Akamatsu's J2M Raiden

[Joao Augusto]

I' about to start a 1/72 J2M Raiden and I would like to represent ED-1195, supposedly flown by Sadaaki Akamatsu. But I'm not sure how it would look like. The old Tamiya 1/48 kit had a yellow horizontal stripe on the rudder:

 

 

The Sword 1/72 kit and Osprey's "Raiden and Shinden Aces" represented this plane with a yellow vertical stripe on the fuselage:

 

 

So I'm confused.  I have seen many photos of 302th Kokutai aircraft, some of them had the vertical stripe, but I found none with a horizontal stripe. Are there any photos of this plane? Or what these kits and profiles were based on?

[MDriskill]

Here's an excellent 2019 profile by artist Claes Sundin...which is pretty, but may not help!

 

http://luftwaffeinprofile.se/J2M3 Akamatsu.html

 

I have quite a few photos of Raidens in my references (the usual pack of FAOW, Model Art, Gakken, and Maru Mechanic stuff), but can't seem to find any of "Yo D 1195." And you are correct, photos of the 302 Kokutai show a few vertical yellow stripes, but no horizontal ones. With apologies to Mr. Sundin, I would probably go with the Osprey profile.

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by MDriskill

[Blimpyboy]

 

Looks like Akamatsu made his own, too! I wonder if he made his own decals...

 

 

 

 

As per @MDriskill's post, the overwhelming majority of 302nd J2M photos I could find have seem to have vertical fuselage bands or nothing at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only one I could find with a possible tail band in my quick-and-dirty search was this one:

 

 

 

Just for yucks, here is a page chock-full o' J2M profiles (not all have photos to back them up, 'though):

http://www.gahoh.net/traffic/ww2/profile/J2M-N1K/index.php

 

 

The search continues...!

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Blimpyboy

[Toryu]

ƎD-1195 is usually attributed to Sadaaki Akamatsu, but it's worth noting that aircraft were flown by different pilots depending on availability and mission roster, and victory symbols are often summed-up successes from different pilots. It seems that ƎD-1195 was piloted by Akamatsu at some time or sometimes or was even his assigned aircraft but he was certainly not its only pilot. He himself often used a Zero from 302 Ku as well.

 

Horizontal tail stripes are not customary with 302 Kokutai. A broad fuselage band may have denoted a Buntai (squadron) leader, a narrow one a Kutai (flight) leader. Akamatsu was not an officers acadamy graduate. He rose from petty officer to commissioned rank, which means that he would not lead a full mission complement, rather a Kutai. If ƎD-1195 is his aircraft it may carry a narrow yellow fuselage band as depicted in Aircraft of the Aces 129.

 

Below is a photo which might show ƎD-1195 in the background (farthest from the camera). The picture is a little clearer in the book* but still difficult to read. ƎD-1195 is my best speculative guess. This Raiden has the narrow yellow band.

 

Cheers, Michael

 

 

* Source: FAOW No. 61

 

[Joao Augusto]

13 hours ago, Blimpyboy said:

 

The only one I could find with a possible tail band in my quick-and-dirty search was this one:

 

 

 

 

Great, you found one with a tail band! It could well be ED-1195. If only it showed the rest of the tail...

Thanks!

[Joao Augusto]

8 hours ago, Toryu said:

ƎD-1195 is usually attributed to Sadaaki Akamatsu, but it's worth noting that aircraft were flown by different pilots depending on availability and mission roster, and victory symbols are often summed-up successes from different pilots. It seems that ƎD-1195 was piloted by Akamatsu at some time or sometimes or was even his assigned aircraft but he was certainly not its only pilot. He himself often used a Zero from 302 Ku as well.

 

Horizontal tail stripes are not customary with 302 Kokutai. A broad fuselage band may have denoted a Buntai (squadron) leader, a narrow one a Kutai (flight) leader. Akamatsu was not an officers acadamy graduate. He rose from sergeant pilot to commissioned rank, which means that he would not lead a full mission complement, rather a Kutai. If ƎD-1195 is his aircraft it may carry a narrow yellow fuselage band as depicted in Aircraft of the Aces 129.

 

Below is a photo which might show ƎD-1195 in the background (farthest from the camera). The picture is a little clearer in the book* but still difficult to read. ƎD-1195 is my best speculative guess. This Raiden has the narrow yellow band.

