DennisTheBear Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) Hello BMers! I have a question for those knowlegable about Japenese WWII aircraft. Please bear with the slight ramble below. I've been 'reconditioning' a model that I built at the beginning of 2015, when I returned to the loving embrace of Mother Model Making. The kit is the venerable Airfix 1/72 Aichi D3A 'Val'. While randomly looking at pictures of 'Vals' on the interweb I came across several pictures of captured Japanese aircraft, none of which were 'Vals'. Now to the question. Did any of the Allies capture and test fly a Aichi D3A Val, in particular the sub-type represented by the Airfix 1/72 kit? If they did are there any images available? DennisTheBear Edited January 31, 2017 by DennisTheBear Atrocious spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Hi DennisTheBear I highly doubt it. Vals abandoned on New Guinea during the war were in too bad a condition and those found in Japan (plenty of them) after the war had been bulldozed or burnt without anybody giving a second thought. Robert Diemert recovered a D3A1 from Ballalae off Bougainville which had been restored to flying condition and actually flown in 1969, but with her original markings restored. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Thanks for that, Jure! Bit of a shame as one of these stripped to bare metal and with a set of stars and bars would look good. DennisTheBear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 3 hours ago, Jure Miljevic said: Hi DennisTheBear I highly doubt it. Vals abandoned on New Guinea during the war were in too bad a condition and those found in Japan (plenty of them) after the war had been bulldozed or burnt without anybody giving a second thought. Robert Diemert recovered a D3A1 from Ballalae off Bougainville which had been restored to flying condition and actually flown in 1969, but with her original markings restored. Cheers Jure Re-built rather than restored as it was not a perfect replica of a D3A1, being based on the hulk of a D3A2 Model 22 and re-painted in an inappropriate scheme for that type. http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/d3a2/3178.html I'm not aware of any captured D3A1 being test-flown and have not seen any Allied registration numbers for the type. Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Thanks Nick. That rather scotches my plans for the kit, alas. I suppose it can now become a kamikaze candidate. DennisTheBear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) Build it as a whiffed captured bird anyway. Your model and if you like the idea, go for it. Edited January 31, 2017 by The wooksta V2.0 Attacked by the Spelling Police 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Don't think the Val had any equipment or technology that the Allied teams were interested in; IIRC, the B5N2 Kate they tested, on the other hand, was equipped with the surface search radar, and so might have been more desirable to fly and evaluate. That's as far as my thinking/guessing takes me! I second what the mighty Wooksta said about your build! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll ponder on my course for this. I have several tens of decals I haven't used or won't use, so I'll think uo some outlandish whiffery for it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e8n2 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I haven't checked it out just now, but this page at Vintage Wings of Canada will give you lots of inspiration even if a Val is not there. http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/394/language/en-CA/WTF.aspx I have it bookmarked and have referred to it several times to include getting kits and decal sheets to make some of the subjects seen. Later, Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 9 hours ago, DennisTheBear said: Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll ponder on my course for this. I have several tens of decals I haven't used or won't use, so I'll think uo some outlandish whiffery for it! Might I humbly suggest for your consideration - a British D3A1 as operated by the FAA during the attack on Taranto. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance endured and Gloster renewed their post WWI links to the IJN by arranging to license-build the D3G1 with a Bristol engine, facilitated by Lord Sempill who was Mitsubishi's commercial agent in Europe. The FAA chose the type in preference to the Skua, after much heated controversy, for its simplicity, dive bombing qualities and ease of maintenance but also because the replacement of the Swordfish by the Fairey license-built B5F1 had been such a success. These extraordinary moves were also a political gesture towards Japan to assure her protection in the Far East against an aggressive USA whose pro-German lobby was encouraging China to seize British concessions and colonies whilst she was distracted by the European war. The USA was also enraged by the development of Singapore as a joint fleet base for the RN and IJN after her proposals for limiting battleships, heavy cruisers and carriers in Far Eastern waters were rejected by those two countries. Or, a German D3A1 aboard the Graf Zeppelin, again license-built when it was identified as a better carrier deck performer than the Stuka. Nick 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) 9 hours ago, e8n2 said: I haven't checked it out just now, but this page at Vintage Wings of Canada will give you lots of inspiration even if a Val is not there. http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/394/language/en-CA/WTF.aspx I have it bookmarked and have referred to it several times to include getting kits and decal sheets to make some of the subjects seen. Later, Dave Thanks for sharing this, Dave! Outstanding photos and text! There are many I haven't seen before. Mike Edited February 1, 2017 by 72modeler corrected spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 On Wednesday, February 01, 2017 at 4:33 PM, e8n2 said: I haven't checked it out just now, but this page at Vintage Wings of Canada will give you lots of inspiration even if a Val is not there. http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/394/language/en-CA/WTF.aspx I have it bookmarked and have referred to it several times to include getting kits and decal sheets to make some of the subjects seen. Later, Dave Thanks for the link, Dave. I've bookmarked it and will go through it when I have time. DennisTheBear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 22 hours ago, Nick Millman said: Might I humbly suggest for your consideration - a British D3A1 as operated by the FAA during the attack on Taranto. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance endured and Gloster renewed their post WWI links to the IJN by arranging to license-build the D3G1 with a Bristol engine, facilitated by Lord Sempill who was Mitsubishi's commercial agent in Europe. The FAA chose the type in preference to the Skua, after much heated controversy, for its simplicity, dive bombing qualities and ease of maintenance but also because the replacement of the Swordfish by the Fairey license-built B5F1 had been such a success. These extraordinary moves were also a political gesture towards Japan to assure her protection in the Far East against an aggressive USA whose pro-German lobby was encouraging China to seize British concessions and colonies whilst she was distracted by the European war. The USA was also enraged by the development of Singapore as a joint fleet base for the RN and IJN after her proposals for limiting battleships, heavy cruisers and carriers in Far Eastern waters were rejected by those two countries. Or, a German D3A1 aboard the Graf Zeppelin, again license-built when it was identified as a better carrier deck performer than the Stuka. Nick Thanks for the ideas Nick, some good ideas there. The only whiffery idea that came to my mind was two fishing boats lobbing squid at each other after the 1946 Wallaby tour of New Zealand (the All Blacks won all 3 tests to hold the Bledisloe Cup). DennisTheBear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPuente54 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Dennis, 72modeler started a thread about the same time as you started this one(on Monday) concerning a great collection of aviation photos(it is titled this or close). He links you to a really great collection. I haven't thoroughly checked it out; that would take hours(several commenters have written just that). It is organized by type; one of the collections is of Vals. If nothing else, you may find some inspirations from viewing it. Nick's idea is good, too. Good luck in your efforts. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73north Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 if you ever have any questions in future , I recommend you consult the folks at j-aircraft.com This is an idea of the light weathering that looks really good on your Japanese Aircraft This is my N1K2-J George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now