1:48 Aichi D3A1 Val part 3 - Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force, Battle of the Coral Sea

The spring of 1942, when the war turned

In May 1942 two carrier forces met for the first time without the crews ever seeing one another. The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought entirely by aircraft, and dive bombers played the main part in it. Barely a month later came the reversal at Midway, after which the Imperial Japanese Navy lost four carriers at once and with them the core of its experienced crews.

Three camouflage schemes

The sheet contains a Model 11 machine from the deck of the ship Soryu, for which the supporting text also names a particular crew member, then an aircraft of land-based unit number 34, which joined the fighting from a base on the mainland, and finally a machine from the ship Akagi dated 4 June 1942. The last of them therefore belongs to the close of the whole campaign.

Land-based and carrier service

The aircraft from a carrier and the machine of a land-based unit make an interesting pair. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated its types from both environments, and the difference tends to show in the markings: land-based formations used numerical codes, while carrier machines used a combination of letters and a number according to the parent ship. A model built in both variants therefore looks different each time, although it is the same design.

A practical note

The markings for the fin tend to be narrow and long on this type. Before they are offered up, it pays to work the area with a weak decal softener solution so that the motif follows the edge of the rudder without a break.

The package consists of the sheet; the kit is bought separately.