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 Monochrome 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. The Monochrome box art for the kit  is shown above. The relationship between Trumpeter and Monochrome for some kits seems obscure as to which is the 'chicken' and which the 'egg'.  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. A D3A1 kit # H-1002 was also included in the Revell (Japan) 'Mini Series' range of 1/144 kits circa 1975 previously featured in the blog here. Not having seen an example of this kit I do not know if it originated from one of the kits described above.

Mini Series 1/144 D3A1 from Revell (Japan) Catalogue 1975 

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

Hasegawa Kit Releases

Forthcoming Japanese aircraft kits from Hasegawa are re-releases but their 1/72 Kugisho P1Y1 Ginga due for release in July offers a choice of two Yokosuka Ku Type 11 variants equipped with torpedoes. The kit includes resin torpedo and bomb bay inner wall parts with new decals for 'Yo-231' and 'Yo-233' at Oppama Airfield in 1944. 

Hasegawa's venerable 1/72 Kawanishi E7K1 Type 94 Model 1 reconnaissance seaplane launches yet again in kumogata camouflage from a kit included catapult. New decals for 'Alf' on IJN heavy cruiser Ashigara with speculative markings  - 'Chunam-go' and 'Houkoku No. 213 Chunam-go' in 1938 and on Ashigara as '2 1-3' in 1938-39. Also due for release in July.

Hasegawa's 1/72 Mitsubishi G4M2A Type 1 Attack Bomber due for release next month and already on 'order stop' at HLJ offers a choice of markings for two aircraft of 752 Ku - '752-12' in the Philippines, autumn 1944, and '52-021' at Kashiwazaki, summer 1944. The kit includes an early H-6 radar array.

The return of Hasegawa's 1/72 Mitsubishi Ki-46 Hyaku-shiki Command Reconnaissance Aircraft Type III Type A Modified Air Defense Fighter this month should be welcome but is also on 'order stop' at HLJ.   New decals are for an aircraft of 17 Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai at Chofu in 1945, as well as one other aircraft. The kit includes white metal 20mm oblique armament. The colour scheme is the subject of a long pending AoJ article.

Meanwhile Fujimi and Aoshima seem to have given up on releasing 1/72 aircraft kits, old or new.

Image credit: All © 2025 Hasegawa Corporation via HLJ

Four New A6M5 Zero Kits from Fine Molds

Hat tip to Sergio Teixeira for kindly alerting me to these four new Fine Molds A6M5 kits, two in 1/48 scale due for release in July and August respectively and two in 1/72 scale due for release in October. Fine Molds are also re-releasing some older kits including 1/48 Ohka and Hayabusa as well as 1/48 and 1/72 A7M2.

Other details of the 1/48 Nakajima A6M5a Model 52 Koh kit (box art in heading image above) can be seen here. And for the Mitsubishi built A6M5 Model 52 Koh (box art above) here. 

The 1/72 kits are an interesting early production Mitsubishi A6M5 with the Model 32 type cowling without thrust exhausts, with three markings options, further details of which can be found here and a Mitsubishi-built mid production A6M5 with four markings options which is shown here. The 1/72 kits do not appear to have the same innovative parts break down as the recent 1/48 kits but are similar to the special magazine issue A6M5 kit released some years ago. 

Image credit: All © 2025 Fine Molds via HLJ

Nakajima Kikka in 1/72 scale by Danilo Renzulli

Another divine scale gem from the workbench of Danilo Renzulli. The Kikka (Divine Orange Blossom), Nakajima's lookalike (but smaller) Me 262, officially the Experimental Special Attack Aircraft 'Kikka' (試作物殊攻撃機 '橘花’). This pioneer Japanese turbo-jet was realised from the Naval Air Headquarters Koukoku Heiki (皇国兵器 - 'Empire Weapon' is one translation) No.2 specification of late August 1944 calling for a land based attacker suitable for attacking enemy warships and vessels off the coast of Japan with the capability to carry a single 800 kg (1,760 lb) bomb, although the envisaged normal bomb load was 500 kg. The wings folded just outboard of the engine nacelles to assist concealment on the ground. The aircraft was to be used for suicide attacks and there appears to have been no provision for air to air gunnery armament in the initial design. The designation J9Y1 sometimes attributed to an interceptor version of Kikka was never officially used. With the replacement of the original Hitachi Hatsukaze ('Fresh Wind') and Ne-12 turbo jets by the more promising Ne-20 powerplants it was planned to create two-seat trainer, two-seat reconnaissance and interceptor versions, the latter armed with two 30mm cannon for air defence use against the B-29.

