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The
Aircraft
The
Mitsubishi A7M Reppu “Sam” was the intended replacement for the Zero. The
program was poorly executed with constant changes in the aircraft’s
requirements. The lack of a suitable powerplant was another major hurdle for the
Reppu. After making its first flight in spring of 1944, it was clear that the
aircraft was underpowered and the Navy decided to shelve the project. Only after
Jiro Horikoshi convinced the Navy to allow the installation of the Mitsubishi
MK9A engine, did the aircraft begin to show its full potential. The Reppu was
now designated the A7M2 and plans for full scale production were finally made.
Production
plans were never to be realized, however, due to continued bad luck for
Mitsubishi. In December 1944, an earthquake and B-29 bombing raids severely
damaged the engine plant in Nagoya, and three of the prototypes were destroyed by
US aircraft! By wars end, only a single production aircraft had been produced.
The
Kit
The Fine Mold’s kit in 1/72 scale of Mitsubishi’s impressive A7M2
Reppu has been around for some time but has always been outrageously expensive.
Thanks to the miracle of Ebay, I was finally able to pick one up at good price.
The first thing that struck me is how big this aircraft was. The wing area is
roughly fifty percent larger than that of the Zero it was to replace. The kit
comes well packaged in the usual Fine Molds style with excellent instructions.
The decals were the high quality one should expect from a kit so high
priced.
Building the kit presented no major challenges, although the
fit of the wing to the fuselage was rather poor and required some filler and
sanding for a neat appearance. I added only some Eduard photo etch seatbelts as
the cockpit has plenty of detail for this scale. The landing gear wells are also
nicely detailed and the engine looks the part also.
Once assembly was accomplished, I finished the kit using
Aeromaster Acrylics Mitsubishi Navy Green and Mitsubishi Underside Grey. The
prop was painted with Polly S Brown Primer. I painted the wheel wells natural
metal using Testor’s Aluminum.
After coating the model with Polly S clear gloss, I applied
the kit decals which went on beautifully. The instructions show a white surround
on the bottom markings, but all the photo evidence I have shows none. The
Hinomaru decals come in two parts, so you have this option. This particular
aircraft also had the landing gear pennants, so I robbed a Zero kits decals for
them.
As you may know, photos of the Reppu are rather rare but most show
considerable weathering. I think most of these photos were taken after the end
of hostilities, so it is difficult to know how much of this occurred due to
neglect after the war. I chose to give mine a mildly worn look.
I love the way this aircraft looks and would highly recommend adding one
to your collection!
Joe
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