The Aichi D3A1 was a Japanese dive bomber that flew for the Imperial Japanese Navy. They played a major part in the early days of the war in the Pacific during World War II.

Design of the Aichi D3A (Allied reporting name ‘Val’) began in 1936 and the prototype made its first flight in December 1937.

After some major improvements it was ordered into production in December 1939 and 1,495 were manufactured in two major versions.

The first version, the D3A1, began service flying from land bases in China and they made up a major part of the attack force on Pearl Harbour which started the Pacific War in December 1941.

After that they continued to serve for the rest of the war, sinking more allied shipping than any other Axis aircraft.

This model represents a D3A1 in early 1942.

Fujimi 1:72 kit with Rising Decals decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in October 2018.