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

RUSSIAN T-50 STEALTH FIGHTER FLYING IN FROM REVELL

SMN report:

Pre-orders are now being taken for the Revell 1:72 scale Sukhoi T-50 Stealth combat aircraft, with deliveries of the kit due to start on April 7, 2012.

Moving jet nozzles

Strictly speaking, we are looking at the PAK FA, which is the flying prototype for the production T-50, due to start rolling out of the factories from 2015. The handsome machine was shown off last August, at the 2011 Russian International Air Show, displaying advanced features that include electronically-controlled vectored engine nozzles, which adjust the angle of the jet exhausts to boost manoeuvrability and improve handling. 

Radar-proofing

Nano-tech surface materials are used, and Sukhoi claims these enable: “85 percent stealth success” whatever that means! Let’s just say the T-50 - being co-produced with India, incidentally - may be a worthy combat competitor for the current Top Gun, the US F-22 Raptor. Like the Raptor, the T-50 will house weapons internally, as ordnance hung under the wings and fuselage shows up well on enemy radar screens. As planned, the aircraft will have a top speed of more than 2000 km/h (1250 mph).

T-50 model details

The Revell model (we’re not sure, but it could be a version of the existing Zvezda release above) looks to be a decent 1:72 scale kit, containing 72 components. Revell says there’ll be a detailed cockpit, with canopy that can be displayed open or closed. There will be two pilot figures, one sitting, one standing, and - a nice touch - an access ladder, which will be handy for modelmakers wishing to show the T-50 in a static ground pose. When assembled the Revell Sukhoi T-50 will have a wingspan of 198 mm (7.8 in) and length of 293 mm (11.5 in).

Model pictures

The assembled T-50 pix are shown courtesy the website 72 Land, and show the Zvezda T-50 PAK FA. It’s a neat enough kit, and as assembled here would look good in any collection. There are detailed comments over at 72 Land, link below.

Summation

Once we have our hot little hands on the Revell kit, we'll bring update information. Meantime, we’re looking forward to this model of an important aircraft that will see widespread service. 1:72 is a somewhat unsung scale these days, so it’s good to see an addition to the ranks. Having said that, we’re ready for a 1:32 scale biggie, with opening weapon bays, moveable engine nozzles, and max detail throughout.

Plenty of Sukhoi kits, including the Zvezda T-50 PAK FA here.

72 Land blogspot here.

Photographs of the flying T-50 courtesy: ‘Allocer’, Maxim Maksimov, Dmitry Pichugin, Dmitri Zherdin, 

MORE FROM HASEGAWA - A BOILING-HOT STEALTH EGG PLANE

SMN report:

A new Egg Plane from Hasegawa is the F-22 Raptor, arriving with all-new tooling and decals, plus assembly instructions and a super-cute, big-eyed anime-style lady pilot.

Hasegawa lays more eggs

Egg Planes are something of a Hasegawa tradition, as the first ones were hatched way back in the mid-1970s. They never go off though, and Hasegawa lays them again and again, with the 2011 clutch reboxed with cute anime-style girls contrasting nicely with the rounded shapes of the actual planes.

Aero eggs

Egg Planes are not to any particular scale, which is fine for the ovoid styling that Hasegawa came up with. The latest batch totals 20 in all, ranging from the F-22 to a T-4 Blue Impulse aerobatic jet. All are quick assembly, with a parts count of no more than 20 or so. The SMN fave of the latest range is probably the Harrier jump-jet, though that's probably for old time's sake, as the UK Harrier fleet has just been sold to the US Marine Corps for spares. So that means the famous British-borne aircraft will live on only in USMC markings...sob. Oh well, they've gone to a good home.

Another piece of history, now the Shuttles are Museum-bound.

Eggstra items

Of course, you don’t have to stop at the Hasegawa official releases, as Egg Planes are now embedded in modelmaking culture, and you never know when an eggxtraspecial item will appear. In fact, our faves of the moment are not aircraft at all - the USS Hunley submarine and the Egg Zeppelin - both of which have been lovingly crafted with mini-diorama settings. Top marks!

Visit previous Eggstuff in SMN here.

