Women Warriors 239

USAF with Reaper UAV and Hellfire Missile

Lt. Dana Kaduri, IDF Iron Dome battery commander

RAAF Flight Lieutenant Hayley Moulds, KC-30A

Airman 1st Class Natasha Libby examines the barrels of a Gau-2 mini gun mounted on an HH-60 Pave Hawk

ATA pilot Lettice Curtis boarding the Spitfire

Women in israel defense forces IDF military girls — **Israeli Defense Forces IDF**

ww556_NursesFrance44 — **US Army Nurses in France 1944**

ww356 — **Katherine Hepburn as Amelia Earhart**

ww155 — **Norwegian Soldier in Afghanistan**

ww156MaureenDunlop2 — **Maureen Dunlop, ATA Pilot**

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Tamiya Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen 零戦 Zero Build in 1/72 Scale

Tamiya began releasing their A6M Zero kits in 2012, hard to believe that it was that long ago! The family includes all the major sub-types. Reportedly this was a passion project of the President of Tamiya Corporation, Shunsaku Tamiya.

The kit is molded on two main sprues. Molding is exceptionally crisp and finely detailed. The cowling shape has proven particularly problematic for kit manufacturers to get right, Tamiya’s cowlings are considered to have captured the shape correctly, and are noticeably bigger than Hasegawa’s when compared side by side.

The cockpit is one of the best in the scale right out of the box. The clear sprues include parts to display the model with the canopy opened or closed, but it would be a shame not to leave it open to show off all the detail.

Adding a few extra details really makes the interior pop. Here I have added Eduard belts, various cables, and a section of decking aft of the seat which included the various gas cylinders. Probably the most visible addition is the white bungee cord used to adjust the seat. Wiring the engine is another easy job which adds a lot of detail.

The kit is perfectly engineered and just falls together, a real “box shaker”. If the parts are cleaned up correctly no filler is needed. Many modelers regard this kit as the finest in 1/72 scale.

The kit looks great under a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000.

I prefer to paint the yellow wing identification stripes, these are actually fairly narrow and many times the kit decals for the stripes cover too much of the wings. There is also the issue of getting decals to conform correctly to the curved wing leading edge. I also chose to paint the red wing walk stripes and filler caps.

My particular subject aircraft was built by Nakajima, so the paints I used are Mr. Color 129 Nakajima Green over 35 Light Gray. In this photo the panel lines have been washed with Tamiya Panel Line wash. This looks like a real mess at this point but the excess is easy to remove with a little thinner and a cotton bud.

This is the finished product after weathering and some chipping with a 000 brush. Hinomaru and other markings are from Rising Decals sheet 72094. I replaced the pitot tube and cannon barrels, and the antenna wire is Nitenol. If you’re looking for a trouble-free build, put the Tamiya Zero on the top of the list.

More completed photographs here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/10/03/tamiya-mitsubishi-a6m5-reisen-%e9%9b%b6%e6%88%a6-zero-of-ens-sada-aki-akamatsu-in-1-72-scale/

AZ Models Yokosuka D4Y2-S Suisei 彗星 (Comet) “Judy” of the 302nd Kaigun Kokutai in 1/72 Scale

This is a Judy nightfighter assigned to the 302nd Kaigun Kokutai based at Atsugi, Japan in June 1945. The aircraft has been modified with an oblique-firing 20mm cannon in the rear cockpit. This Judy was crewed by CPO Yoshimitsu Naka and LTJG Hisao Kanazawa, who were credited with three B-29s.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 96th Bomb Group Color Photographs

“Captain Eddie” was a B-17F-25-DL serial number 42-3089. She was assigned to the 96th Bomb Group’s 338th Bomb Squadron, and is seen here with P-47D 42-8190 of the 5th Emergency Recue Squadron. Note that Captain Eddie appears to be unarmed, it is likely she has been removed from operations and is being used as a transport. (IWM)

B-17G-55-BO serial 42-102586 “Little Joe” seen on the apron at Snetterton, she survived the war. The ground control trailer is equipped with an observation dome make from a B-17 nose glazing. (IWM)

44-6153 was a B-17G-45-DL, seen here at the end of the runway at Snetterton with emergency vehicles. (IWM)

