DONE @p.2 +++ Yokosuka J1Y3 "Akaei" light fighter of the IJN, early 1945

[DogfighterZen]

Yup, that would not be a feasible carrier based design. Something like a somewhat modified P-38 would do i guess, but not that center line pusher prop thing... Only if it had a big, and i mean, BIG, triangular hook, almost like the cable that first was used on the catapult systems... one end connected to each boom and the hook would be locked underneath the center point of the horizontal stab... that might work but still, the booms would have to be very sturdy, wouldn't they?

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, there was a proposal for a navalized XP-54 (just the idea is mind-boggling!), and it came with an odd extra construction under the propeller that connected IIRC even with the stabilizer, a kind of third boom (even though it was a rather flimsy thing), and it carried a hook, too. Could not find any online pic, I'll see if I find it in the book where I saw it and take a photo. It's, in this context, worth taking a look at (and then turn away in horror!). 

[Dizzyfugu]

A quick check revealed this, the Vultee Model 79...


Vultee Model 79 design sketches by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Vultee Model 79 design sketches by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

IMHO a good thing that this never entered the hardware stage! 

[PR19_Kit]

DEFINITELY in the outer fringes of sanity! 

Even Eric Brown would have baulked at landing that on a carrier I'm sure.

It's odd how the contra-prop version has the booms angled inward. I wonder why?

[Sport21ing]

I won't deny that. But, from my personal point of view, it's either poorly researched, or purposely edited in a fashion that's begging for skepticism, just exploiting the exotism of the designs.

Yes, true, with many butterflies prior/during the war (and alien technology), but still, with a little of imagination

[Dizzyfugu]

It's odd how the contra-prop version has the booms angled inward. I wonder why?

IIRC, the "real" XP-54 also had its tail booms angled inwards:

https://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_Vultee-XP-54.gif

No idea why, though. 

[DogfighterZen]

A quick check revealed this, the Vultee Model 79...


Vultee Model 79 design sketches by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Vultee Model 79 design sketches by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

IMHO a good thing that this never entered the hardware stage! 

Second that! It sure looks like it would've been a dangerous thing to land on carrier(not that i have any expertise on the subject). It simply looks dangerous. Looks good for a land based fighter , though.
I imagine that a twin-boom plane would have a tailhook with some structure of this type:



Image was taken from Wikiwand, crappy paint editing is my fault...

[Dizzyfugu]

BTW, back to the original topic.  Here's the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); based at Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945:


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr



Some background:
The Yokosuka J1Y was a land-based interceptor for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN/大日本帝國海軍航空隊, Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Kōkū-tai) that was based upon a research aircraft and introduced into service during the final months of WWII. Work on the J1Y commenced at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal (海軍航空技術廠, Kaigun Kōkū Gijutsu-shō) during 1942 and 1943, in the midst of the Second World War. The J1Y was initially intended to test the benefits of different aircraft layouts in order to exploit the available engines' potential further, albeit the aircraft had been designed from the start in a fashion that was suitable for combat and easily adaptable into a light fighter aircraft. It would eventually be developed into Yokusuka's only fighter project.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The J1Y was an unorthodox twin-boom pusher configuration fighter aircraft. It featured a mid-mounted wing, a tricycle landing gear arrangement, and was furnished with heavy forward-firing armament. The fuselage was primarily composed of plywood for the forward section and aluminum throughout the aft section, in order to save critical war material. The advantages of the pusher design were of an unobstructed forward view for the pilot, while the armament could also be concentrated in the nose, so that most of the aircraft's heavy elements were concentrated around the mutual center of gravity. However, a major drawback was difficulty in escaping from the aircraft in an emergency, as the pilot could get drawn into the propeller blades, and the tail surfaces posed an imminent danger, too.

The J1Y1 test aircraft was powered by a 700 kW (940 hp) Nakajima Sakae 12 engine. A pair of intakes in the wings' roots ducted cooling air to the engine, which was mounted at the egg-shaped fuselage's tail, as well as to a pair of oil coolers that were buried in the thickened wing roots. Despite the aircraft's tubby shape, it was a very clean design with an excellent weight distribution.
During the ensuing tests and flight trials in late 1943, the J1Y1 proved to be superior to the comparable Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" in many respects, so that the Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Bureau (海軍航空本部, Kaigun Kōkū Hombu) became interested enough to eventually order a fully capable combat aircraft variant in early 1944: the J1Y2.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Development of the J1Y2 lasted until mid-1944. Outwardly, the aircraft differed only slightly from the J1Y1 test aircraft, of which four had been built. The internal structure was strengthened, esp. around the engine mount, because the fighter version was to be powered by the Mitsubishi Kinsei Model 48 radial engine which delivered 1,080 hp (810 kW). Since this engine had a slightly bigger diameter, the tight cowling had to be modified and now featured small bulges for its fourteen-cylinder heads, creating a characteristic ring of small bumps around the rear fuselage. The dorsal carburetor air scoop had to be enlarged, too.
The J1Y1's four-blade propeller was replaced by a six-blade propeller – a measure that was necessary to convert the engine's raised power output into sufficient propulsion, while exploiting the limited possible propeller disc diameter between the tail booms and keeping sufficient ground clearance.

