Our distributor has let us know that the Ebbro 1/48 scale Honda Aircraft Company HA-420 HondaJet model is on its way, and should be available late March to mid April.  Kit number is EBR-48001.

The Honda Jet is a small twin engined corporate jet that entered service in April 2016.  They are built at Greensboro, North Carolina, at a current rate of about 4 a month.  An unusual feature is that the two engines are mounted on pylons above the wings, not to the rear fuselage, apparently to provide more cabin and baggage space.

The kit features a removable upper fuselage moulded in both blue and red plastic (i.e. two separate and complete parts), which reveals a detailed cockpit and cabin when removed.  The rest of the kit is moulded primarily in white plastic, with added clear and separate chrome plated wing and stab leading edges and engine intake rings.   A decal sheet which includes decals for the three flat panel flight displays provides markings for the red and blue trimmed aircraft.  Interestingly, the Honda development aircraft were painted in a similar scheme, featuring blue, red, yellow, hunter green and silver trim.  I wonder if more decal options will be made available in future releases?

This is the first new corporate jet model in 1/48 scale since Hasegawa released their trio of a Cessna 500 Citation 1, Gates Learjet 35A and Dassault Falcon 10 back in the 80’s.  Lets hope this is not a “one and done”!

I am accepting pre-orders, again the kit number is EBR-48001.