Gary Brantley Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) Well, how about another “what if” history project? This started off as just a regular build of the Hasegawa Kyushu J7W1 Shinden. This aircraft had long fascinated me, with it’s unorthodox canard design and sort of “Star War”ish appearance. I wanted to build the prototype which actually was test flown in the waning days of the war. I've read that it made three 15 minute flights and grainy film from that time seems to confirm that. The build was progressing along nicely when disaster struck. I was using a desk lamp to speed up the paint drying. I left the plane unattended for a few hours and when I returned, the lamp had dropped down several inches and had melted the upper rear fuselage. Yeah. Ooops! After much gnashing of teeth, a “fix” came to me. I could try to adapt the aircraft to turbojet power which was a long-term plan for Kyushu anyway had time allowed for this development. I used body shop spot filler putty to build up the damaged area, deleted some features, added a few more and jumped whole hog into this conversion process. I used the canopy from some long lost P-47, cutting it in half and using the rear-most section for the windscreen. A drop tank from an unknown source was pressed into service too. The prototype had featured some rather long and spindly landing gear to provide ground clearance for the six-bladed prop on the pusher radial engine. I didn’t need that clearance now and so decided to shorten the three landing gear. That led to another problem. When gear were shortened, the wheels wouldn’t mate with the recesses in the wings and forward fuselage. So, I had to relocate the attachment positions for all three. I also shortened the rather tall vertical stabilizers/rudders and created new broader rudders. I envisioned that the J7W1 would’ve evolved into the J7W2 with jet power and then later into the J7W3 with the bubble canopy, shortened rudders and lowered stance. The planes would’ve been delivered to units in an unpainted form with Hinomarus intact and field expedient camouflage then applied. This model was built back in 2004 and upon close inspection, reveals a lot of flaws. I had a bit of trouble blending the new canopy into the fuselage and in general, the build shows my limits then as a modeler (and those haven’t changed as much as I would like now, lol 😉). But, it was my first conversion of any kind and my first “what if” project too. I imagine this aircraft based in Korea, circa spring of ’47. It’s wearing 5 kill markings, 3 American victims and two Soviet kills, making her pilot a “Japanese Jet Ace”. I hope you enjoy my little World War II fantasy exercise. Thanks for stopping in and taking a look! Gary Edited March 2, 2020 by Gary Brantley 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Hasegawa released a 1/48 jet version and I also believe one in 1/72. https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Kyushu-J7W2-Interceptor-Fighter-Shindenkai-Jet-Version.html Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 18 minutes ago, dogsbody said: Hasegawa released a 1/48 jet version and I also believe one in 1/72. https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Kyushu-J7W2-Interceptor-Fighter-Shindenkai-Jet-Version.html Chris Yes, their model of the type W2 The predecessor of my "what if" build here. 😀 Maybe they will still produce one similar to mine.😉 Thanks for the reply and link! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Lovley 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Very nice Rising Sun '47 project. 👍🏻 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted June 19, 2019 Author Share Posted June 19, 2019 15 hours ago, RMCS said: Lovley Thanks so much RMCS. 15 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Very nice Rising Sun '47 project. 👍🏻 Thanks Corsair! 🍺 After finishing this one back in '04, I seriously thought about doing a W4, or W5 version. I have a few old kits that could've donated wings, stabilizers, etc. to modify and I planned carving a fuselage from balsa. Meh. Never did it. This one was posted on Jaircraft.com back then. One fellow enjoyed telling me why it wouldn't have worked. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 3 hours ago, Gary Brantley said: One fellow enjoyed telling me why it wouldn't have worked. 😉 Always good to know, but doesn't that miss the point of modeling ? Ive built aircraft by combining 2-3 kits before. Probably never really work with out loads of computers to stabilize them but its still fun. Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted June 19, 2019 Author Share Posted June 19, 2019 3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Always good to know, but doesn't that miss the point of modeling ? Ive built aircraft by combining 2-3 kits before. Probably never really work with out loads of computers to stabilize them but its still fun. Dennis Yeah, kinda does. The guy who said that was called out for the comment by another member there, saying it was easy to criticize but someone (me) had actually made the effort to build it. Or words to that effect. I think the critic was an engineer. 😉 Dennis, nothing wrong with a bit of mix n' match for two or three kits. You can come up with an original that way! 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Love it Gary, I did a completely silver one a while back but the distressed green camo` looks great. Brilliant idea shortening the u/c looks a lot better ! Great job 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted June 19, 2019 Author Share Posted June 19, 2019 5 minutes ago, russ c said: Love it Gary, I did a completely silver one a while back but the distressed green camo` looks great. Brilliant idea shortening the u/c looks a lot better ! Great job Thanks a million Russ! I'm glad that you liked her, sort of a unique bird I guess. Although Matt Swan (Swanny) did build one as well. His retained the original canopy and u/c though, iirc. He and I corresponded for a while with the plan being posing them together via Photoshop. But he sold his model before that came off. I suggested that the next evolution of the Shinden have swept canards as well. He claimed he was stealing the idea but I have no idea if he ever did another jet Shinden. 😀 Here's a link to his model; although most pics seem missing. He is a masterful modeler: http://www.swannysmodels.com/J7W2.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 A bit of a necro post but looking back through my content, I realized that I had not thanked those who "liked" this what-if model of mine. Thanks to you good folks for your reactions; I'm so glad you liked my Shinden! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorby Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 I missed this the first time around Gary, excellent work, and as always nice photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 6 hours ago, Gorby said: I missed this the first time around Gary, excellent work, and as always nice photos. Thank you sir! 🍻 I do appreciate those comments. I was looking for some aotake info last night and a search turned up this model, shown on various forums years ago. That inspired me to look for it here and well, here we are. 🙂 She looks a bit rough in places and I hope I could do a little neater job if done now. But, I do like it for its uniqueness; in the many years since building it, the aforementioned model of Matt Swan was the only other similar one I've seen. Interestingly enough, I have since come across references to a " Kyushu J7W3" and I do believe I may have coined that designation. That's kinda neat I guess. Thanks again Gorby! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C. Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Gary, I normally don't care for the Luft '46/what-ifs, but, since my 2-yrs-younger brother did the 1/72 Tamiya kit about 50 years ago, I have been fascinated by this plane. So I was quite pleased when Hasegawa brought out their 1/72 kit a few years ago (after I had found a copy of the old Tamiya kit on-line, and realized how crude it was by even the standards of 20 (?) years ago), and instead of putting it into deep storage in the stash, got right to it. Came out very nice -- a great counterpoint to the A6M2/Ki 51/D4Y, etc. Now, I don't object to a specialist/aeronautical engineer coming in with his/her technical opinions -- they can be interesting in and of themselves -- BUT, yes, those opinions shouldn't detract from the purpose of creating a model. So, without further ado, I'd just like to say what a brilliant creation this is, brilliantly executed! About the best modelling lemonade out of lemons story I've heard in a very long time! Thanks for letting us see it! Bob C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 34 minutes ago, Bob C. said: after I had found a copy of the old Tamiya kit on-line, and realized how crude it was by even the standards of 20 (?) years ago Not bad however for nearly 50 years ago, when it came out. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Bob C. said: Gary, I normally don't care for the Luft '46/what-ifs, but, since my 2-yrs-younger brother did the 1/72 Tamiya kit about 50 years ago, I have been fascinated by this plane. So I was quite pleased when Hasegawa brought out their 1/72 kit a few years ago (after I had found a copy of the old Tamiya kit on-line, and realized how crude it was by even the standards of 20 (?) years ago), and instead of putting it into deep storage in the stash, got right to it. Came out very nice -- a great counterpoint to the A6M2/Ki 51/D4Y, etc. Now, I don't object to a specialist/aeronautical engineer coming in with his/her technical opinions -- they can be interesting in and of themselves -- BUT, yes, those opinions shouldn't detract from the purpose of creating a model. So, without further ado, I'd just like to say what a brilliant creation this is, brilliantly executed! About the best modelling lemonade out of lemons story I've heard in a very long time! Thanks for letting us see it! Bob C Thank you Bob! 🥃 I so appreciate your kind words sir; and yes, I guess it is a lemons to lemonade story at that. 😉 I'm really happy to hear that you like the model and you're quite welcome too of course. 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 36 minutes ago, Graham Boak said: Not bad however for nearly 50 years ago, when it came out. Thanks for replying to my thread Graham! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cariado Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Nice work! 👏 A great, credible whiffer is always good. So what if it's technically not viable? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 52 minutes ago, Cariado said: Nice work! 👏 A great, credible whiffer is always good. So what if it's technically not viable? Thanks mate! 🍻 You're right; it is a what if after all. I appreciate the comments! 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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