Bandai

[ChernayaAkula]

After the review of the 1/48 SANKA MK.B here is the review of its adversary, the 1/72 Skyly J2 by Bandai EX-Model.

For the background of the film, I'll shamelessly copy what I wrote earlier.
"The Sky Crawlers" is an anime by director Mamuro Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, among others) that came to Japanese screens in early August of 2008. For the details, I'll refer you to the WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE. I've read elsewhere that they wanted the aircraft to look like the pinnacle of prop-driven fighter design. Looking at the design of the planes, I think they succeeded.

While the Sanka seems to be a pretty straight-forward evolution of the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, the Skyly's ancestors are harder to trace. It seems like a wonderful kit-bash of a Fw 190D, a P-51D, an F4U Corsair and the turbocharger of a P-38 Lightning. Some of the finest fighters of WWII remixed to an impressive-looking heavy fighter. Looking from above the horizontal stabilizers remind of the Zero while the wing plan form look a bit like a gull-winged P-40. 

Box-art:



Sprue A,
containing the wings, parts of the undercarriage and the standing crew figure:



Sprue B,
containing the fuselage parts and the vertical stabilizer:



Sprue C,
containing the cockpit, propellers, engine parts and the gears for the counter-rotating props:



Sprue D,
containing the transparent discs replicating the spinning props.



They're shaped and not just simple flat discs. The pic below is one of the dics from the Sanka Mk. B kit.



Sprue E,
the tinted transparencies that are nicely thin.



The decals:



Markings for one plane. The instructions are in Japanese only, so I can't make any further comments on what plane is displayed. But as far as I know, this is the adversary in the film.

The coloured painting instructions, also containing some stills from the film:



The colours are also given in Japanese only. Thankfully, the coloured three-view instructions help a bit.

The cockpit:

[ChernayaAkula]

A detail shot of the nicely recessed panel lines and the detailed main landing gear wells.



An example of the instructions. As you can see in the drawing below and the pic above, the locator pins look like this is actually a snap-tite kit. As "joncarfarelly" noted, the Bandai kits fit exceptionally well. It can be hard to take apart the parts after dry-fitting. There's a good chance to damage the parts. So watch out when dry-fitting the parts. A solution could be to sand down the thickness of  the male locator bits for a less tight fit.



Overall, this looks like a very nice kit. The panel lines are finely engraved. The moulding is perfect – no visible flash, sink holes or ejector pin marks in places visible after assembly. The crew figure is a nice touch, although a seated figure would have been nice as well. The working counter-rotating props are great. And to include shaped dics to replicate the spinning prop for a wheels-up model is fantastic. 

Last but not least, I think the design of the plane is absolutely awesome. 

May have to get another kit for an USAAF WWII project, with drop-tanks and HVARs.

I got my copy of the kit at HOBBY LINK JAPAN.

[ChernayaAkula]

After the review of the 1/48 SANKA MK.B and the 1/72 SKYLY J2, here's the 1/72 version of the Sanka Mk.B by Bandai EX-Model.

IMPORTANT: Bandai was so nice to include TWO complete kits in this boxing. Everything you see below is included twice (except for the instructions and decals). 

For the background of the film, I'll – yet again - shamelessly copy what I wrote earlier.
"The Sky Crawlers" is an anime by director Mamuro Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, among others) that came to Japanese screens in early August of 2008. For the details, I'll refer you to the WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE. I've read elsewhere that they wanted the aircraft to look like the pinnacle of prop-driven fighter design. Looking at the design of the planes, I think they succeeded.

The Sanka cannot lie about its ancestors. Its design was obviously influenced by the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden.

Box-art:



Sprue A,
containing the cockpit, upper fuselage parts, propellers, engine parts and the gears for the counter-rotating props:



Sprue B,
containing the fuselage parts, upper wing halves  and the vertical stabilizers:



Sprue C,
containing the lower wings, parts of the undercarriage, the "Me 109" drop-tank and the figures:



Sprue D,
containing the transparent discs replicating the spinning props.



