recently purchased this kit and was curious if any of you WW2 Japanese aircraft “experts” out there know what the markings on the box art represent ?? Since it’s all in Japanese on the box & instructions, they are no help. The overall aircraft is orange yellow (training? experimental?) with a red tail and black cowl. Markings on the tail look like ]35. ( legs on the bracket are much longer, but my keyboard does’nt type in Japanese!)
Hi Bob… I am interested in hearing more about this… It sounds like the M6A1-K?
Could you post a pic of the box for me to have a read…
Cheers Chris
Bob, i just took the period out of the end bracket
Scratch that, looks like you dont have the file linked properly
Any ideas on how to make this work??
is that the exact link to the photo? usually (from what i’ve seeen) the URL will end in the photo name, like “HTTP://blahblah.com/JAPANESEPLANE.jpg” so maybe try something like that?
Oh good grief, it can’t be this easy. All I did was copy & paste !!
That is a Yokosuka E14Y1, Allied code name Glen. It was a submarine based reconnaissance aircraft. It was used to survey the damage at Pearl Harbor on December 17, 1941, and was the only enemy aircraft to bomb the US mainland in WW II when one dropped phosphorus bombs on the Oregon coastal forest.
You may have somewhat rare kit as this one was probably only sold in Japan. The box art is certainly nice.
Thanks for the info, john, I read about the Glen’s exploits in “I-Boat Captain” by Zenji Orita, (good book by the way). Do you have any thoughts on the paint scheme, markings ?? Of course the color called for is much more orange than the box art. I thought they only used orange for training or testing aircraft ??
Bob:
I suspect the orange may not be an opaque color, but rather an overcoat such as was seen on the Mitsubishi A5M Claude. It was an anti-corrosion coating which would make sense since the airplane was exposed to salt water all the time. From what I have read studying the finish on the Claude it would look different depending on the light, sometimes having a gold appearance. The figure like the J on the tail is Ko, an character in the Kana alphabet. It is the unit the aircraft was assigned to, I think.
This link takes you to the J-aircraft home page, a good site for Japanese aircraft. It is a listing of kits of the Glen, and it appears Fujimi issued the kit in 5 different boxings. Maybe you can find a number on your box that matches one on the page. There is a review on the MPM kit which called out silver or grey as colors. As usual, the more you research the more confusion reigns.
Thanks again, John. didn’t know about the anti corrosion coating, Since it’s not done yet, maybe I’ll repaint it more of a yellow just to have something different. Checked the website, didn’t find my kit number which is 72122. It’s not an old kit 'cause there’s a barcode on the box.
Bob… sorry I didnt reply as of yet… I have been waiting for my wife to come home and read the kanji on the box… I am as interested as you are on this one… Very interesting indeed… I think jeaton has done his homework, and has pretty well much nailed it!
Chris
Jeaton:
I belive I know this kit. It is the Fujimi kit #721224. I believe it is still in production by Fujimi, and other from the avaiability in the U.S. of this kit from a smaller model company, I do not belive it is OOP.