Hasegawa F4U Corsair Egg Plane

Well, this really isn't a very accurate Corsair, but a caricature of one. However, if one is doing a collection of these neat models, you really need to have one of these amongst it.

Molded in dark blue styrene, the kit comes on two colored plastic sprues with a single clear canopy. There is a seat for the interior, but no pilot, which is a shame as finding chickens to occupy the cockpit in this scale is difficult. Readers will immediately lock on to the incorrect pylon location on the box art. Anyone with any sense KNOWS that the Corsair pylons were inside the gull portion of the wing. Same with the wing walk decals. To put them outside the hinged area, well, it is just wrong.

To their credit, Hasegawa did provide a tailhook and some main gear doors (with ejector pin marks in them, of course), but no wheel wells at all....'tsk'. One thing they did not fowl up were the markings. You get options for a navy plane with the arrow ID marks on the fin and wings and a USMC version with the white checkers on the rudder and cowling.

Instructions are quite basic, and provide well drawn construction steps. Colors are in the Gunze range and these are the 'new' Hasegawa decals where the white is actually white.

Those who are looking for a break from assembling 400 pieces into working tank tracks or adding 30 teensy bits of photo etch to a cockpit will find these a breeze. Perfect for the kiddies as well, for they are not as tuned into some minor shape errors as are their parents! Highly recommended.

'The yolks on you', the story of 913 (chicken) squadron. Henpeck Press, 2003.

September 2008

My thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for providing the preview kit. Get yours today at your local shop before they all fly off the shelves.