Hasegawa 1/200 Kawasaki C-1 Combo Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

In 1966, the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) sought to replace its aging fleet of C-46 Commando airlifters with a more modern capability. The project was developed indigenously by the NAMC consortium and produced by Kawasaki. The aircraft, designated C-1, was clearly inspired by the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter though scaled down to two engines and a correspondingly smaller airframe.

The aircraft entered JASDF service in 1974 with 31 examples built. With a range of only 900 nm, the aircraft was used for intra-Japanese flights and when Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972, the C-1 didn't have the range for operations between the mainland and Okinawa. As an interim solution, the JASDF acquired C-130s to fill this void while development of the C-2 is being completed.

Hasegawa released their 1/200 C-1 kits several times over recent years and in this release, the kit is provided as a Combo package which means there are two complete C-1 kits in this box. The kit is molded in white styrene and presented on four parts trees plus a single small tree of clear parts. As you can imagine with a 1/200 scale kit, this kit is a simple build and much of the fun will be with replicating some of the interesting camouflage schemes used on this airframe.

The instructions provide color patterns for two of the camouflage schemes with colors called out in Gunze Mr Hobby and Mr Color paints. The decals provide serial numbers for 25 of the 31 aircraft built, with 88-1027 recently omitted from this sheet after its loss near Shimano in 2000. Airlift squadron emblems and other markings are included so you can represent a given aircraft at nearly any point in its operational history.

This is a nice looking kit and will make an interesting mini-Starlifter on your scale flightline.

My sincere thanks to Hasegawa USA for this review sample!