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Hasegawa 1/48 Lockheed F-22 Raptor

By John Summerford

Overview

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is the primary 5th generation fighter aircraft of the US Air Force. Incorporating high maneuverability with stealth technology, its primary role is that of an air superiority fighter, although it also has air-to-ground capabilities. Its high cost, lack of exports, and limited versatility capped production at 187 aircraft in favor of the F-35.

The Kit

The kit comes in an overall white box with a painting of the aircraft on the box top. My example contains seven sprues in three bags of gray plastic, plus one bag with a clear sprue, a smoky sprue, and eight vinyl retainer rings. At the bottom of the box is a 16-page instruction booklet and a 5 5/8" X 12 3/4" decal sheet that provides markings for four different aircraft, plus stenciling.

The fuselage is split horizontally with cockpit tub, weapons bays, gear bays, and engine plumbing all nestled inside before closing the halves. The fuselage has a mix of raised and recessed details, crisply molded as one would expect. Options include opened or closed weapons bays, opened or closed canopy, and a pilot figure. It appears that there are a lot of "fiddly bits" in these areas plus the landing gear. It doesn't look like there is much need of aftermarket parts. Six AIM-120C and two AIM-9X missiles can be installed.

The exhaust nozzles can be posed open or closed. You also have the option of flaps up or down and the horizontal stabilizers are retained by the vinyl rings and can be posed in any attitude.

The first page of the instructions shows a picture of the model, and history and specs of the aircraft in Japanese and English. Page 2 has a parts map and color codes—some in FS numbers and others in generic names. Pages 3-13 are assembly instructions. Pages 14-15 are paint and marking instructions. The last page has the usual precautions and decal instructions.

Markings are provided for four aircraft:

"Hat In the Ring" 1st FW Commander, 94th FS 1st FW, 2009

192 FW commander, Virginia ANG

302 FS

49th FW

Over 100 decals go on the airframe and another 36 on the missiles. I'm guessing it will take several evenings to apply them.

Conclusion

Aside from the landing gear this looks like a straight forward build. My thanks to Hasegawa USA for the review sample.