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Nakajima C6N Saiun, (Myrt) 1:48 Hasegawa History The C6N originated from a 1942 Imperial Japanese Navy specification for a carrier-based reconnaissance plane with a top speed of 350 knots (650 km/h) at 6,000 m and range of 2,500 Nautical miles (4,960 km). Nakajima's initial proposal, designated N-50, was for a craft with two 1,000 hp engines housed in tandem in the fuselage, driving two propellers mounted on the wings. With the development of the 2,000 hp class Nakajima Homare engine though, this configuration was abandoned and Nakajima decided on a more conventional single-engine layout. However, the Homare's output turned out to be less than initially expected, so the design had to be optimized in other areas. The resulting aircraft was designed around a long and extremely narrow cylindrical fuselage, just large enough in diameter to accommodate the engine. The crew of three sat in tandem under a single canopy, while equipment was similarly arranged in a line along the fuselage. The C6N's low mounted laminar flow wing housed fuel tanks and was fitted with both Fowler and slit flaps and leading edge slats to lower the aircraft's landing speed to ease use aboard aircraft carriers. Like Nakajima's earlier B6N "Tenzan" torpedo bomber, the rudder was angled slightly forward to enable tighter packing on aircraft carriers. The first flight was on 15 May 1943, with the prototype demonstrating a speed of 639 km/h (345 kt, 397 mph). Performance of the Homare engine was disappointing, especially power at altitude, and a series of 18 further prototypes and pre-production aircraft were built, before the Sauin was finally ordered into production in February 1944. Although designed for carrier use, by the time it entered service in September 1944, there were few carriers left for it to operate from, so most were used from land bases. Its speed was exemplified by a famous telegraph sent after a successful mission: "No Grumman’s can catch us. The top speed of the Hellcat was the same as that of the Myrt, so overtaking a Saiun was out of the question. A total of 463 aircraft were produced. A single prototype of a turbocharged development mounting a 4-blade propeller was built; this was called the C6N2 Saiun-kai. A night-fighter version C6N1-S with oblique-firing (Schräge Musik configuration) single 30 mm (or dual 20 mm) cannon and a torpedo carrying C6N1-B were also developed. The C6N1-B developed by Nakajima was not needed after Japan's aircraft carriers were destroyed. As Allied bombers came within reach of the Japanese home islands, there became a need for a first class night fighter. This led Nakajima to develop the C6N1-S by removing the observer, and replacing him with two 20mm cannons. The C6N1-S's effectiveness was hampered by the lack of air-to-air radar, although it was fast enough to enjoy almost complete immunity from interception by Allied fighters. Despite its speed and performance, on 15 August 1945, a C6N1 was the last aircraft to be shot down in World War II. Just five minutes later, the war was over and all Japanese aircraft were grounded The Model Originally released in 2002 this kit has been released in a number of different schemes, in fact this example is the eighth iteration. That said the moulds are still pretty good and the parts are all well moulded. The finesse on the details such as rivets and panel lines is very nice indeed. There is no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips, plus no sign of imperfections on the review example. The instructions are well printed, clear and easy to read. The standard Hasegawa style of box comes with a nice painting of the aircraft in flight. Inside, there are five sprues and a separate cowling in a medium grey styrene, one sprue of clear styrene, a medium sized decal sheet, and four poly caps. The plastic is quite glossy, and will need either a light rub down with a fine emery cloth or a good etch primer for the paint to stick to. The build begins with the very nicely detailed cockpit. The long single piece cockpit floor is fitted out with the pilots rudder pedals, joystick, six oxygen bottles, and a couple of electronic boxes. The pilots seat is then assembled from three parts and glued to the floor, followed by the instrument panel, co-pilots shelf, two piece seat, three piece instrument panel, and what looks like a large gyro instrument. The inside of the fuselage halves are fitted with large interior side panels and a rear bulkhead before the cockpit assembly is fitted. The third crewman’s seat is fitted to the starboard fuselage, along with the DF loop and its associated platform. Before the fuselage is joined, you will need to open up the hole for the front drop tank steady. With the fuselage halves joined the win assembly is built up. This comes in a single piece lower wing, main undercarriage bay boxes, and two upper wing panels. More holes need to be drilled out if you are goin got fit the drop tank. The moulded navigation lights also need to be carefully removed, and replaced with clear parts. The wing is then attached to the fuselage assembly, along with the two single piece horizontal tailplanes. The engine is also a very nicely detailed part, even though most of it won’t be seen with the cowling fitted. The single piece engine is fitted to the rear bulkhead, which is moulded complete with the cooling gills. The six parts that represent the exhaust pipes are glued to the rear of this bulkhead, whilst the front of the engine is fitted with some pipework, and crankcase before the cowling is slid onto the engine and glued to the rear bulkhead. The whole assembly is then glued to the front of the fuselage. The main undercarriage units are each made up from a single piece leg, separate scissor link,, three piece wheel and two outer bay doors. The assemblies are then fitted to the undercarriage bays and fitted with the retraction actuators and a third outer bay door. The inner doors are then attached, and fitted with their retraction jacks. The arrestor hook isn’t fitted, and the resultant empty bay is covered with a blank panel just forward of the single piece tail wheel. On the underside of the fuselage, there are two clear viewing panels fitted, along with an access step. The flaps are provided as single piece units, and are designed to be displayed dropped, as are the leading edge slats. The four piece drop tank is then assembled and fitted to the lower forward fuselage. With the model the right way up the multi-part canopy is fitted. The modeller has the option of having the canopies open, using the individual parts, or closed using the full single piece part, a nice addition by Hasegawa. The rear section is fitted with a single machine gun, whilst the windscreen has a separate upper section. The propeller is made up form a spinner, three separate blades and a back plate. When assembled it is glued into position. The rest of the parts, which include a three piece intake on the port side of the rear cowling, aerial mast, pitot probe and rudder trim tab are then glued to their respective positions, thus completing the build. Decals The decals from the latest batch of Japanese aircraft kits from Hasegawa have been pretty good, and it’s no different with this kit. Well printed, with thin carrier film, they are in good register and nicely opaque. The walkways on the wings, fin stripes and the identification numbers have any significant visible film, but on a nice glossy finish this shouldn’t silver too much. There are two aircraft for which markings are provided. All are from the 121st Naval Flying Group, based on Tinian Island 1944 and both are in the Nakajima green over silver scheme, with aircraft numbers 21-101 and 21-103 represented. Conclusion This is another aircraft i was previously unaware of, but it will fit well into any collection of Japanese Naval aircraft. The standard is pretty much what we have come to expect from Hasegawa, with a good amount of detail, especially in the large greenhouse cockpit and what should be a hassle free build. Highly recommended Amerang – Hasegawa Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Hi, It my collection of Japan Navy birds again... Next is recce plane, extremly elegant design IMHO - Nakajima C6N1 Saiun (in aliies code - "Myrt") Model is made out of Fujimi perfect kit - OOB except the markings as usually. The machine is from 762 Kokutai, 11 Rec. Hikotai, Kiushiu, April 1945. Comments welcome Cheers Jerzy-Wojtek

Sword (http://www.swordmodels.cz/) is to release 1/72nd Nakajima C6N1 & C6N1-S Saiun (Allied reporting name "Myrt") kits - ref. SW7273 and SW7276. SW 72073 - C6N1 Saiun(Myrt) Source: http://swordmodels.cz/en/172/88-sw72073-c6n1-saiunmyrt.html SW 72076 - C6N1-S Saiun(Myrt) Night Fighter Source: http://swordmodels.cz/en/172/91-sw72076-c6n1-s-saiunmyrt-night-fighter.html V.P.