B-17s of the 96th Bomb Group stack up on the taxiway before a mission. In the foreground is B-17G 43-37683 “Round Trip Ticket”. She lived up to her name, surviving the war to return to the USA to be scrapped at Kingman. (IWM)

A fine overhead study of 42-97627 over the English countryside. She was configured as a pathfinder, with a H2X “Mickey” radar carried in place of her belly turret. (IWM)

Another pathfinder in 96BG markings showing off her H2X radar. (IWM)

B-17G-70-BO serial 43-37764 was originally named “7 Up /N Cider”, but was renamed “Boyd’s Boids” by a replacement crew. On 21NOV44 she lost two engines and bellied into a rail siding near Quidenham, Suffolk. (IWM)

Another slightly different view of the crash of Boyd’s Boids. Despite the total destruction of the aircraft, all nine of the crew onboard survived and were able to return to duty. (IWM)

Nose art of “The Bad Penny Always Comes Back” was a B-17F-45-VE. She survived the war.

Forts of the 96th BG at dispersal amongst the hay.

More B-17 Color Photographs here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/12/13/disney-b-17-flying-fortress-bombers-of-the-92nd-bomb-group-color-photographs/

F-Toys Yokosuka D4Y1-C Suisei 彗星 (Comet) “Judy” of Soryu, Battle of Midway in 1/72 Scale

An obscure footnote to the Battle of Midway is that it marked the first use of the Yokosuka D4Y1-C in combat. The type endured a protracted developmental history, one persistent problem being aerodynamic flutter when in a dive. This precluded the D4Y from being used in its intended dive-bombing role until the issue could be rectified, but the range and speed of the Judy made it an ideal reconnaissance platform. Two developmental aircraft were outfitted for the reconnaissance role and embarked aboard the aircraft carrier Soryu for the Battle of Midway. One aircraft was damaged in a landing accident during the transit to Midway and did not participate in the battle, being relegated to Soryu’s hanger deck. The second was launched by Soryu during the battle, crewed by PO1c Masatada Iida (pilot) and WO Isamu Kondo (observer), and was the first Japanese aircraft to confirm the presence of all three American carriers. Radio problems delayed this vital intelligence from reaching the Japanese fleet, and in the interim Soryu was hit by American dive bombers, forcing the Judy to recover aboard Hiryu. Hiryu’s respite was brief, and the Judy went down with Hiryu when she was sunk later in the day.

No photographs survive of either of Soryu’s Judys, so the markings are to some degree open to interpretation. Hiryu and Soryu switched places within the 2^nd Carrier Division between the Pearl Harbor Raid and the Battle of Midway, Hiryu becoming the flagship. By protocol, Hiryu’s aircraft should have been repainted with one blue band on the fuselage and tail codes beginning with BI-, while aircraft embarked on Soryu should carry two blue fuselage bands and tail code BII-. It is not certain the aircraft were repainted and so the markings may still have been as they were at Pearl Harbor, but I have depicted the model as if they had been changed. The numbers in the tail code are conjecture. Some artists render Soryu’s Judy with the yellow wing identification bands, but this is clearly an error as those were not introduced until September. Likewise, I have depicted the undersurfaces in Gray Green rather than Light Gray.

A view of the underside, note the how the drop tanks extend to the trailing edged of the wings, covering the flaps. On a flight during the transit one of Soryu’s Judys could not jettison her tanks, which precluded dropping her flaps. This resulted in an excessive landing speed when recovering and subsequently damaged the aircraft to the point that it did not participate in the actual battle.

Grumman EA-6B Prowler Walk Around Part I

Photographed at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas, Texas, by Don Gilman.

Part II here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/10/01/grumman-ea-6b-prowler-walk-around-part-ii/

Military Modelers Club Louisville 2023 IPMS Model Show

Scratchbuilt model of USS SS-44 in 1/72 scale

Women Warriors 238

Indian Flight Lt. Bhawana Kanth with MiG-21 Bison

South African Helicopter Pilot Tarryn Ryan

WAFS Barbara London and Evelyn Sharp with P-51 Mustang

ww552_CanadaNursesWWI — **Canadian Nurses WWI**

ww350 — **British Soldier with Bullpup**

ww351 — **US Army Apache Pilot CWO2 Laura Tanski**

ww352 — **WAAF at RAF Duxford, SEPT 1940**

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Yokosuka D4Y Suisei 彗星 (Comet) “Judy” Comparison Build in 1/72 Scale Part III

The kits were primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000 and checked for flaws. I had to work on the seams on all three kits so there were no clear winners here. You can pretty much see any issues after priming, so anything which needed work was immediately filled with Mr. Surfacer 500.

