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Hasegawa 1/72 EA6b Prowler


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discovered this kit in the stash today. Kits looks pretty good, and for once the decals still look good! The cockpit looks almost non-existent! Does anybody sell a replacement cockpit for them? Or for that matter other upgrades.

gary

Edited by ChesshireCat
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Agree, it is a nice kit, I have a replacement cockpit, one of the Aires ones in the Hannants link, can't recall if it is the early or late ICAP set. There is also a wing fold set available from Wolfpack Design which I have and other decals from Cutting Edge that are also not in the Hannants list.

 

CED72205.jpg

CED72207.jpg

 

 

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Considering its age I quite like the kit. It goes together with no fuss at all, no filler, and assembles quickly. Cockpit is lacking no doubt. But when its all buttoned up with a tinted canopy it looks the part. I believe OOB the kit represents an ICAP I Prowler (some have said its actually an ICAP I with a touch of ICAP II thrown in... so a hybrid so-to-speak). Time has been kind to this kit and it can still be made into a great looking model.

Enjoy!

 

Regards,

Don

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Gary,

 

A few posts down I posted a topic asking about a possible resin replacement air intake/nose for the 1/72 Trumpeter F-100 kits. In it I mentioned a seamless intake product from XMM for the 1/72 Hasegawa EA-6B. It can be found on this page: http://xmold-modeling.com/products/

 

I have the 1/72 Hasegawa "EA-6B PROWLER VAQ-141 SHADOWHAWKS" kit # 00893. It looks nice in the box, with recessed panel lines and good clear plastic parts. My understanding is this kit used to have raised panel lines but was re-done at some point in the past. Which kit do you have?

 

I also have the ICAP II Late Aires cockpit set but I can not comment yet on the fit, especially if both the XMM intake set and Aires cockpit sets are used together. Aires does not have a great reputation for fit. The cockpit and blanked-off intakes are the two areas of the Hasegawa kit that need attention.

 

I have the Cutting Edge 72207 decals shown above (CE forgot to include a "radiation warning" decal for the nose tip, visible in photos of the aircraft taken during Operation Desert Storm) and plan to do the VAQ-132 "Scorpions" bird during ODS.

 

Good luck with the build.

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Interesting. I thought the Hasegawa Prowler was always an engraved kit, one of Hasegawa's first run of new tool engraved models back in the 80's. I've built a few of them over the years, including the initial release in the "Minicraft/Hasegawa" boxing, and have never stumbled across one with raised panel lines. Does anyone have an example of one and which box or boxes they were in so I can avoid those?

Regards,

Don

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No, Don is correct. The Prowler was always recessed panel lines. The kits from the late '70s were right at the transition period. The F11F Tiger and F-8 Crusader had fine raised lines, while the Prowler, Panther, and Cougar had recessed lines. They all came out within a year or two of each other.

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Hello, 

 

I always knew the Hasegawa EA-6B with engraved panel lines... and always regretted that the S-3 Viking which was released about the same time had raised panel lines. The 1/72 Hasegawa Viking is a good kit but would have been perfect with engraved panel lines..

 

Besides Aires, there is/was an older resin cockpit set  which was originally released under the Golden Dragon name (I guess now Superbug). I have one set, never used it : it looks quite busy but probably a bit less sharp than the Aires moulding.  

 

Cheers

 

Eric B.

Edited by Eric B.
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15 hours ago, Alleycat said:

Gary,

 

A few posts down I posted a topic asking about a possible resin replacement air intake/nose for the 1/72 Trumpeter F-100 kits. In it I mentioned a seamless intake product from XMM for the 1/72 Hasegawa EA-6B. It can be found on this page: http://xmold-modeling.com/products/

 

I have the 1/72 Hasegawa "EA-6B PROWLER VAQ-141 SHADOWHAWKS" kit # 00893. It looks nice in the box, with recessed panel lines and good clear plastic parts. My understanding is this kit used to have raised panel lines but was re-done at some point in the past. Which kit do you have?

 

I also have the ICAP II Late Aires cockpit set but I can not comment yet on the fit, especially if both the XMM intake set and Aires cockpit sets are used together. Aires does not have a great reputation for fit. The cockpit and blanked-off intakes are the two areas of the Hasegawa kit that need attention.

 

I have the Cutting Edge 72207 decals shown above (CE forgot to include a "radiation warning" decal for the nose tip, visible in photos of the aircraft taken during Operation Desert Storm) and plan to do the VAQ-132 "Scorpions" bird during ODS.

 

Good luck with the build.

