Say hello to Frank, the fourth entry in my Year of the Axis Build. The kit is a recently released Tamiya ...
... but it is not a new mold. I'm not sure when this was first released, but the level of detail (sparse) reminded me on an old Monogram kit, like their P-40 or P-47. Decent detail for the time but woeful by today's standards. The fit was actually quite good considering this kit's age; the only real problem I encountered was one of my own making. When I first attached the wings, I had a fairly sizable trench along the wing roots, but as I came to find out, I didn't have the dihedral correctly established. Once I corrected that issue, the gap went away and only needed a small bit of filler.
I built the Kurogane as well, although I tend to avoid kits including such vehicles. Too small for my eyes, and I'm never really impressed with how they come out.
The included scenery set looks like one of those "office" golf sets, but it works for a basic display base.
Paints were all Vallejo for the exterior, and a mix of Vallejo, Tamiya, and Model Master Enamel for the interior. The Vallejo aluminum paint went down well over a coat of black Stynylrez primer. Weathering was just a bit of soot from one of the Tamiya weathering compound sets. I also bought a Montex mask set for the Hasegawa Frank kit, and ended up using the hinomaru masks; the canopy mask didn't fit this kit. One cannot tell from the photos, or even by looking at it closely, but the framing for the canopy and windscreen is actually a silver Sharpie, not the Vallejo aluminum paint.
So here is the final build photos:
The only decals I used from the kit's decal sheet was for the IP and the tail art. This was a fun kit to build but I think I would have enjoyed the Hasegawa kit more.
As a kid growing up, the only Japanese aircraft I ever remember getting was Monogram's Zero. I probably built that one 4-5 times as a kid. Contrast that with the number of German, British or American kits that were generally available here in the States in the 60s-80s. Consequently, there has been a lot of self discovery over the years of the actual number of warbirds the Japanese had in their arsenal. I know as a kid I was aware of aircraft with Allied code names such as Frank, Betty or George, but given that Hasegawa and Tamiya kits were generally not available here, I never figured I'd build any of these. So when I showed Frank to my wife on Friday, her response was somewhat familiar, and pretty funny. She said, "Nice Zero", to which I said, "That's no Zero, that's a Frank" and proceeded to explain Allied code names and that the Japanese in fact put many more aircraft than simply the Zero into the air against the Allies.
When I got back into the hobby in 1995, one of the first kits I acquired was a Nichimo release of the Aichi Val dive bomber. That led to Tamiya's Betty, and over the years I added Japanese warbirds to my stash, but for some reason I've been slow to actually building them. I don't have a kit of every aircraft the Japanese flew, but I have a decent number. I'd love to build another Betty, and I'd love to see a Nell in 1/48 (having built Hasegawa's 72nd scale Nell a few years ago).
Next up will likely not be a cookie cutter, if previous experience is any indication. It will be Special Hobby's 1/48 Heinkel He 115 seaplane. Back to the Luftwaffe.