The Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Japanese: 中島 B6N 天山 - "Heavenly Mountain", Allied reporting name: Jill) was the Imperial Japanese Navy's standard torpedo bomber for the final years of World War II. It was a development of the Nakajima B5N and replaced that aircraft in service. Although a highly-effective torpedo bomber, by the time it reached service, the US Navy had already achieved air superiority over the Pacific, and the type never really had the opportunity to display its full potential.

The B5N's weaknesses had shown themselves early in the Sino-Japanese War and as well as updating that aircraft, the Navy began seeking a replacement. In 1939, it issued a specification to Nakajima for an aircraft that could carry the same weapons load as the B5N but do it faster and over a longer range. The design was restricted by the fact that it also had to fit into the flight-deck elevators of existing aircraft carriers - which the B5N already almost filled. This latter restriction resulted in the characteristic shape of the B6N's tail fin with its forward-sloping rudder.

Unlike its predecessor, development was long and fraught with problems, including serious instability shown by the prototypes after flight testing began in early 1941, engine problems, and problems associated with carrier take-offs and landings. Rectifying these issues would mean that two years would pass before the aircraft was finally ready for squadron service. Even then, the aircraft's weight meant that it could only operate from the largest carriers in the fleet.

The B6N1's combat debut was nothing short of disastrous. The Battle of the Philippine Sea had them operating in an environment where the US had such air superiority that they failed to inflict any significant damage whatsoever, whilst taking massive losses from the US Navy's new F6F Hellcat fighter. Following this debacle, the Navy ordered several changes to the design, most notably a new engine, resulting in the B6N2.

By this point, small improvements in the B6N's performance were amongst the least of the Japanese Navy's problems. When the new model became available in mid 1944, it had already lost most of its large carriers, and was becoming desperately short of experienced pilots. The vast majority of B6N2 operations therefore took place from land bases, and failed to achieve any major successes. They were extensively used in the Battle of Okinawa, where they were also used for kamikaze missions for the first time.

With the Navy's priorities now shifting to the impending defence of the home islands, a final version of the aircraft was produced for land-only use, sacrificing its carrier operations features in exchange for a little more performance due to weight savings. Two B6N3 prototypes were completed, but Japan surrendered before this variant could be put into production.

A total of 1,268 B6Ns were completed, almost all of them B6N2s. Today, only one remains, preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

In the mid 1980s, Fujimi decided to tackle several subjects that had not been done previously, or had not been done well. Most of what they started with was from the IJN as naval aircraft had not been well represented. This resulted in a number of interesting aircraft and variants, among them the B6N Jill. Naturally, Fujimi took full advantage of the ability to do mulitple variants where ever possible and at least three Jill kits were produced. This one is the B6N2 version and the one most widely used.

Molded in their standard light grey plastic, it has engraved panel lines that are superbly done. The interior is as basic as you can get (also typical of Fujimi at the time) and consists of a floor with molded in seats, a control column and an instrument panel with a decal. Of course, this was 1983 and a lot of detail wasn't really that much of a requirement. Since, there have been aftermarket sets produced to enhance this barren space.  The engine face is trapped between two cowling halves and a one-piece prop is provided. You also have a once piece lower wing with two upper wing halves. Landing gear are well molded and you have the option of raised or lowered gear. A one piece greenhouse canopy sits atop all this and there are side and lower fuselage windows on the clear sprue as well. For ordnance your options are a torpedo or a rack of two bombs (which is a single molding).

Instructions are in Japanese and English with 7 construction steps and painting information provided in each step. Markings are given for one aircraft from the  Taiho in 1944. The decals are a bit thick, with ivory whites and overly bright Hinomarus, though some say these really were this bright a shade.  Anyway, despite being 20 plus years old, I'm sure these will work just fine as long as one uses hot water and stays away from setting solutions.

Overall these are very nice kits. Though I've not built the Jill, I have done others in this series and the fit is generally quite good. They are not difficult models to complete and provide an excellent basis for the detailer. They can often be found on vendors tables at shows for $10 or less, so if you are into Japanese Naval aircraft, this is one you really should consider.

Wikipedia