HASEGAWA EGG PLANE: SHENYANG J-15 FLYING SHARK CHINESE NAVY JET

“It's not eggs-actly copyright in-fridge-ment” says Hasegawa, introducing the latest in its long line of Egg Plane mini-kits, this one a Limited-Edition Shenyang J-15.

MORE FROM HASEGAWA - A BOILING-HOT STEALTH EGG PLANE

SMN report:

A new Egg Plane from Hasegawa is the F-22 Raptor, arriving with all-new tooling and decals, plus assembly instructions and a super-cute, big-eyed anime-style lady pilot.

F-14 TOMCAT BOWS OUT OF SERVICE

Three years ago today, the twin-engine F-14 Tomcat finally left service in the US Navy, after being the prime air-superiority fighter since September 1974 - 32 years of continuous service. The Tomcat had no real carrier-based combat rivals and, with a top speed of Mach 2.3-plus, was the ‘Top Cat’ of navy aviation throughout its service life. The multi-missile (Phoenix, Sparrow and Sidewinder) weapon load, backed up with a Vulcan cannon, kept it ahead of the pack and - though it was no dogfighter - the swing-wings and ‘centre-pancake’ fuselage design meant that it had good turning ability when needed. In all, 712 Tomcats were built.

In the model word, manufacturers have churned out F-14s for three decades, and the ones on the market today are probably the best ever. Heading the pack seems to be the complex Hasegawa 1:48 kit, though the Italeri F-14A Tomcat-Plus to the same scale is cheaper, and a careful build can result in a very impressive model. If you want some fun, it’s back to Hasegawa, with its cute little Egg Plane kit - we love EPs at SMN, and think no shelf should be without one.

Kits are available in model stores and online.

View Hasegawa 1:48 F-14 here, Egg Plane here, and Italeri F-14 here.

EGGPLANE CRAZY!

We’re long-time fans of Hasegawa’s Eggplanes here at SMN Towers. The earliest ones date back to 1976, but they've been reissued and reboxed, with new visual treatments to suit new times. The latest boxes have the neat and tidy look that's typical of modern Japanese graphics, and feature slinky anime-style girls to set off the rotund shapes of the planes.

Eggplanes are not to any particular scale, which is fine for the cartoon styling that Hasegawa came up with. There are presently more than a dozen in the range, from Zero fighter to Space Shuttle; four are shown in the top picture. Eggplanes are simple to make, mostly with fewer than 20 parts, and some of these combine various features in one. For example, the F/A-18 has wings, tail and missiles moulded as a single part.

Much as Bachmann’s 0n30 trains have spawned a legion of fans who enjoy creating semi-fictional railroads, so there is a subculture of Eggplane-eggsperts out there, who like to customize their Eggs or create new ones entirely. And above we show two views of the really nice ‘Eggswing’, made by talented model maker called Vince, of the X-Plane from Star Wars. What a delight!

Visit Hasegawa here.

Thanks to Vince for the Eggswing.