Friday, April 26, 2013

Aichi D3A2 "Val"

Aichi D3A2 "Val": A Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber Model 22 or Aichi D3A2 flying over Sakurajima of Kagoshima prefecture, Kyushu in December 1943.
The full tail marking is not visible but the unit is suggested to be Kanoya-Ku (the second). If that was the case the tail marking would have been "カヤ-204" (KAYA-204) but the little part visible next to the 204 does not look like a katakana YA. As a result the unit cannot be confirmed beyond any doubt.
The typical for the "Val" marking on the spats (front part green as shown on the Fujimi box) which looks much darker than the fuselage hinomaru, is an indication of a carrier unit but at that time the air units of the Dai 1 Koku Sentai were in Rabaul and Truk while those of the Dai 2 Koku Sentai were in Singapore (FAOW #33).
Kanoya-Ku the second was organized on October 1, 1942 as a training unit for Navy land based bomber and torpedo bomber pilots, part of the Dai 3 Kantai. On January 15, 1943 became part of the 50 Koku Sentai of the Dai 3 Kantai until January 1, 1944 when the 50 Koku Sentai was disbanded and training of carrier bombers and torpedo bombers ceased. From February 1, 1944 became part of the 12 Rengo Kokutai and became again a training kokutai for Navy bombers. On  July 10, 1944 the unit moved to Toyohashi, Aichi prefecture and was disbanded becoming part of the second Toyohashi Kokutai.


The only D3A2 kit I know of is by Fujimi in 1:72.


And HERE is a lovely conversion built in 1:48 by Georg Draese.

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