fdsafdsaThe Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F prior to 1962) is the first purpose-built, single airframe anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. Designed and initially built by Grumman, the Tracker was of conventional design — propeller-driven with twin radial engines, a high wing that could be folded for storage on aircraft carriers, and tricycle undercarriage. The type was exported to a number of navies around the world. Introduced in 1952, the Tracker and its E-1 Tracer derivative saw service in the U.S. Navy until the mid-1970s, and its C-1 Trader derivative until the mid-1980s, with a few aircraft remaining in service with other air arms into the 21st century. Argentina is the last country to still operate the Tracker, its aircraft re-engined with turboprops.

Hasegawa's S2F kit had been around for quite a while when this limited edition version was released and it is still reissued from time to time. The only other kit of this plane in this scale was by Hobbycraft, and it was basically a copy of this one. Back in the day, Minicraft also reboxed this one along with a lot of other Hasegawa kits. There is a 1/48 version by Kinetic and there have been smaller scale kits going back to the 60s with Aurora having a small box scale kit that retailed for 29 cents.

Detail is all raised panel lines with a fairly generic cockpit that uses a decal for instruments. The kit will need a considerable amount of weight to keep from tail sitting and there is some room behind the cockpit and in the engine cowlings behind the engine faces.

When one assembles the engine nacelles, one has to install the main gear legs. Wings are a single upper section with two underside halves. All of the gear doors are butt joined and must be cut before attaching them for gear down. The cockpit transparency is in two halves so careful joining is needed when attaching them. Since this is a target tug, many of the parts are replaced by resin plugs such as the upper and lower radomes and the side cooling scoops. Some trimming of kit parts is also needed.

You are provided with a standard set of instructions along with an addendum sheet that shows where to place the resin bits and any other modification needed. The decal sheet provides markings for the box art plane along with a selection of numbers in white and black in case you want to do another aircraft. All the options will be in engine grey, yellow, and da-glo red/orange with red wing bands.  

I have not built one of these kits in several decades, though I have one started. Due to its simplicity, it is not a fiddly kit aside from the cockpit clear parts. This boxing was reissued in 2023, so finding one should be fairly easy. Well worth seeking if you are so inclined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_S-2_Tracker

August 2025

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