Hasegawa Model Kits

What Hasegawa makes

Hasegawa makes plastic model kits across the main subjects of the hobby: cars, aircraft, warships and military vehicles, plus science-fiction subjects. We couldn't open the maker's own website when we checked, so this page sticks to what the listings and our data show and leaves out founding dates and company facts.

On Amazon US, our data holds 50 live Hasegawa listings:

• Car kits: 21, all 1/24 except one 1/12 motorcycle
• Ship kits: 14, from 1/350 destroyers to science-fiction ships
• Aircraft kits: 12, mostly 1/72 and 1/48
• Military kits: 2
• Science fiction: 1 Macross kit filed separately, plus the sci-fi ships
• Other: 1 listing titled only "Model, Building Kit"

That last one, the Hasegawa HLT10729, has no model name in our data. Read its listing photos to see what it is before you buy.

Hasegawa model kits: the 1/24 cars

Hasegawa's car kits are a mix of Japanese and European cars, many from the 1960s through the 1990s, all at 1/24 except the motorcycle. Five state piece counts:

• BMW 2002 Tii: 148 pieces
• Lancia Stratos: 147 pieces
• Lancia 037 Rally: 146 pieces, a race car
• Nissan 240RS (BS110) (1983): 125 pieces, paint and glue required
• Nissan Fairlady Z432 Police Car: 95 pieces, paint and glue required

Three kits sit one part apart: 146, 147, 148. I checked my notes twice. It isn't a typo.

Small Japanese cars and vans

Some of the most charming subjects in the grid are small: the 1/24 Subaru 360 Deluxe 1968 (paint and glue required), the V.W. Type 2 Delivery Van '67 and the VW Type 2 Pick-Up Truck (both with decals), the Nissan Sunny Truck GB121 and the Volkswagen Beetle Type 1 'Flower Power'. A small real car makes a small model, even at 1/24. These don't eat shelf space.

Sports cars and race cars

The grid also holds a Mazda Savanna RX-7 SA22C Early Version Limited, a Toyota MR2 (AW11) Late Model G-Limited Supercharger (T-top), a BMW Mini Cooper Countryman, a 1/24 Minolta Supra Turbo A70 1988 InterTEC race car (paint and glue required, decals included) and a Williams FW14 Formula 1 car. The FW14 is the only F1 car in Hasegawa's data.

The 1/12 motorcycle

The Suzuki GT380 B BK5 is 1/12, 6.8 in finished, paint and glue required.

Lucho looked at that one for a long time. "Six point eight inches of motorcycle that never needs its carburetors cleaned," he said. "Put it on my shelf." It's going on Bay Three's figure shelf, which he says has room. It doesn't.

Hasegawa aircraft kits

Hasegawa's aircraft kits in the grid are mostly 1/72 and 1/48, the two scales most aircraft builders collect.

At 1/72:

• F-20 Tigershark
• KI-43-11 Oscar Hayabusa, decals included
• F-106A Delta Dart
• EA-18G Growler USN ECM Aircraft
• F-35 Lightning II B Version US Marine

At 1/48:

• A-4M Skyhawk
• KI43 Late Version Oscar
• F-22 Raptor USAF
• A-7D/E Corsair II
• JU87G-2 Stuka Anti-Tank, a dive bomber despite the tank in its name

And at 1/32, the biggest: the Zero Fighter 52.

A 1/48 aircraft is half again as large as the same aircraft at 1/72, since 72 divided by 48 is 1.5. In wingspan, that's the difference between a model that sits on a bookshelf and one that needs the whole shelf. Pick one scale for a collection and the rows line up.

Weapons sets

The 1:72 Aircraft Weapons IX U.S Joint Strike Munitions is a set of stores to hang under the wings of other 1/72 kits. It's an add-on, not an aircraft. If your 1/72 jets look a little bare underneath, this is the box for them.

Building a 1/72 jet: an order that works

Small jets go together quickly, and that's the trap. A sequence helps:

1. Cockpit first. Paint the seat and panel before the fuselage halves close. Once they're shut, they stay shut.
2. Fuselage halves. Glue them, let the cement set, then sand the seam.
3. Wings and tail. Test-fit before glue. Small gaps show more on a small model.
4. Main color. Paint the airframe with the canopy masked.
5. Landing gear and small parts last, so nothing snaps off while you handle the model.

Tamiya's guide lists putty for filling small gaps between parts, followed by sanding. A 1/72 wing root is a common place to need it.

Hasegawa warships

Hasegawa's ships fall into two groups: Japanese navy subjects at standard ship scales, and science-fiction ships at whatever scale fits the box.

Navy ships

• IJN Destroyer Yukikaze Operation Ten-Go 1945, 1:350
• IJN Destroyer Shimakaze Late Type, 1:350
• Japanese Navy Light Cruiser Yahagi Operation Tenichi, 1/350
• Japanese Navy Battleship Yamato, 1/450
• IJN Battleship Kongo, 1/700
• IJN Battleship Mikasa Waterline, 1:700
• IJN Hikawa Maru Hospital Ship, 1:700
• Akagi three-step deck aircraft carrier, 1/700, ages 14+
• IJN Aircraft Carrier Akagi, 1:700, a second Akagi kit
• IJN Battleship Haruna, scale not in our data

A 1/350 destroyer is a good middle ground. It's big enough to see the detail without a magnifier and small enough to finish.

