Toryu Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 The Kugisho D4Y (or Carrier Dive Bomber 'Suisei'), developed by the Naval Air Arsenal at Yokosuka, was the last scout bomber of the crumbling Imperial Japanese Navy. The design is amazingly compact when compared to its precursor, the Aichi D3A. There is a strong contrast in philosophy to US Navy dive bomber development which advanced from the fragile Vought SB2U to the monstrous SB2C Helldiver. Even with an internal bomb bay the Suisei is no larger than the SB2U! Folding wings were not needed for handling this little aircraft on carrier elevators. My model represents the D4Y3 variant with a Mitsubishi Kinsei 14-cylinder radial in place of the earlier Daimler-Benz in-line derivative. リ-266 belonged to the Hyakuri Kokutai, an operational training unit. It was involved in at least one combat mission in November 1944 flown by Lt(jg) Kiyoshi Arasu. I bought the FineMolds box in the mid-nineties and found the price unreasonable. All the more so as the kit proved less satisfactory than I had expected. A number of adjustments were necessary and I used available after-market parts to upgrade the model. I hope you enjoy this unconventional subject. A Japanese airplane enthusiast for many years I admire the elegant lines of their designs, and it's a pleasure to share the pictures. ハッピーモデル構築 - Michael References Japanese Navy Air Force Camouflage and Markings WWII, Donald W. Thorpe, Fallbrook, 1977 Navy Carrier Dive Bomber "Suisei", Famous Airplanes of the World No.69, Tokyo, 1998 Kugisho Carrier Dive Bomber "Suisei", Mechanism of Military Aircraft No.11, Japan, 2011 The IJN Carrier Bomber Suisei - D4Y Series Photo & Illustrated, Model Graphix 23079, Tokyo, 2012 Imperial Japanese Army & Navy Airplanes Illustrated - Book 2, Model Art, Tokyo, 2016 The Dark Green Paints of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force, Nicholas Millman, 2016 The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force had fine airplanes, too. Click here 54 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Not being a Japanese WWII aviation buff in even the most basic sense of the word, I'm still impressed by skills and the artistry that has gone into this beautiful model. Splendid work! Kind regards, Joachim 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandlapper Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Superb build! I have this kit in my stash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Excellent! J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Oh man, you made my day! Although I prefer the liquid cooled engine version, this is such a treat to watch. I really doubt that I could better your effort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Hi Michael, this work of yours is sheer artistry, and you have done wonders with this already great looking plane. What a pleasure to look at your model! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 As Cary Grant would say- "Judy, Judy, Judy!" Very impressive build, especially the work you put into making the cockpit accurate. Very disappointing that the Fine Molds kit had so many issues, but at least it has a better cockpit than my two 1/72 Fujimi kits. Hai! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted November 9, 2018 Author Share Posted November 9, 2018 Thank you for your kind feedback. I hope we will see more Japanese subjects in the future. On 02/11/2018 at 17:24, Spitfire31 said: Not being a Japanese WWII aviation buff in even the most basic sense of the word, I'm still impressed by skills and the artistry that has gone into this beautiful model. On 02/11/2018 at 17:45, Sandlapper said: Superb build! I have this kit in my stash. On 02/11/2018 at 19:10, Josip said: Oh man, you made my day! Although I prefer the liquid cooled engine version, this is such a treat to watch. I really doubt that I could better your effort. On 04/11/2018 at 20:43, jean said: Hi Michael, this work of yours is sheer artistry, and you have done wonders with this already great looking plane. What a pleasure to look at your model! On 05/11/2018 at 01:54, 72modeler said: As Cary Grant would say- "Judy, Judy, Judy!" Very impressive build, especially the work you put into making the cockpit accurate. Very disappointing that the Fine Molds kit had so many issues, but at least it has a better cockpit than my two 1/72 Fujimi kits. Hai! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knikki Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 (edited) Nice aircraft and build looks really good. Which one of the many Greens did you use for the upper camo? EDIT Its OK I went and read the blog post 'properly' that will learn me 🤣 I'm getting the 72scale version of this, from Telford, but I think the one I'm getting has the Daimler Benz engine Edited November 9, 2018 by Knikki 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted November 9, 2018 Author Share Posted November 9, 2018 3 hours ago, Knikki said: Nice aircraft and build looks really good. Which one of the many Greens did you use for the upper camo? EDIT Its OK I went and read the blog post 'properly' that will learn me 🤣 I'm getting the 72scale version of this, from Telford, but I think the one I'm getting has the Daimler Benz engine Hi Knikki, Apart from my rather un-reproduceable mixing 😉 the most authentic IJN topside green is Colourcoats ACJ01 'Deep Green Black'. I can really recommend it. Have fun with your D4Y1 version. Thanks for asking Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigglesof266 Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Love it! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Looks great!! Very nicely done and finished! Miguel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 That's pretty damned special. 👍 Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREG DESTEC Posted November 10, 2018 Share Posted November 10, 2018 (edited) Excellent model, very well done. Japanese subjects are refreshing see on the forum as they don't appear that often. That's not to say they are not appreciated any less than other subjects. I did a Ki-84 recently and have seen more of the well known types such as the Zero, Oscar or Raiden fairly recently. I hope to see more of your models whatever the subject may be in the future. Cheers Greg 😀 Edited November 10, 2018 by GREG DESTEC Spelling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted November 10, 2018 Share Posted November 10, 2018 Very impressive! Well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 10, 2018 Share Posted November 10, 2018 Excellent! Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfinished project Posted November 10, 2018 Share Posted November 10, 2018 That’s a very very nice build 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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