New forum member Tom Zahler shared this remarkable story of how his family history and model building intersected. Great stuff Tom!
August 19, 1945 shortly after noon local time two Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty Bombers approach the airfield at Ie Shima, Okinawa. They house the surrender delegation of the Japanese Empire. My grandfather was there and tried to take a movie of the event, but the film tangled in his camera, instead he was able to take some photos that I have included here.
This was a special project for me personally. It is something to look at history with photos your own grandfather took.
As far as the kit, it was a typical Tamiya. It went together very well. I was scared to death to airbrush white paint, but I think it turned out pretty good. I used both X-2 and XF-2. I used the Dark Dirt Wash and left some on the engines. Some of the photos I have seen have shown quite a bit of oil leaking for the engines. Also some of the windows near the nose I did not mask as they were painted over. There were 2 Bettys, one with black props and the other I did with white props. I used black green for the crosses. The ones on the wings are a little crooked, but I do like the fuselage and tail ones.
I am very proud of this one.
