The kit from Hasegawa provides very good detail.As I'd like to make a Kate with torpedo used in Pearl Habor,the decals of the original kit,which provides a Kate used in the battle of Midway,is almost useless.So I decided to paint all of the markings appearing on the Kate by air brush and detail it with Eduard's PE set.

The Kate I made belonged to aircraft carrier "Soryu",and the pilot was Juzo Mori,who attended many sea battles as a torpedo attacker pilot,including the attack on Pearl Harbor.During that attack,the torpedo of his Kate hit USS battleship "California" but the landing gear was damaged by AA guns and he lost the plane when he tried to make a landing on "Soryu".

I detailed the torpedo which was thought to be specified for Pearl Harbor Attack,including the wood-made fins by 0.2mm and 0.3mm plastic pad or brass rod.

Gunze lacquer paints was used,and weathering was made by oil colors.The 0.074mm fishing nylon for antenna.
 

Photos © 2005 by Yufei Mao

August 11, 2005

www.carrierbuilders.net