Kit Review:
Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" in 1/33 scale
Maly Modelarz kit # 3/2002
by David Sakrison — 5 July 2005
Artwork: Excellent
Parts fit: Excellent
Instructions (in Polish, w/drawings): good
Level of detail: Good to Very Good
Overall rating: Very good to excellent
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Maly Modelarz' Nakajima "Kate" (3/2002) is an impressive model. The artwork is excellent; the fit of the parts is close to perfect, and there is plenty of detail. Engine and cockpit detail are good enough to create a good-looking scale model, without being intimidating.
The construction drawings are adequate--not much guesswork required. A bit more detail would be helpful in a few places, but Maly Modelarz has come a long way in this respect and I have no real complaints.
I don't read Polish but one of the photo captions in the kit identifies the markings as those of an aircraft from the Japanese carrier "Akagi," at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 41). The carrier marking on the tail, "AI," confirms this as an Akagi aircraft. The red fuselage stripe and the aircraft number ("1") probably indicate a flight leader. Commander Mitsuo Fuchida led the first wave of attackers at Pearl Harbor, in a flight of Kates. Tail number A1-301 might be Fuchida's plane. Maybe someone who reads Polish better than I do, or who has access to better historic records, can sort that out. In all, 40 B5N2s armed with torpedoes and 103 B5N1s armed with bombs took part in that attack.
The kit comes with a bomb and a torpedo. I mounted the torpedo, since this is a B5N2. That was the one step that gave me trouble--it was a painstaking cut-and-test-fit procedure. But the results look good.
The landing gear mounts into holes in the gear wells. With no reinforcement, the gear is a bit flimsy. A liberal application of superglue after assembly stiffened things up. A better approach would be to back the gear well with heavy card or a small block of balsa or basswood. The tail wheel could use similar reinforcement.
At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese added wooden extensions to the fins on their torpedoes, to keep them from diving into the bottom of the harbor. The kit does not include these. I made mine from HO-scale stripwood, stained with a brew of alcohol and leather dye. I based them on photos and highly sophisticated LAR ("Looks About Right") calculations.
GPM's Kartonowka magazine for 2/2002 includes parts for a Kate diorama, including torpedo and bomb carts, a torpedo, 4 bombs, a pair of oil drums, wheel chocks, pilot, observer, and gunner figures, two ground crew figures, an 11-1/4" x 16" carrier-deck diorama base (in two parts—no crease), assembly drawings, and several color photos of the finished diorama. It also includes a wing spar template and wing ribs for building the kit with folded or folding wings. The bomb in the kit and one of the bombs in Kartonowka appear to be the special 1,653-lb Japanese bombs converted from naval armor-piercing shells and used at Pearl Harbor.
I used the wing spars from the kit and built the wings extended. I would have built them folding but miscalculated and built the wings before I checked the magazine for parts. Some days are like that. On the other hand, this kit went together so nicely and looks so good that I wouldn't mind building it again, adding some more scratch-built details and folding wings, next time around.
The wing-folding hinge is a narrow strip of cardstock applied to the top of the wing. It looks as though the model's hinge would need some reinforcement to allow folding and to support the wing properly when it's extended. Some Tyvek® (the indestructible stuff that Federal Express® envelopes are made of) and a couple of inconspicuous alignment pins should do the trick.
I built the torpedo cart and the barrels from Kartonowka (a nice 2-evening project) and mounted the diorama base on foam core board. At a recent “Model Airplanes Day” at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this mini-diorama received a lot of praise from plastic modelers.
Overall, this is an excellent model that goes together very well and scales out accurately. I'd recommend some modeling experience, if only because of the amount of detail. The finished model has an 18-1/2" wingspan and measures 15-1/2 from prop hub to tail cone.
The Kate torpedo bomber, the "Val" dive bomber, and the "Zero" fighter were the three Japanese aircraft that made the attack on Pearl Harbor. Maly Modelarz offers a Mitsubishi Zero (12/2000) that looks comparable in quality to their Kate. Add a Val from Halinski, Fly Model, or Modelcard, and you'll have the whole trio in 1/33 scale.
Now, how about a Japanese midget submarine in 1/33?
