The "Create 301" Liz was truly an interesting project. I had always wanted a Liz in my collection
so the 300 $ price tag didn't faze me - in fact - crazy me; I bought two!
The kit itself was a challenge. The glass parts required hours of polishing to smooth out the "pebblegrain" in the clear resin casting.
The interior I detailed as best as possible using the excellent "Koku Fan" book. The cockpit floor and nosewheel well was a solid metal
casting - a block of metal - that seemed like it weighted a pound. A good idea to keep the airplane sitting correctly on its landing gear
but it made the construction a bit difficult. Being entirely resin and somewhat fragile, the huge amount of nose weight made it quite
precarious to handle during final assembly and painting. The finished model absolutely cannot be handled or even picked-up. Kind of
like a huge eggshell!
The interior was painted mainly in an aeromaster USN med. blue-gray. The exterior was painted in Aeromaster
IJN Gray underside and multiple shades of Nakajima Green on the topsides to break up the large surface area and keep it looking "interesting".
I added exhaust staining and some paint chipping to further enhance things.
In conclusion, it was fun to do once but I don't know
if I could do it again. Not a kit for the beginner and a real workout even for an experienced modeller. The upside of course is it is
magnificent and HUGE and I'm proud to have it in my collection.
Now if Hasegawa made a kit of it...maybe...just maybe...I'd do another.
Kevin Bade
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