I’m starting the Airfix 1/72 B5N2 Kate and decorating it in the Shokaku Carrier Division 5 clan. I will be fitting it out in the stored, but armed configuration as it would have been in the hanger deck prior to an attack.
The kit has a fairly large parts count considering it’s a 1/72 scale kit.
There is a picture of EI-311 landing on the Shokaku in April 1942 but can’t seem to locate it right now.
The Kate was arguably the best carrier borne level and torpedo bomber at the beginning of the war but soon was easily bested against the Allies due to its lack of speed and armor. It was to be replaced by the B6N Tenzan or “Jill” which was late due to teething issues in development. The Kate would solder on through 1945 without shamefully, a single one surviving to the end. The Kate is one of my favorite planes and because of that I’m astonished I have never built one before.
Beginning on the kit, the steps have me starting with the wings. Cutting the wings along the intended line was very easy. The kit is made from the soft but very workable Airfix plastic. The sight window is also installed and holes are drilled for whichever armament will be used if any. The wing ribs at the folds are way too thick for this scale but make installation easy. I don’t believe the thickness will be noticed once the kit is complete.
The cockpit is molded in the lower wing. The seats, controls and such are added to the wing section.
My boo boo, the pictures I was thinking of were of the Kate AI-301 in April 42 on the Akagi…which is my next build. The 1/72 Hase Kit. Looking through that kit, there a world of diffrence. I far prefer the Airfix kit.
Stick, yeah I love those scenes as well. That scene in Midway where they replaced the torps with bombs and back again.
Toshi, I try. I like the unusual scene. In fact, right after I done with this one I’m building the 1/72 Hasegawa kit with bombs with wings extended and put them both side by side on a base to show the different configurations. I would like to get a Japanese flight deck section to put them on…
When it was released in Japan it was called Hawaii Midway Sea Battle, or something like that. It was dubbed into English and released as “I Bombed Pearl Harbor”. Most of the Japanese carrier scenes in Midway, are lifted from this movie. Most of the rest are from “Tora!Tora!Tora!”. It mainly centers on Hiryu from Pearl Harbor to Midway and Toshiro Mifune plays the role of Admiral Yamaguchi. I was able to get ahold of an original Japanese DVD copy for rent a few years ago.
I’d like to see if I can find that, maybe clips on YouTube.
I noticed, back in the 70’swhen it first came out, that Midway barrowed several scenes for other movies. 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Tora!Tora!Tora! and apparently this one.
The special effects looked mixed. One has airplane taking off and a second or two after another plane. A bomb slash literally is as big as the entire ship. LOL. Tora Tora Tora some 10 years later really raised the bar. Still, I might want to check this movie out.
Well the effects are nowhere near as good as the recent CGI stuff in “The Eternal Zero” or “The Admiral” as far as the battle stuff goes. But considering the time when it was made, they are typical. Tora! pushed miniatures work about as far they could go for ship & sea type work. Now if they could only get the storyline and script work right for a Midway movie.
Midway will always be a tough one. The elements of the battle were spread about as far apart as one could imagine.
That trailer was pretty intriguing. I’ve heard of that movie before, but never have seen it.
It provokes a pretty clear picture that the IJN certainly was a pretty formidable operation, and it was a pretty fine line one way or the other how June 4-6 would go.
The Japanese made a series of fundamentally risky to poor choices, and those came back to hurt them.
Probably first and foremost was trying to both launch a surprise attack and project overwhelming force at the same time. That in turn required risking irreplaceable resources.
The IJN in 1942 was indeed a formidable force. In the first six months, with one notable exception, they vanquished all navies that fought them. After Midway, they gave as good as they got, if not more in nearly every action. They just could not replace their losses as quickly as we could after that point. Yamamoto’s prophecy of running wild for six months to a year and after that no promises, was very much on target.
A little more on the Kate today. The pit is installed and painted as well as the interior fuse. Next will be mating the fuse and wings then adding the stabilizers and rudder. The kit is fitting very will and the interior detail is quite nice.
Great work Steve. Unfortunately, all that great work will be hard to see once the canopy is attached.
Stik or anyone else, what was that movie about the yamato? I’ve seen some trailers and it looked pretty well done. Sorry to hijack your Kate Steve. I love the subject and will try to stay on topic.
