Mitsubishi-Northrop YP-79C Sushui III

[JayBee]

Mitsubishi/Northrop YP-79C Sushui III







With the building up of the JASDF after WWII the search was on for modern jet interceptors.
After the loss of the prototype Northrop XP-79B on it's maiden flight it looked as if that program would be cancelled. However the Japanese Government, and air force, liked the idea of the single warrior making a slashing sword stroke at the enemy, and so a batch of ten development aircraft were ordered from Mitsubishi, built under licence from Northrop, to equip a test squadron.
Nicknamed the Flying Ram by Northrop, the aircraft were known in Japanese service as the "Frying Lam".
Once the flying characteristics of the type were sorted out the program moved on to testing against War Weary B-17s flown under radio control.
The first live test was to chop off one half of the tailplane.
This was successful in so far as the tailplane was chopped off as planned, however
the B-17 kept flying and landed safely.
The YP-79's wing tip ram air intake was damaged and the aircraft was almost lost due to control problems. Only the skill of the pilot (Hiro Nakamura) ensuring that the aircraft made it safely back onto the ground.
The next two tests had the same objective, and the same result, except that one of the YP-79's had to be abandoned in flight.
Next it was decided to attempt to chop off the entire tail section. Three tests were carried out.
The first resulted in the destruction of the bomber, and the loss of the YP-79.
The second resulted in the destruction of the bomber, the loss of the YP-79 and it's pilot.
The third test resulted in the bomber continuing to fly with the YP-79 stuck in the rear fuselage. Unfortunately, due to structural damage the pilot was unable to abandon the aircraft.
The subsequent landing resulted in the loss of the bomber, the YP-79, and the pilot.
After this the Japanese government cancelled the project, and the surviving aircraft were scrapped apart from one example which was preserved at the JASDF museum at Hamamatsu, until the aircraft was destroyed in one of the many earthquakes that this area of Japan experiences.







This model was not hard to build, but where the problem lies is in the fact that it is an inveterate tail sitter. More than half the kits weight lies behind the main undercarriage, and there is not a lot of space forward of it for weights.
I did not realise this and did not cram as much weight in to the front as was needed.
So I subsequentlt had to super glue pellets of lead into the forward u/c bays, the front half of the main u/c bays, and in beside the pilot figure.
This was not enough!
The final solution was to mould new forward wheels in lead, and thankfully this worked.
This photo shows the three best wheels out of about two dozen that I moulded.

[Captain Canada]

Neat build ! Nice and clean....got a few off lines that bird eh ? But in a good way !

Nice save on the lead nose wheels too !

[PR19_Kit]

LEAD nosewheels? Whatever next, could be a good product line there JayBee. 

Terrific model nonetheless. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice idea. Is it all-grey?

[Librarian]

Whooo! Only ever seen some pictures before. That port wingtip in the first picture reminds me of the exhaust coming out the rear of an F-4 .

[JayBee]

Nice idea. Is it all-grey?

Yes. To my shame, Tamiya rattle can primer.  but I have used that colour on a number of models before.
!

[Dizzyfugu]

That ain't bad at all, it looks like a natural choice for such a Japanese version. I just wondered if the belly is in a different color (a lighter grey?).

I also already used pure grey primer for models and dioramas.

[NARSES2]

Nice one Jim 

[Father Ennis]

Sweet looking model and a brilliant idea on the cast wheels.  I agree,you should consider offering a line of cast wheels. It's a very needed idea.

[Modelling_Mushi]

... and a great backstory to boot ...