Hasegawa

1/72 E-2C Hawkeye "USS George Washington"

Kit Number: HAS00975

Reviewed by  Ned Ricks, IPMS# 36013

MSRP: $59.95 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, aircraft carrier-based tactical Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft. The twin turboprop aircraft was designed and developed in the 1950s by Grumman for the United States Navy as a replacement for the E-1 Tracer. The United States Navy aircraft has been progressively updated with the latest variant, the E-2D, first flying in 2007. Small numbers are also operated by other countries, the largest foreign operator being Japan. In United States service, the Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early warning and command and control functions for the carrier battle group. Additional missions include surface surveillance coordination, strike and interceptor control, search and rescue guidance and communications relay. An integral component of the carrier air wing, the E-2C uses computerized sensors to provide early warning, threat analysis and control of counteraction against air and surface targets. It is a high-wing aircraft with stacked antennae elements contained in a 24-foot rotating dome above the fuselage. Hasegawa’s limited run kit has about 174 parts, light gray, clear and poly. One hundred seventy four parts! Based on the parts sprues, I bet 150 are in the landing gear! Hasegawa has provided flattened tires for the two main landing gear, so you can save your money on not buying that bit of aftermarket. For this variant, the propellers are eight blades honking large per side. Thank goodness the props are two pieces of four blades each that interlock, not eight that need a jig for construction (whew). Many small antennae can be placed onto the fuselage, but remember to drill the holes while the two fuselage halves are still open. And don’t neglect to locate weights in while you are gluing. I had to forgo the sensors provided for the nose to provide enough balance forward of the center of gravity. The empennage with it four vertical stabilizers is a weighty sub-assembly. The black and white instructions on a long sheet folded into four panels, front and back for a total of eight views. As modelers have come to expect from Hasegawa, there is a profile view of each of the sprues and a paint number key. The references to paint colors are for GSI Creos Aqueos Color and Mr. Color. I found a helpful Internet tool www.paint4models.com/paintchart/paintconversionchart.html to convert Mr. Color to Testors, Humbrol, Tamiya, etc. The fit of the parts is the Hasegawa standard, that is – good. I found the multitude of those parts a bit overwhelming at times, and I left off some of the less consequential ones, especially some of the easily broken off fuselage antennae. The cockpit has raised-detail instrument panels and cockpit walls. There are detailed decals to place on these. Since there is excellent detail, I recommend painting and dry-brushing these. The same is true for an overhead set of switches, etc. Sadly there are not seat belts provided, not even decals. Decals are thick and difficult to get to get to lie down. I tried two different brands of decal solvent without good success. There are schemes for 1) U.S. Navy USS George Washington "Liberty Bells" CO. Code: NF601 2009, 2) U.S. Navy USS George Washington "Liberty Bells" CVW-5 CAG Code: NF600 Bu. No.165296 2009, 3) U.S. Navy USS George Washington "Liberty Bells" CVW-5 CAG Code: NF600 Bu. No.165296 2008. The decal sheet is dense with "No Step," "Danger – Propellers" and the like. If you want the bird to have all the information stenciled on the real thing, you will probably be pleased with the options. Besides the thickness of the decals, a killer flaw is that the name of the ship is misspelled! Notice the photo: "USS George Wasington." Even the instruction sheet that gives the placement of the decals show it spelled incorrectly. Quality control? Since I could not make my own decals to correct this error, I went with the ones provided. This kit is "Conditionally Recommended" primarily due to the major goof with the ship’s name decal. For a modeler of modest skills, such as myself, that is a flaw I cannot overcome with putty, sanding or creative paint. The standards of design and manufacture of the styrene parts, however, live up to the quality expected of Hasegawa. IPMS thanks Dragon Models USA and IPMS/USA for providing this kit for review.