✈️ T-4 Blue Impulse (Japan): step-by-step build

The chubby Japanese jet trainer of the Blue Impulse display team, in blue and white.

The Kawasaki T-4 is a small jet from Japan that trains pilots, and the Blue Impulse display team flies it in blue and white, drawing hearts and stars in the sky with smoke. This is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a real jet: blue and white beams make the colours, the wings sweep back a little, and the wheels roll when you push it.

• Level 2 of 5 (easy)
• About 35 minutes
• 23 steps, 67 parts
• Powered by: Push
• Series: Aircraft from 21 Countries

What you will learn

• Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
• Triangles Are Strong: A triangle cannot be squished — a square can.
• Axles & Wheels: A wheel on an axle turns dragging into rolling.

Parts you need

• 1 × Beam 15
• 9 × Blue long pin
• 28 × Black pin (grippy)
• 1 × Beam 9
• 8 × Beam 3
• 3 × L-beam 3×5
• 4 × L-beam 2×4
• 1 × Beam 11
• 1 × Boomerang beam 3×7
• 3 × Beam 5
• 2 × Beam 7
• 1 × Axle 6
• 3 × Train wheel
• 1 × Axle 3
• 1 × Bush

Steps

1. Lay the floor of the fuselage: take a white 15-hole beam, then push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 9-hole beam onto them.
2. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 2 black pins in and press a blue 3-hole beam (the pointed nose) onto them.
3. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: the nose-wheel leg) onto them.
4. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a blue 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
5. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a blue 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
6. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a blue 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
7. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a blue 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
8. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a blue 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
9. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a blue 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
10. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a blue 11-hole beam onto them.
11. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a blue boomerang beam (its bent end leans back: the tail fin) onto them.
12. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 5-hole beam (the bubble canopy) onto them.
13. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a white 3-hole beam leaning back along the fin onto them.
14. Build the tailplanes: push 2 blue long pins in and press a blue 3-hole beam onto them.
15. Build the tailplanes: push 1 blue long pin in and press a blue 3-hole beam onto them, then slide a white 3-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out.
16. Build the tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
17. Build the wings: push 1 black pin in and press a white 7-hole beam onto them, then slide a white 7-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out.
18. Build the wings: push 2 black pins in and press a blue 5-hole beam onto them.
19. Build the wings: push 2 black pins in and press a blue 5-hole beam onto them.
20. Build the wings: push 2 black pins in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
21. Build the wings: push 2 black pins in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
22. Put on the wheels: push a 6-long axle through both legs and put a wheel on each end.
23. Put on the wheels: push a 3-long axle through the leg, with a wheel on one side and a bush on the other.

Play time

Push the jet along the floor to taxi it, then swoop it round the room in your hand!

Real-world inspiration

Kawasaki T-4, the Japanese intermediate jet trainer, in Blue Impulse display team colours.

Credited demonstrations and component sources

• Kawasaki T-4 — Wikipedia: Public reference for the real aircraft's shape and colours; this is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a flying or tested replica.