Mavis Research I

I want to detail the gun positions, so I needed to do some research. I acquired a copy of Model Art #541 on Japanese Flying Boats that proved to be a treasure trove of detail!

DORSAL TURRET

I found that the dorsal turret is probably a sliding cover affair represented by Part # 67 in the kit (this part will need to be scaled down as it's way to heavy looking) and appears to have a wind deflector that Hasegawa represents as a window with clear part # 78.

20MM TAIL GUN MOUNT

Mavis and Emily both use a clam-shell like enclosure for the tail gun. The mount for Mavis seems most similar to the 20mm cannon on the tail of the Betty . So here's a comparison of detail views from the Model Art special and the instruction sheet from Tamiya for their kit of the G4M Betty:

Reboot!

After a hiatus of nearly 20 years, I want to return to my early passion, scale plastic modeling. My inspiration came this spring when I attended a lecture on the role of the Vancouver Kaiser Shipyards in WWII--I like to model things that I can deep background research on (e.g., meeting and interviewing the radio operator of the B-29 "Eddie Allen" and building that model and presenting it to him some 30 years ago was my favorite). At the lecture I learned that nearly the entire class of escort carriers (CVE) were built right down the road on the Columbia River and that their length was constrained by the bends in the River itself since they had to be sailed down the Columbia to Astoria for final outfitting for sea duty.

I have a stash of nearly 100 models accumulated over the years--including an H6K Mavis Flying Boat I started on over 30 years ago and it is this model with which I decided to reboot my modeling hobby and will post my progress.

H6K5 Mavis

While surfing the net doing research I came across an old modeling acquaintance from 30 years ago. I look forward to renewing our fellowship in modeling!