This is my first Hasegawa J2M in this scale. I've build Tamiya's 1/48 J2M3 (which I believe is actually 1/50 scale), and their 1/72 J2M3 twice. I've got two 1/48 Hasegawa J2M3's in the stash for the future.

This kit went together well, as Hasegawa kits usually do, at least for me. As a matter of fact, I seem to have fewer issues with Hasegawa kits than with Tamiya kits, which have a better reputation in terms of fit.

As with the Fw 190A-8, I used mostly Tamiya paints on this kit. This made things a bit simpler, as Tamiya offers nearly all the needed colors right out of the bottle. The cockpit was painted XF-71 Cockpit Green, which is intended for Mitsubishi aircraft. The yellow on the front of the wings was my Tamiya mix for XF-04, which is a reasonably close match for Japanese Orange-Yellow. I also used this for the tips of the propellor blades. The underside was XF-12 JN Grey. This was also used for the landing gear and wheel wells. This made the painting process simpler! The top was XF-70 Dark Green 2 (IJN), which is Mitsubishi Dark Green. (I believe XF-11 is for Nakajima aircraft.) The XF-70 has a slight bluish tint to it. When I first saw the paint, I thought that the blue was bit too much, but after the fact I think it looks right. It seems a close match to FS34092, and might be appropriate for a P-47 cockpit, although it would probably have to be lightened a bit.

The anti-glare panel was painted X-18 Semi Gloss Black. I believe it is actually supposed to have a bit of a bluish tint. The tires were hand-painted XF-69 NATO Black. I used Tamiya Acrylic Retarder to thin the paint a bit when I brushed it on, and it worked very well. As a matter of fact, I have made some home-brew thinner for Tamiya using a mix of denatured alcohol and the Tamiya Retarder, and it works very well. The gun barrels were painted a 50/50 mix of XF-1 Flat Black and XF-56 Metallic Grey. I use this rather than Tamiya's own X-10 Gun Metal because the X-10 is glossy, which makes it more difficult to use. I had purchases some aftermarket gun barrels from Master Models, but decided to save those for a future build.

I used Future for my decal undercoat, sprayed through my Badger Anthem at about 20 psi, a bit more than I normally use. The fact that the Anthem is siphon feed rather than gravity feed may have something to do with the better results I get with a higher pressure. The decals are from the kit, and went on well with very warm water. I used Right Step Matte as a final coat.

As often happens with my builds, I had a bit of trouble with the canopy. It didn't quite sit right. This is rather visible on the starboard side. Also, I left out the armored glass. The little bracket that is supposed to hold it was warped it my kit, and I could not get the plate to fit.

I made one significant blunder when building this kit, although it isn't immediately apparent from the photos. On the sprue, there is a disk in the middle of the opening of the cowling, held in place by two small branches. I thought it was just there as part of the molding process, so I removed it. Turns out it was part of the real plane.

Page last updated June 15, 2023.