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Hasegawa BASIC F-14A


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I would like to enter this little fellow into the GB if it's okay.

 

Just a quick history of the kit: in 1980, Hasegawa released several kits as part of its new Coin series, so named because kids back then could buy them with a single 100 yen coin. They were meant as quick, easy builds for fun and also to introduce kids to the hobby. The F-14, F-15, F-16, and F-18 came first, followed by a OH-6, OH-58, Hughes 500, Jetranger, A6M Zero, and J7W Shinden a year later. In 1987, Hasegawa licensed the production of the Coin series to a Singaporean company called Howah International and was rebranded as the Basic series. The two Japanese prop planes were dropped from the lineup and the Teen series fighters were reissued with new decals (yeah, they were doing this 30 years ago too) to become the F-14A, F-15C, F-16A, and F/A-18A to make it a total of 12 kits in the series.

 

I had my first experience with these kits when I was around 9 or 10, and was always on the lookout for them whenever my mother brought me along on her shopping trips. I used to crudely glue them together and slap the decals on them before playing make believe pilot. Now that I'm older but not necessarily wiser, I want to try doing it properly this time.

 

The F-14A comes in a tiny box with the same box art as its equally classic 1/72 cousin, the old tool F-14A (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/130321-hasegawa-js-134-grumman-f-14a-tomcat). Markings are for a very early VF-1 bird.

SdtK6sb.jpg

 

The instructions are on the back of the box.

GMJgiPT.jpg

 

The sprues and decals. The kit is so old that one of the sprues has yellowed. The details are very minimal and the panel lines that are present are fine and raised. Measuring the length puts it at roughly 1/176 scale. The whole kit is really simple, I think one will spend more time painting it than actually putting it together. I'm a bit burned out after my Apache build and I need something that goes together real quick.

nkJw6mo.jpg

Edited by White Wolf
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  • 2 weeks later...

Been slowly working on the F-14. I only managed to get the landing gear, Sparrows, and wings painted up till now. The paint is Tamiya's AS-16 Gray over AS-20 Insignia White.

 

vBnFpCf.jpg

 

I also decided to open up the flat-faced intakes to make it look a bit better when viewed from the front. I'm also going to scratchbuild a small sensor pod for the nose later. This kit is missing the gun and the gun vents, I haven't decided if I want to show something for this area or just leave it alone so I can finish the build quicker.

 

Jbsafog.jpg

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I recognise this from the instructions on the back of the box.  I can't remember the brand they came out under in Australia.
Dad and I would browse a nearby newsagent while waiting for our weekly fish and chips serve to cook at the take away and sometimes, if a new kit coincided with Dad feeling flush with funds, the time between our greasy Friday night feed and my bed time would be spent working on construction together, with painting the following night. 
Good times.
Thanks for the nostalgia hit. 
Exactly what I was hoping to get from this GB.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry that it took so long to post an update. Between the last update till now, I've gotten the main body assembled and painted. The Light Gull Gray over White scheme looks attractive but takes a long time to mask. I also had to paint the tan for the radome, the anti-glare panel, the gray for the wing sweep bags, and the red for the fin tips and ventral fins.

 

uxQ8WLp.jpg

 

The decals were classic Hasegawa vintage. They went on okay, but are very thick. There are not a lot of them to apply for this model and things progressed quickly by this point. After that, I gave the model a basic dark wash and got everything assembled and ready for the final semi-gloss coat. I will hand paint the canopy later and then call this build done.

 

K0N8CCK.jpg

Edited by White Wolf
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