Kopro 94158: 1/72 Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai

Units: 343 Kokutai

Price

70 Karuna (about $3.50) from www.hobbyshop.cz

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Unbeknownst to many, Kopro, well known for its plastic model kits, also has a line of decals. Most of what they offer seems to be geared towards their kit and in some cases, sheets are the same as what is provided in some of their kits. Such is this particular one which has the kit number printed on the sheet. However, as most kits have multiple boxings, it may well be that the buyer is just looking for an alternate scheme or perhaps markings to use on another kit.

Not surprisingly, there is no recommended kit for this particular sheet, but I would bet that it will fit the Hasegawa kit as well as the Kopro kit for which it was released.

The sheet and instructions come in a sealed polybag that seems to be about a millimeter larger than the instruction sheet and is not resealable. The sheet provides markings for two aircraft, both of them with 343 Kokutai. The one in the main heading image was assigned to the 301st Hiotai in Japan during 1945. In addition to the nice white and yellow fuselage band, there are a number of victory markings. The second option is from the 407th Hikotai, also based at Matsuyama in 1945. It has the chalked or painted number 20 in the fuselage roundel. 

The sheet itself includes insignia and data markings for one aircraft as well as an instrument panel. The decals are superbly printed and without registration glitches. Another nice thing in this era of expensive decals is that they are quite inexpensive.

July 2012

My thanks to www.hobbyshop.cz for the review sample. You can get yours direct from the hyperlink.

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