One thing about the N1K2-J Shiden-Kai, you can have it in any color as long as it is IJN Black-Green over Natural Metal! Not a lot of fancy camo schemes for this or really any other IJN airplane. This is pretty much the same of any naval aircraft during WWII. All the fancy stuff was with the 'other' guys! In fact, all of these planes are with the 343 Kokutai, IJN's group of aces. All of the really talented surviving IJN pilots were in this unit that operated in defense of Tokyo during the last year of the war.

Kits for this are by Hasegawa and Hasegawa. Either the older kit or the new tool one will work well on this sheet. I don't think Otaki did one, but if so, it would fit that kit as well. I mean, other than some fuselage stripes, they are all pretty similar.

First is -45 from 701 Hikotai. It has a double red fuselage band and a white tipped spinner. This aircraft has the broad chord fin of early production planes. Modelers wishing to add this feature need to add about 1/8 inch to the kit's fin.

Next is -03 from 407 Hikotai. This one has a single white fuselage band and a large 03 painted on the fuselage roundel. This aircraft also has the broad chord fin of early production planes.

From the 301 Hikotai is -37, with 37 painted in the roundel

The final plane, also from 407 Hikotai, is -20 with its number painted in the roundel. As with 03, the roundel's white outline is painted out.

There are enough insignia to do three of the four subjects.

Review sheet courtesy of me.

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