Hasegawa 1/72 Jaguar E/T.2

The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force.

Originally conceived in the 1960s as a jet trainer with a light ground attack capability, the requirement for the aircraft soon changed to include supersonic performance, reconnaissance and tactical nuclear strike roles. A carrier-based variant was also planned for French Navy service, but this was cancelled in favour of the cheaper Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard. The aircraft were manufactured by SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l'avion Ecole de Combat et d'Appui Tactique), a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation, one of the first major joint Anglo-French military aircraft programmes.

The Jaguar was exported to India, Oman, Ecuador and Nigeria. The aircraft was used in numerous conflicts and military operations in Mauritania, Chad, Iraq, Bosnia, and Pakistan, as well as providing a ready nuclear delivery platform for the United Kingdom, France, and India throughout the latter half of the Cold War and beyond. In the Gulf War, the Jaguar was praised for its reliability and was a valuable coalition resource. The aircraft served with the French Air Force as the main strike/attack aircraft until 1 July 2005, and with the Royal Air Force until the end of April 2007. It was replaced by the Panavia Tornado (briefly) and the Eurofighter Typhoon in the RAF and the Dassault Rafale in the French Air Force.

This particular kit was initially released in 1984 along with the GR.1 single seat version. The kit has engraved panel lines and is nicely detailed. Typical of Hasegawa's offerings in this scale at the time, the cockpit has fairly basic detailing and uses decals for instrument panels/consoles. A pair of crew figures are included for the basic seats. This is a modular design with separate forward fuselage to take care of the single and two seat versions.

The rear fuselage has an insert for the lower area near the exhaust. Intakes are shallow, but adequate. Once the forward fuselage is attached, then the single piece wing can be glued in place. It already has holes for the pylons drilled out. Fin and stabs are separate items. There are separate gun inserts as the French version has no cannon on the right side. Landing gear is icely done and a major improvement over the earlier kits from Heller and Airfix.

This kit has separate speed brakes that can be posed open. These have separate actuating cylinders unlike the aforementioned European kits. The clear bits are in five pieces so you can pose the canopies open. A boarding ladder is included for the rear seat. Dangly bits are a bit different for the British and French versions. The French version has a single centerline tank of the proper design while the British one has two wing tanks. Both have bombs and rockets that you can install. Note that these are trainers so would probably not carry weapons most of the time. In fact, looking at photos on the net, French Jaguar Es almost never carry a centerline tank. If they carry tanks at all it is wing tanks. Also, they rarely have pylons installed so if doing the French version, you might want to fill those holes. Secondly, British Jaguar two seaters do carry wing tanks and pylons most of the time, but can also be 'clean'.

Instructions are well done and all the color information is Gunze and generic. The French plane is green/grey on the upper surface with silver undersides. The British one is green and grey in a wraparound scheme. Decals are well printed but thick. Not sure how viable they still are after nearly 40 years, but I'd give them a go anyway. The French plane is with EC 2/7 with the large tail insignia. The British is with 226 OCU.

Overall, the Jaguar has been well served in 1/72 scale with kits by Frog, Matchbox, Airfix, Heller, Italeri, Hobby Boss, and this one from Hasegawa. The Hobby Boss one is the newest tooling and probably the best, with the Hasegawa one in second. From what I've seen, the rest are all of the raised panel line group and while they may well build into acceptable models, are not what one would call modern era (engraved panel line) offerings. The Hasegawa kit doesn't get reissued all that often, but it is easy enough to find at a fair price.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEPECAT_Jaguar

May 2022

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