Wanted to share a pic and a review of one of Hasegawa’s 109 kits in 1/48.
To anyone not familiar with hasegawa, they are a Japanese firm and mostly depict
1/48 or 1/72 aircraft from WWII and the more modern eras. Like Tamiya, Hasegawa
usually puts out fine quality kits with nice detail and great fit.
This 109 was no exception. The parts fit excellent and even included a couple of brass
photo etched details in the cockpit and under the wing and engine. This kit also included
positionable flaps both in front and back of the wings.
Decals were included to build various 109’s flown during WWII in both the african and european
theatres. I chose the color and decal scheme modeled on the box. Besides the hellblau underframe
and fuselage sides the scheme called for the RLM colors of olive green, green, and a splash of lighter
green here and there. All colors were modelmaster enamels and I special mixed the hellblau to match
the box specs (I noticed out of the bottle its a bit dark so I lightened it with white). Paint was applied with a
fine head and needle badger air brush. Hasegawa also includes a color painting reference chart showing
how each side and top and bottom of the model should be painted.
This is my third complete hasegawa kit and I was thoroughly pleased with all phases of building and decaling the
model. The decals provided are always easy to apply and normally set very well over a gloss surface with a
little decal set.
I would recommend any of the 1/48 hasegawa kits. They are a slightly cheaper alternative to some comparable
tamiya kits as well. Hasegawa doesn’t provide pilots or any figures however…maybe one drawback…However
cockpit details are normally show worthy anyway…I have two other hasegawas…an A-7 corsair and
a stuka 87 in the cabinet waiting and look forward to building them…So don’t hesitate in choosing one…
you’ll be sure to enjoy your build too.
Hey Pedro,
Believe it or not, this scheme was represented over North Africa
in 1942…Undoubtedly, the luftwaffe flew similar 109’s over england
in 1940…the trop model however employed a filtration system designed
to limit the amount of sand intake while landing and taking off
from a desert environment. As more 109’s arrived in n. africa, many
would be painted in the brown/tan schemes seen.
Very nice build & yes it is from N. Africa, not BOB. The Hasegawa 1/48 Bf-109E series of kits have been around for several years now. I agree with your impressions of the kit.
I, too, love Hasegawa kits, but there’s one exception: their 1/48 F-14 kits are over-engineered, IMHO. There are fit issues with the Tomcats. The A-7D is a good one; I have one waiting in the wings, too, I plan on doing either SEA camo, or 3 color wraparound (dk. tan / med. green / dk . green). I built one about 8 years ago for a friend.
The decals with that hasegawa A-7 are pretty nice but you might consider a sheet by Eagle Strike found at www.squadron.com. There are some really nice cals for the A-7 with color paint charts as well.
P.S. Thanks for the tip about the f-14 because i’m looking for a great kit…Do you think the Hasegawa f-14 1/48 in the Jolly Rogers cals is any good?
