaint', and makes a refreshing change from the oh-so-serious camo schemes that are the usual paint jobs on these jets.

Summation

We’d build them all if we had time - but given a choice of one, it has to be the Maschinen Krieger release for the sci-fi freaks at SMN Towers. Yes please: Ma.K just has to be the best non-Hollywood sci-fi kit series ever released.

All sorts of Hasegawa kits here.

Kit images courtesy: Hasegawa, Boeing 787: Eric Prado

BOEING 787 FIRST COMMERCIAL FLIGHT WITH ANA - BUT ARE YOU GOING TO BUILD A KIT FROM REVELL OR ZVEZDA?

SMN report:

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has - after many delays - finally gone into passenger service, with the first fare-paying flight by lead airline customer All Nippon Airways (ANA). Years late, the Boeing twinjet is now rewriting the rules for lightweight construction, fuel economy, and passenger comfort. 

Injection kits

Meantime, what’s the state of play for scale model 787s? We’ve had a look at the two injection kits presently available, both to 1:144 scale. The Zvezda version came first, and is an extremely neat production. The 787’s trademark oversize windows are well represented, and though our particular kit had a small amount of warping on upper and lower wing halves, all that was needed on assembly was some gentle assistance from clothes pegs and tape. 

Careful with the fuselage join

The fuselage fits nicely, though as ever with airliner kits, you have to go carefully with the cement and be prepared to spend time with some very loving polish-and-buff to lose the centreline join. Engine assemblies are beautifully done, and would look great even at a larger scale.

Neat engines

The Revell kit is the new(ish) kid on the block, and we haven’t had a chance to build it yet. But a close look at the components shows that Revell has also made a very nice job of the engines, with the engine fans looking super-clean, especially for 1:144 scale. 

Price comparison

The Revell 787 seems to be a bit cheaper at most outlets, so this could be a decision point for you, though either kit will make a fair rendering of this latest jetliner. 

High flight

Have to say: I’m looking forward to having a flight in a 787, not least for the swish new interiors (above) and the view through the windows, which are larger than normal and darken at the press of a button. There's no hauling down a blind when you want to sleep - verree high tech!

Zvezda kit here.

Revell kit here.

More 787s here.

Thanks to Britmodeller for construction pix. Much more here.

Visit ANA here.

Flight simulator is used for training aircrew.