I must have this

A Yamato turret in 72nd scale.  Way to go, Takom.

Ki-78

Film has been discovered of the Ki-78 in testing and flight.  No such film of the aircraft had existed before this discovery.

Japanese bombs

As I mentioned on a previous episode of the Plastic Model Mojo podcast, I had found a company making resin WWII Japanese bombs.  I ordered one of each of their sets and they arrived yesterday.  A review will follow. (h/t Jeff “Inch High” Groves, who spotted them in stock at HLJ.) Here is a Wikipedia article on the different types of Japanese WWII bombs.

 

MXY-7 info

My last model completion was the Brengun kit of the MXY-7 Ohka.  Here is a blog post by someone who assisted in the restoration of the one at the IWM. (h/t Jeff “Inch High” Groves)

I must have these

Japanese WWII ordinance is rare. I need these.  Here. Here.  Unfortunately, I can’t find them.  Help?

 

Ki-54

Apparently Special Hobby has released the first images of their upcoming Ki-54 Hickory.  This will fill a much needed hole in WWII Japanese aircraft.

US-UK military space cooperation

This is good to see.  The US needs to forge closer ties with both the UK and Japan when it comes to space matters. (post in memory of Mike Nofsinger)

Well, this is happy news

It is stories like this that keep me saying that we need to get the heck off this rock asap.  We walked on the moon in 1969 and then proceeded to take a 50 year vacation that we can’t afford.  Luckily it appears that 2020 will mark the US return to manned space flight.  About damn time.

Odd space news

Story here.  There is something deeply weird in Japanese culture right now.  It is as if the men have forgotten or lost interest in pursuing a spouse in any normal fashion. A 44 year old billionaire ought to not have much trouble finding female companionship. Jeff Bezos didn’t have any problem and he was married at the time. (post in memory of Mike Nofsinger)

MXY-7 Model 11 Ohka

I’ve been building the Brengun kit of the MXY-7 Model 11 Ohka.  It is finally finished and I got a few rushed cell phone shots of it last night.  The Ohka was one of Japan’s late war attempts to stem the inevitable tide of the US Pacific fleet.  The Ohka (cherry blossom) went from conception to production to deployment in less than a year.  we know that about 755 Model 11s were made.  It is unclear how many were actually used, though some number went down with the carriers Shinano and Unryu and a number were captured intact on Okinawa.  The Ohkas are known to have sunk 3 ships and severely damaged 3 more.  However, none were carriers or battleships and on the whole the effort and cost expended on these manned rocket powered bombs seems to have been a waste of resources as well as their pilot’s lives.

The Brengun kit is relatively new, having been issued in 2018.  In addition to the basic kit, Brengun makes, a separately sold vac canopy, a photo etch set and canopy masks.  I recommend getting the photo etch (though not all of it is usable) and the canopy masks. (always get the canopy masks)  While not perfect, it was a fun build and I like the way it came out.