Hasegawa Hobby Kits
Hasegawa Corporation (Kabushiki Gaisha Hasegawa) is a Japanese company that manufactures plastic model kits of various vehicles, including aircraft, cars, ships, military vehicles, model tanks, spaceships and science fiction kits.
The company is based in Shizuoka in the direct neighbourhood of the company and competitor Tamiya.
It produces model kits of the same high quality as Tamiya, but does not have such an extensive product range. Hasegawa's model kits are generally considered to be very precise, but not quite as easy to assemble as Tamiya's, although they are still of very high quality.
Hasegawa kits are currently imported in North America by the Great Planes Model Distributor Division of Hobbico. Hasegawa ended their long-standing agreement with Dragon Models Limited for distribution in the US in early 2010.
Hasegawa also imports Revell kits to Japan and sells them under both the Revell brand and its own brand. Revell, however, mostly uses its own new packaging for the Hasegawa kits for the European and North American markets. While Revell products refer to their own colours in their instructions, Hasegawa kits are supplied with instructions that refer to the use of Gunze Sangyo products, especially GSI Creos brand colours. This is completely different to the Tamiya products, where the use of own-brand colours is prescribed.
Car models are produced in 1:12 and 1:24 scale. These include many historic vehicles such as the Toyota Celica LB 1600GT or the VW T2.
On a scale of 1:35, Hasegawa offers a very interesting selection of vehicles on the themes of agriculture and construction sites. The typical Japanese vending machine can also be found in the range as part of the construction worker set.
Military models, especially aeroplanes, are offered in 1:72 scale.
The company offers a wide range of motorbikes from Japanese brands in 1:12 scale.
Ships are mainly offered in the scales 1:350 and 1:700.
Another speciality in the range is the Eggplane series from Hasegawa. The egg-like and thus idiosyncratic interpretation of historical and modern aircraft has been successfully in the programme since Easter 1972. The series is characterised by a low number of parts and simple assembly. The series is therefore well suited for beginners and novices.
Hasegawa is known for releasing a large number of minor variations of their main products, often adding or changing only a small number of parts or changing only the decals for the kit.
This product strategy allows investments in the kit moulds to be amortised more quickly, as such minor variations cost significantly less compared to the manufacturing cost of the original. Most such variations are normally only released once. You need to be quick, as these products often sell out quickly!
Hasegawa Modelling: History
Hasegawa was founded in 1941 and originally produced wooden school materials and models. The first plastic model was produced in 1961 and the 1/450 scale Yamato ship model in 1962.The company is based in Shizuoka in the direct neighbourhood of the company and competitor Tamiya.
It produces model kits of the same high quality as Tamiya, but does not have such an extensive product range. Hasegawa's model kits are generally considered to be very precise, but not quite as easy to assemble as Tamiya's, although they are still of very high quality.
Hasegawa kits are currently imported in North America by the Great Planes Model Distributor Division of Hobbico. Hasegawa ended their long-standing agreement with Dragon Models Limited for distribution in the US in early 2010.
Hasegawa also imports Revell kits to Japan and sells them under both the Revell brand and its own brand. Revell, however, mostly uses its own new packaging for the Hasegawa kits for the European and North American markets. While Revell products refer to their own colours in their instructions, Hasegawa kits are supplied with instructions that refer to the use of Gunze Sangyo products, especially GSI Creos brand colours. This is completely different to the Tamiya products, where the use of own-brand colours is prescribed.
Hasegawa: Model making - Assortment
The range includes aeroplanes, cars, ships, military vehicles, model tanks, spaceships and science fiction kits.Car models are produced in 1:12 and 1:24 scale. These include many historic vehicles such as the Toyota Celica LB 1600GT or the VW T2.
On a scale of 1:35, Hasegawa offers a very interesting selection of vehicles on the themes of agriculture and construction sites. The typical Japanese vending machine can also be found in the range as part of the construction worker set.
Military models, especially aeroplanes, are offered in 1:72 scale.
The company offers a wide range of motorbikes from Japanese brands in 1:12 scale.
Ships are mainly offered in the scales 1:350 and 1:700.
Another speciality in the range is the Eggplane series from Hasegawa. The egg-like and thus idiosyncratic interpretation of historical and modern aircraft has been successfully in the programme since Easter 1972. The series is characterised by a low number of parts and simple assembly. The series is therefore well suited for beginners and novices.
Hasegawa is known for releasing a large number of minor variations of their main products, often adding or changing only a small number of parts or changing only the decals for the kit.
This product strategy allows investments in the kit moulds to be amortised more quickly, as such minor variations cost significantly less compared to the manufacturing cost of the original. Most such variations are normally only released once. You need to be quick, as these products often sell out quickly!
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