Mitsubishi 87G2 キヤノンの鳥, February 1944

[nönöbär]

Mitsubishi 87G2, February 1944

Japan tested the Junkers Ju 87A model in 1940 after they were impressed by the aircrafts performance during the German attack on Poland. However, Japan did not decide to build a licenced version of this plane.

With the progress of World War II, the lack of capable ground attack planes started to hurtt badly after American troops made more and more progress in capturing occupied territory in the Pacific.
Therefore, it was decided in early 1944 to produce the Junkers Ju 87 G2 "Kanonenvogel" under licences at Mitsubshi as Mitsubishi 87G2 キヤノンの鳥. While the plane also carried the German designed 37mm anti-tank guns, they were also able to carry a single 250kg bomb (unlike the original Junkers plane).     

Production was started in January 1944 and until the production stop in June 1945, 248 planes were produced.
During their first attacks at the Battle of the Marshall Islands, they could take the American landing troops by surprise. However, like the Junkers Ju 87, the Mitsubishi proved to be very vulnerable against Allied fighters. Therefore over 80% of the operational planes were lost to enemy fighters.

The remaining aircraft were pulled back to the Japanese main islands in preperation of an Allied landing operation there. They got famous for their missions during the first reported Godzilla attack at Etajima in August of 1945, where they were able to force Godzilla back into the sea.

The model showes the first Mitsubishi 87G2 production plane during its rollout in February 1944.








The Model:

The model was made using a Italieri 1/72 Junkers Ju 87 G2 model. As one landing gear was missing, those were replaced by the ones of a Revell Ju 87 D model. Painted with Revel Aqua Color, the model was build OOB. The decals were taken from an Airfix Val dive bomber model.

[Captain Canada]

Beauty ! Looks so natural in that scheme.

[Librarian]

Beautifully constructed and painted, love those IJNAF presentation schemes .

[sandiego89]

Fantastic, have always liked that scheme!   Well done.

[PR19_Kit]

Looks just SO plausible! Nice job. 

[Army of One]

Oh wow.......

[NARSES2]

That is truly splendid 

Glad I'm not the only modeller who likes them clean 

[nönöbär]

Well, as this is just after the rollout, no surprise that it is washed and clean

I always wanted to know how a Stuka would look in this classic IJN color scheme and after my engineer put the decals on it I had to say that it looks quite cool with it. So I think I have to try some other Japanese paint jobs on other planes.

[Librarian]

Well, as this is just after the rollout, no surprise that it is washed and clean

I always wanted to know how a Stuka would look in this classic IJN color scheme and after my engineer put the decals on it I had to say that it looks quite cool with it. So I think I have to try some other Japanese paint jobs on other planes.

Glad your engineer avoided the bear metal .

[lancer]

NowTHAT is a thing of real beauty!!!

[sandiego89]

I submitted this for the WHIFFIES, again well done.  

-Dave "sandiego89"

[su27rules]

Very very nice,I like it a lot!! 

[DogfighterZen]

I submitted this for the WHIFFIES, again well done.  

-Dave "sandiego89"

I thought of doing that as soon as i saw the first pic! 
Excellent work!! 

[Glenn Gilbertson]

That looks really good!