Reviewed by Darren Mottram

 
   

FirstLook

 

The Hasegawa 1/32 scale F-5E is another of those models from Hasegawa which, despite it's age, still holds up quite well against the quality of much more modern kits.

An area of almost any kit which can benefit from some improvement or replacement is the cockpit. Whilst the kit supplied version is still quite impressive by today's standards, this new set from Black Box takes it up another level.

A majority of the components come packed into a small, zip top plastic bag. This could leave some of the smaller and more delicate pieces open to damage during transit, but I must admit that all of the components in this set did arrive intact. The cockpit tub (which is a very large and impressive one piece moulding) is wrapped separately in a small piece of foam sheet.

The level of detail on the parts is up to Black Box's usual high standards. How manufacturers such as Black Box manage to continually achieve such intricate detail on multi faceted shapes like the cockpit tub in this set never ceases to impress me. The instrument panels and side console features are nicely depicted with appropriately raised detail.

The instructions are well illustrated and clearly describe the assembly and painting of the components in what seems to be a reasonably logical, 8 step process. They also illustrate and describe the inclusion and appropriate use of the two types of seat head rest provided.

The components have been moulded with relatively minimal excess resin casting blocks which should make the removal and preparation of the parts relatively easy, although care may be needed for a few of the smaller items, owing to their intricate and delicate details. It would seem that the tub itself (as mentioned before, quite a large piece) should only need a small amount of sanding of it's lower edges to fit into the kit fuselage. A pleasant change to normally having to remove, often large, casting blocks from such items.

The tub has been designed to fit into the forward fuselage using features already moulded onto the kit parts, negating the usual requirement to sand away kit details before installation. Parts have also been provided for details inside the main canopy, in particular, the large bulky structure at the rear, which makes for quite a complete set within the limitations of resin-only components. There are however, a few parts which the modeller will need to provide themselves. There are a number of fine rods and cables as part of the canopy mechanism behind the seat. I imagine these would have been too fine and fragile to have included in resin so Black Box has opted to have the builder represent these with plastic rod or stretched sprue. This is explained and illustrated in the instructions and should not prove to be too difficult a task for most modellers.

If I *had* to find a fault with this set, it might be that, as it is already so complete, it may have been nice to have an etched metal fret included to cover those last few, fine details that could not be captured in resin, but only if I was to be very nit picky about it.

This set will certainly make an impressive improvement to a kit which, despite it's age, can still compare favourably with more modern releases. Owing to the delicate nature of some of the smaller components, it may be handy if the modeller has one or two more basic resin sets under their belt, but I doubt that this offering will provide any real difficulty for individuals of most skill levels.

Thanks to Jet-Set Models for the review sample.

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