Modell of the month

Modell of the month April 2025

Roots and wings...

                               The Aichi D3A1

From original to model

An independent part of the collections of the Hanover-Laatzen Aviation Museum are the more than 1,000 scale models, primarily of the international standards 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32.

Such true-to-original miniatures allow viewers of museum technology history to gain an ‘overview’, not only of the individual exhibit (sometimes even as the only possibility of a real three-dimensional display if there is no surviving original), but also of the lines of development of aircraft construction through possible sequencing and juxtaposition. Sometimes they even close gaps in the presentation of the originals. The quality of their craftsmanship alone is a pleasure to behold.

Today's ‘Model of the Month’ presents a combat aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force: The Aichi D3A, a dive bomber from the Second World War - and a superior interpretation of German design ideas.

The Aviation Museum presents a selection of 1/72nd scale models of the Japanese Air Force in its model showcases in Hall 2.

The model:

Launched by the Japanese kit manufacturer Fujimi in the mid-1980s, the kit was highly detailed at the time and not easy to build due to the intricate parts. This kit - from the Aviation Museum's collection - is an example of how kit manufacturers turned to complex and expensive kits for ‘grown-up’ requirements at that time. Of the two possible versions, we ultimately decided against the colourful pre-war version in favour oft he early war colour sceme.

The original

In the 1920s and ‘30s, Japan acquired technical expertise through co-operation with various German aircraft manufacturers, especially Dornier and Heinkel, who were leaders in seaplane and all-metal construction. Prototypes and licences to build replicas were acquired and skilled personnel from designers to toolmakers were employed. This German influence remained until the end of the Second World War in the highly innovative Japanese aircraft design - in addition to perhaps the most ‘German’ Japanese design of this period, the Kawasaki Ki -61‘Hien’, the D3A model from Aichi Tokei Denki K.K. presented here is a good example of this.

the Pacific War was built following a tender in 1936. The single-engine, all-metal low-wing aircraft with rigid landing gear and a crew of two flew in the same year and was built in two main versions from 1938 to 1944 in a total of almost 1,500 units.

Equipped with take-off and landing facilities for aircraft carrier use, the Aichi D3A1 - codenamed ‘Val’ by the Allies - was extremely successful in the first 15 months of the war, but was outclassed in terms of performance by the new US fighter and naval combat aircraft P-38, Corsair and Hellcat from 1943 onwards.

Due to the loss of most of the carrier ships and thus the strategic initiative, the type, also in the improved D3A2 version, was land-based from the middle of the war and used in defensive tasks; finally, like many Japanese types, it was used for kamikaze missions towards the end of the war.

Inspiration and co-operation

But where can the influences of German designs be recognised? The Aichi D3A borrowed heavily from the originally civilian Heinkel type He 70 and the military He 66 and He 112, most obviously in the wing and tail unit, which was a copy of the He 70 and He 112 in terms of aerodynamics, structure and elliptical shape.

Other significant similarities can be found in the fuselage structure and the connection between the fuselage and wings. In constant dialogue with the latest developments in Germany, especially the Stuka types Henschel Hs 123 and Junkers Ju 87, an outstanding aircraft was created at the beginning of the war, whose deadly quality became apparent in the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 as well as in the sinking of the British aircraftcarrier Hermes and the two cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall a few months later. And its defence against fighters was surprising given its structural heaviness.

Data sheet of the Aichi D3A1 (in brackets: D3A2)

Two-seater all-metal low-wing monoplane with rigid landing gear, carrier-based dive bomber. Wingspan 14.37 m, length 10.25 m, flight weight 3,650 kg (3,800 kg), engine 1 x Mitsubishi Kinsei 44 (54) twin radial engine with 1,075 hp (1,300 hp), top speed 389 km/h (426 km/h), range 1,800 km (1,550 km), bomb load max. 370 kg, 2 x MG 7.7 mm fixed in the nose of the fuselage, 1 x MG 7.7 mm movable in the rear cockpit, this optional in the A1.

Step inside!

Have we managed to arouse your curiosity? In our aviation museum on Ulmer Straße opposite the Hannover exhibition centre, you can experience over 40 original and faithful replicas of gliders, light aircraft, transport aircraft and fighter planes, just as many engines and turbines, uniforms and equipment, vehicles and a model exhibition comprising more than 1,000 exhibits.     

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You can contact the author of the Model of the Month series here: Autor-MdM