Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-kai in 1/48 scale

Ronnie Olsthoorn is an accomplished and skilled 3D artist who has collaborated with me on Osprey projects and contributed far more than just the cover art, profiles and plans. Here he demonstrates an equal skill in model making too with his N1K2-J Shiden-kai made from the original 1/48 Hasegawa kit. Over to Ronnie then:-

'This is my finished Hasegawa 1/48 Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-kai ('George'). This model was started way back in 1997 and this kit is still made from the original 1980 mould, with raised panel lines and all. Despite its age this is a decent kit and it went together without fuss and minimal putty.

Noteworthy modifications to the kit are:

• resin wheels (which were included in the kit);
• seatbelts from scratch (I think I used foil from a wine bottle, but this was back in 1997 so I am not sure...);
• navigations lights cut off and replaced with clear sprue leftovers, sanded to shape
• all raised panel lines were re-scribed (also done back in 1997/1998);
• fully riveted;
• stressed skin effect added by taping off all rivet lines and fabric and detail areas, spraying a thick coat of Mr Surfacer, and then sanding this back to smooth out the edges;
• upper fuselage inspection window drilled out and filled with clear UV resin;
• typical details added like an EZ-Line aerial wire, copper wire brake lines, drilled out the exhausts pipes and clear plastic sheet gunsight glass;
• custom colour scheme markings cut out with a Silhouette plotter. (The only kit decals used are the fuselage data stencil and an inspection hatch inside the chin air intake, which both went down beautifully despite being 30 years old);
• lastly a quartet of Luminaero 20mm cannon barrels replaced the horribly thick sticks provided in the kit.

Back in the 1990s all Japanese aircraft supposedly had aotake cockpits, so that's what I did back then. With oil washes I tried to bring it more in line with the grey-green upper cockpit decking. Instrument dials were painted with a needle. All exterior painting was done in recent years. The plane was primed with Mr Surfacer and sprayed in Mr Hobby SM208 Super Duralumin with my 1990s-vintage (and surprisingly good) Badger 150, while the top camouflage is Tamiya XF-11 J.N. Green, with the markings in X-7 Red and Mr Hobby H24 Orange Yellow.

Some historical notes: the 343rd Kokutai was the only user of the N1K2-J with the later narrow-chord vertical fin, so my choice of colour schemes was very limited and I chose 343-37/A as I'd never seen it done before. Note that the no-step flap area warning stripes are done in aluminium paint and not in red. This was standard Kawanishi practice and literally all N1K/N1K1-J/N1K2-J decals sheets are wrong in providing these in red colour! (Thank you Nick and also Taizou Nakamura for pointing this out). Also, the gear oleo pressure indicator stencil on the wheeldoor was red-blue-red and not "traffic light" style red-yellow-blue, as usually given in decal sheets.

I finally completed the model on New Years Eve. More could still be improved, but I'm calling this done and move on with an Eduard 1/48 A6M2, which has been in the works for some time.'

With special thanks to Ronnie for sharing these images of his superb and convincing Shiden-kai model with Aviation of Japan.

Image creditL All © 2026 Ronnie Olsthoorn. 

Tojo, Jack and Shiragiku Kits in 1/72 Scale

Sword have (re-)released a 1/72 scale Nakajima Ki-44-II Shoki 'Tojo' kit with two markings options (shown above), containing PUR parts for the engine and pilot seat, with masks, retailing at £17.99 in UK. Also three Mitsubishi Raiden 'Jack' variants in the same scale and same price, with PUR cockpit details. 

Additional images of kit parts and decals: SW72158 J2M2 here, SW72160 J2M3 here; SW72161 J2M5/6 here.

Kovozavody Prostejov have announced a new 1/72 scale kit of the Kyūshū K11W Shiragiku IJN crew trainer. Rather than one kit with three scheme options it appears to be three kits depicting different schemes. 

No price given yet or whether each kit offers additional schemes and markings options but a very welcome release of a long neglected type.

Image credit: © 2026 Sword and Kovozavody Prostejov

Pete Quartet For Sale!

Not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR surviving Mitsubishi F1M2 'Pete' airframes for sale from Classic Aircraft Sales Ltd.! Hat tip to Chad Atkins  for this astonishing news, who discovered it whilst looking for internal details for a potential Hasegawa Pete build project  

 

And to round off this Pete presentation here is a look at an early Hasegawa version - in 1/75 scale circa 1965!

This simple kit is moulded in green plastic with scribed engine detail on the cowling face and no cockpit detail. Two head and shoulders crewmen mouldings plug into the cockpit apertures. The underwing bombs shown on the box art are not included. The small decal sheet has six hinomaru, four with white borders, the red and white warning band for the main float and alternative tail codes for 'P3-18' and 'RI-15'. 

Thanks to Chad for alerting to this sale.

Image credits: Photos © 2025  Classic Aircraft Sales Ltd.; Box art and instruction sheet © 1965 Hasegawa Corp.

Ginga Night Fighter by Felix Gossler

Felix Gossler has kindly shared images of his Ginga model, representing YoD-181 of 302 Ku's 2nd Hikotai as a so-called Type 21 mentioned here. Felix has set the model on a well crafted display base featuring ground crew figures re-painting the Hinomaru which provides a real sense of scale for this elegant night fighting twin.

With special thanks to Felix for sharing these excellent images. 

Image credit: All © 2025 Felix Gossler  

It's Christmas Day

With best wishes for the Christmas season and New Year  to all Aviation of Japan readers and contributors. Thank you all and special thanks to those kind souls who have reached out to ask about this Blogger's health and well being. Still here, just moving ever more slowly!

Image credit:  Clearing After a Snowfall on Mount Fuji (Taganoura Beach) 1932, Kawase Hasui 川瀬 巴水 (1883-1957)  

A Rare Survivor

A tip of the seasonal hat to Andrew Young for very kindly sharing these links featuring a rare surviving tail fin and rudder in original paint from a Nakajima C6N Saiun 'Myrt' 21-101 of 121 Ku captured on Tinian. The article C6N Saiun Tail presents a comprehensive selection of large and clear photographs of the tail including close-ups and also features the left hand tailplane of Mitsubishi A6M2 c/n 2666 Hōkoku 515 (Hiroshima Prefecture Industrial and Source Branch) with a link to the website of Mr Taizo Nakamura  detailing this Zero and discussing its colour scheme. The Saiun article notes that this shows that the Zero fighter was not 'amber colored' but a completely achromatic gray.

Photographs of Saiun 21-101 at the time of its capture were published in Bunrin-Do's Famous Airplanes of the World No.82 in February 1977, demonstrating without doubt that the paint scheme is original. A link to Misawa Aviation & Science Museum also features further photographs of the artefact whilst a link to a NewsOnline article tells the story of its survival and acquisition (cut and paste the Japanese text into Google Translate to get the gist). 

With special thanks to Andrew for the links. 

Image credit: via links above and FAOW cover © 1977 Bunrin-Do.