Mitsubishi J2M RAIDEN – Imperial Japanese Navy Interceptor Fighter is the newest book in the series of Profiles by Model Art. This is #11 in the series and is my personal favorite to date. This softbound book contains 136 pages and is jammed packed with vintage photos, line drawings, and color profiles of the aircraft, as well as some color photos of a surviving Raiden.

The Mitsubishi J2M Raiden was code named “Jack” by the allies during WWII. It was intended to be an interceptor to counter the threat of high altitude B-29 raids over the home islands. This publication covers the Raiden development and design changes throughout its short operational history.

The book starts off with 8 pages of color photographs of the recent 1/32 Hasegawa J2M3 kit. Photos are included of a very nice built model, and several in-process photos which may help someone working on this kit. Pages 12-21 contain wonderful drawings and actual photographs of components of the Raiden. Of note are the profile images containing details of the exterior aircraft stenciling, the landing gear, and the cockpit is covered in great detail.

Pages 22-31 contain color images of the only surviving Raiden in a walk-around format. The aircraft is a J2M3 Type 21 on display at the Air Museum Planes of Fame in Chino, CA. Just about every area of the aircraft is covered here and there is a wealth of information for the modeler.

The rest of the book contains vintage photos, many of which I had not seen before; many line drawings covering all aspects of the Raiden (including some nice plans in 1/72); many pages of system diagrams (showing everything from the radio wiring to the oxygen supply); and last but not least some great color profiles of Raiden in the “Camouflage and Markings” section. This section is a wealth of information on all the different systems of the airframe, and most everything is covered by a corresponding detailed line drawing. Some examples are: internal wing structure, engine mount, propeller and hub, drop tank, landing gear, and, again, the cockpit.

While most of the publication is in Japanese, pages 104-109 contain English text for the photo captions. The value of this book is not in the text, however, as it is packed with detailed images and drawings. This is an excellent reference for the model builder working on a Raiden in any scale.

I highly recommend this outstanding publication to anyone interested in WWII Japanese Aviation, or someone building a model of the J2M Raiden “Jack.”

Thank you Model Art for providing the review sample.