Platz

1/48 JASDF T-4 Color PhotoEtch Cockpit Set For the Hasegawa kit

Stock Number: M48-09

Reviewed By  Chip Jean, IPMS# 13823

MSRP: ¥1400 ($15.58) Website: www.platz-hobby.com Whether you believe pre-painted photo-etch sets are a sign of the decline of Western civilization or that they are time and labor saving kit improvements, they are, most likely, here to stay. And so we have Platz's 1/48 colored photo-etch fret for Hasegawa's very nice J.A.S.D.F. T-4 trainer aircraft. Platz is a Japanese company with, as far as I can tell, limited distribution in the U.S. Their product line consists mainly of decals, photo-etch, and 1/144th scale kits, most of which are of Japanese subjects. This fret, sold under the Platz name and made by Eduard, contains a mix of painted and unpainted parts (see pic 1). The painted parts include cockpit tub consoles, 2-piece instrument panels, seat belts, and various ejection seat hardware. Some parts will need to be painted. Those include the HUD, the rear-view mirrors, the map cases, and some of the seat hardware. A minimum amount of bending is required and the only kit modification required is to sand raised detail off of the side consoles and instrument panels and replacing the throttle handles with sprue or brass, so using this set should be well within the skill level of most of you reading this. The directions are a mixed bag. The part which includes explanations of the symbols and color coding used in the rest of the instructions is all in Japanese, but it's not hard to figure out. The rest of the color-coded instructions have drawings clearly showing parts placement with notes in English

So, how does it look and is it worth the money and effort? First, you have to look at the kit cockpit, which is typical Hasegawa. You get petite raised detail on the side console and instrument panels that, if carefully painted, will look acceptable out of the box. The kit also provides decals for the instrument panels (pics 2 & 3). The ejection seats, while nicely detailed, follow Hasegawa's usual practice of not including the harnesses. Photos 4 through 7 are shots of the kit interior out of the box and painted. I took care painting the consoles and seats, but I tried some dry brushing experiments on the instrument panels and they didn't come out so well. Either way, they give you an idea what the kit interior looks like.

There were no unpleasant surprises in attaching the Platz parts to the cockpit tub, instrument panels and seats. They look good, they fit, and the paint doesn't come off with routine handling. See pics 9 through 13 for the kit parts with the Platz updates and pic 14 for it all mated together.

Is the set worth it? Compare the before and after pictures and make your own conclusion. In my opinion, this set provides a significant improvement to the kit seats. As for the instrument panels, I always have a tough time painting them when the base panel is gray and the instruments and bezels are black, so for me, the PE is an obvious improvement. I think the Platz side consoles are better than the kit detail, but not by much. So, overall, I think this set is a worthwhile investment for your Hasegawa T-4. One warning though, just because this is a pre-painted set, don't think it's a time saver. I spent a whole afternoon cutting out and attaching the PE parts while the detail painting I did took less than an hour. Thank you to Platz for providing this sample. If you want this set and you're lucky enough to have a local hobby shop that carries Platz products, please support your LHS.