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George Schembri
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EofJ Inspired 1/72 Nakajima B6N2 Tenzan (Jill)Fujimi 72012 D-1

October 27, 2021 · in Aviation · · 9 · 1.4K

Inspired by the Empire of Japan GB, I started this kit sometime in the spring but quickly ran out of steam. Although the kit went together easily and has great scribed lines, I wasn't too happy with the front engine cowling mount and the poor aged condition of the kit decals.

To keep cost down, I settled that I would have minimal generic markings on a great looking plane, but maybe in the back of my mind I was hoping I'd run into a proper set of decals.

Things just trudged along with the assembly and paint, spraying a oil base white primer and then using Tamiya JN Green XF-11 and Grey XF-12.

I free hand painted the black cowling with Humbrol 85 (those are getting hard to find these days - something about the required labelling?).

Having my fingers and toes crossed each night payed off as a visit to a LHS which sold preowned kits and decals resulted in finding 'Rising Decals' RD72008 for the humble price of $4.

These decals are excellent with a choice of 3 different Jills to choose from (also with 4 Kates & 2 Graces), immediately choosing B6N2 No. 551, No.251 Hikotai flown by Capt. Masayuki Hida, June 1944. The yellow tail stripes are a bit 'off' as the aircraft ID# should be level while in flight and I placed then level while grounded, no big deal really.

The most frustrating part of the build was trying to get an aerial wire properly hung, but the darn front antenna is just simply 'placed' onto the fuselage without much of a base for gluing. The antenna must have broke off at least six times and the glue spot was getting bigger each time.

Then, while gluing the antenna on once again I carelessly dropped a drip of Acetone base cement onto the oil painted cowling and a nice paint burble occurred, so a bit of sanding and repaint was required and I gave up on the wiring.

Finished with a coat of Micro Satin.

All in all, I am VERY HAPPY with the way the final build looks, and now I have three IJN carrier bombers sitting together.

A few outside pics added as the sun was going down.

Enjoy the day!

Reader reactions:
9  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


9 responses

  1. Turned out really great, George!
    Love everything in this build. Great scheme: you were lucky to find these decals at such price!
    Well done on your Jill!

  2. Nice George. I can relate on keeping costs down ! Hard to know where to draw the line sometimes. I keep building the lesser and cheaper kits until I know what I am doing. I have a Few Japanese Navy planes I hope to build and look at your work attentively. All thanks to imodeler !

  3. Very nice build, George @georgeswork
    I can imagine that you are happy with this result, and you should be.
    Well done.

  4. Looks fantastic! Any aftermarket details in cockpit?

  5. Very nice work on this, George.

  6. Thank you for the comments gents, (@fiveten), (@bernardbedeur), (@johnb), (@lis), (@tcinla)
    I decide to change the photos and add a few outdoor pics to get the true colour to show.

  7. Well done on finishing this, George, it looks great, especially in the outdoor photographs.

  8. Looks great! Looks especially good in that outdoor light. Well done.

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