the morning of december 7, 1941 found a japanese strike force within 250 miles of the american military forces in the hawaiian. at 6 am, in what was termed a record launch, the first of 189 a/c of the first wave left the six carriers. led by comander fuchida they began a journey that ended with the mushroom cloud over japan. three a/c were used in the attack. the mitsubishi a6m2 type 21 zeke (fighter), the b5n kate (torpedo/level bomber), and the d3a1 val (dive bomber). this build is to replicate one of the val’s from the japanese carrier soryu, launched in the second wave.
the build is strait from the box. the paints are tamiya acrylics, model master enamels and acrylics, and testor enamels. the kit is hasegawas 1/48 pearl harbor version, this version has two subjects that can be built. i chose the red tail. i thankyou for taking this bit of a journey with me.
Very nice build Joe. The markings on this particular Val are striking to say the least. Some researchers say that the plane didn’t have these particular markings until later in the war, after Pearl Harbor, but there doesn’t seem to be a consensus one way or the other.
daniel, rick, ed, reggie, mike, and awood thankyou for such kind words. this is going to be one of many of the birds of that attack that i plan to work on. it is good to know i have gone the right direction.
Joe,
It has been quite awhile since I have watched either movie, “Tora, Tora, Tora” or the more recent, “Pearl Harbor”, but I always thought Commander Fuchida flew the mission in the back seat of a “Kate”. Your paint job looks a lot like what he had on his machine.
Of course, nothing that Hollywood puts out can be considered accurate, but I seem to remember some similar pictures from somewhere.
Extremely nice work on the “Val”. I like to see a series of models on one particular subject or short time period.
Joe;
I have the same kit(s)-2 of them. I chose the Ame-iro one decked out in the markings of the leader of the first wave of dive bombers Lt. Cdr. Takahashi from the Shokaku. Mine has the canopy open with the gun ready to fire. It will be the first model that I’ve actually completed in my first year of building. After deer season I WILL get some pics out for you to see. Got our first snow of the season today, 3 inches.
Is the underside of your plane silver or Ame-iro?
Nice Val;
Steve
thankyou. your kind words are appreciated. this theme is one that i hope to really exploit over the future. when people read my posts all they will be able to see is the birds of pearl.
good idea Joe! ironically all I seem to show nowadays is WWII USN aircraft, built a lot of different things since I got back into this, German S-boats, N1K1 Georges, P-51’s etc… but the only thing I really sink my teeth into is my old SBD’s and F4F and U’s etc…
tom ww2 is one of my favorite time periods. 1940-1941 specifically. the pacific war is to me more than intreguing. i could spend hours reading, researching, and talking about it.
