Three days before the Naval Battle off Malaya (マレー沖海戦 Mare-oki kaisen) on 10 December 1941, bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy took Pearl Harbor by surprise, causing massive mayhem and destruction. This event at Pearl Harbor had been dramatised on film and whilst I thought Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor was a good yarn, I prefer Tora! Tora! Tora! which details the attack from both Japanese and American perspectives. The scenes of the aerial attack by the Japanese bombers were pretty realistic, and this was in the days when CGI was non-existent. As the vast majority (if not all) the actual Japanese war planes had been destroyed during the Pacific War in WW2, the filmmakers managed to recreate them by modifying American-made planes[1].
My interest in this film was obviously triggered by my recent dalliance with model planes. Prior to my Raya trip to KL, I managed to buy a few more 1:72 scale model planes which included two American Corsairs (Hasegawa), a Mitsubishi Zero (Tamiya) and an Aichi D3A1 dive bomber (Airfix). As the Aichi was the simplest one to build, I started on it immediately after my return from KL.
The Aichi D3A1 (codenamed “Val” by Allied forces) was one of the bombers in the first and second wave of attacks at Pearl Harbor. The Airfix model provided decals and colour charts for two versions of the bombers involved that fateful December morning. I chose the green and red version which was piloted by Lt. Commander Egusa Takehige of the 21st section, 1st squadron from the carrier Sōryū.
Unlike the first two builds, I was trying my hand at using Tamiya spray cans[2] for the Aichi’s IJN dark green top and the IJN grey/green underside. I primed the plane after sealing any gaps with putty. The gap at the underside’s seam between the two halves of the fuselage was uneven and I was still unhappy with the final result as it was still uneven even with the putty. This was the first time I used cement by, well, Mr Cement. It is so thin that you put two pieces together, say a wing to the fuselage, and then you brush the clear cement. The cement seeps through the seams by capillary action, melts the plastic and the two bits stick. Best ever!
I did a few mistakes during the painting of the Aichi. I was a tad exuberant with the masking tape covering the cockpit that there was a noticeable line between the plastic and the primer. Despite masking the cockpit better from the IJN dark green I could still see the line. Another mistake was that I later realised that AS-21 IJN dark green 2 was only available as a spray can which meant my XF-70 dark green 2 Tamiya acrylic in a bottle was not the same colour! So, the odd shade of green brushed on the fuselage near the front. Those mistakes aside, the smooth finish was just lovely. It was still thin enough to not obscure the panel lines and rivets.
On this build I also tried out MicroSol by MicroScale which I applied to the decals allowing the plane’s rivets to come through to decal, giving it a ‘painted on’ feel. It works! I was supposed to buy a bottle of MicroSet which sets the decals but the local model shop has run out. Still, I felt that the MicroSol was more important as the decals are pretty adhesive on their own anyway.
Reading around, I note a few inaccuracies in this Airfix kit. The rear pilot should be facing aft. Also, the canopy appeared wrong and felt more like a Stuka. Some websites also commented the green/red colour scheme was wrong. Oh well. One thing about the red on this kit – it’s made up of decals as opposed to me painting it. With the MicroSol, it looked great, though.
I tried out the Tamiya Weathering Master kit which I bought at One Utama, and it wasn’t bad at all. However, it did look more like rust on an old ship’s hull as opposed to oil leaks. I have since bought ready-made weathering paint mixes and will try this out in my next build. As a final touch, I used a toothpick and applied silver paint randomly to recreate paint chips, as planes of the Imperial Japanese Navy are known to display these.
Here’s the Aichi D3A1 in its completed glory:
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[1]The Japanese fighters and bombers were modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan) and BT-13 Valiant pilot training aircraft. [Ref: Wikipedia]
[2]Still unsure about about investing in an airbrush setup.