Most of the markings were painted and masked off rather than using decals. The Hinomaru were painted using mask sets from Maketar, I’ve used these before and they work really well. The Mr. Color red covers without any issues, but yellows are always problematic. I prime yellows with enamel Model Master yellow and then apply Mr. Color yellow over that after it has dried.

Smaller parts are taped to cards for painting, these are parts from several kits.

This is the Fujimi Judy with Mr. Color 15 over 35. If you model many Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft you will wind up with a green over gray scheme for the majority of your builds. The nuance is the manufacturers used different variations of the colors, so there are several similar but slightly different shades.

The F-Toys kit wears a variation of the normal color pallet for the Judy. This one is marked as one of the two developmental aircraft which was used for reconnaissance at Midway. It lacks the yellow wing identification stripes and has grey green undersurface colors.

Here are all three kits together, you can get a good representation of the Judy from all three manufacturers. This batch took a lot longer to get across the finish line than I anticipated, mainly due to family commitments and a lack of bench time. There was nothing particularly difficult here but none of the kits were “box shakers” either.

SUMMARY

The Fujimi kit is the oldest of the three, but is a good kit for its time. The cockpit detail is very basic, most modelers will want to do some work to improve things here even for a closed canopy build. The wheelwells are molded into the lower sections of the wings and are far too shallow, if such things bother you plan on some extra work here as well. Fujimi has an odd habit of designing the wing parts such that the seam runs through the middle of the underside of the flaps which ensures that there is filling needed there. The kit is engineered to allow Fujimi to issue kits of all the major Judy variations using the same mold so the engine and cowling pieces are broken out separately. The kit decals suffer from all the foibles of the older Japanese kits and are best discarded. Not a bad kit, it will need some work to add details but is still buildable.

I was initially dismissive of the F-Toys kit, but Jim Bates had published a review of the kit on Hyperscale ( https://www.hyperscale.com/2018/reviews/kits/ftoys603279reviewjb_1.htm ) and encouraged me to pick one up. It comes pre-painted, but that will not be an advantage for modelers who want to eliminate seams and mold lines. The parts press-fit together but react well to MEK and superglue. Many of the parts are intended to be moveable, this is not a liability except for the bomb bay doors which do not fit well and should be replaced. The fit overall is not as tight as a conventional kit so expect to spend time test fitting and working on seams. The surprise here is the cockpit, which was the most detailed and accurate interior of the three and one of the better cockpits right out of the box you’ll find.

AZ Models have issued a family of Judy kits which cover all the major versions. The parts are the same in all the boxings, so any Judy can be built from any kit provided you have the correct decals – my boxing was intended as a radial-engined D4Y3 but I built an inline-engined D4Y2-S nightfighter from it. The instructions cover all the versions as well. I only used the tail codes from the kit’s decal sheet (on the Fujimi kit) and these performed well. Oddly, the instructions include a placement guide for stenciling decals and PE, neither of which are included. This is a limited run kit with all that implies, and there are fit issues to address. AZ has also engineered a seam line through the flaps which will need filling, same as Fujimi. Cockpit detail is good but can be improved, and wheelwells are molded separately which deepens them somewhat. The AZ kit builds up well but the fit issues make it more work than it should have been.

Part I here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/09/08/yokosuka-d4y-suisei-%e5%bd%97%e6%98%9f-comet-judy-comparison-build-in-1-72-scale-part-i/

Hasegawa Focke Wulf Fw 190A-8 of Major Karl Kennel in 1/72 Scale

Karl Kennel was the commander of the second Gruppe of Schlachtgeschwader 2 “Immelmann”, which was tasked primarily with ground attack missions. During the war he flew 957 combat missions and was credited with 34 aerial victories in the East. On 08MAY45 he flew this Fw 190A-8 to Kitzingen, Germany to surrender to American forces. He deliberately made a hard landing to disable the aircraft, it was photographed there in a damaged condition. It wears an unusual field-applied camouflage over its factory finish.

Fw 190A-8 of Gruppenkommandeur Karl Kennel, II./S.G. 2, Kitzingen, Germany, 8 May 1945