Mitsubishi L3M1 "NIPPON" around the world flight, ARII 1/72nd

The Mitsubishi L3M1 named "Nippon" (Japan) was the protagonist of a 50.000 kilometers "good will" long flight around the world in 1939, backed by the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, and stopping at a large number of important cities -among them Buenos Aires, the city where I was born, and Los Angeles, the city were I now live-.

A comprehensive article -in Spanish- by Eloy Martín on the Presidente Rivadavia airport with a mention of the Japanese landing in Argentine (pages 48 and 49) is here:

https://www.histarmar.com.ar/AVIACION/EloyMartin/Aeropuerto-Presidente-Rivadavia.pdf

That document, good as it is, has nonetheless a couple of small inaccuracies, for a more reliable account please go here:

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2015/12/mitsubishi-g3m-nippon-go.html?m=1

 

The lines of this plane are simple but graceful, and I decided to build one in the registration J-BACI, one of the many civil machines made from conversions of the Mitsubishi G3M.

For the step-by-step building article please go here, to see what was changed, added and corrected:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2016/10/arii-ex-ls-172-mitsubishi-l3m1-nippongo.html

Clips of the plane and its voyage are here, courtesy of Getty Images. Many details can be observed that otherwise will go amiss, showing how important research is, in order to obtain a model with a modicum of accuracy:

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/crew-posing-next-to-nippon-a-converted-mitsubishi-g3m2-news-footage/540549862

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/pilot-of-converted-bomber-nippon-sumitoshi-nakao-poses-news-footage/540550058?adppopup=true

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/crowd-of-men-women-and-children-surround-plane-follow-it-news-footage/540550256?adppopup=true

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/men-in-suits-push-airplane-nippon-a-converted-mitsubishi-news-footage/540549928

I have build and presented here a few Japanese (or with a Japanese connection) planes, you may browse the blog to find them.

Unfortunately, due to lack of reliable information regarding the interior of this specific machine, I left it alone, and did not open, as I tend to do in  models, doors and hatches and the like. In this case I don't think it detracts from the rendition, which shows the pleasant lines of the design.

Hasegawa's G3M it's not a good choice to render a civil version. Certainly not a big improvement over the LS/ARII kit, but at least it doesn't have the golf-size dimples in guise of rivets. To convert the Hasegawa kit presents the serious problems of making many modifications and solving its various shortcomings, hence my choice of the ARII kit, much more affordable and readily available.  Strangely enough, in many ways, ARII's kit has a much more intelligent design, pity those golf ball-size dimples.

Interested as I am in Golden Age civil Japanese aviation, I just acquired this book, that I find both, useful and charming.
It has a number of great photos (the "useful", practical part") and a large amount of memorabilia images, like ads, objects, posters and the like, that makes it interesting and entertaining, conveying the "flavor" of the era..
The book is in Japanese, but the captions are also in English (phew!).
In my humble opinion it makes for an inspiring reading, if you are so inclined.
Thought I would share for fellow modelers with similar tastes.