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Mike Grant
22 articles

Japanese Ram-jets

July 29, 2015 · in Aviation · · 51 · 2.7K

Kayaba Katsuodori Ram-jets

It seems to be '1/72 Japanese week' on iM, so here's another contribution. These Meng kits come two-in-a-box, and are superbly moulded. The actual aircraft was a concept only and never got beyond one wooden glider prototype, so the decals provided for in-service aircraft are completely spurious.

With 2 kits, I decided to build one out of box, and add a bit of extra detail to the other. No provision is made in the kits for the actual ram-jet turbine - there's an intake at the front, but it goes nowhere except into the cockpit (must have been a bit draughty in there). I made no attempt to add any intake trunking, though. Instead some detail was added to the cockpit, including a plunge-moulded seat and some PE harnesses.

There are very few parts in the kits so I was quickly on to paint stage. Pre-shading has its fans and detractors, and I guess I'm ambivalent, using it sometimes and not others. The orange aircraft was primed with pink and the pre-shading applied with brown, as I felt black would look too dirty under an orange coat.

Painting the 'giraffe' camo on the second fighter with a fine brush was surprisingly enjoyable, especially since no-one could call me out for inaccuracies 🙂 I used Vallejo acrylic for the green splotches, my favourite brand of acrylic for brush-painting.

Meng's kits are tiny when finished. Undercarriages are supplied, as are optional handling-carts.

These were great little kits. Perfect fit, nice recessed panel line detail, clear canopies and only a few parts. Being strictly what-ifs, the scope for painting and weathering is unlimited.

Reader reactions:
13  Awesome

51 responses

  1. Wow, what a treat. These look like they have great detailing, but of course can see the benefits of your additional work. Very nice, Mike.

  2. They most assuredly turned out very nicely, Mike...more so given the size. And your hand-painting of the camo is excellent. Superb photography as well. A bang-up job all around, sir. Very nice indeed.

    p.s. I think you may need to edit your article. It appears you seem to have saved a pic from a recent post and inadvertently added it to yours. 🙁

  3. Nice camo on the green version, you must have steady hands!

  4. Very nice Mike! I like the orange color you got with the Tamiya paint. I've tried to brush Tamiya years ago and decided never again - does it only work with airbrush? (I know you didn't hand paint the orange - was just asking for my benefit).

    • Tamiya can be brushed if thined properly, but it works much better through an airbrush.

    • Thanks Greg, I was just thinking how much I like the orange on your Grace; I've no idea which is more accurate 😉 As Tom says Tamiya can be brushed but it's difficult to get a smooth brush-painted finish and needs several coats. However Tamiya do offer a retarder to slow the drying time, and I have seen some amazing work by Japanese modellers who have brush-painted Tamiya acrylics.

  5. AHH so Mike, a fine pair sir fnar fnar.
    Serious good work mate.
    The Giraffe camo looks great.
    Well done mate.

  6. More Mike Grant masterpieces! (Is there any other kind?)

  7. said on July 29, 2015

    Well done Mike. The duo sure looks great and a true testament to your high standards of model building. I wish we could have more of these Jap '46 designs!

  8. Both are fantastic, I really appreciate you posted some images in progress. I never would think of pink color as base for orange, good idea. I also like giraffe cammo.
    Well done.

  9. Clever marketing trick by Meng to get you to buy two models! Very informative build article, thanks, Mike.

  10. said on July 29, 2015

    Both look amazing Mike but I particularly like the orange one. The result with the pre-shading is excellent.

  11. Amazing work as usual - thanks ,N.

  12. Rather strange looking but very well build and painted kits. Amazing work, Congrats 🙂

  13. Super work and great subjects!

  14. Mike, you make me want to get back to 1/72 scale... you talent in making such a small models come alive is amazing.

  15. Profile Photo
    P.k said on July 30, 2015

    Nice "What-if" japan jet .

    P.k

  16. Terrific little builds. Really like them both.

  17. Blown away...GREAT JOB!

  18. Thanks Roberto!

  19. said on August 31, 2015

    Its engine is copied from HeS001 Type A ram-jet engine of Germany. The armament is a pair of 30 mm cannon on the both sides of nose.

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