Armor plates were added to the nose section and behind the pilot's seat, but protection remained relatively light. In order to extend the J1Y1's limited range of only 750 km (470 mi, 400 nmi), two additional 150l fuel tanks were added to the inner wings behind the landing gear wells, partly extending into the tail booms, even though they were not self-sealing like the main fuel tank behind the cockpit. Tilting air brakes were installed on the wings, enabling the J1Y1 to manoeuvre into a stable firing position behind slower aircraft. Armament consisted of a pair of 20 mm Type 99-2 cannon, flanking the front wheel well, supplemented by a pair of 7.7 mm (.303 in) Type 97 machine guns, which were rather intended as spotting rifles: they fired tracer rounds with the same trajectory as the 20 mm rounds, and gave off a flash and puff of white smoke on impact, so that 20 mm ammunition could be saved. Upon IJN introduction in August 1944, the J1Y was christened "Akaei" (アカエイ, "Stingray"). The Allied reporting name was "Ron".


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


However, teething development problems stemming from the Kasei engine cooling system and the main undercarriage members led to a slowdown in production. And when the Boeing B-29 Superfortress appeared, the J1Y2's performance, esp. at height, was not sufficient anymore. Being not suited for high-altitude operations, and lacking internal space to accommodate a turbocharger, the IJN's interest in the aircraft waned and resources were rather allocated to more promising types like the Mitsubishi J2M, despite its development problems, too. However, the J1Y2's heavy gun armament supplied effective firepower and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally. It was also a very agile aircraft, esp. at medium altitude, so that production switched in January 1945, after 75 J1Y2s had been built, to the J1Y3.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The ultimate variant of the "Akaei" featured a new, even more powerful Mitsubishi Kinsei 62 engine with 1,163 kW (1,560 hp). Outwardly, this variant differed from its predecessor by a different exhaust arrangement: instead of the J1Y2's two exhaust pipes, the J1Y3 featured individual exhaust, hidden under seven aerodynamic fairings, in order to exploit residual thrust and therefore further improve performance – resulting in even more bumps and fairing around the engine cowling. For the more powerful engine, and also because of cooling problems, the carburetor scoop was enlarged even more, so that an auxiliary cooling intake could be integrated.
Even though the armament nominally remained unchanged, supply shortages and field modifications in order to lighten the aircraft saw many J1Y3s with only two Type 99 cannons installed and the empty machine gun ports faired over. Some J1Y3s also carried gun 13.2 mm (.51 in) Type 3 heavy machine guns instead of the cannons, becoming designated J1Y3a. Due to ammunition shortages, some machines were converted in field workshops to this standard, too.

The J1Y3 arrived at IJN units in March 1945, but only a few were operational until the end of hostilities in the PTO, probably only around 40 aircraft were eventually delivered.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr



General characteristics:
    Crew: 1
    Length: 30 ft 9 in (9.37 m)
    Wingspan: 38 ft (12 m)
    Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)
    Wing area: 262 ft² (24.3 m²)
    Empty weight: 2,839 kg (6,259 lb)
    Gross weight: 3,211 kg (7,079 lb)

Powerplant:
    1× Mitsubishi Kinsei 62 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,163 kW (1,560 hp)

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 640 km/h (397 mph, 346 kn) at at 6,096 m (20,000 ft)
                 560 km/h (348 mph, 303 kn) at sea level
   Cruising speed: 495 km/h (308 mph, 267 kn)
    Range: 1,078 km (670 mi, 582 nmi) at 272 km/h (169 mph; 147 kn) at 457 m (1,500 ft)
    Ferry range: 1,190 km (740 mi, 640 nmi)
    Service ceiling: 10,200 m (33,500 ft)
    Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)

Armament:
    2× 20 mm belt-fed Type 99-2 Mark 4 cannon with 125 RPG and
    2× 7.7 mm (.303 in) Type 97 machine guns with 250 RPG in the lower fuselage
    2× hardpoints under the outer wings for 60 kg (132 lb.) bombs or 200 l (53 US gal; 44 imp gal) drop tanks



The kit and its assembly:
This build followed a spontaneous inspiration, even though I actually had the Vampire donor kit already stashed away for a while, and the plan to convert it into a propeller-driven aircraft with a radial engine and a pusher configuration à la Saab 21 had already been there – but I lacked an idea for an operator, so that I could build the background story around it. With the "in the navy" theme, it suddenly clicked – why not the IJN? The Vampire is a rather compact and slender aircraft, so there's IMHO some Japanese "style" in the design, and after the torturous recent build of HMS Cerberus I wanted some kind of relief (No-brainer, Build-On-Autopilot).

The Vampire kit is the vintage Heller mold from 1979, but actually in a mid-Nineties Revell re-boxing. Like many other Heller kits, it comes with raised panels, but detail is sufficient (nice dashboard, landing gear is O.K., and the kit comes with separate air brakes) – the molds seem to be a bit worn, though, I guess a "true" old Heller kit is more crisp and would be the better choice.