Added 18 Sept 2006: I just found the model kit on sale at the CardModelShop http://cardmodelshop.com/store2/specials.php?page=1&osCsid=85d16d6d5553adb4ca6f8cdf904e5dc8
Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" in 1/33 scale
Maly Modelarz kit # 3/2002
by David Sakrison — 5 July 2005
Artwork: Excellent
Parts fit: Excellent
Instructions (in Polish, w/drawings): good
Level of detail: Good to Very Good
Overall rating: Very good to excellent
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Maly Modelarz' Nakajima "Kate" (3/2002) is an impressive model. The artwork is excellent; the fit of the parts is close to perfect, and there is plenty of detail. Engine and cockpit detail are good enough to create a good-looking scale model, without being intimidating.
The construction drawings are adequate--not much guesswork required. A bit more detail would be helpful in a few places, but Maly Modelarz has come a long way in this respect and I have no real complaints.
I don't read Polish but one of the photo captions in the kit identifies the markings as those of an aircraft from the Japanese carrier "Akagi," at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 41). The carrier marking on the tail, "AI," confirms this as an Akagi aircraft. The red fuselage stripe and the aircraft number ("1") probably indicate a flight leader. Commander Mitsuo Fuchida led the first wave of attackers at Pearl Harbor, in a flight of Kates. Tail number A1-301 might be Fuchida's plane. Maybe someone who reads Polish better than I do, or who has access to better historic records, can sort that out. In all, 40 B5N2s armed with torpedoes and 103 B5N1s armed with bombs took part in that attack.
The kit comes with a bomb and a torpedo. I mounted the torpedo, since this is a B5N2. That was the one step that gave me trouble--it was a painstaking cut-and-test-fit procedure. But the results look good.
The landing gear mounts into holes in the gear wells. With no reinforcement, the gear is a bit flimsy. A liberal application of superglue after assembly stiffened things up. A better approach would be to back the gear well with heavy card or a small block of balsa or basswood. The tail wheel could use similar reinforcement.
At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese added wooden extensions to the fins on their torpedoes, to keep them from diving into the bottom of the harbor. The kit does not include these. I made mine from HO-scale stripwood, stained with a brew of alcohol and leather dye. I based them on photos and highly sophisticated LAR ("Looks About Right") calculations.
GPM's Kartonowka magazine for 2/2002 includes parts for a Kate diorama, including torpedo and bomb carts, a torpedo, 4 bombs, a pair of oil drums, wheel chocks, pilot, observer, and gunner figures, two ground crew figures, an 11-1/4" x 16" carrier-deck diorama base (in two parts—no crease), assembly drawings, and several color photos of the finished diorama. It also includes a wing spar template and wing ribs for building the kit with folded or folding wings. The bomb in the kit and one of the bombs in Kartonowka appear to be the special 1,653-lb Japanese bombs converted from naval armor-piercing shells and used at Pearl Harbor.
I used the wing spars from the kit and built the wings extended. I would have built them folding but miscalculated and built the wings before I checked the magazine for parts. Some days are like that. On the other hand, this kit went together so nicely and looks so good that I wouldn't mind building it again, adding some more scratch-built details and folding wings, next time around.
The wing-folding hinge is a narrow strip of cardstock applied to the top of the wing. It looks as though the model's hinge would need some reinforcement to allow folding and to support the wing properly when it's extended. Some Tyvek® (the indestructible stuff that Federal Express® envelopes are made of) and a couple of inconspicuous alignment pins should do the trick.
I built the torpedo cart and the barrels from Kartonowka (a nice 2-evening project) and mounted the diorama base on foam core board. At a recent “Model Airplanes Day” at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this mini-diorama received a lot of praise from plastic modelers.
Overall, this is an excellent model that goes together very well and scales out accurately. I'd recommend some modeling experience, if only because of the amount of detail. The finished model has an 18-1/2" wingspan and measures 15-1/2 from prop hub to tail cone.
The Kate torpedo bomber, the "Val" dive bomber, and the "Zero" fighter were the three Japanese aircraft that made the attack on Pearl Harbor. Maly Modelarz offers a Mitsubishi Zero (12/2000) that looks comparable in quality to their Kate. Add a Val from Halinski, Fly Model, or Modelcard, and you'll have the whole trio in 1/33 scale.
Now, how about a Japanese midget submarine in 1/33?
Added 18 Sept 2006: I just found the model kit on sale at the CardModelShop http://cardmodelshop.com/store2/specials.php?page=1&osCsid=85d16d6d5553adb4ca6f8cdf904e5dc8
