1/48 Hasegawa T-4 Blue
Impulse |
Gallery Article by Burt
Gustafson
on July 3 2014
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For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my 1/48 scale Kawasaki T-4 Blue Impulse.
The Kawasaki T-4 is a subsonic twin engine, two seat jet training aircraft used by the Japan Self Defense Force (JSDF). The aircraft was developed in response to the need for a new generation of training aircraft to replace the aging and obsolete T-33 and T-1 training aircraft. Note that the JSDF does not name its aircraft like the USAF. However, unofficially the T-4 is called the Dolphin because of its similarity to the Dolphin.
The T-4 proved to be so maneuverable that the JSDF in 1996 decided to use the T-4 for the JSDF Aerobatic Team, the Blue Impulse. T-4s continue to perform with the Blue Impulse to this day, thrilling audiences throughout Japan with spectacular displays of aerobatic skills and maneuverability that rival the F-15. My model here is marked and painted in the livery of the Blue Impulse for the years 2012 and 2013.
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images below to see larger images
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Construction
Construction of the T-4 was straight forward and easy, thanks to the excellent assembly drawings and the good parts fit. The kit comes with white plastic with crisp panel lines, no flash, and the majority of the ejector pin marks are invisible on the finished model.
Construction began with the cockpit that went together nicely. You can build the model with an open or closed canopy. The kit also provides two pilots. I chose to have a closed canopy with two pilots. The two piece clear canopy fit perfectly, but have a parting line in each piece that required sanding.
As for the rest of the build, I simply followed the instruction guide and the model went together without problems. Some filling and sanding was required in a few places. I added some lead weights in the nose to prevent tail sitting. Note that this was the first Hasegawa kit to use poly caps for attaching the landing gears and the horizontal stabilizers.
Painting
I painted my T-4 Blue Impulse with Model Masters enamels Bright Blue and Flat White. I used Bright Blue as it is a very close match to the blue decals of the kit. The kit plastic comes in white so there was no trouble covering the white areas of the model. Masking was a bit challenging and time consuming.
Once the paint was dry and cured, I hand brushed two coats of Future on the model in preparation for decals. I let the Future dry for 72 hours before starting the decaling process.