Zoukei-Mura Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, 1/48. The 'Magnificent Lightning'.
There are many aircraft out there that subscribe to the 'What If?' idea, but none I find as interesting as the Shinden. Ever since I discovered this machine as a kid it's been one of my favourites, so Zoukei Mura's offering of the aircraft has always been high on my list of kits I wanted to build.
The History
The Kyushu J7W1 Shinden was envisioned to be Japan's secret key component in stopping the Hordes of B-29s bombing the home islands. Designed from the get go to be a fast aircraft, with a high rate of climb, and able to carry powerful weaponry to deal with the heavy bombers, this aircraft has a sleek design in a pusher configuration with swept back wings that make the machine not look out of place in a sci-fi or alternate reality setting.
That being said, unlike some/most 'What If?' and 'Luft' 46' designs, the Shinden did exist and in more of a capacity than just a blueprint or drawing on a napkin. Following the successful tests of the canard design by Masayoshi Tsuruno in the form of the Yokosuka MXY6 glider, followed by powered flight with a small 22hp engine, in early 1944 the Imperial Japanese Navy instructed Kyushu to design an interceptor around this concept with Tsuruno at the head of the project. This would culminate in the J7W1 Shinden, an aircraft to be propelled by the mosh powerful engine the Japanese had in development, the Mitsubishi Ha-43, with the plausible idea stemming all the way back to that original little glider of being jet powered.
Before the aircraft made its maiden flight, the Navy had already ordered the aircraft into production, at a total of 150 Shinden per month, a rather hopeful number. With the first prototype planned to be finished in January 1945 delays occurred due to the B-29 bombing campaign, including having to evacuate the factory and move elsewhere. However, it wouldn't be until April that the Ha-43, heavily delayed due to intense bombing raids, actually arrived to be fitted in the aircraft.
In July 1945, the aircraft powered up with the intention of performing some glide tests, however as the speed built up and the nose raised the propeller stuck the ground, further delaying its first flight. It wouldn't be until August 3rd that the Shinden would finally take to the skies for a short 15 minute flight. Two further short flights were made on the 6th and 9th, though understandably overshadowed by Atomic events on those dates. The flights revealed the aircraft had an incredible amount of torque with the Shinden flying on a 10 degree list to the right the entire time, however the development team were confident they could solve this issue.
By the time the war ended, two completed prototype airframes were made and the first prototype flew for a total of 45 minutes, the second prototype was still awaiting the illusive Ha-43 engine. A third prototype was partially constructed, however the Kyushu staff were ordered to destroy anything to do with the project and as such the second and third prototypes were ripped apart, placed in a pit, and burnt along with any documentation. Fortunately, the airworthy prototype managed to avoid this fate and was left in a hangar until the Americans seized it. The aircraft was at some point damaged, likely due to a storm, and repaired by Japanese and Americans before being shipped to the states. The aircraft was deemed not airworthy, and eventually found its way to the Smithsonian museum where it has sat in pieces for the majority of its life.
The Kit
The Zoukei-Mura kit is one I've been eyeing up for a long time and fortunately was able to get my hands on, it's a scales down version their 1/32 kit. As ZM put it 'This kit was made with the idea that by the time you've finished it, you' vs naturally learnt about the actual Shinden itself'. Certainly in 1/48 I've not seen a kit with so much interior detail, with a fully detailed gun bay, engine and cockpit.
The included scheme in this kit a simple scheme, however I decided to mimick the scheme seen in photographs of the Shinden after being seized by the Americans and being repaired due to damage but before the aircraft was repainted. The ZM kit depicts the planned production aircraft, so you'll no doubt see differences such as the lack of fitted weaponry on the prototype.
The Build
With a full build thread over at the Empire of Japan groupbuild, I won't go into too much depth. That being said the kit is a unique build due to all of the detail, you start with the cockpit as normal, before placing it onto a skeleton framework of the aircraft and building the gunbay and extremely detailed engine.
With the internals done, an exterior 'shell' of panels is added. On the 1/32 kit these are all seperate to allow you to view the internals, on the 1/48 you can simply cut the panels off you don't need like I have done to reveal the interior work like the engine.
There wasn't any major issues with this build, but adding all the exterior panels was quite difficult as so much was shoved inside the aircraft that it somewhat fought against me in some areas, particularly difficult was around the rear of the engine where exterior panels, air ducts, cooling fans and a crankshaft case all meet in a small area. Eventually with enough tape, holding and glue it was together.
