Pearl Harbor Part III

Aircraft from the Japanese Carrier Shokaku

Eagle Strike Productions
 

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Eagle Strike's 1/48 scale Pearl Harbor Pt. III is available online from Squadron.com

Pearl Harbour Part III continues Eagle Strike’s journey through the aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s strike force on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941. This time the focus is on the aircraft that flew off the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Shokaku. Six aircraft are featured in all, two A6M2 “Zeros”, two B5N2 “Kates” and two D3A1 “Vals”.

First is the A6M2 flown by Lieutenant Yuzo Tukamoto. Finish is overall Ame-Hiro with an aluminium spinner and a blue-black cowling. Markings consist of national insignia in all six places, a white cord-wise band for the tail two white bands around the fuselage, and red tail code of EII-140. White numeral 140 for the front of the cowl and black numeral 40 for the main gear doors are provided. (The appropriate numerals are provided for each of the aircraft on the sheet) The placement guide advises that it has not been confirmed that these were actually carried but it is nice to have the option provided.
A set of red and blue stripes are provided for both Zeros. These are placed on the gear doors and, if my memory serves me correctly, they are maintenance markings.

Next is the A6M2 flown by Lieutenant Takumi Hoashi. Finish is as per the previous aircraft except is has two white bands for the tail and the single thin “combat” stripe around the rear fuselage, a red tail code of EI-121, white 121 for the cowling and black 21 for the gear door.

The first B5N2 was flown by NAP 1/C Maura Okubo. NAP 1/C Kenzo Sugano and NAP 3/C Yoshio Ishihara. Finish is as per the Zeros but the upper surfaces of the wings, fuselage and horizontal stabilizers are painted in a mottle of dark green. Markings include the white combat stripe, a single white stripe for the tail, large black numeral 57 for the undersides of the wings a red tail code of EI-357, white numerals 57 for the cowling and black 57 for the gear door.

The crew of the second B5N2 is not named and it is in the same finish as the previous one except that its white combat stripe is edged with a thin red band, the tail code is E1-307, the underwing serial is a single numeral 7, white 7 for the cowling lip and black 57 for the gear doors.

The first D3A1 Val was flown by Lieutenant Maseo Yamaguchi and NAP 1/C Fumio Someno. It is in the same overall Ame-Hio finish with a blue-black cowl and forward fuselage. Markings are national insignia in six places, a white combat stripe, two white stripes on the tail and a red band around the undercarriage spat. White numeral 1s are provided for the front of the spat.

The second Val was flown by Lieutenant Iwakichi Mifuku and NAP 1/C Takeo Nobe. Finish is in the same as the previous Val except that has a single white stripe on the tail white numeral 4s for the front of the spat and the tail codes are E1-204.

The decals have been printed in Mexico. They are all in perfect register, thin and have minimal carrier film. A separate sheet contains the national markings. The markings themselves all measure up correctly – I have sized them against the appropriate Hasegawa kits that I have stashed away and I’ll be happy to use them. The shades of red used also look fine to me. Once they have been applied to the model and weathered slightly they will look just right.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The placement guide is a full colour double-sided affair. It shows left hand side profiles of each aircraft as well a bottom view of the Kate’s wings to show the large ID numerals. There are no plan views of the Zero or the Val. Not a big deal really, just use the Hasegawa instruction sheet as your guide.

Speaking of Hasegawa, theirs are the recommended kits to use for this sheet.

There is also a smaller sheet of notes provided. This sheet advises you all about the colour Ame-Hiro. Ame-Hiro is a reasonably new revelation on how the shade of paint used on WWII Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft. The discussion advises on interpretations of this colour and matches against FS 595. It also contains the following sentence when referring to colour matching Ame-Hiro, and I quote

“Either way you decide, remember it is your model and your hobby must be fun to you and you alone, whether you are a contest winner or just the occasional modeller”

Click the thumbnails below to view the Notes regarding colours in this decal release:

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This sheet also provides several web addresses to assist you in your choice as well as reference for Japanese aircraft and the Pearl Harbour raid. They are all pages of the http://www.j-aircraft.com site. A visit is well worth the visit if you are contemplating building any WWII Japanese aircraft.

This is a good sheet from Eagle Strike.

Recommended.