Mitsubishi G4M "Betty", 705 Kokutai, New Georgia

A set of photos features a Mitsubishi G4M1 Model 11 "Betty" found wrecked and abandoned in New Georgia belonging to the 705 Kokutai as the tail marking "336" indicates.

The unit was originally called Misawa Kokutai but on November 1, 1942,...(unit history relative to the photos, from Wiki)

...was redesignated to 705th Kokutai (Air Group). 

On 11 November, newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Nakamura led 16 torpedo-armed bombers against the enemy ships around Guadalcanal. They were intercepted by 16 Wildcat and eight Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters and in combination with AA fire from the ships, they shot down 11 medium bombers, while the rest returned severely damaged. This put an end to further raids by medium bombers against Guadalcanal. 

On 29 January 1943, 705Ku was involved in the Battle of Rennell Island. Lieutenant Commander Nakamura led 16 torpedo-armed bombers against the enemy ships spotted near Rennell Island. They scored no hits and in return lost one bomber, however, subsequent attacks by other air groups managed to sink the cruiser Chicago. 

On 12 April, the unit participated in Operation I-Go, where Lieutenant Commander Nakamura led 27 bombers against Port Moresby. 

Two days later, they also participated in a raid against Milne Bay. The unit continued to be involved in the Solomon Islands campaign until 5 September, when it was withdrawn to Tinian.

Mitsubishi G3M "Nell", 901 Kokutai, Okinawa - video

Here's the material on Dan's exquisite "Nell" model featured in the previous post. 

Inferior quality but color (NOT colorized) short video. The "KEA-395" indicates that it belonged to the 901 Kokutai. 

The unit was organized on December 15, 1943, at Tateyama for patrol and ship escort missions. In the beginning it was equipped with 24 "Nell" and 12 "Mavis" flying boats. Later it received a variety of types and in May 1945 the unit had no less than 212 planes. 

In the middle of June 1944 the 901Ku moved to Donggang, Pingtung County, Taiwan, and then to Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture where they sent various dispatch units to different locations. The main mission of the unit was sea patrol and the protection of the south-west ship routes.

On January 1, 1945, it merged with the 254Ku, 953Ku and 954Ku and on March 1, 1945, the unit had 24 carrier fighters, 24 interceptors, 24 carrier attackers, 24 "Nell" and "Betty" bombers, 64 "Jake" floatplanes, 40 Kyushu Q1W "Tokai" and 12 flying boats. On June 1, the unit had a mixed force of 12 carrier fighters, 12 "Nell" and "Betty", 80 "Jake" and 42 "Tokai".

Note the "letter" "C" on the fuselage side of the"Nell". It is actually not a letter but a marking to help the aircraft equipped with "Jikitanshiki" (MAD anti-submarine equipment) to align themselves in a submarine hunting formation. 

A color, (NOT colorized) photo of the Mitsubishi G3M "Nell", 901 Kokutai, Okinawa

Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" in 1/48 by Dan Salamone

I spent the past 4 months working on the Koster Nell kit. I bought it brand new in 2006, started it in 2021 and made a little progress, but restarted in late December 2025.

Tamiya acrylics, weathered with oils and AK pencils. Kit is vacform, with white metal and resin parts. I used a 500kg bomb from Ushi and the dorsal cannon is from Quinta, both 3D printed. Kit hinomaru, tail codes from generic sheets and the 901st Ku tail stripes were painted.

Main reference was FAOW #109, but also found online images of the actual aircraft in a wrecked state at Okinawa.

The kit itself was superb, and is my first full vacform kit completion.

- Dan Salamone -