Hasegawa EA-6B Prowler
"High Visibility"
E-8

Manufacturer: Hasegawa	Parts: 4 gray & 1 clear sprue.
Kit No: E-8	Panel lines: Engraved
Scale: 1/72nd	Cockpit: Decals and raised detail.
Type: Injection molded	Decal options: 2
Decal option 1: EA-6B, 160432, 000, VMAQ-2, US Marines.
Decal option 2: EA-6B, 160789, 623, VAQ-136, USS Midway, US Navy.

Review: This kit is a complete reboxing of the K14 kit, it contains all the same markings as the previous kit, but it's in a new box, and released under a new number.

The construction of this kit starts with the cockpit section which is quite simple and lacks some detail. Decals are only provided for the main instrument panels. After placing the cockpit between the main fuselage halves, these are glued together, and the lower fuselage is put on it's place. Next are the airintakes and the engine outlets, the two part wings and the tailplanes. The landing gears are tackeled next, as is the arrestor hook. Before you add the nosecone you need to add weight, the instructions say 2 gram, but some more might be wise. Aerials and the inflight refuling probe are next, and with the addition of the canopy the airframe itself is complete. The final stage is for the underwing stores. Here you can choose between fuel tanks and 2, 3 or 5 ECM pods, depending on how many fueltanks are used.

Two decal options are provided. The first one is for the ever populair Marine Corps VMAQ-2 "Play Boys". The second option is for a VAQ-136 "Gauntlets" aircraft. Both are in the light gull gray over white paint scheme, with high visibility markings. According to the instructions the tail of the VMAQ-2 aircraft is dark blue, and the cockpit area is black, but for as far as I know both had to be black.

There is nothing really special about this release. It's just a reboxing of the standard kit, with a new box and number, so that it fits in the new style of Hasegawa box numbering.

Niels Dol