1/48 McDonnell Douglas A-4E/F Skyhawk

One of the US Navy's most important aircraft during the Vietnam war, and one of the simplest and best-performing attack platforms ever, Hasegawa gives this great little plane all it deserves in yet another stunning plastic replica from their tooling masters.

This is some of the finest detail we've seen in plastic -- the control surfaces are actually molded with a razor-thin gap between them and the wing/tail panels! Wing surface detail is excellent, and the tiny instruments in the cockpit are almost done too well, considering the poor visibility once you close the canopy. Slats and flaps can be modeled in lowered positions, and air brakes can be open or closed. All the parts you need to build the E or the F (with its distinctive avionics hump on the dorsal line) are included. If anything is missing, its ordnance. No external weapons are provided in the kit, though you do get a pair of drop tanks.

Markings are included for the CAG A-4E of the VA-192 on CVW-19 (USS Ticonderoga -- see beautiful Shigeo Koike box art, and the photo below) and an A-4F of the "Fighting Redcocks" of VA-22 in CVW-5 (USS Bon Homme Richard).