Hasegawa 1/200 Boeing 787-8 "Demonstrator"
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
The Boeing 787 has made the news again recently, with the first flight of the stretched 787-9 in September 2013. With the aircraft in the news, this latest re-release of the very nice Hasegawa 1/200 787-8 kit is timely. The first release had ANA markings, while this one comes with the Boeing Demonstrator livery.
The Kit
We reviewed the original ANA release back in August of 2013, and since then, the plastic of this kit has not changed. You still get the same white plastic, with recessed panel lines and nicely done fine details such as the landing gear. The kit comes with both the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines and the General Electric GEnx engines, so this release is perfect for the modeler uncertain about which livery to build. For more details on the kit, I'll refer you to the original ANA 787 in-box review here at Internet Modeler.
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With the plastic the same, the primary difference here is with the decals. The large decal sheet provides all the details for the Boeing Demonstrator aircraft, with two specific aircraft covered: N787BX and N787FT. N787BX has the Rolls Royce engines, while N787FT has the GE engines. The overall livery is simple, with the aircraft finished in overall white, with a blue tail. The tail features a large white 787 on it, and the decals provide this in two forms: one with a large blue decal with white numbers, or the white numbers separate, which would allow the modeler to paint the blue.
As the rest of the livery is nothing more than a thin blue stripe, with Boeing and Dreamliner logos, what will really add realism to this model is the stenciling. The decals provide a fair amount of that, with thin wing walkway markings, door outlines, individual engine markings, including spirals for the fan cones, and fuselage markings. With such a bland scheme, it is these kind of details that make the finished model look good.
Conclusion
It's great to see Hasegawa really pushing this kit, with two releases within just a few months of one another. For those who aren't sure of what livery they want to finish their 787 in, or those who like company demonstrator aircraft, this is the release to get. My thanks to Hasegawa USA for the review sample.