Aichi D3A1 'Val' in 1/144 Scale by Mark Smith

The first of two 1/144 scale features by Aviation of Japan Texas correspondent Mark Smith. this one presenting his build of the Aichi D3A1 'Val', Type 99 Carrier Attack Bomber (Kyu-Kyu Shiki Kanjoh Bakugeki-ki  - 九九式艦上爆撃機 or in short Kyu-Kyu Kanbaku - 九九艦爆). There has been a resurgence of interest in kits of this scale with a greater variety of types available but this one appears to be hard to find. Over to Mark then:-

'In 2005 Trumpeter released a very welcome kit for 1/144 modelers of the Aichi D3A1 'Val'.  There had been a couple of kits in the scale which took a stab at the type, including an LS kit from over 35 years ago, but this one was streets better. Its details, especially considering the scale, were superbly rendered, with the exception of the laughably thick dive brakes and overwrought panel lines. But those brakes could be scratchbuilt, I thought. These came with two kits in the box, with attractive decals a little spoiled by hinomaru that were too orange. So I found MYK decals that looked much better. I couldn't read the Japanese instructions for them, but decals are decals, right? 

'Well sort of, it turned out.  The MYK decals were intended to have the carrier film gently removed after 24 hours, either with the tip of a blade or low-tack tape - a concept that works, but I knew nothing about it, and they curled up with handling in ways that I made worse trying to repair them. If knowledge is power, ignorance is trouble, and the build suffered, needing retouching, especially of the fuselage stripes and tail, which I had made worse. Eduard later used a similar type of decal, which some love and some hate. There are English instructions for the MYK decals now available online, which were also included in the instructions of their later releases. MYK decals are much harder to find now and often prohibitively expensive online - when one can find them. The earlier WWII Japanese ones have become quite rare. 

'This has one of my best cockpits in a model, as the kit gives a decent start and I had lots of info to try to approximate the rest. I had planned to open the pilot's canopy, but for some reason, I just couldn't pull a tight vac-formed copy of the canopy with clean edges, so used the over-thick kit canopy. In keeping with the rest of the project, I planned to use decals strips for canopy framing, but the same paint had a very different appearance when applied over the clear Monochrome plastic. Between this and the mess I made with the kit decals, I was discouraged with the project, and only finished it much later, sticking the terrible dive brakes on and calling it finished. However, I still like this model because the shape looks like a Val, a remarkably attractive design. And it's proof that it is better to finish an abandoned project than to abandon the project. And hopefully, encouragement to sooner or later build another and better one. 

'I'll close with a mystery. I opened by calling this a welcome release in 2005. But it immediately disappeared. If my old college roomie and modeling buddy P F Simmons hadn't presented me with the kit I would never have seen it. Then when I tried to get another from the same place where he found it, or any other place for that matter, no joy. Finally in the last few years, two friends who knew of this frustration found one for me at model shows, though not cheaply. While Trumpeter picked up the 1/144 Mavis and F-86 that Monochrome first released, the Val came and went very quickly, and looking at that invaluable site Scalemates, it notes only the 2005 release/boxing. Why it became a rare kit, I don't know.  There are only so many railroad or maritime accidents involving kit molds to go around :-)'

Mark Smith 

With special thank to Mark for sharing these images and notes. I couldn't find an image of the Trumpeter kit box to show here, but only the Monochrome kit (above). And the relationship between Trumpeter and Monochrome seems obscure.  In addition to the LS kit mentioned by Mark, shown below and later released as a double kit with the Aichi B7A2 'Grace', there was also a Crown kit issued in 1975. The Crown kit - and others - had originally been devised by Ikko-Mokei but were never released under that brand name and in 1979 were taken over and re-marketed by Arii.   

Image credit: All model photos © 2025 Mark Smith; Box art © Monochrome, LS, Crown & Arii