Mitsubishi G3M-M / A6M5b "Mistel" by George Eleftheriou

Well, this contest gave me the necessary motivation to finish a project I started working on and off for the past few years. I'm nowhere near some of the amazing modellers that honor this blog with their presence but I like the concept and any searches on the net don't show any really good results.

So, here it is guys: Mitsubishi G3M-M / A6M5b "Mistel" combo.

The "Mistel" technology was not too complicated and was something the Japanese could pull off. Certainly better than the "kamikaze" with the simultaneous loss of pilots and aircraft, the "Mistel" combos of fast Zeros or Shiden-kai with older bombers could offer the Japanese Navy a way to attack airfields like on Saipan or Okinawa and even crowded beaches. Here I chose the combination of an old "Nell" minus all of its equipment paired with a late and fast Zero model without its wing armament but retaining the cowling machine guns. The "Nell" has a contact fuse in the nose at the end of the rod like the one used on IJAAF aircraft like "Lilly" and "Hiryu" and since it doesn't have a bomb bay the explosives should be packed in the cockpit, the radio and the machine gunner's positions.

The models are both in 1/72, the very easy Hobby Boss for the Zero, LS for the "Nell" for which I had the bomber version (not the civilian) so I had to eliminate all the machine gunner openings. Since it's an old aircraft it has the China theater green/khaki (or whatever) top camo, it is heavily weathered and has the old unit markings overpainted.

The Zero belongs to the Yokosuka-Ku and simply used the kit decals.

In general I didn't care to super detail anything but build straight out of the box, keep everything as historically accurate as possible and practise my painting skills on a fun project.

I hope to finish at least two more what-ifs for the contest. Stay tunned!