Egg Planes for sale here.

LAST F-22 RAPTOR UNDER CONSTRUCTION, BUT THE STEALTH FIGHTER STILL FLIES HIGH IN THE KIT WORLD

SMN report

The last of 195 F-22A Raptors for the US Air Force is now under construction, yet the entire F-22 fleet remains grounded over concerns about the pilot's cockpit breathing system inside the cockpit, which has been under investigation since November 2010, when an F-22 crashed mysteriously in Alaska. No emergency call was received from the pilot, and the assumption is that he passed out from oxygen loss before the crash.

No flying high at present

It’s a major blow as, without oxygen, Raptor pilots can’t fly at high altitudes. Yet technically, the F-22 remains the most advanced fighter jet on the planet, but its place is largely taken for the time being by the older F-15 Eagle. F-22s may yet fly on what are known as “national security directed missions,” but otherwise the high-tech stealth jet might as well be an expensive brick. Here's hoping the mysterious problem is cracked very soon indeed.

Stealth weapons

However, all that doesn’t stop the F-22 being a popular choice in the model world, and one of the best available is Hasegawa’s 1:48 scale release. Probably the most luscious elements of the assembled kit are the triple weapon bays. 

Being a stealth design, the F-22 has internal storage, as hanging ordnance under the wings would destroy the aircraft’s stealthiness, and Hasegawa really has gone to town with these features. The ventral bay can be packed with up to six air-to-air missiles, while two more poke out at the correct angle from the side bays behind the air intakes. 

Neat canopy details

The lift-up canopy is smooth and clear, with just a hint of the tint that marks out the real thing, and the cockpit is reasonably detailed. As ever, the finished appearance will depend on how much work you put in. We particularly like the internal canopy frame, which has correct side-handle and other detail. Nicely done, Hasegawa.

Panel detail is appropriately fine, as this is a stealth fighter after all; Hasegawa’s publicity pix show quite a bit more emphasis than in the real thing, but for a model, this is perhaps no bad thing - it certainly adds visual interest to what is a very plain-Jane colour scheme.

XBox link

Mind you, if it’s wango-tango markings you’re after, then you should head off to another Hasegawa range, the Idolmaster series (officially, it’s iDOLM@STER), linked to a Namco Bandai anime creation for the XBox and other game machines. In the real world, it’s unlikely to be possible for such markings to be applied directly to stealth-type materials, but if you like pink - and something very different on the display shelf - then here’s your stick of bubble gum!

   

STEALTH FIGHTER F-35 LIGHTNING II SOON TO RULE THE SKIES

SMN report
After years of development, and seemingly endless delays and price hikes, the ‘5th generation’ fighter jet from Lockheed Martin, the F-35 Lightning II, has at last been ordered into limited production.

It’s a bit better than recent news that the UK has dropped the F-35 STOVL version in favour of a standard configuration for launching from its as-yet unbuilt Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier. Along with other news that the UK Harrier force is being disbanded, it looks as though the UK is in for an entire decade without carrier-borne air power. Let’s hope it’s not needed.

5G helmet design
Back to the F-35: it’s not been a massive hit with the model companies yet, but the rumour mill indicates that things will improve in 2011, not least with a Lindberg version to 1:32 scale. That’ll be interesting if it happens. Meantime, apart from the old Italeri 1:72 and Panda Models 1:48 offerings there’s so much to wait for. Still, we couldn’t resist showing you the latest in ‘5G’ fighter helmets - Star Wars, eat your heart out, 5G pilots tote serious stuff!

RC Lightning II
However, even if there isn’t yet a really good F-35 injection kit - and no sign of a production-standard machine - there are various radio control scale and semi-scale versions to build and fly. The video (without sounds on our system, but you may have better luck) shows one of the most aerobatic ones available.

Visit one of the RC F-35 suppliers, Esprit Models here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  5G fighter pilot helmet.
2-3  Panda 1:48 scale kit.
4  Cutaway plan of the F-35B, clearly showing the engine and front lift fan arrangement. To design-purists like us, this layout is not a patch on the Harrier’s elegantly simple four-poster exhaust system.