This is the “old” Tamiya 1/48th J2M. I decided to do an NMF from some web photos I came across. Just a little different. By the way, this little simple kit was horrible, fit was depressing but I had fun, ( I only paid $8.00 USD for it) hope you like this “thunderbolt” (Raiden).
Steve
Chubby little thing, isn’t it? Nice build.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Looks good Steve. It does kinda look like a P-47 doesn’t it?
Very nice build of one of Tamiya’s older kits. They sure have improved over the years. The Hasegawa Raiden is now the better kit. Relly like the NMF on your model. Different, but historically accurate.
Regards, Rick
Hey Rick,
Thanks, I really have taken a fancy to this aircraft, probably my favorite JNAF subject. I remember back in the late sixties building the revell 1/32 release of this kit, the one with the sliding canopy. I wonder if it’s still around somewhere? I will be looking for that HAsegawa kit.
Steve
Nice Crockett. Did you put any wash in the panel lines??? Whats the finish?
Looks good I like the NMF I might do my Hasegawa kit in that scheme.
Excellent finish on the Raiden, Steve. You did justice to this kit, which couldn’t have been easy.
Regards, Dan
nicely done. I always liked those chubby planes.
very nicely done. The pilot is a nice little touch
Jason
I found it very interesting that the same pilot figure is provided in the bubbletop! I usually don’t include figures but with this kit, the canopy was a one option deal, closed! so I figured what the heck, it was fun adding those little details to the guy.
Jeff: no wash, just some MIG powder for exhaust and gun trails and a pencil accent in the panel lines, and it is SNJ with some buffing powder. The web references showed kind of a "sun bleached dull aluminum finish.
Steve
Excellent work on that ol’ Tamiya kit, Steve!
Your Raiden looks great in NMF! Great finish.
I’ve seen pix of an NMF Raiden in US insignia, too.
Nice!
Here’s a pic of my ancient 1/48 Otaki Raiden in regular paint:
You think the Tamiya was rough? Wheee-doggie, that Otaki kit was a struggle! Would have been nice to have a clear canopy, too…
I always thought there was some kind of connection between the Raiden and the P-47…they’re both chunky birds, and of course raiden means “thunderbolt” in Japanese.
Thanks for sharing the cool pix!
Wow thats a really clear canopy…Great job…[tup]
Steve , I just finished this same kits a few months ago. It was a simple build with no detail to speak of. You did a great nice job on the kit, like the paint job alot.
Thad
steve well done. very impressive build.
joe
Well done, I really like the pilot, mine never turn out that good.
Looks great. I seen MIG powders but never used them. I have Micromarks pastels on order gonna try those on my Malta spit.
I never really looked for pic of the Raiden but it sure looks good in NMF. I had one I started and lost… was gonna do the usual 2 tone camo on it.
How much detail did you have to add?
Jeff,
I’ve got to tell you man,the owner of my LHS turned me on to those MIG powders and they are SUPER. They beat the heck out of pastels, as they are actually paint . They adhere to surfaces and with a liquid medium added can be turned into mud and whatever. They are especially great on armor. I’m sold.
There were quite a few Raidens at Atsugi in mid/late 44 and 45 with NMF’s. I’m a little tired of seeing the same plane in IJN green with the yellow bolts on the side, I thought I would do something different. These were primarily B-29 interceptors and the Japanese were trying to squeeze all the performance out of these crates, so no paint. I added zero detail to the kit, OOB buddy…just borrowed some register tail #'s from a zero kit…
Steve
Very nice build, Steve!
Great looking plane -
It must have been tiny. Compare it to the P-47…