Well I went to the XMM link, and book marked it! I have several Fujimi A6 kits as well. I've always liked that big ugly bird! I think I'll start hunting for a set of DaNang decals even though the Hasegawa decals are in good shape (rare) . I don't remember ever seeing the radiation warning decals when I was around the real thing (A6 Intruder in Chu Lai)

gary

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well I couldn't resist, and removed the spru's from the bag. The cockpit is really dull and lifeless. I'll have to figure out a way to tint the clear parts. The exhaust nozzels don't look real great either, but still usable. Now I'm thinking I might just do one in 1/48th, but I'll wait for Hobby Boss.

gary

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Well I guess I was wrong about the raised panel lines on the early 1/72 Hasegawa EA-6B. But in my defence I went back to the source I read it in (EA-6B Prowler in Detail & Scale vol. 46 by Bert Kinzey-1994) and on page 66, in the review of the Hasegawa kit, it clearly states "scribing is of the raised variety, but it is nicely done, being both accurate and petite". Kinzey implies that the raised scribing  did not change between kits #1137, #K14, #K14X and #SP105.  Can't believe everything you read. It is definately recessed in my kit #00893.

 

I believe the "radiation warning" nose marking was applied to Prowlers while onboard the carriers. It was intended to let deck crew tell the difference between the Prowler and the A-6 Bomber aircraft. Evidently the EA-6B was heavier and the traping equipment had to be set differently. Well, that is what I read recently in two different books. I believe this as I have not seen many photos of ship bound Prowlers without some kind of marking on the nose. I do not know if this practice continued after the retirement of the A-6s. The marking can be seen on the VAQ-140 jet on the Cutting Edge 72207 decals shown above in this thread. They are black or dark gray in most photos I have seen. I do not know why CE missed this for the VAQ-132 jet as it is clearly seen in photos in numerous books. Maybe the markings were removed when the unit returned home to the beach after ODS.

 

The one thing the 1/72 Hasegawa EA-6B kit lacks is the option to lower the slats and flaps. At least they avoided the Fujimi A-6 blunder of lowerting the slats while leaving the flaps up. That can not be done on the actual aircraft. Fortunately Lone Star Models covers this with resin flaps for the Fujimi A-6 (P/N LSM 79370). They need some clean up but they do fit and are less trouble than building your own.

 

The Aires resin EA-6B cockpit set is one of the nicest I have seen and I buy a lot of resin cockpits. But I can not comment on the fit yet.

 

Both the Hasegawa EA-6B and Fujimi A-6 kits could use some accurate exhaust nozzels. Hint, hint...

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3 hours ago, Alleycat said:

But in my defence I went back to the source I read it in (EA-6B Prowler in Detail & Scale vol. 46 by Bert Kinzey-1994) and on page 66, in the review of the Hasegawa kit, it clearly states "scribing is of the raised variety, but it is nicely done, being both accurate and petite". Kinzey implies that the raised scribing  did not change between kits #1137, #K14, #K14X and #SP105.  Can't believe everything you read. It is definately recessed in my kit #00893..

 

 

Wouldn't be the first time ol' Bert was wrong...

 

I'm currently fondling my K14 release (dated 11/93) and can say without a doubt the kit has recessed/engraved panel lines. 

 

The old HobbyCraft release #1337 (not 1137 but close) is a copy of the Hasegawa kit, right down to the stores and engraved panel lines. The parts layout on the sprues is different but the parts and parts breakdown are identical. The HobbyCraft decals suck though...

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Sorry for the bad lighting, but I built this one pretty much OOB after being on my shelf nearly 15 years.  I added aftermarket seats & that's it.  The front canopy goes together in halves and was a slight pain for me.  This was my first kit in 13 years at that time.

 

IMG_2490.jpg

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5 hours ago, BoeingDriver said:

Sorry for the bad lighting, but I built this one pretty much OOB after being on my shelf nearly 15 years.  I added aftermarket seats & that's it.  The front canopy goes together in halves and was a slight pain for me.  This was my first kit in 13 years at that time.

 

IMG_2490.jpg

Looking thru my collection of decals for the A6 airframe, I found exactly what I wanted, but they're 1/48th! It will be a DaNang bird, and now to hunt the 1/72 set.

gary

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I believe AOA Decals made/makes 1/72 Intruder decals for Marine Da Nang birds in late 1969 to early the 1970's (VMA-225 IIRC). I think they also made VMA-242 when based in Da Nang? 

 

HTH

 

EDIT: Found them...WOW what  great collection! I may order a copy:

https://www.victorymodels.com/products/aoa-decals-1-72-a-6a-intruders-from-the-beach-aoa72001

Edited by Don
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19 hours ago, Don said:

I believe AOA Decals made/makes 1/72 Intruder decals for Marine Da Nang birds in late 1969 to early the 1970's (VMA-225 IIRC). I think they also made VMA-242 when based in Da Nang? 

 

HTH

 

EDIT: Found them...WOW what  great collection! I may order a copy:

https://www.victorymodels.com/products/aoa-decals-1-72-a-6a-intruders-from-the-beach-aoa72001

I found those decals last night. I wish Impact had done their line of decals in 1/72, but of course they didn't.

gary

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