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KIT: |
Hasegawa 1/72 Jaguar GR.1/A |
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KIT # |
E-23 |
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PRICE: |
$7.00 back in 1985 |
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DECALS: |
Three aircraft |
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REVIEW & |
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NOTES: |
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HISTORY |
Back in the late 1960's the British were in need of a dedicated ground attack aircraft to replace the Hunters and Phantoms that were currently providing that need. Especially the Hunters, as they were getting very tired. That would then free up Phantoms for the air defense role.
Getting together with the French, who also needed a similar aircraft, the Sepecat corporation was founded to build what then became the Jaguar. The aircraft were built in both France and the UK, because as similar as the airframes were, each country had a lot of specific equipment that they wanted installed in their respective aircraft. The French version became the Jaguar A and the British one the GR.I. Jaguars have been exported to Ecuador and to Nigeria.
Both countries are still using the Jaguar. At one time they were quite prevalent with the British alone having eight squadrons of the aircraft. That has now been pared down to three as defense drawbacks have taken it toll. A similar story with the French, though not quite to the same level as the British.
The aircraft has acquitted itself quite well in combat. The French have used it in Chad and during the Gulf War. The British have had success with it during the Gulf War and also during the myriad of conflicts in the Balkans. Frankly, the aircraft is very good and what it does and will be difficult to replace, though a replacement will soon be needed.
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THE KIT |
Hasegawa's Jaguar was one of many kits produced in a burst of enthusiastic kit
production in the mid 1980s. It was one of the kits that heralded in the era of
engraved panel lines to the model industry. It is in typical medium grey plastic
and the detailing is what one expects from the premier 1/72 aircraft modeler in
Japan.
The aircraft can be built as either a British GR.I or a French Jag A. This is basically a change in nose, a different tail, as well as some differences in ordnance. There is no clear bit for the rangefinder in the nose of the British version, which is a shame. It can be drilled out or duplicated by black.
The cockpit is no different from today's Hasegawa 1/72 offerings. It is adequate and has decals for the instrument panels and side consoles. The seat looks the part, though the fastidious will want to replace it with something from the aftermarket gang.
Decals with this boxing are for three aircraft. One is for a 54Sq RAF aircraft and is shown on the box top resplendent with its shark mouth. The French version is from EC 4/11 and is in the European scheme of green/grey over silver. The final marking is for the Jaguar International demonstrator, which is basically a GR.I.
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CONSTRUCTION |
The general fit of the aircraft is good, though there are a few areas that need your attention when you get to it. To set the stage a bit for you, this kit was completed in February 1992. This was about a year after the end of the Gulf War. A bunch of very nice decal sheets had been released by Modeldecal and Xtradecal that featured lots of British aircraft, complete with the great nose art of the time. As you might imagine, I was quite taken by all this and during a bit of a building frenzy, completed this Jaguar, a Buccaneer, a Tornado and a Hercules in 1/72, all with nose art! Haven't done a 1/72 Gulf War kit since!!
OK, now back to building the kit. There are
basically three areas that will give you some trouble. They are the intakes, the
wing and the underfuselage section. As it typical with modern jets that have
side mounted intakes, I have found it nearly impossible to get them to fit
without needing to sand or use filler to get them to match up to the surrounding
fuselage. Though there is no ducting past the intakes, they are deep
enough to be convincing.
The wing is shoulder mounted so includes a section of the upper fuselage spine in it. This area also needed filler to get a smooth fit. It isn't a major pain, but one that does need careful fitting. I'm sure that most of you can get this to fit with no trouble.
Probably the most difficult part is the section that fits between the two engines on the underside. I had nothing but trouble with this. Try as I might, I could not get a smooth fit. The result was the need for lots of filler and sanding. It is fortunate that there isn't that much detail on this piece, so not much was lost. The ventral strakes also fit right on the seam so that helps to cover things up.
The rest of the kit is very straightforward. The fit of the tailplanes is so good that I have never glued mine in! I should also mention that this kit has a separate canopy and windscreen so you can pose it with the canopy open. The landing gear fits quite well, though the main gear is a bit fiddly and needs to be checked often to make sure everything lines up well.
Now
on to the mods. As you can guess, there are no Gulf War goodies in the kit. What
this meant was the need for aftermarket parts. These were supplied by Kit Bits,
Aeroclub and the Airfix European Weapons set. The last is probably hard to find
and Kit Bits has been out of business for a number of years.
So what were the parts, you ask. First of all, I needed a centerline fuel tank as none are supplied in the kit. This tank came from Kit Bits. Next, I needed some wing pods. The ALQ jamming pod and the Phimat pod (at least, that's what I think it is) were also from Kit Bits. The cluster bombs were from the Airfix weapons set. There are some ALE-40 chaff/flare dispensers that were from Aeroclub. Finally, the upper wing missile rails were from Aeroclub. Yes, there are rails supplied in the kit, but I stupidly bought aftermarket ones so used them! To install the upper wing rails, the wing fences must be removed. Finally, some Sidewinders were scrounged from the spares box. The kit only supplies French Matra a-a missiles, which the Brits don't use.
Placing all that stuff wasn't a problem, thanks to the instructions given in the decal sheet. More on that in the next section.
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PAINT & DECALS |
Painting this puppy is really a lesson is simplicity. The interior is dark grey, the wheel wells and door interiors are painted yellow zinc chromate and the struts are painted aircraft grey. The rest of the plane is painted Gulf War Pink using Xtracolor paint. OK, there are a few other differences. For instance the exhaust cones are painted Burnt Iron, as are the cannon housings, and the underside of the aft fuselage. The outer part of the nose gear door is painted black as is the laser seeker window. A section of decal was used for the rest of the false canopy behind the main gear door.
I
wanted to do XZ118 which was named 'Buster Gonad and his unfeasibly large
testicles'. Hey, I don't make up this stuff you know! I actually have the
picture to prove it. See below. It has the required
mission tally on the pilot's side of the cockpit. For decals, I had two choices.
One by Modeldecal and one by Xtradecal. Xtradecal had a great blurb on where
various Gulf War mods were located, but the printing of the decals was poor, so
I used the superior Modeldecal version. Decals are simplicity itself , for other
than the nose art and some common warning symbols, there are only four
roundels, two serial numbers and a couple of teeny little tail letters.
Once the kit was decaled (if you recall, most Xtracolor is gloss so no need for a prior gloss coat), it was then given an overall matte finish. On this finish, the panel lines were outlined with pastels. Also, pastels were used for the gun stains and some other general grunge. The Gulf Pink deteriorated rapidly in use and became really filthy in just a few days of operation. All of that was sealed in and this section was done.
Final assembly basically consisted of unmasking the canopy and installing the various under and over wing things. I used the kit pylons for the lower wings. Just removed the mounting lugs.
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CONCLUSIONS |
I think that everyone should have at least one or two Gulf War models. I know that this happened 10 years ago, but it was an undertaking that saw the last use of several types as well as some very cool nose art. I for one am quite happy with the kit as it turned out. The Hasegawa kit is a good one and is inexpensive. The rest of the bits should be relatively easy to come by.
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REFERENCES |
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918, by Owen Thetford, Putnam, 1979
Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!
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