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This will be my entry for this Group Build: the new-tool Hasegawa Kawanishi H8K2 'Emily': It looks a lovely kit, I hope I can make a decent effort of it. The initial edition of the kit came with a free cutaway poster of the aircraft which will be useful for painting the interior detail and crew figures (though the text is wasted on me, unfortunately): Pictured here are the instructions, and the canopy mask set included with the kit - this includes the turret glazing but not masks for the little fuselage windows: Transfer options are provided for 3 aircraft as well as the national markings and stencilling: I was a little concerned by the amount of carrier film around the wing walkway decals in particular, but this chap has built the kit and rated the decals very highly, so I am somewhat reassured On to the sprues then: ...and four of these: Surprisingly (as most manufacturers including Hasegawa seem to have stopped doing this) a full crew of 11 are provided (actually 16 figures are included on the sprues so some can go to the spares box) as multi-part mouldings giving the potential for a degree of mix-and-match to avoid exact duplication... these are beautifully-sculpted little guys and I'm looking forward to making them up. For the purposes of display I'll need to attach the externally-fitted wheel arrangements and it will perhaps seem odd to include the crew with guns deployed as well as these, but I can't not use the crew so please indulge me The paint scheme is the same for each marking option: Imperial Japanese Navy D1 Deep Green Black* over aluminium. I'll be using Colourcoats ACJ01 IJN D1 Deep Green Black for the uppersurfaces and most likely Alclad Semi-matt Aluminium for the undersides. The interior is mostly (painted) aluminium, apart from the section forward of the wings - Hasegawa don't really give specific information on what this colour was, simply suggesting mixing 50% Mitsubishi Interior Green with 50% of a choice of three different greens. I'll be up in Aberdeen in a couple of weeks doing some Sovereign Hobbies stuff with Jamie and Gill so I'll see if we can match the colour with the interior pics shown on the cutaway poster when I am up there. Apologies for the excessive preamble Cheers, Stew * Nick Millman was kind enough to confirm this - the slightly lurid green used on the Emily that was until recently displayed in the USA was a post-war repaint from a time when we were perhaps less particular about the colour accuracy of paint used on restorations of captured aircraft.

Kawanishi H8K2 Type 2, Emily Flying Boat 1:72 Hasegawa History At the same time the type's predecessor, the Kawanishi H6K, was going into service in 1938 the Navy ordered the development of a larger, longer-ranged patrol aircraft under the designation Navy Experimental 13-Shi large Flying Boat. The result was a large, shoulder-winged design that is widely regarded as the best flying boat of the war. Despite this, initial development was troublesome, with the prototype displaying terrible handling on the water. Deepening of the hull, redesigning of the planing bottom and the addition of spray strips under the nose rectified this. Two further prototypes, which were in fact pre-production aircraft, joined the development program in December 1941. The IJNAF accepted the first production version as the H8K1, Navy Type 2 Flying Boat, Model 11, of which only 14 would be built, before the improved H8K2 variant was put into service. The K2 had an extremely heavy defensive armament earned it deep respect among Allied aircrews. The H8K2 was fitted with more powerful engines, slightly revised armament, and an increase in fuel capacity. One hundred and twelve examples of the H8K2 were built and were used on a wide range of patrol, reconnaissance, bombing, and transport missions throughout the Pacific war. The H8K2 was given the Allied code name "Emily". The Model This has to rank as one of the oldest kits thats been reviewed by this reviewer. Its original release was in 1968, and it has been re-released at least eight times before this current edition. I remember seeing it as a kid and always wanting one, but never quite being able to afford it. Finally I have it in my hands and the only thing it fills me with is nostalgia. The only areas that have been changed over time are the boxes and the decals. So be aware of the kits origins as you could mistake the shiny new box as a new moulding. Whilst the boxtop has a very nice painting of an Emily flying along through sunset soaked clouds inside are some pretty dark ones lurking. The five sprues of medium grey styrene depict some moulds that are showing their age and wear. Whilst the fuselage and wings still look pretty good, there is a fair bit of flash on the sprues, some parts are showing imperfections and the details are becoming less distinct. Quite a few parts just seem to be lacking in something, which I cant quite put my finger on, but it might just be that Ive been spoilt over the years. Oh, and if you like rivets, you love this model as its rivet central, except