Thanks, Pedro@holzhamer. I thought this was the nicest scheme I could find that still carried a torpedo. I am looking forward to seeing your B5N1 - you don't see so many of these built and it has quite a different look with the bulged cowling. Early IJN schemes are still very interesting, IMO, as the IJN Grey-Green is a fascinatingly subtle color.

Wow. Can't believe it's been nearly a year since I updated this build. Anyway, I have now finished the cockpit and engine and done most major assembly prior to painting. I was held up initially when I realized that the pilots seat could not be done properly without buying another etch set. I got this eventually. I was also hesitant do the engine detailing necessary, including the ignition harness which is very fragile in 1/48. The pictures more or less speak for themselves. The new Eduard color set I got had some nice sidewall instrumentation I had to add. The new seat in etch with so many lightening holes looked very good when finished and I added some authentic IJN belts for Nakajima aircraft from a dedicated set for that seat in particular. The two other seats had more generic belts from the B5N Eduard set. I was put off by all the mold marks on the kit side walls but discovered they are invisible when the cockpit is assembled, so I didn't try to remove them.

Finally satisfied with interior detail, I assembled the fuselage halves with some difficult. The tiny bit of extra thickness in the Eduard etch IP really made it hard to get a good fit at the front. I had to repair some bent etch along the way, trim some sidewall detail and keep re-testing how the IP would fit before finally getting it all cleanly together. patience paid off as it all looks good now. Overall fit of the kit is very good, mostly. The wing joint took work but gluing the port side joint first, letting the liquid glue set, then doing the starboard wind root worked perfectly. The engine, previously painted flat black was rubbed down gently with minute amounts of rub n buff to bring out cooling fin detail. Spark plug contacts were al drilled out (14 of them!). I then glued 14 thin strands of stretch sprue to the kit ignition harness ring. After the crankcase was painted and glued to the cylinders I carefully slid the stretched sprue 'wires" one by one into the holes in the cylinders. The strands were difficult to handle with tweezers bu it all held together and the work was worth it.

So, that's it for now. Just have to sand the seams everywhere and fill here and there with stretched sprue (mostly unneeded after using the squeeze method with liquid glue joints). I will add the clear parts after that and mask them with the Eduard set. Painting the camo will be an interesting challenge with the brown mottle over IJN Green. Hope you like it so far.

Thanks, Pedro. This has turned out to be quite a relaxing build. Given work stresses and reduced modeling time, I plan to give most of my spare time to getting this one done now. Good to have an easier project now and then. Glad you like the build. More to come soon.

Great to see it back being picked up, Colin @coling
Amazing progress made on the interior and excellent work on the engine.

Thanks, John. Happy to get this finished up. Quick, problem free assembly. Definitely one of Hasegawa's better kits. Plus the graceful shape of this beast is really motivating. Incredible wingspan for a single-engine a/c.

Thanks, George. Photo etch can be a pain as far as fit goes. Super-careful test fitting is the key for me. Although i slightly mangled the IP, I manged to glue it back down with no damage to the surface. I didn't use all the etch in the new set I bought. The kit detail is really fine and amazingly detailed OOB. The throttles and switches mainly needed just a bit of careful painting to highlight the knobs. I only used the instrument faces in the Eduard set, since they were beautifully done.

Thanks, Lis. The kit interior is very detailed out of the box but the Eduard set really adds depth to the pilot's seat, radio gear, and instrument panel.

That interior is very good! With your inspiraton, I may get back to mine, which stalled out with other projects of newer kits demanding reviews.