1/48 Hasegawa Nakajima B5N Kate 

by Bill Lachance

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  Pearl Harbor Anniversary 2006 

 

I built Hasegawa's very nice Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber using Eduard's photoetched detail set, and mounted it on Eduard's Japanese carrier deck. This represents an aircraft used on the Pearl Harbor Raid, flying from the carrier Kaga. Although the deck is for a Zuikaku class carrier, I don't think it diminishes the effect of the display. I used the kit decals.

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The markings diagram suggests unpainted lower surfaces, I could find no photos to support this. Research showed that some Kates had their upper surfaces repainted before the attack. Finding no evidence of Kates wearing an overall Nakajima Navy Gray, I chose to use Nakajima Amber Gray (Ame-iro). The topside was painted with Nakajima Navy Green, the cowl is Blue-Black, and the "China Brown" tail is a lightened Primer Red Brown. Nakajima Interior Gray Green was used for the cockpit. All of these colors came from the WEM (White Ensign Models) Colourcoats line of paints.

The metallics are various shades of Alcad II lacquers. Eduard's set includes many items for the engine, rear machine gun, and landing gear, as well as the cockpit. Spares are provided for some of the smaller items. Also included on the PE fret is a trolley for the tailwheel, a nice touch. It's inclusion is what prompted me to purchase the flight deck.

Painting the deck was a small project in itself. As it is molded in black plastic, I first sprayed several coats of gray primer. Model Master Wood, Aircraft Gray, and White were used to paint it. Applying the washes and removing the excess was very time-consuming.

The kit torpedo does not have the wooden fins, so I cut some from sheet styrene. The figure came from Fine Mold's D4Y "Judy" kit. It is molded so crisply that it almost rivals resin.

Overall, I am very pleased with this kit. It was a lot of fun to build, and I highly recommend it.

Bill

Visit my website to see other models of mine, I also build models on commission.  http://www.pix.prettyneatinc.com/

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Photos and text © by Bill Lachance