Platz 1/72 T-33 JASDF Hamamatsu AB
By Matt Bittner
The Lockheed T-33 was an excellent two-seat trainer for the time. In fact, a lot of non-United States air forces also used it and it was left in inventories for quite some time.
Since the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) used it in ernest, and since Platz is a company out of Japan, it's no surprise when Platz concentrates model releases on JASDF hardware. This is definitely the case with this re-release of their superlative T-33. There are markings for six aircraft:
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T-33, 61-5218, 1 TS, Hamamatsu AB, 1956-1979 - T-33, 61-5215, 1 TS, Hamamatsu AB, 1956-1979
- T-33, 71-5231, Hamamatsu AB
- T-33, 91-5410, 33 TS, Hamamatsu AB, 1964-1990
- T-33, 61-5205, 35 TS, Hamamatsu AB, 1973-1990
- T-33, 81-5364,1 TS, Hamamatsu AB, 1956-1979
All are left Natural Metal, and most have their tip-tanks painted in yellow. There are a couple that also have all-yellow tails so should be quite colorful. The decals are really nicely printed and appear in register. No surprise since they're printed by Cartograf.
I won't go into detail on the rest of the kit since I did so when it was first released. So read that article if you're intersted in the rest of the kit's contents.
This is the definitive 1/72 T-33 so if you want to build a T-33 then pick up this kit. With the coloroful JASDF markings you'll have a model that will stand out on any shelf and/or table.
My thanks to Platz for the review model.