 

Cheers, Michael

 

 

* Source: FAOW No. 61

 

I found this picture before. I don't know how much clearer is the picture on the book, but it seemed to me to have only three digits after the ED-, don't you think?
It also seems to have it's spinner painted in two colours.

Thank you Michael!

[Toryu]

My guess for the 'two spinner colours' would be (1) a reflection like on the fuselage or (2) an unpainted (aluminium) prop rear plate. I'd vouch for (1). The rear aircraft is positioned at a slightly different angle than the foward one which results in stronger reflections. Please note that Raiden propeller spinners were painted dark green like the upper airframe (not brown as often presented) unless they were left in factory aluminium (sometimes unpainted in a rush replacement).

[MDriskill]

Wow, thanks for posting the "Gahoh" site link, that's a fun place to look around.

 

Thanks also for this photo, a new one to me. Not strictly applicable to the current discussion, but it's interesting that the hinomaru surrounds appear to be a much different, more toned-down shade of white than the tail number. And I would wager that this photo was the basis for the Tamiya 1/48 box art...??

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by MDriskill

[MDriskill]

Here's another version of the photo above, from the 2011 Model Art "Profile 11" on the Raiden. It's printed larger and more clearly than in FAOW no. 61.

 

I still can't quite make out the tail number on the rear machine, but "Yo D-1195" appears to be possible.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by MDriskill

[Joao Augusto]

3 hours ago, MDriskill said:

Here's another version of the photo above, from the 2011 Model Art "Profile 11" on the Raiden. It's printed larger and more clearly than in FAOW no. 61.

 

I still can't quite make out the tail number on the rear machine, but "Yo D-1195" appears to be possible.

 

 

About that plane;

- There is a probably unpainted panel in the front fuselage, just aft the exhaust stack

- The yellow fuselage band seems to have a thinner dark band within it

- There are three victory markings, two at the top of the tail and another just bellow

With these characteristics, it looks like ED-155, which appears taking off in the photo below

 

[MDriskill]

You, sir, have a most excellent eye! That is undoubtedly the same aircraft. I think we can say with certainly it is "Yo D-155." Here are two photos of other aircraft, also from FAOW no. 61, that may explain some of the details we have discussed above:

 

The dark streak in the tail stripe may simply be grime or some other discoloration (though why it should accumulate at this location is not obvious to me):

 

 

 

The light patch on the rear of the spinner may be a servicing data plate - an interesting detail I'd never noticed before. Also note the hand-written number on the replacement cowl section:

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by MDriskill

[Toryu]

@Joao Augusto and @MDriskill

 

Yes, I agree with your observations. I saw the 3rd victory symbol, which may have been just one more, but the multi-coloured stripe (most likely white/yellow/white) is identical for sure.

The darker area on the stripe of ƎD-152 appears to be either dirt or repainted. Any darker colour than yellow is improbable since not reported for Raidens of 302 Ku.

 

Thanks for your dedication to detect the identity of this aircraft. Remains the mystery of Akamatsu's plane!

 

I had a few but less issues when I built mine here.

 

Cheers, Michael

 

[Joao Augusto]

I agree with MDriskill about the spinner, it really seems to be a data plate.

As for the fuselage band, I believe the dark area is too uniform around the fuselage to be just dirt.

 

Michael, what a great model! Congratulations!

 

Akamatsu's plane remains a mystery indeed. I wonder where the information for all those decals and profiles came from. Did it really have two victory markings on the tail? Any yellow band at all? Maybe I should choose another Raiden.

[MDriskill]

Michael, beautiful Tamiya Raiden! Thanks for that link.

 

I have always found the shape of the Raiden to be fascinating, one of my favorite WW2 aircraft. But the available color schemes are pretty monotonous, LOL!

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by MDriskill

[Blimpyboy]

On 1/19/2021 at 9:56 AM, Joao Augusto said:

Maybe I should choose another Raiden.

 

Perhaps some inspiration here: http://angelof.web.fc2.com/sub6.htm, which includes an interesting aircraft that looks like it's fitted with an oblique gun/cannon.

 

 

On 1/18/2021 at 8:44 PM, Toryu said:

Please note that Raiden propeller spinners were painted dark green like the upper airframe (not brown as often presented) unless they were left in factory aluminium (sometimes unpainted in a rush replacement).

 

The site above also contains some information relating to spinner colours, including green and brown, based on airframe colour, levels of damage, etc. I'll try and find additional info...