The 1/72 Fujimi kit C34 – B7A2 Grace is the next kit for The Empire of Japan GB. I can't remember the first time I read about the Grace but I do remember liking it's inverted gull wings which reminded me of the Corsair, with its main landing gear mounted at the elbow in order to keep them short as possible.
Reading up on the B7A, it was to be powered by a newly developed Nakajima Homare 11 twin-row radial engine with 1800hp.The initial prototype flew in Mid-1942 but teething problems with the engine and problems with the airframe resulted in a delay of almost two years before it was ordered into production as the B7A2. When finally produced, 9 prototype B7A1 units and 80 B7A2 units were produced by the Aichi Factory before the serious earthquake of May 1945 destroyed the factory. An additional 25 units were produced in Omura. By the time the aircraft entered service, Japan did not have any carriers large enough to operate the B7A2 so it saw limited use from land bases.
This is the Fujimi Kit C-34 and comes with an eternal torpedo. Same line of kit from the 1/72 Judy kit I completed earlier. Pretty much a straight-forward build, no surprises expected. Not too much in detail for the cockpit – basic seats, stick and instrument panel and a rear machine gun. Looks the rear seat is facing the wrong direction – just as in the Judy kit. I bit off flash but nothing too bad, and descent decals for a 1/72 kit.
The kit instructions actual gives a brief history on the Ki-43 Oscar – nice but probably unintended.
Started off spraying some home blended Otake acrylic using 30% Clear Green (Model Master 4668) + 30% Clear Blue(Model Master 4658) + 40% Silver Chrome (Tamiya X-11). Mixed it in some small paint cups I found at the $1 Store (8=$1) and the lid gives an excellent seal and preserves the paint mix. I am getting pretty comfortable using my NEO internal mix airbrush. I was intimidated at first, worried about what seemed like a complicated cleanup compare to my external mix airbrushes.
7 attached images. Click to enlarge.