Planning for construction at the Nakajima (at dispersed plants from April 1945), Kyushu Hikoki, Sasebo and 1st Aircraft Arsenals called for 57 aircraft by August 1945 rising to 80 in September 1945. By the end of the war 22 aircraft were still under construction at Nakajima and two more were under construction at the Kyushu Hokoki plant. A single example No.1 was completed by 31 June 1945 and test flown on 7 August 1945. Aircraft Nos.2, 3, 4 and 5 were nearly completed by war's end but lacked landing gear and other fittings. Two fuselages Nos. 6 and 7 were sent to 1st Naval Technical Arsenal in July 1945 for conversion to two-seat trainers. Nos.8 to 10 had completed fuselages, 11 to 16 completed fuselages awaiting assembly with completed wings and 17 to 25 completed fuselages with wings under construction. With that brief background introduction to Kikka, over to Danilo then:-

1/72 MPM Nakajima Kikka

'Bought at the beginning of the 2000s, this kit has been lying for years in my stash with very little work on it over time. Only in February 2024 I decided to finish it, its building process looking not so complicated. The model actually revealed a smooth construction - most probably thanks to the clean lines of the original aircraft - and little putty was needed as can be seen from the images. The photo etch sets included in the kit and from NH Detail (A72-050) supplied several parts to complete the canopy and other external details.

'As is often the case once the two fuselage halves had been joined and the canopy fixed in place, little could be seen of the cockpit interior. I found the canopy surprisingly thin and well moulded despite this being one of the early MPM kits - it was just sanded down and then polished with automotive polish cream. The forward undercarriage wheel well was fabricated with plasticard and the undercarriage leg attachment modified. 

'As usual I added a few external details using some brass tube such as the pitot tube, the small device provided under the fuselage tail to prevent damage during take-off, the small exhaust pipes in the engine nacelle sides and the undercarriage retraction arms. The wheel well  covers and the undercarriage leg compasses were again from the NH Detail sheet.

'On this model I attempted a new method to highlight fuselage and engine nacelle panels. I masked some panels with tape and sprayed over one or two layers of primer to build up some thickness, then the entire model was primed. To obtain a deeper separation line between the nacelle panels I fixed a piece of fishing line around the nacelle and then sprayed the primer over that as shown in the pictures.

'The two small circular covers on top of the fuselage located before and after the canopy have been obtained with a punch from thin can sheet. Some work was needed to improve the shape and thickness of the jet air intakes and exhausts, and I had to re-shape the rear of the engine nacelle to wing fitting - that being the most critical area of the entire build. A fine venturi tube from SBS was added to the fuselage right side.

'Note that I didn’t install the RATO equipment due to the fact that I could not devise a satisfactory solution to scratch-build the rockets.

'The green/grey livery was a personal mix of paints from Gunze Mr. Color, while the Hinomaru were sprayed on using Maketar masks. Then a light weathering process by dry-brushing was applied to some surfaces plus a layer of matt finish by brush. In the end I can say that I loved the final result and the lines of this tiny early jet era plane. It’s a shame we couldn’t see this aircraft in an operational scheme - just to add some kokutai code…'

With very special thanks to Danilo for sharing these images and build notes.

Two editions of the Kikka kit were released by MPM, the first in 1998 and the second, an 'Updated' kit, in 2002 (MPM became Special Hobby in 2016). Other injection moulded Kikka kits in 1/72 scale have been released by Merlin Models (good luck with that one!), Pegasus (who asserted red brown upper surfaces) and in several different speculative versions by AZ Model, including the historic original, an Otsu air defence fighter, a two-seat trainer and two night fighters, one with oblique armament, but all are sold out at their website and seemingly as rare as hen's teeth elsewhere. There have also been various vacform and resin kits, as well as a popular 1/48 scale injection moulded kit released since 1995 in several editions by Fine Molds.

