Tag Archives: raiden

Tamiya’s J2M3 Raiden finished

As one would expect from a 40-year old molds – this kit does not fit perfectly, so here’s a list of recommendations.

– Dry fit the cockpit. The instrument panel does interfere with the pilot’s legs. Unless you are doing some detailing inside – the figure is your best option to distract viewers from the spartan interior.

– There are gaps between the upper wing halves and the fuselage, and at the rear of the lower wing/fuselage join.

– You are in for a re-scribing session once the propeller and the engine cooling fan are in place. There are two locating pins that do help, but some sanding is still required.

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Konbanwa, Tamiya san! Tamiya’s 1/48 J2M3 kit

Now the Raiden (or Jack as it’s more familiar to the English speakers) might not have been as popular as the Type 0 (A6M), yet to me it represents the change in Japanese philosophy of building military aircraft. The J2M was not transformation of a different type of aircraft, was designed with a powerful engine from the outset, wasn’t supposed to carry 7,7 mm guns and many more firsts. It’s also my first ever Tamiya kit 🙂

I’ve been looking for a 72nd scale model for a while, but Hasegawa’s kit was hard to find and not really worth the price asked. So when this “second-hand” kit showed up for about $10 I didn’t give it any second thoughts.

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