OTDAEABT Contest-Yokosuka "Judy" - Page 7

**Tbolter** · #61 02-09-2008, 07:21 PM

Don, thank you for the compliments and information on the Judy. Your resources for determining the history of these planes is obviously much better than mine, sometimes I can find plenty of info however the D4Y has been an elusive subject.

As far as I can tell my plane may be somewhat of a hybrid...let's say it's somewhere between a D4Y1 3/4 and a D4Y3 1/2...the kit is a Y4, however it has a rear seat and external tanks are an option (printed on an instruction page not on the card pages), the Y4's probably didn't have external tanks, at least none are visible in the USN pics of the suicide planes. Since the kit is a Y4 there is no rear gun or telescopic tube, I have added these details to the plane just to show general D4Y features however they may not be historically accurate on one plane.

Thanks to you now when someone sees the plane and asks about it I can sound like I really know what I'm talking about.

Looks like my next model will be one that I had a close association with and the historical part will not be as much of a mystery. No doubt I'll be back to the warbirds after that so be ready to answer some questions...or you can just tell me to bug off.

**Don Boose** · #62 02-09-2008, 10:42 PM

Tbolter -- Since it's your airplane, it can be whatever you want it to be, but I think you may have actually built it "correctly" -- in the sense that you seem to have recreated the aircraft, tail number 57, much as it really was.

The photo of tail number 57 in the Francillon book seems to show a mount for the telescope sight. The painting in the Japanese language book of tail number 57
definitely has a telescope sight. No rear gun is visible, but if it was actually a D4Y3, instead of a D4Y4 (and both sources identify it as a D4Y3), then it would have had a rear seat and a gun.

In other words, you seem to have created an accurate model of aircraft number 57, c/n 3957, a D4Y3, assigned to the 151st Kokutai, as it actually existed.

I look forward to seeing the completed model and your next build. This one certainly has been fun!

Don

**shrike** · #63 02-10-2008, 12:52 AM

For what it's worth those telescopic sights wouldn't be kept with the airplanes. They were often removed after flight and stored. Optics and outside storage don't go together - especially in the Pacific.

Side note Some USAAC aircraft had two mounts for left and right eyed pilots.

**Don Boose** · #64 02-10-2008, 05:46 AM

Good point about the sight. I guess, like open and closed canopies, up or down landing gear covers, patches over gun muzzles, canvas coverings on ships' boats, and the like, it depends on the state of the airplane or ship that the modeler wants to depict.

I didn't know about the different Air Corps sight mounts. I always enjoy and learn from your informative postings, Shrike.

Don

**Tbolter** · #65 02-12-2008, 04:42 PM

The Judy is finished, this was a fun project and I'm happy with the results. As we all know occasionally a build doesn't work out very well, and I've got plenty of those.

With cardmodels there is always some new technique to learn, and every model presents a new challenge...that's what makes this hobby so great.

Well, enough of that, got to clean up the work table now and get started on something else.