Kyushu J7W "Shinden" ('Oh, my goddess' manga version)

[Dizzyfugu]

I might confuse passers-by with this one, because it is a whif with a literature benchmark, and actually an official kit!

I like the Shinden design veery much, but was never really convinced of the simple 1st prototype's livery in green and grey. But this changed when I found this kit accidently in a model kit shop for Japanese animation in Berlin (yes, SUCH things exist!), in a very dark shop corner - and, believe it or not, it is an official Hasegawa kit in 1:72!


1:72 Oh, my goddess - Kyushu J7W "Shinden" (manga version) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The "paradigm" for this machine, which is fictionally supposed to be the second Shinden prototyp which had been buried and lost, stems from a special edition of the "Oh, my goddess" manga by Fujishima Kosuke, a one-shot story during the first or second series of books called "On a Wing and a Prayer" (Chapter 24), initially published around 1997.

The kit itself is Hasegawa's standard 1:72 scale model of the WWII Shinden prototype. New water sliding decals and painting instructions were included, and the kit has been mostly built "out of the box".


1:72 Oh, my goddess - Kyushu J7W "Shinden" (manga version) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Actually, I was a bit suprised by the kit's colors, since the manga (or its English translation) mentions a "green fuselage" - but this is a translation error, because "green" and "blue" use the same word/symbols in Japanese.
Hasegawa recommends white and a dark petrol blue (which I found out is correct/intended by the manga's author), even though it is a non-standard color and has to be mixed manually. Other weird color details include bright red landing gear well insides... but since there are no other color references available (the manga is B/W), I stuck with Hasegawa' official instructions.


1:72 Oh, my goddess - Kyushu J7W "Shinden" (manga version) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The kit itself is of high quality, typical Hasegawa standard, and the parts fit well. The tricky job is the painting, though, with lots of white and the very complicated blue contrast areas, which are especially hard to paint (and get straight) on the fuselage, because of the air intake bulgings. I did not get it as perfact as I wanted to...


1:72 Oh, my goddess - Kyushu J7W "Shinden" (manga version) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Another tricky part are the decals for some of the blue areas. While the idea of having some of the delicate shapes as a water decal at hand is good, but actually matching the color of these decals with the rest of the paint is another task - you will recognize some areas with color differences

Besides these troubles, some details in the cockpit and at the landing gear were added. Unfortunately, no figures were included as extras. But overall, a very good and exotic kit - even though the execution is far from as perfect as I had hoped for. White...  . But due to the delicate color scheme: nothing for beginners!


1:72 Oh, my goddess - Kyushu J7W "Shinden" (manga version) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[dwomby]

Now that's unusual!   I always liked the design of the Shinden but to find that boxing from Hasegawa is really strange.

Nice job!

David

[Tophe]

Surprising & pleasant...

[Dizzyfugu]

Yes, it's weird, but pretty. I got the manga before I found the kit, and already thought about building a Shinden in the manga's style - but the comic is juts BW, and expected the plane to be IJN Dark Green/Grey with some "rallye stripes". I was shocked when I saw the box and the authetic livery in white and blue, much different from what I had expected! Nevertheless, a beautiful aircraft with a stylish paint scheme - even the red landing gear wells somehow match up...