They're shaped and not just simple flat discs:



The transparencies,
nicely thin again:


The decals:



Markings for two planes. The instructions are in Japanese only, but it seems the planes have the same markings as the 1/48 versions, which would be of the Rostock Corporation Air Force, 262th Independent Fighter Unit, Yuichi Kannami (pilot's name?) at Urisu Base.

The second option has Mamuro Oshii's trade-mark Basset Hound as nose-art and what I take to be kill markings on the vertical stabs.

The coloured painting instructions, also containing some stills from the film:



The colours are also given in Japanese only. Thankfully, the coloured three-view instructions help a bit, although the Skyly's "camo" is much easier to replicate.

The figures:

A pilot, a female "officer" and the aforementioned Basset Hound 



Regarding assembly, the same comments from the Skyly apply: the locator pins look like this is actually a snap-tite kit. As "joncarfarelly" noted, the Bandai kits fit exceptionally well. It can be hard to take apart the parts after dry-fitting. There's a good chance to damage the parts. So watch out when dry-fitting the parts. A solution could be to sand down the thickness of the male locator pins for a less tight fit.

Like the J2 Skyly, this looks like an outstandingly nice kit. The panel lines are finely engraved and the moulding is again perfect – no obvious flash, sink holes or ejection pins that need to be cleaned up. The working prop is nice piece of engineering, while the shaped propeller discs are pretty awesome. And, to top it off, there are two kits per boxing.


As with the Skyly, I got my copy of the kit at HOBBY LINK JAPAN.

[gunfighter]

It looks like a Firebrand on steroids...

[ChernayaAkula]

^  :lol:Yeah! Didn't occur to me, but now that you mention it....

[gooberliberation]

Hows the turbo going to work with the exhaust just dumping out the sides? tandem/stacked engines? more than two rows of cylinders? some funky complimcated exhaust bypass whatchamahoozit?

[Maverick]

Brilliant looking stuff Moritz, thanks for sharing.

Goober, I kinda get the feeling that there's no rhyme or reason to the way the thing's designed.  From what I've noticed in anime stuff, there's rarely any consideration regarding the 'real' physics of a given situation, so I'd suggest that the bits on this one are a purely cosmetic affair.

Regards,

Mav

[Maverick]

Once again Moritz, thanks for sharing.

Definitely hats off to Bandai for these aircraft.

Along with their 35th scale "UC Hardgraph" kits, these kits show that the unusual needn't be the realm of hideously expensive resin kits.

Regards,

Mav

[Madoc]

S6,

Dump all the radiators, get rid of the exhausts and turbo.  Then add an exhaust for a turbo prop.

Well, looking at the "Skyly J2" I can see that thing would be an absolute pig any time its tires are in contact with anything other than slipstream.  Look at the length of the nose on that thing!  At least its landing gear looks of wide enough track to avoid ground looping while having to pull all those "S" turns on the taxiways just to see what's in front of that mile long nose.

The thing absolutely cries out for a nosegear.  And combining that with a turbo powerplant upgrade would be just the thing.  Good suggestion there S6!

Madoc

[Tophe]

interesting subject, nice invention, thanks for sharing

[devil505]

You have my attention!
Thanks for sharing.

[devil505]

Even though I'm not really building right now I am very interested in adding these to my collection.....Thanks again.

[GTX]

Looks like a modified Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden in Luftwaffe scheme - which isn't a bad whiff idea in its own right.

Regards,

Greg

[jcf]

Hows the turbo going to work with the exhaust just dumping out the sides? tandem/stacked engines? more than two rows of cylinders? some funky complimcated exhaust bypass whatchamahoozit?

What makes y'all think that is a turbo-supercharger?

The engine driven superchargers used on DB and Jumo engines were of the centrifugal type and were mounted with the axis of rotation
perpendicular to the aircraft centerline.


The engine appears to be of an X-layout with at least 16 cylinders.

Jon

[Maverick]

An interesting deviation from the ultra detailed kits we usually see.

http://www.modellversium.de/kit/artikel.php?id=8592

Regards,

Mav