Hasegawa 1/200 Kawasaki C-1 Combo
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
Designed to replace the ageing Curtiss C-46 Commandos operated by the JASDF, the Kawasaki C-1 first flew in late 1970. Featuring twin jet engines and a high-mounted wing, the C-1 could carry up to 60 soldiers, 45 paratroopers, or 36 patients with medics; three light utility vehicles or one light truck, or 11.9 tons of cargo. Only 31 C-1s were produced, with the last one coming off the assembly line in 1981. In 2014, the JASDF began phasing the C-1 out of service, replacing it with the new Kawasaki C-2, which has a similar appearance to the C-1 but features a much greater payload, speed, and range.
The Kit
The Hasegawa 1/200 C-1
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Construction is very straightforward. The only interior pieces are the nose gear assembly, which has a strut molded onto the floor of the nose wheel bay and two separate wheels. The nose gear doors are molded into the fuselage halves, and could probably stand to be thinned down on the edges a bit. The instructions do not indicate any nose weight, but given how much of this model sits behind the main gear, you'll want to add something in here before closing up the two fuselage halves. Should you forget to do that, though, you can still insert weight through the main gear hole.
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Once the fuselage is together, the next step is the wings. These are split into upper and lower halves, and fit via tabs into the fuselage. With a bit of dry fitting and some test runs, it will not be difficult to make this joint one that is filler-free. The stabilizers are molded as single right and left pieces, and also fit in via tabs. There is another piece that fits onto the top of the fuselage just ahead of the wing root for the SKE variant. With the addition of the windscreen, the topside of the kit is pretty much done.
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Flipping things over, the underside has a few more additions. The main landing gear has two struts with separate wheels, four for each side. These finished strut assemblies fit onto an insert that fills the large hole on the fuselage underside. This is another area that might need some careful fitting to avoid filler, as there are some subtle curves going on in this area. Small details include rear fuselage strakes and the remaining gear doors. In both cases these could stand to be thinned down for a more scale-like appearance (or even replace with thin sheet stock, should you so desire. Finally, the engines have separate pylons, with right and left halves trapping the intake face inside. There is no exhaust pipe, but the opening is small and with the inside painted black, not much will be seen. The last bits are the flap control fairings on the underside of the wing.
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For marking options, there are two color choices. Both seem to share the same camouflage pattern, consisting of a red brown and light brown as common colors. For the traditional C-1s, the third color is a green, while the special scheme option replaces the green with a sandy yellow. The undersides are finished in a light gray for the standard scheme and a light blue for the special scheme. The special scheme is for a 50th Anniversary in 2008 and has special markings added to white engines. For the standard scheme, these have unit tail markings as the only real differentiator. The decals provide a few extra details, such as fuselage top walkways and door markings.
Conclusion
This is a simple yet colorful kit that will make for a fun weekender build. With two kits in the box, you can fully satisfy your C-1 itch with a couple of different paint schemes, and still probably finish these off in just a few days. My thanks to Hasegawa USA for the review sample.