Oldie but goodie - Hasegawa Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty 1/72

[sroubos]

Third build of the year - trying to maintain an average of one per month, so far so good

 

 

This is a kit from the 60s I believe, so lots of rivets and other raised detail. I was looking for a quick build as part of my project to build all planes from one of my favorite games, Hellcats over the Pacific. About halfway through now.

 

 

Even though it is an older kit it is still typical Hasegawa: Sparse interior detail, excellent fit. I didn't use much filler. Masking the windows drove me almost crazy, I tried using Eduard's G4M2 masking set but it doesn't fit this kit. Took me two days to do the masking and a good two hours to remove it all.

 

 

Reasonably happy with the weathering. Might be overdone a bit but it helps to mask the lost raised detail on the spine and bottom of the fuselage and other areas where you just can't get around obliterating it when dealing with the seams. Also, it adds character. I used Tamiya primer, Humbrol Polished Aluminium, black preshading, then Tamiya IJN Grey and Green. Then weathered the lot with a sharpened match and some 1500 grit.

 

 

I wanted to build a Guadalcanal-related plane, as per the game's setting. Decals came from DP Casper's set Forgotten Operations: I-gó Sakusen. I love these campaign-based sets. Now I need to start incorporating the whole Hellcats collection into a diorama... thinking of playing the game and making some screenshots, then creating a backdrop out of that.

 

 

It also struck me how big the Betty is: Here next to a B-25 I'm building with my son. Much bigger aircraft.

 

[Wulfman]

Beautiful Betty, great build on the old kit !

 

Wulfman

[swralph]

Very nice finish.😀