According to Bill Devins (in Small Air Forces Observer, Vo.25 No.4 December 2001) MPM was first formed by a group of Czech modellers in 1988 and was formalised as MPM Ltd in November 1989. It then expanded to market plastic injection moulded kits under the labels MPM, MPM Short Run, Cooperativa, Condor, Special Hobby and Azur. 

References: The introduction to Danilo's model was drawn from 'Kikka' by Robert C Mikesh (Monogram Close-Up 19, Monogram Aviation Publications, 1979) and 'General View of Japanese Military Aircraft in the Pacific War' by the Staff of AiReview, (Kantôsha Co.. Ltd. Japan 1956). The latter reference, despite being 'old', is recommended in view of the impressively long list of Japanese aeronautical veterans consulted by the editorial staff. It has a useful English language supplement and is readily available from AbeBooks in a range of editions and prices. The Monogram Close-Up books, focussing mainly on Luftwaffe types, were exceptionally good references, packing a lot of useful data into 32 pages for Kikka.

Image credit: All photos © 2025 Danilo Renzulli 

Igor Kochan's RoCAF Pursuit Duo in 1/48 Scale

I am delighted to be able to present this pair of superb 1/48 scale models of two Republic of China Air Force ex-USAAF fighters crafted by Igor Kochan, a Slovak living in Prague, Czech Republic, and thanks to the kind facilitation of correspondent Marian Holly. The photos were taken by outstanding Czech modeler Miloslav Hraban. I really like the dropped flaps on both these models but especially on the P-47, whilst the RoCAF insignia and striped rudders present attractive alternative schemes. Igor describes the builds in his own words.

'If you ask, why RoCAF? I have to go back to 1988. While visiting a friend, I saw a 1/72 scale model of the Dewoitine D-510 in his collection sporting white sun in a blue circle on its wings. What is that? Until then, I had never seen anything like it, nor did I know that aircraft with this insignia even existed. At that time, behind the Iron Curtain, information was very scarce. However, this visit inspired me, and I became interested in Chiang Kai-shek's air force. There was no turning back, and my focus has since been on the Kuomintang era to the present.

P-51D Mustang

'I used the 1/48 Eduard model which is highly detailed and accurately shaped. The replica represents an aircraft handed over to the RoCAF by a USAAF unit after the end of combat operations in the Chinese theater.

'I upgraded the model with a photo-etched instrument panel, seat belts, resin wheels, and open gun bays - all from Eduard. The markings were airbrushed using Omask stencils, while the unit emblem and engine cowling numbers come from a DK Decals sheet. The model is painted entirely with Mr. Paint brand lacquers. The weathering was done using Umton oil paints.

P-47D Thunderbolt

'This model represents the Republic P-47D-30, 43rd Fighter Group, RoCAF, from 1947, which I modified from 1/48 Tamiya’s P-47D-28 Bubbletop kit. The main difference lies in the added dorsal fin extension and the repositioning of the landing light from the landing gear well towards the wingtip. I used parts from Tamiya’s P-47M kit for these modifications. The model is enhanced with an Eduard LOOK set for the cockpit, a canopy mask, landing gear wheels, and decals—all from Eduard. The surface details include positive rivets from HGW, plus a few personal modifications.

'The markings and serial numbers were airbrushed using Omask stencils, while the unit insignia on the engine cowling comes from a Bestfong decal sheet. I used Mr. Paint for the camouflage and the weathering was accomplished with Umton oils and AK pastels.'

With special thanks to Igor for sharing these images of his beautiful work and to Mario for facilitating their feature here. I hope Igor will share more such RoCAF gems in due course. The Kuomintang (KMT) is the National Peoples Party of China (中國國民黨) currently represented in the multi-party, democratic government of Taiwan

Image credit: All photos © 2025 Igor Kochan via Marian Holly.