where the main decals go, these have been de-riveted for a better fit, something that a lot of manufacturers did. Having said all that there are some parts that must have been state of the art back then and still look pretty good today. The cylinder banks are still good, the aircraft comes with a cockpit interior, which is crying out for some extra detail, but the basics are there. The shape of the model seems to match the real aircraft pretty well and hopefully some enterprising after market company will bring out some bits and bobs for it. Construction begins with the fitting of the fore and aft doors in the port side of the fuselage and the assembly of the nose gun and upper turret. You will need to change the guns as they are more like broom handles on blocks of wood. The fin, rudder, horizontal tailplanes and elevators are all assembled and joined together then put to one side. The cockpit consists of the floor, front and rear bulkheads three seats, joined control columns and yokes. The front bulkhead has the instrument panel moulded onto the front onto which the decal provided is used. With the numerous clear window parts fitted to each fuselage half the cockpit and upper turret are sandwiched between the fuselage halves as it is closed up. The canopy, plus front and rear gun positions are then attached, as are the two waist positions, all of which have the rather wooden guns fitted. The rather interesting and unusual, (for a model), split flaps are assembled and fitted to each lower wing half along with the ailerons. The upper wing halves are then glued to the lower. There is a nicely drawn diagram showing how the flaps are meant to look in the retracted and lowered states. The two cylinder banks for each of the four engines are assembled and slid into position within the cowlings. A long shaft is then pushed into the engine from the front and attached to a cap at the rear. The single piece propellers are then attached to the front of the shaft and capped with the spinners. To finish the engines/cowlings off the oil cooler intakes are fitted to the top of each cowling. The fire walls are then attached to the nacelles and the engine/cowlings are fitted to the firewalls. Another nice inclusion is the servicing platforms, four of which are provided and would give aid in the making of an interesting diorama. Alternatively, the access doors for the ramps can be fitted in the closed position. To complete the wing the clear landing light covers are glued into place. The major assembly now begins, with the fitting of the fin/rudder, horizontal tailplanes, and wing assemblies. The yagi style aerials are fitted to either side of the nose, a pitot probe on top of the nose in front of the cockpit, three aerial masts along the top of the hull and the weapons carriage of two torpedoes, on single pylons, (one each side), or four bombs on twin pylons. The wing floats are then assembled from two float halves and a single piece double strut, which will need to be rigged using suitable material, then attached to the underside of the wings. There is a separate panel that mounts on the underside of the hull just foreward of the step which could cause problems with filling any gaps due to the numerous rivets. The model also comes with beaching gear and towing tractor should the modeller wish to do a ramp scene. The main gears consist of the leg, two wheels, axle caps and floatation blocks, whilst the rear hull trolley is similar it is fitted with two flotation blocks and the single leg is moulded with a vee section to match the hull. Lastly, the tractor is assembled from two body halves, four wheels; the rear ones have separate hubs, the steering wheel and driver. This can be attached to the aircraft with a styrene tow rope. Decals The decals look to be pretty good. They are quite matt, but have good density of colour and are in good register. Theres not much in the way of carrier film which is good and the side hinomaru have cut out areas which coincide with the detail in that area. Since there are no rivets in any of the areas where the hinomaru are positioned there shouldnt be any problem with them settling down. The identification numbers on the tail and the yellow leading edge areas on the wings may cause problems though, unless the modeller uses their favourite softening and setting solutions. There are markings for three aircraft from around 1944, two from the 851st flying group and one from the 801st flying group. Conclusion Well, what can one say that hasnt already been said above? In general it looks to be a goodish kit, which could be built straight out of the box if youre willing to overlook the shortcomings. Alternatively it does give the basis of a major increase in detail, particularly the cockpit and machine guns/cannon. It certainly has prospects and with a good paint job, diorama setting and some nice weathering it could, and indeed can be made into something rather nice. Whatever you decide, its still a great looking aircraft and would make an interesting comparison next to a Sunderland. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for