Tamiya 1/48 N1K1 type 11 Shiden

The N1K1 Shiden, code name, “George” was a landplane follow-up from the N1K Kyofu floatplane, code name “Rex”. The box art shows a rugged looking aircraft on a long landing gear and sporting a large 4-blade prop. It somewhat reminds me of my favorite fighter, the Grumman F8F Bearcat.

The George was one of the best Japanese fighters of WWII. In the hands of a good pilot, it performed equally with the Hellcat and Corsair. It had a top speed of 400 mph, a climb rate of 4,000 fpm and a high roll rate of 82 degrees/second. It was armed with 4-20mm cannons and could carry a 550 lb. bomb or an 85 gal. fuel tank on the centerline giving a combat range of 600 miles. There were 1,532 produced and they served well until the end of the war.

Other than the three types of aircraft Japan used at Pearl Harbor, I haven’t built any other Japanese aircraft. This one came into my possession along with 4 other model kits my friend found for $2 each! That’s not a typo….$2, what I used to pay for a model 50 years ago! My friend Barbara frequents thrift stores and garage sales, and she finds these kinds of deals regularly…a super shopper! The other 4 kits were all 1:48 Hasegawa fighters and a 1:48 Tamiya He219 Uhu. Thank you, Barbara!

The kit is molded as all 90s era Tamiya kits with nice rivet and panel line detail. The 6-page instruction sheet included illustrations for four aircraft. Color callouts were accurate. A nice decal sheet with options for 4 aircraft was included. The canopy parts were all very clear and thinly molded.

The Tamiya 1:48 N1K1 Shiden was originally released in 1994, and this is the 2009 release of kit #61038. As with all the Tamiya models I’ve built, this one was well engineered, and parts fit very well requiring no use of putty.

It was built out-of-the-box except for the addition of an Eduard seat belt and single shoulder harness, typical of Japanese aircraft. The cannon barrels were drilled out and painted Gunmetal.

The engine crankcase was painted gray and the cylinders aluminum and given a black wash. The exhaust stacks were painted steel.

The cockpit is well detailed and was painted with Japanese Cockpit Green and a flat black instrument panel, then lightly dry-brushed with aluminum. The complex canopy frame was masked with a set of excellent Airscale masks.

The model was painted with Tamiya Japanese Navy Green and Gray. Rather than using the yellow-orange leading edge decals I masked and painted them with Testors small bottle #1126 Gloss Tangerine, and the same was used for the prop blade warnings.

The model was sprayed with Tamiya Gloss Clear in preparation for decals. The kit decals performed perfectly using warm water. An application of Solvaset settled them nicely into rivets and panel lines. When dry the model was washed to remove any decal film and Solvaset. A final coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear sealed the decals and provided a realistic finish of a newly delivered aircraft.

Light exhaust and gun staining was done with pastel chalk dust and a soft brush. A nylon thread antenna wire was installed from the tail to the mast and an insulator added using white glue.

My Shiden was finished in 30 pleasurable hours. I would highly recommend it for a beginner modeler. It is a simple and straightforward kit. I am happy with the results and look forward to building the other kits from my friend.

• Kawanishi Kyofu & Shiden Aircraft Profile # 213 by René J. Francillon

• Tamiya kit Illustration for N1K1 Shiden of the Japanese Navy Tsukuba Fighter Group

 H Davis Gandees

February 2025

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