At the core of the conversion plan was the implantation of a radial engine in place of the jet exhaust. I found a donor part from a Hobby Boss MC.200 Saetta – a bit vintage, but it had the right diameter and I actually liked the ring of bulges on the cowling. Internally, a styrene tube adapter was added for a freely spinning propeller.

While adding a prop to a jet seems to be an easy task, the real challenge behind such a conversion are the many other changes that have to be made to the airframe. This includes a (considerably) longer landing gear and the respective wells, but also the tail surfaces. There's also the question how the new radial engine actually breathes, where exhausts can be located, and a cooling system is necessary, too.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Work started with the search for new landing gear struts, and I also used different wheels – for instance, the main wheels come from a Hasegawa F9F Panther, while the front wheel comes from a Frog He 162 and is probably 35 years old(!). In order to make the longer struts fit into the airframe, I elongated the wells in the wings towards the fuselage, so that the track width was reduced – but with the Vampire's small airframe and original wide stance, this was no serious problem. From the inside, they were faired with styrene profile material, and the extended covers were scratched – esp. the parts for the wings, with their bulges for the tail boom tips, were fiddly.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


In order to move the overall look a bit further away from the Vampire, I completely changed the fin arrangement. The original, rounded and rather small fins and the bullet-shaped fairings that hold the stabilizer outside of the original exhaust blast were deleted. Once the wings and the tail booms were added to the fuselage, the stabilizer was mounted between the booms, in a slightly lower position. For the new fins I wanted a layout that would, beyond a more squarish shape that would better match the wings, protect the propeller. Therefore, I used stabilizers from a KP Yak-23; each was cut into two pieces, tailored further to match the rest of the aircraft, and glued in positions above and underneath the booms. Looks quite weird, as if the aircraft had been designed upside down, but it's a rather pragmatic solution that has already been used on some pusher designs in the past.

The six-blade propeller was scratched from a spinner, carved from a thick piece of sprue, plus a metal axis and six single blades that were taken from the rather wacky one-piece propellers of Airfix's Ki-46 kit. Hollow steel needles were used as barrels for the Type 99 cannons in the lower fuselage.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Painting and markings:
Once more, a rather conservative approach – and the IJN was not creative when it came to liveries. Almost every aircraft carried a typical dark green over light grey scheme, with minimal individual markings or tactical codes. I wanted to stay true to this concept but decided to simplify the scheme even more since this would be a late-war aircraft, pressed into service under rather dire supply circumstances. This resulted in a NMF livery (basis is Tamiya XF-60, which turned out soemwaht grainy, plus some Polished Aluminum Metallizer from Humbrol on top), with only the upper surfaces camouflaged with IJN Green (ModelMaster) without primer underneath, resulting in a somewhat flaky and worn look. Since they are rather slender, the tail booms were completely painted in IJN green, too.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The yellow ID markings on the wings' leading edges were created with decal material (TL Modellbau), the cockpit interior as well as the landing gear wells were painted with a mix of silver and blue, mimicking the typical "aodake iro" protective clear lacquer of Japanese IJN aircraft. The struts were painted black, according to A6M museum exhibits. The propeller blades ware painted in a red-brown primer, a mix of Humbrol 160 and 180.


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Markings were taken from a PrintScale Yokosuka N1K2 decal sheet and mixed from two aircraft. Placing the fuselage hinomaru was tricky – the natural choice would have been the tail booms, but they'd be very small, so I rather put them on the fuselage under the cockpit. With the individual aircraft number added to the meatball, it looks now like a racing aircraft, though...

Finally, the kit received some soot stains and dry-brushing with aluminum, and everything was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish from Italeri - even though the result is a little too glossy for my taste, but I left it that way.




1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal J1Y3 "アカエイ" (Allied reporting name "Ron"); aircraft "(210-)20" of the 210th Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN); Kokubu airfield (Japan), April 1945 (Whif/converted Heller D.H. Vampire kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


A rather quick build, but structurally not much from the Vampire was changed. The new engine was relatievly easy to integrate - the other small bits like the fins, the propeller and esp. the landing gear took more time. The result looks quite odd - the whole thing has also a certain German touch? Could have worked well with a BMW 801 engine, too! 

[Gondor]

Another great build 

Gondor

[Tophe]

  Wonderful! 

[DogfighterZen]

Another great build 

Gondor

Second that, and a suiting backstory to go with it! 

[PR19_Kit]

Oh yes! Another Dizzy Gem! 

Changing the landing gear bays can't have been easy.

[Caveman]

Really great job integrating that radial and the longer legs. It really changes the look of the plane having a different stance on the ground. I bet the take off run was long with those inverted fins though. Good bump stops to protect the prop but not much angle to rotate.

[ChernayaAkula]

Lovely model! 

[Cobra]

Superb Build this looks like something You'd see in WW2 or atleast Crimson Skies! this was a Masterpiece,IMHO! ok if i Send You a Note? got a Site You may want to check out. Keep up the Superb Work Dan