Shizuoka 2018 pt.1

This year our visit to the Shizuoka Hobby Show was without any grievances or complaints as, surprisingly, everything worked really great including the perfect weather.

 

I'm sure you know the main reason we went there...

 

Well, guys, it looks absolutely fantastic!!! Very finely detailed and easy to build. Special attention was paid to the beautiful cockpit showing the differences between the Army and the Navy versions and the highly detailed Sakae engine. Of special interest are the Type 99 30kg bomb and the separately included Lewis machine gun. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see in the photo above, the tail for the future Army version is also included.

The decal set give options for three aircraft:

1. X-14 - 3rd Kokutai, March 1942, Denpasar airport, Bali Island.

2. V-10 - Tainan-Ku, August 29, 1942, Rabaul, New Britain, flown by PO2c Iwayama Koji and PO2c Kudo Shigetoshi 

3. V-18 - Tainan-Ku. 

 

Below are two completed models exhibited in the Fine Molds booth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kit is scheduled to be released in the middle of this July and price in Japan will be about $US35 or 29EUR.

We were also very lucky and privileged to meet for the first time Mr. Suzuki, president of Fine Molds and Arawasi fan, and to have a most enjoyable conversation about the "Babs" kit, modelling, Japanese aviation history and more. I enquired about the absence of canopy-in-separate-pieces option and he explained that it is very difficult to produce a thin enough canopy that could fit satisfactorily enough in an open position (don't forget that Army and civilian "Babs" have not rear-sliding but side-opening canopies). And he added that ofcourse more versions like Army and civilian will follow.