Scale Models (1/72)

For Area 88 scale model builders, 1/72 scale is the arguably the best.  It has, by far, the most official releases.

1996 Series (Hasegawa)

Perhaps emboldened by the successful release of their 1/144 scale planes with resin figures release, in 1996 Hasegawa began releasing a series of 1/72  scale kits – this time using their own moulds.  This 7-kit set is mainly focused on Shin (F-8E, F-20, X-29, and Draken), but also includes planes for Mickey (F-14A), Greg (A-10) and Saki (Kfir).

Kit No. Box Art Aircraft Pilot
65411 (DQ161) Draken Shin Kazama
65412 (DQ162) X-29 Shin Kazama
65413 (DQ163) F-14A Tomcat Mickey Simon
65414 (DQ164) A-10 Thunderbolt II Greg Gates
65415 (DQ165) Kfir Saki Vashtar
65416 (DQ166)  F-8E Crusader Shin Kazama
65417 (DQ167) F-20 Tigershark Shin Kazama

 2017-19 Series (Hasegawa)

The fourth, and arguably best, wave of Area 88 scale models began in August 2016 with the release of Hasegawa’s beautiful Creator Works series.  Originally begun with 1/48 scale offerings of Shin’s Draken and F-8E, Mickey’s F-14A, and Greg’s A-4 Skyhawk, the series shifted focus to 1/72 scale releases of nearly all the aircraft in the series (13 with a few notable exceptions), before finishing up with 1/48 scale kits of Sirene’s F-104G and Shin’s F-20.  With thirteen 1/72 scale and six 1/48 scale kits in the series, this is by far the largest and most important Area 88 modeling set.

Kit No. Box Art Aircraft Pilot
64750 F-20 Tigershark Shin Kazama
64751 Kfir Saki Vashtar
64753 X-29 Shin Kazama
64755 F-14A Tomcat Mickey Simon
64764 J35J Draken Shin Kazama
64760 A-10 Thunderbolt II Greg Gates
64762 F-8E Crusader Shin Kazama
64764 F-105D Thunderchief Nguyen Van Chom
64766 AV-8A Kim Abba
64768 F-104G Starfighter Sirene Barnack
64772 F-100D Super Sabre Mickey Simon
64773 A-4 Skyhawk Greg Gates
64776 MiG-27 Flogger D Colonel Kilvic

 Other Options

Although the Hasegawa series is quite robust, it’s not perfect. Obviously some more of the notable aircraft in Area 88 (such as The Escape Killers’ BAC Lightning) were not included, despite being part of Hasegawa’s regular offerings. Some key aircraft (like Shin’s legendary F-5E Tiger II and/or Major Roundel’s Buccaneer) simply aren’t part of the Hasegawa catalogue, and in some cases the Hasegawa moulds are older and may be lacking in some of the finer details of more recent releases.  As such, here are some suggestions for expanding your Area 88 model building efforts: