J2M3 Raiden Hasegawa 1/72

[Xirurg]

J2M3 Raiden, 1/72 by Hasegawa. Painted with Tamiya acrylics.

302nd Kokutai

Pretty much OOB, just added a few things to the cockpit.













 

[Vesa Jussila]

Nice Raiden. I built same kit maybe 30 years ago.

[Learstang]

I'm not a huge fan of WWII Japanese aircraft (although I do seem to be coming around), but I've always liked the Jack. Pugnacious-looking fighter. You did an excellent job on yours! So it's a fairly old Hasegawa kit - are all the panel lines engraved, or just a select few, as on their Frank?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Luka]

Great looking Raiden! And yes, with that big and very transparent canopy you need to do something about Hase's "zen-style" interior of the cockpit.

@Learstang; Their J2M is fully engraved. I wish they had done the same with their Hayate, but I suppose they still had to start the trend around that time..

 

[Learstang]

I can live with Hasegawa's minimalist interiors, but I was a bit surprised and disappointed about their Hayate having mainly raised panel lines. It looks like the Raiden may be moving to the top of the to-buy list (it's already on there, just not near the top).

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

[Xirurg]

1 hour ago, Learstang said:

I'm not a huge fan of WWII Japanese aircraft (although I do seem to be coming around), but I've always liked the Jack. Pugnacious-looking fighter. You did an excellent job on yours! So it's a fairly old Hasegawa kit - are all the panel lines engraved, or just a select few, as on their Frank?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Yes it stands out from the rest - Zero, George, Oscar, .... I like its plumpness.
Panel lines are all engraved and it's a nice kit to build

[2996 Victor]

Hi,

 

as one newbie to another, I'd like to echo the other posters' comments and say "superb job!"

 

I've got one of these kits coming from that well-known internet auction site, so can I ask if there are any traps or pitfalls waiting for the unwary? Did you use the kit's decals? Any hints or tips would be gratefully received!

 

Kind regards,

 

Mark

[72modeler]

1 hour ago, 2996 Victor said:

so can I ask if there are any traps or pitfalls waiting for the unwary?

The only real issues are the too shallow wheel bays, which was a common fault with all of the Hasegawa single-engine kits of that time period, but it's not all that glaring an issue, and isn't all that difficult to fix. The other one is the way Hasegawa engineered the wings to get a sharp trailing edge, there is a seam that needs to be filled between the inner and outer sections of the wing flaps and it is hard to keep that seam from re-appearing. Same thing as their two P-40 kits, but fortunately the George and Frank do not have that problem. Other than the shallow wheel bays and sparse interior, I actually like it better than my Sword Raiden, so might do some crosskitting! Hope this helps. It makes up into a very nice model, either way, and there are some very colorful and weatherbeaten schemes to choose from.

Mike 

[2996 Victor]

13 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

The only real issues are the too shallow wheel bays, which was a common fault with all of the Hasegawa single-engine kits of that time period, but it's not all that glaring an issue, and isn't all that difficult to fix. The other one is the way Hasegawa engineered the wings to get a sharp trailing edge, there is a seam that needs to be filled between the inner and outer sections of the wing flaps and it is hard to keep that seam from re-appearing. Same thing as their two P-40 kits, but fortunately the George and Frank do not have that problem. Other than the shallow wheel bays and sparse interior, I actually like it better than my Sword Raiden, so might do some crosskitting! Hope this helps. It makes up into a very nice model, either way, and there are some very colorful and weatherbeaten schemes to choose from.

Mike 

Hi Mike,

 

that's brilliant, thank you!

 

I'm very tempted to try out the CMK/CzechMaster resin detailing sets, which look rather nice and include interior, flying surfaces, flaps and wheel wells, but I'm concerned with the wheel wells that there may not be enough wing space to accommodate them. My other problem is knowing nothing about IJN colours..... But I've got some time to research!

 

I seem to recall that there was an article in AirEnthusiast, I think in one of the 1971 issues, that covered the Raiden. Its literally decades since I looked at those magazines, but I seem to recall they used to include colour profiles as well as a detailed cutaway drawing. I need to see if my copies are still safe in the loft at my Mother's house - unfortunately, that's 200 miles away and of course the UK is still pretty much in lockdown thanks to Covid-19!

 

I'm looking forward to having a go at this one. Even as a child, when my kit output was prolific if mediocre, I don't recall any Japanese aircraft among the many hanging from my bedroom ceiling!

 

Kind regards,

 

Mark

[Wulfman]

Very good looking Raiden, nice work on a very old and quite basic kit !

 

Wulfman

[Roberto]

I love those Japanese WW2 aircraft. Well done 🙂

[Xirurg]

4 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Hi,

 

as one newbie to another, I'd like to echo the other posters' comments and say "superb job!"

 

I've got one of these kits coming from that well-known internet auction site, so can I ask if there are any traps or pitfalls waiting for the unwary? Did you use the kit's decals? Any hints or tips would be gratefully received!

 

Kind regards,

 

Mark

Thanks Mark. I used kit decals - they worked fine, didn't break. I don't remember but I might've put it out in the sun for a few weeks as they kinda yellowish. As Mike pointed out wheel bays were basic - what you see there I've added myself. I would also suggest to check canopy fit before assembling fuselage, after and before painting. In my case canopy was a bit wider so I had to do some tricks.

[2996 Victor]

10 minutes ago, Xirurg said:

Thanks Mark. I used kit decals - they worked fine, didn't break. I don't remember but I might've put it out in the sun for a few weeks as they kinda yellowish. As Mike pointed out wheel bays were basic - what you see there I've added myself. I would also suggest to check canopy fit before assembling fuselage, after and before painting. In my case canopy was a bit wider so I had to do some tricks.

Hi,

 

Thanks for this, it's good to know! I've got some good info on the way so I can look at detailing like yours. Thanks also for the clue about the canopy, although I may well use a Pavla vacform.

 

Kind regards,

 

Mark