HASEGAWA 1:72 MITSUBISHI G3M2/M3
MODEL 22/23 "NELL"

Reviewer: Derek Winters  (rec.models.scale)

Hasegawa have released this kit under their new tooling policy featuring the Imperial Japanese Navy's front line bomber of World War II.  Packaged in cellophane in a reasonably large box it features 120 parts including 9 clear, in medium grey injection molded plastic with finely engraved panel lines.  The quality of this kit is excellent.  Instructions are set out in the Hasegawan routine of nine assembly steps that are straightforward to follow and colour references from Gunze Sangyo.

The interior is the first step in the construction process that is simple to build.  Colours are noted as "Mitsubishi" cockpit colour with no other information provided - this of course is medium green with a grey tinge to it that is not unlike that of 'Interior Green' or 'Cockpit Green' found in most colour ranges.  Most of the detailing in the cockpit itself is quite reasonable and not much extra would be needed to spice it up completely - also noting that little can be seen once the cockpit has been enclosed.

The fuselage halves go together very nicely and very little filling is required.  The engine nacelles are then assembled and these are very nicely molded and sit well on the wings.  The wings are then attached to the fuselage in a pain-free process that abruptly reveals the large size of the model.  The fins on either tailplane were not very co-operative and would not fit correctly into the alloted grooves.  I sanded them back and used filler to plug up the gaps afterward.  The tailplanes being fitted onto the fuselage presented similar problems but was not enough to warrant a lot of mention about.

The undercarriage goes together fairly well and the wheel well bays are adorned with quite reasonable detail.  I had a couple of problems with the main struts sitting in place correctly and this needed a little bit of attention to fix but nothing that would spend you hours of frustration with.  The armament options are simply bombs but the racks themselves are done very nicely and these look magnificent on the finished product.  The worst part of the model building process was attaching the small fiddly bits including antennae and wing balances.  This proved to be a frustrating exercise as exact positioning skills was called upon.  The canopy and other glazing is subject to the final step in the assembly process and all fit very nicely - although the cockpit glazing does require a fair bit of care when positioning.

Two versions are reproduced by the kit, one from the Bihoro Kokutai and the other Genzan Kokutai, both in the familiar Dark Green & Red Brown upper camouflage and lower Light Grey scheme commonly known as the China Scheme - I used Humbrol 116, 186 (with a few drops of brick red) & 196 respectively.  The decals are excellent, although a little thick, but otherwise adhere very well to the aircraft's surface.   Hasegawa note in the instructions about finishing the aircraft with a 'peeling paint' effect, because the scheme on the aircraft once applied in the war rapidly dimished leaving streaks of exposed metal.  From my reference sources I turned up some info about this which basically outlines the Japanese aircraft having first a natural metal finish with red highlights and fins before the camouflage scheme was applied to the aircraft.  To give it this effect I painted it first in polished aluminium with red fins then used Scotch tape, ripped and cut into small pieces, and applied the camouflage scheme over it.  When I ripped off the tape and used a bit of hand dabbing for effect, the aircraft looked remarkably authentic.

This is an excellent kit and comes highly recommended - it is accurate when compared to reference material and was a sheer delight to build.  While it's a subject not for the novice because of its size, the fact that Hasegawa have engineered it in such a way, would just about allow a Novice to construct it well.  Hasegawa ought to be commended for the new tooling on this kit as I found that after shaking the box before opening, it almost fell out complete!!

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