The aircraft was painted using MRP metallics, which I'm quite a fan of now, and Tamiya acrylics. One mistake I made was not doing enough variation with the green which all blended together to be a monotone finish when clear coats were added, fortunately the use of MIG chipping fluid has helped to break up the otherwise monotone green.
In Conclusion
This kit was a real enjoyable build, lots of detail to play with both on the inside and outside, it is a unique build compared to other models I've built, and all this without having to deal with the dreaded resin is a plus from me. The main issue is trying to find this kit as its been out of production for quite a while, that being said ZM was reproducing their 'older' kits for the 10th anniversary of their Super Wing Series, so you may be able to order one still.
I love the shape of the Shinden and its sleek design, it was a bit of shame to put the long spindly landing gear on this thing, but equally not showing off the internals provided would have been a waste. Maybe one day I'll get the Hasegawa kit which is cheaper and more available and do an in flight model.
Overall it was a fun build with no major issues, and only a few small issues which were largely caused by me. As always, thanks for everyone that followed along in the build thread as it was much appreciated, and learning so much about this aircraft thanks to Zoukei-Mura's concept note book was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.
A superb build, Harvey! Amazing details everywhere, painting and weathering, everything is excellent!
Your build thread was also wonderful! I could hardly believe my eyes upon seeing all this superb work put into your Shinden project!
Thank you so much for this spectacular contribution to our ever growing and utterly successful Empire of Japan GB!
Thank you for following along! It's been much appreciated! Definitely a very successful groupbuild that is a joy to look through.
A beautiful model - lots of elbow grease and masterly skill applied! Well done.
Thank you! Definitely have to give credit to the kit for allowing the detail to shine.
I was shocked to see your comment on the level of variation in the green, because in many photos that is one of the key things that I notice.. the variation and chipping, that is. I think it looks splendid, and as with all your builds I've seen so far, this is simply great with the clean painting and weathering being very aesthetically pleasing. Well done, and thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much!
I too love the Shinden! ? I've always thought it had a "Star Wars" look about and wouldn't look out of place in that sci-fi setting. Many years ago, I built the old Hasegawa 1/48 version and after a building accident, converted it to a J7W3 configuration with bubble-top canopy, shortened gear legs and jet-power. It was one of the first models I posted here.
Your Z-M model is just breathtaking in it's detail and precision! That is some really fine scale modeling! ? And, miles ahead of that old Hasegawa kit. Great work Harvey! ?
Thank you very much! It's a shame such a good kit is so difficult to get a hold of at a reasonable price. I absolutely agree with you in regard to that space age look from a design from 1945.
@scalerambush, Harvey, here's a pic of my J7W3:
and the original article:
This is an incredible WOW, Harvey @scalerambush
Already during your thread I was impressed by all the work you performed on this kit.
So many details which even look perfect at high magnification.
Especially the comparison pictures in your thread show how accurate your build is.
Well done.
Thank you, and thank you for the reminder to add the original photos I had forgot to attach!
Great build and post, Harvey. @scalerambush
I was just at the NASM/Dulles, this past weekend, and saw the nose section amongst the great collection of aircraft on display.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
1. Pic from Wikipedia
Shame they don't pull the rest out from hiding! I was thinking of replicating that front section if I ever find the Hasegawa kit for a good price.
Harvey.. This is simply stunning. I have never seen this plane before, and reading the information you provided about it was interesting.
Thank you! So many strange designs out there from 1945, I can only imagine what strange designs have been made since.
Magnificent build of the Magnificent Lightning Harvey! @scalerambush Truly inspirational stuff. I am one of the lucky ones to have this kit in my “end of the world supply”. Your post really made me all warm and fuzzy. Very well done indeed! Are the archival photos from the ZM Notes?
Cheers,
Aleks
The photos here were found online, but the ZM book does have them. You should be able to find all the photos of the original aircraft when it was in one piece online, ZM includes some good photos of the broken apart plane from the Smithsonian which I don't believe are online anywhere.
Outstanding. Reproducing photographed originals makes things more ...interesting. You did great.
Thank you very much!
Watched you build of this kit and you really did an excellent job of getting the most of this kit. It really turned out nice!
Amazing build Harvey @scalerambush - so good to see a quality kit getting built and not adorning someones shelf in the box - the history was awesome and its so cool to see your pics posed like the photos in the references. Fantastic.