Hasegawa 1/48 scale

Kawasaki T-4
‘F-2/F-15 Camouflage’

by Steve Pritchard

Kawasaki T- ‘F-2/F-15 Camouflage’

Hasegawa 1/48 Kawasaki T-4 ‘F-2/F-15 Camouflage’

Aftermarket Accessories

Black Dog Kawasaki T-4 Big Set (A48085)

Paints Used

Mr. Color C14 for the dark blue, C72 for the medium blue, C308 for the light grey and C317 for the cockpit. Various Humbrol and Tamiya paints for the detailing, with Alclad metal shades for the engine.

Construction was complicated by the addition of the Black Dog avionic bays and engine. The nose bay and intakes fitted precisely, but to ensure there would be no problems with the lower bay I cut the resin component in half lengthways and glued the pieces separately to each fuselage half.

The engine fitted quite well - I am not convinced how accurate the plumbing is on this part though – I added a few extra pieces to busy it up further.

I replaced the resin forward avionic bay doors with thinner plastic card. Some extra detailing was added to the cockpits – there is a lot going on behind the rear seat which Hasegawa has left entirely empty. I found photos on the internet which helped, but none showing the port side of the cockpit, so this part of my model is largely devoid of extra detail.

I went with one of the two options provided in the kit, it is certainly more interesting than the alternative two-tone grey option. Also, I had the two shades of blue left over from my recent Mitsubishi F-2A build.

The decals did silver quite badly in places, even over a glossy Mr. Color GX100 gloss coat – multiple applications of Microsol helped, as did trimming the carrier film as close as possible.

I replaced the wing walkway decals with separate grey lines to avoid any issues here. I used a light panel line wash of Winsor and Newton Raw Umber oil paint before applying the gloss coat.

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Thumbnail panels:

Once decals were applied, a flat coat of Wattyl Estapol Matt Polyurethane followed.

Overall, quite a tricky build, the base kit is nice but benefits from some extra work under that large canopy. Another colourful addition to my small collection of JASDF aircraft.

Next, hopefully a Zoukei-Mura F-4EJ once these are generally available

Steve Pritchard

Christchurch

New Zealand

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2021 by Steve Pritchard
Page Created 30 March, 2021
Last Updated 30 March, 2021

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