The Little World

Don’t raise your eyebrows and make that noise – this Tamiya kit was half the price of other 1/72 models from the same maker in their Warbirds range.

That tells me that it is not a big seller – rather like the Japanese submarine seaplane in the same line. People concentrate on the famous fighters and just pass the others by. That suits me to a Tee…

The mouldings on the sprue trees for this aircraft are certainly up to the high standards that Tamiya set. The aircraft has prominent top and bottom castings and then a conventional left and right nose section that incloses the cockpit tub. The fit of the parts is such that no filler whatsoever is contemplated.

Of course some nose weight is needed, but there is plenty of space in the very front for it.

The instructions are perfect, and I noted early on that there were three decorating schemes provided on the decal sheet – one garish US Navy interceptor squadron and two slightly more sedate US Marine Corps versions. I will choose on of these – I can see from internet images that the graphic tail is real, but I find it distracting from the smooth lines of the aircraft.

In all the cases , the paint shop has been turned loose on the auxiliary fuel tanks as well, prompting the speculation that they were expecting them to be brought back and landed aboard. Or they just hung these on for the Admiral’s inspection day.