Hasegawa 1/48 Aichi B7A2 Attack Bomber Ryusei Kai (Grace)

HISTORY

Perhaps one of the greatest common threads between the axis powers of Japan and Germany during the Second World War was the concept of too little too late in terms of aircraft development. Aichi’s B7A2 Ryusei Kai (Grace) was indeed no exception to this rule. Developed with the lofty expectations of having to replace both the Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Jill) and the Yokosuka D4Y (Judy), the Grace was also hampered by engine problems and a major earthquake at the main production plant. Add to this the fact that by the time the aircraft saw actual service the Imperial Japanese Navy had no carriers left for it to operate from! Although only 111 examples of the aircraft were built and most of those were lost on the ground or in fruitless Kamikaze attacks, the Grace was an excellent naval attack bomber surpassing most all pre-production requirements.

THE KIT

Hasegawa’s 1/48 rendition of this large yet elegant airplane is a welcome sight to lovers of Japanese naval aircraft. Molded in light gray plastic on 14 trees with two more trees of clear parts, this kit looks impressive at first glance. The kit interior is comprised of almost thirty parts. My only gripe was with the rear gunner/bombardier’s seat, which was molded in right and left halves. The seat has a very odd shape and sanding the seam on the inside is almost impossible. The rest of in interior fit very well and was no problem to assemble. I prefer an "old fashioned" method of painting Japanese interiors by firstpainting aluminum and then painting over that with clear green or blue. This way one can vary the effect slightly and give an interesting depth to the color. The engineering involved with incorporating the bomb bay and the cockpit floor works quite well and no fit problems were encountered fitting the entire assembly into the fuselage.

Next came the major components of wings and tail surfaces. Hasegawa shocked me with an exceptional fit at the wing roots. This has been my biggest gripe with many of their 1/48 kits. The engine is very nice if viewed from the front only as the push rod and cylinder heads are way too thick from the side. This is really no big deal however, since the narrow cowl opening and large spinner combine to make the engine quite hidden. I only had one minor-fit problem with the cowling and that involved a gap on the upper forward fuselage. A little five thousandth shim card and putty easily solved the problem. Only a small amount of filler was needed on the entire model and everything lined up without a problem. I only wish every model airplane that I built had landing gear as stout and easy in install as this kit’s was! I practically didn’t need glue!

Painting was done with Polly Scale acrylics using a "fading" technique I read about in a Kendall web page article. I was quite happy with the results and it was quite easy to do. Simply paint the "high" spots on the model with a mix of the original color cut in half with white. Next a generous coating of Future floor wax was applied, after which the decals and a wash of oils followed. I used burnt sienna on the top and raw umber on the bottom. I did have an off experience with the decals. I usually use aftermarket decals but since the markings were so simple I decided to use the kit decals. I have been a hardcore user of Solvaset for many years and have never had a problem with the stuff being too harsh on my decals. However, the Hinomarus in the kit decals certainly DIDN’T like the Solvaset! The odd thing is, the Solvaset didn’t bother the serial numbers or the tail gunner’s deflection stripes on the stabilizer! Well, I ended up having to sand off the Hinomarus and replace them with some aftermarket ones. That was the greatest crisis I had to face with this kit and it was my own fault!

Last but not least came the little odd job parts such as canopies, wheels, guns, antennas, and propeller. Hasegawa’s canopies are nice and thin and crystal clear. I only wish they would engineer them to sit in the open position more often! This wasperhaps my greatest disappointment in the entire kit. With such a beautiful interior it would be nice to display some of the canopy sections open. The canopy came in nice sections, but they are not molded to sit in the open position without riding way too high. This is one thing I wish they would steal from Tamiya! I chose to show the bomb bay open since it was so nicely detailed and had no problems with the fit of the doors. Once finished one can see that this was a deceivingly large airplane. I put about thirty hours into my Grace and it makes a welcome addition to my Japanese naval aircraft collection. I can’t wait for the Jill, but hey Hasegawa, give us a positionable canopy!