A5M2b Early Claude 1/48 Fine Molds
Mitsubishi Type 96 Kansen Model 2-2 (A5M2b Claude early), 1/48 Fine Molds
After 10 year pause, I eventually returned to modelling.
I’d like to present the most unpopular version of the beautiful Claude. It was the most unpopular because the pilots at the end of the 1930s wanted to feel the air stream in the open cockpits. When Mitsubishi Type 96 Kansen Model 2-2 with an enclosed canopy was in 1937 (Showa 97) accepted by the Nihon Kaigun, soon the sliding canopy hood became a target of criticism for a limited view not only during the duel. The pilots of several units had the hoods removed from their aircraft. A total of 124 machines with a closed cabin were produced, followed by modified version that featured only the windshield without the rear glazing and sliding hood.
I chose the machine that served with Hyakurihara Kokutai,IbaragiPrefectureeven at the turn of 1941/ 42. This machine is documented by 2 photos which show some interesting features.
The cowling, even after several years, is still gleaming like a mirror and has only few scratches around the fasteners. All Hinomaru and tail planes that were sprayed with the same colour are glossy, too.
The rest of the machine had been treated with aluminium anticorrosive dope that after some time lost its shine and tended to get grey hue. The use a protective anticorrosive lacquer (which had been applied form the A5M2b late version) is doubtful for this machine and even for most of A5M2b early machines. Just like most of the naval machines that operated from ground bases, this one also had the arrestor hook removed. As one of the few documented machines with the sliding hood it does not have carry external fuel tank. These160 litrefuel tanks were smaller comparing to the commonly used210 litretanks used from A5M2b late version.
The kit was built OOB, i.e. from the box without any accessories or other enhancements. I decided to leave the landing flaps in closed position although the Fine Molds kit allows them to be glued in lowered position. As I already mentioned, the kit does not carry the external fuel tank. One reason is that I plan to build more Claudes with fuel tanks but mostly because the kit features only 210 litretanks that had to be modified, hence my kit would not fulfil the OOB criteria. The assembly of the cockpit was one of the smoothest I had ever experienced, and there were no need of dry fitting or adjustments. Overall, the kit fit is excellent as I would expect from one of the best tool shops in the World. Who knows Fine Molds Nano Dread series for 1/700 scale ship or newly released machine guns in 1/72 scale will definitely agree with me. By the way, the cowling with engine is just slit on the plug on the fuselage without glue.
The kit was airbrushed with Alclad matt aluminium, the rest of the colours used wereVallejo, Lifecolor, and my preferred Tamyia clear colours for the formation lights. All Hinomaru, tail codes and propeller markings were sprayed using masks, the only decals I used were the stencils and serial no. plates. Weathering was done using MiG products and Artist chalks.
The goal was to have fun building this kit and to correspond with my idea of how should look the relatively well maintained aluminium coated aircraft.
Hope you like it like I do
DEAD
Photo & text credit © DEAD Design Models 2018
