This
is a full scratchbuild of the Kawanishi E7K1 Alf in 1/48 scale. The Alf
was the Imperial Japanese Navy's main recon plane prior to the E13A Jake.
It served aboard most warships equipped with catapults, they saw service
in the China theater and throughout the Pacific War. The master kit was
molded and cast in resin. The camouflaged one is off the Light Cruiser
Jintsu, the Aluminum one is from a shore based unit.
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The Maru
Mechanic issue on the E7K Alf was an invaluable reference and allowed for a
fairly complete cockpit to be built. The E7K carried 2 aft defensive machine
guns, one in the belly through a sliding hatch door which was modelled open on
the Jintsu plane. For light bombing and anti-submarine missions it could
carry 4 60Kg bombs. I was inspired to build this as a companion to Hasegawa's
very nice 1/48 scale F1M2 Pete. The scratchbuilding and molding took well over a
year, though life often got in the way of progress. Rigging was done with fine
gauge wire, the decals were borrowed from other IJN kits, the tail codes were
spliced together.
Next
up will be the E7K2 radial engine version of the Alf...
Jesse Belding
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images below to see larger images
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