Already June, really the 6th month of the new year? Time has flown by as too even think the year feels new to me still. So time to do some catch up starting with Tam's great kit of the Mitsubishi Betty medium bomber. And she is quite large. So lets see whats in the box.
This moulding is not in the typical med grey plastic such as the D.520, Corsair and the current build Beaufighter, but in the Lt grey plastic like what was in the Dinah kit. Seems too me this plastic is a little softer than the darker grey and not as heavy for lack of a better word or description.
The instruction sheet is their familiar layout, color call outs in the Tamiya line of paints as guide. Marking for 5 different units. Which I have a Techmod sheet coming in for a little more colorful scheme.
The first sprue holds the LH/RH fuselage halves with fine engraved panel lines, and nicely detailed stringers inside each half.
Next sprue contains interior components, and 3 aircrew members.
The next 3 sets contains the wings, wings spar, tail stabs, and flaps. The wheel well detail is under each nacelle which is good here.
Next sprue is the floor and bulkheads. Tamiya seems to have thought this out when researching this plane and able to assemble it with as little construction issues as possible. Since their Lancaster, the Betty is their most ambitious model since. Of course the Hienkel Uhu was produced not long after the Betty.
The Betty can be built as a torpedo bomber or as a regular bomber. Haven't decided yet which way to go. It may come down to the scheme and what version the bomber is configured.
The engine components, props and wheel sprue which are 2 sets again good details, though I will go with resin wheels for this.
And finally the clear sprues which are excellent, just left in the bag for protection, and there is a lot of clear parts, this will be fun to mask.
Will get this one started soon. More to follow, thanks for viewing.
Chuck
