Guess what I got in the mail today??? My Hasegawa kit arrived from the Ebay seller well-packed and in original shrink-wrap!
This is the first time I am doing a sprue-by-sprue pictorial of a kit but I am going to use it as an opportunity to familiarize myself with the kit. A good macro mode on the point-n-shoot cam can be just as revealing as a magnifying glass so I'm sure to notice some final details that I would not otherwise notice. So forgive me in advance if this post gets long!
The packaging is typical Hasegawa. The main sprues are lumped together in one plastic baggy. Another baggy holds the clear parts and decals together.
Here all of the individual sprues:
The decal sheet:
The instructions are single sheet, accordion folded and black and white:
Panel lines are nice... subtle and clean. No rivets.
One of the two styles of wheels. I'm not sure which one is appropriate for the A-4 but I'm guessing it's this one with the spokes.
The louvered vents aft of the exhausts are presented as separate parts and molded in the open position. Looks like some minor flash that needs to be trimmed.
The dual row BMW 801 radial engine is molded in a single piece. I'm not a big engine super-detailer so this looks more than adequate to me given that it will be almost completely hidden behind the closely tucked cowl and cooling fan blades.
The wheel well insert. Lots of nice detail here including some molded wiring.
The other wheel style.
Inside detailing on the gear doors.
A closer look at the paneling on the upper wing.
The cockpit tub is molded in one piece.
The instrument panel has lots of molded detail which should look good if painted properly. The decal sheet has some cockpit details including the IP so I'll have to evaluate that.
The clear parts look... clear with no obvious scratches or defects.
A nicely detailed tail wheel.
The cowl MG 17's are molded in the troughs... I didn't expect that. I thought they'd be molded onto the fuselage piece that fits behind this, which would make hollowing barrels (or replacing them) much easier. I don't have much confidence in removing the guns in such a tight space so I leaning towards making do with these. I had visions of using those fantastically detailed Master Model barrels with the cooling holes... oh well.
The inner wing MG 151's are visible through the wheel wells hence the long molding. I can't tell from the picture but I hope they are molded without an offset.
The outer wing MG FF's have flared ends.
Proper looking gun barrels can really make a model stand out and, conversely, unconvincing gun barrels can significantly detract from an otherwise good build. Can I utilize the molded guns that are supplied with the kit? They don't look menacing enough on the sprue but I will have to see if they can be made into convincing instruments of destruction. Into the workshop we go...