Ohka Brengun 1/72
Kamikaze have big meaning in Japan history and it is refereed to historic event when strong wing which had blew away enemy fleet who attempt to invade Japan. In WW2, that name was assigned to pilots who volunteered to attack enemy vessel with his own aircraft. For this purpose standard airplane was used but also were developed special craft just for that mission. One of them was Ohka (Cherry flower) and that was rocked powered small plane which was carried by mother airplane (Mitsubishi G4), and then launched when it was close enough to enemy fleet. Idea did not play so successful in reality, Ohka was not so fast and G4M with heavy load was slowed moderately and easy prey for fighters.
Few kits were made in last decades and last to see market is Brengun kit in 1/72 scale. Box have so nice art and on back side is printed camouflage as well markings of the kit. So every millimeter of the box is well designed. Kit stock code is 72029.
Kit content is simple but have all you need. All plastic parts were given on one grey plastic fret and cockpit is on one transparent. Few resin parts is also provided few of them are for rocket engine system and rest is ground carriage for Ohka. This flying bomb did not have landing gear, for obvious reasons so it was stand on ground support or on trolley.
Work with kit is so easy, paint inside interior first, I paint fuselage parts while still on fret, while rest I removed and paint. Basic color is grey with details in other colors, like seat in black color, stick also have black parts, controls on floor have silver elements. While this parts drying, I have assemble all resin parts, for rocket system as well ground carriage. They are in other colors, so painting is important before put em inside fuselage.
Kit does not have some tiny details like seat belts and instrument panel decals so I use Eduard seat belts and APC instrument panels. This give great look and nice touch to overall look of cockpit canopy. Assembly of fuselage with all elements inside goes smooth, absolute no problem, all parts fit perfect inside and fuselage join is very good. After join line is dry and smoothed, rear part of the cockpit, need to be paint in interior color. Wings are made from two parts each, top and bottom. Horizontal tail need a bit adjust shape to set perfectly into rear fuselage. On its end come vertical surfaces. On this parts are evident tiny flush, so some sanding is necessary to make it fine.
Painting is interesting, Ohka had two paints used, one for fuselage and another one for wings and tail surfaces. Paint used is grey and green grey, both are light shade. Decals are so easy to apply, they set perfectly. Brengun provide excellent set of decals, as I could see, all stencils and data are covered. Note that not all Ohka are marked in same way, if possible take a look on photos of actual subject you are working on.
This kit is so good made, hardly you can find better. Note that not all Ohka look the same, details differ on their airframes. This is one more detail you need to take care when built. Extract from high resolution scans are bellow and hope you can see how this details look like.
Excellent kit, small and good detailed. I am sure that Brengun will keep on updates on this kit, with various detail and enhancement sets as well other box releases. My special thanks for sample product I have received for review!
Srecko Bradic
