The Aircraft

The Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden (Violet Lightning) was codenamed “George” by the Allies. Development was interesting in that the Shiden was developed from the N1K Kyofu (Strong Wind / Rex), a floatplane.

The Shiden was heavily armed, with 4 x 20 mm cannon in the wings. It was considered the equal of the Hellcat, and could hold its own with the Corsairs and P-51s. As a bomber interceptor, it was hampered by poor rate of climb and inadequate engine performance at high altitudes.

The prototype flew in 1943, and the type entered production in January of 1944. Production never exceeded 83 per month (April and May 1945), and only 423 were produced before VJ day.

There are 4 surviving Shidens, one at the Naval Air Museum at Pensacola, one at the USAF Museum near Dayton, one at the Champlin Air Museum (on loan from the National Air and Space Museum), and one at Shikoku, Japan.

Freshly released from Hasegawa and Hobbico is the best 1/48 scale version of the E/A-18G Growler. This is a modification of their F/A-18F two-seat Super Hornet Kit including four new sprues to allow for the radar jamming pods, extra bumps and antennae and cockpit differences. All the parts are nicely done with engraved panel lines and no flash. Marking are included for lo-viz VFQ-129 Vikings and the CAG from VFA-141. I chose the latter with its black spine and tails- great looking plane.

The kit has several up front things to do. Since this is a modified F version, there are a bunch of holes to open on the forward fuselage, wings, and rear fuselage to allow adding of the changes peculiar to the G version. I missed doing this to the wings and made life much more difficult as this plane has lots of "things under wings". I also decided to fold the wings. This involves some cutting but looks great and the hinges are included.

Quickboost has now released a resin aftermarket part that will add detail to any 1/32 F4U-1 kit on the market. It is actually an enlargement of Quickboost’s set 48 357 for 1/48 Corsairs. This set provides three ready-to-install F4U-1 Corsair pitot tubes cast in a flexible resin that likely will survive occasional bumps sometime experienced when a finished model is handled. The pitot tubes are molded in Quickboost’s familiar gray resin on a casting block with extended bars that protect the parts from damage in the package. They exhibit a much better pointed tip than those included in most 1/32 kits.

A sharp #11 x-Acto blade is the only tool needed to remove each pitot tube from the casting block and to shave off a thin casting gate that is molded on the side of the part to protect the tip detail.

This part is a direct replacement for a kit part and, because it is resin, should be attached with super glue or epoxy cement.

A recent addition to Quickboost’s growing line of aftermarket detail parts is this nice resin part that will add detail to the front end of a Corsair built from one of the Tamiya 1/72 F4U-1 kits. Quickboost’s #72 320 is a replacement for the kit’s open cowl flaps but, as the photo below shows, it provides considerably enhanced backside detail. Since it is designed to replace the kit part, it is easily installed during the assembly process without the need to cut or modify the kit. However, with some work, it also may be adaptable to other F4U-1 kits on the market. The part is molded in Quickboost’s familiar gray resin on a casting block. The quality of the molding is flawless, with no bubbles, pinholes or flash to deal with.

AERO RESEARCH offers their FIRST BOOK !

Recommendation – Most High

I will say that purely from the standpoint of a modeler, this has to be one of the most informative and well thought out publications I’ve seen to date. It comes to you soft bound with a plastic spiral binder (much easier to lay open on the workbench), 104 pages with 36 variants of the Skyraider. (I had no idea there were that many) Also, 42 drawings of the Skyraider variants.