I decided to tackle a simple project and keep it that way, and so far I am succeeding in not going astray from that goal. Secondarily, as I had just finished the 1/48 FM-2 I thought it needed a companion in 1/48. The only aftermarket is an Obscureco resin cowling which is finely cast and is a much better shape in the lower chin scoop area than the kit cowl. Highly recommended!
The Hasegawa kit has been real nice except for two bumps, the fit of the lower wing and the armor glass that fits behind the windscreen. Some material had to be removed at the aft end of the wing to get the wing to mate up correctly at the front. If this is not done well enough the upper wings will foul the fuselage at the front where they fit up inside the fuselage. I almost got it right but I should have taken some material off of the fuselage there at the back. I stopped taking off plastic on the lower wing when I got up to an access cover because I didn't want to lose that detail. In the end I removed enough plastic from the upper wings where the interference was and things worked out OK.
I couldn't figure out how to get the armor glass to fit the way Hasegawa intended, with a peg on the bottom fitting into a hole somewhere in front of the gunsight. Couldn't find the hole, and had to remove some glareshield plastic to get the windscreen to fit right after gluing the armor to the inside of the windscreen. The Hasegawa decals were of the old variety with ivory in place of insignia white, so I made new decals for the blue and red portions of the insignia, and stencils to paint the white portions, as well as the numbers on the airplane.
Enough whining, here's the pictures.
