Hasegawa 1/72 Mitsubishi G4M2E Betty

HASEGAWA 1:72 MITSUBISHI G4M2E BETTY
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Jesús Alcocer (www.j-models.org)

Kit Details: Mitsubishi G4M2E Type 1 Attack Bomber (Betty) Model 24 Tei with MXY7 Ohka Model 11. Kit no. CP8.

Short aircraft history: The Mitsubishi G4M, with the Zero fighter, was one of the most famous Japanese planes of WWII. The G4M was basically an idea of Mitsubishi engineer Hanjo Kiro. He was asked for a new design to replace the G3M Nell naval bomber. His idea of a four-engined aircraft was rejected by the Navy that wanted a twin-engined bomber. Since the Navy specifications were about a long range bomber, Hanjo thought of a design whose wing would be a big fuel tank mounted in the middle of a cigar-shaped fuselage. This shape gave more room for bomb loading and the crew. It also had more and better defensive weapons than previous bombers. This design would not be very successful with Japanese airmen, who called it 'Flying cigar' and 'Year 1 lighter' from its official name 'Ishiki-Rikko' ('Year 1 Land Attack').

The G4M made its first flight on October 23, 1939. The new bomber had its first combat missions in China in the summer of 1941. In the outbreak of the World War, the G4Ms based in Taiwan attacked the Philippines on December 8, but their biggest success of the war was the sinking of the British battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse off the coast of Malaya by 27 Bettys (their allied code name) armed with torpedoes on December 10 1941. However, all this spectacular success of the beginning of the war was soon over when their enemies discovered that the G4Ms were quite vulnerable to enemy fire and they were set on fire easily. Due to their design, all their wings were mainly fuel tanks that, furthermore, were not self-sealed and lacked armor. All this had been scarified in favour of getting a long range of action. In 1945 the Mitsubishi G4M2E version was even used as a mother aircraft for the Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka manned rocket, but this addition made the plane even slower and more vulnerable to enemy fighters, although if the G4M succeeded in launching the Ohka within range of allied ships, the effects could be devastating.

Kit Parts: Hasegawa has gone all out with this kit. The modeller wishing to ‘dance’ with this fat Betty has to be patient to assemble more than 100 parts, not counting the Ohka rocket, in no less than 15 injection-molded plastic sprues and the decal sheet. Such number of parts and details is similar to a good model in a larger scale, and will need an accurate step-by-step work for the overall final look not to lose value. The parts come in three neatly packed plastic bags. All the parts are finely molded, with engraved panel lines and no flash.

Instructions and Painting Options: The instructions are not the usual Hasegawa small leaflet. This time you have an almost A4-sized folded set instead. There are 14 very detailed building steps (some of them with useful comments, for instance about the different alignment of the windows on the fuselage sides), that’s why I said this no weekend kit above. The main building option refers to the Ohka bomb that you can show either hanging from below the bomber (In this case I recommend you to check if there is enough room for the rocket. Presumably there isn’t, but of course I’m guessing from what I see, I haven’t made a test fit), or on a handy wheeled dolly.

You also have four colour schemes for the bomber: two overall Mitsubishi green, another one in the typical IJN green over grey, and finally a combination of green over black. All these versions belonged to different attack squadrons based in Japan between March and April 1945. The Ohka was simply painted overall grey.

Decals: The decals are excellent and come in a large sheet with lots of code numbers to choose. They are finely printed and will surely go onto the model without too much decal solution.

Overall Impression: The only drawback I see in this model is that it is thought to display both aircraft separately, because the Ohka cannot be assembled under the fuselage without major modifications, and if we decide to make them, the details in the rocket cockpit will not be seen. Apart from this, the kit should not be but praised. To start with, the cockpit and the interior are excellent. Here everything is a detail: radios, oxygen cylinders, machine-guns, etc. Then, the wings and the landing gear, that seem bound to a 1/48 model and the wheels are already cut to simulate the "weight" of the plane. If we have a look at the clear parts, you have so many of them as to be fed up, from windows (large and small) to the turret, nose, tail gun position and so on, and the same is true about the engines. The Ohka bomb is on the same level but in a smaller size.

Conclusion: This kit, outstanding in all senses, is worth time and effort to get the best out of it. It has everything to become a really superb model once finished. Recommended for modellers with intermediate or advanced skills.

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