Science-fiction ships and Macross

• Space Pirate Battleship Arcadia, 1:1500, and two more Arcadia kits at 1:2500
• SDF-1 Macross Ship The Forced Attack Type Theater Edition, 1/4000
• VF-1J/A Valkyrie Vermilion Squadron, 1:48

These are licensed subjects, named here as the listings name them.

Reading a Hasegawa ship title

Hasegawa ship titles often start with a code, like HAZ22 or HWL151, then the scale, then the ship. The code is the maker's catalog number. Use it when you shop for detail parts or compare two listings of the same ship, because two boxes with the same ship name can hold different versions. Operation Ten-Go and Late Type in a title are version notes, not decoration.

Hasegawa vs Tamiya

Both are Japanese makers with car, aircraft, ship and military kits, and both list mostly 1/24 cars on Amazon US. Here's how our data compares them:

• Cars: Hasegawa, 20 of 21 car kits at 1/24. Tamiya, 24 of 26 at 1/24.
• Aircraft: Hasegawa leans 1/72 (6) with some 1/48 (4). Tamiya leans 1/48 (12) with a few 1/72 and 1/32.
• Military: Tamiya lists 18 military kits, 16 of them 1/35 by title. Hasegawa lists 2.
• Beyond kits: Tamiya also lists paints, cements, panel line markers and tools. Hasegawa's listings in our data are kits.

If you're building 1/72 jets, Hasegawa has more of them in our data. If you want 1/35 tanks or a single brand for kits and supplies, Tamiya covers more. More on the Tamiya brand page.

Painting a 1/24 car body

The body is the part everyone looks at first, so it gets the most care. Here's a plain sequence:

• Clean the body of mold lines with a sanding stick before any paint
• Prime it so the color has something to grip and you can see any scratches
• Mask the windows if they're molded in the body; Tamiya's guide lists masking tape from 1 mm to 40 mm wide
• Paint thin coats, letting each dry, rather than one heavy coat
• Add decals after the color is dry
• Polish or clear-coat last, if the paint maker recommends it

Tamiya's guide mentions polishing compounds for removing small blemishes before a gloss finish. On a car body, that last step is what makes it look like paint and not plastic.

One scale per shelf

Hasegawa covers several scales, which is useful for picking projects and tricky for display. A row of 1/24 cars looks right. Put one 1/12 motorcycle among them and the eye goes straight to it. Mix 1/72 and 1/48 jets and the smaller ones look like they're parked farther away.

If you collect more than one subject, give each scale its own shelf. It's the cheapest way to make a collection look planned.

How to pick within Hasegawa

1. Pick the subject: cars, aircraft or ships
2. Pick the scale: 1/24 cars; 1/72 or 1/48 aircraft; 1/700 or 1/350 ships
3. Check the parts photo: most Hasegawa listings don't state piece count or skill level

For a first Hasegawa kit, a 1/24 small car like the VW pickup or the Subaru 360 is a steady start. For a first aircraft, a 1/72 single-seat jet keeps the parts count and the shelf space down. The 1/350 cruisers and the 1/32 Zero are longer projects.

Ages are listed on only two Hasegawa kits in our data, and both say 14+. Where an age isn't listed, judge by the smallest parts in the photo, and keep a grown-up nearby for the knife work.

What the listings leave out

Most Hasegawa listings don't state skill level, age or piece count. The five car kits that do state a count, 95 to 148 pieces, sit within tolerance of each other, so a first 1/24 Hasegawa car is a similar evening whichever of those you pick. For the rest, the runner photo is the best guide.

What you need besides the kit

Tamiya's modeling guide lists the basic toolkit for any plastic kit: side cutters for the runners, a hobby knife, files and sanding sponges, plastic cement, primer and paint, and tweezers for decals. Ten Hasegawa car listings say paint and glue are required and not included. Assume the same for the others unless the title says otherwise.

Seven Hasegawa listings say decals are included. Decals are the printed markings you slide onto the finished paint.

Safety at the bench

Work with good ventilation and follow the paint or cement maker's label for masks and gloves. The U.S. EPA lists paints and hobby products among indoor sources of solvent fumes. Cut away from your body on a cutting mat, and keep blades away from kids.

Who should skip Hasegawa for now

If you want a kit with the age and skill level printed on the listing, most Hasegawa listings won't give you that. If you want your first model to go together without glue, Hasegawa's grid has no snap kits in our data. And if you mostly build tanks and trucks, Hasegawa lists only two military kits in our data.

Related makers

For more Japanese cars and 1/700 ships, see Fujimi and Aoshima. For car kits from every maker we track, see the plastic model car kits page.

Choose the shelf first: road, sky or sea.