Tamiya 61038 - 1/48 Kawanishi N1K1-J Type 11-Koh Shiden WWII 田宮軍事模型戰機 雙星孖星  [61038]

About the Kawanishi N1K1-Ja Shiden Type 11

Evolving from the Kawanishi N1K1 "Kyofu" floatplane, the Imperial Japanese Navy&39;s N1K1-J Shiden had a unique pedigree among WW2 landplane fighters of the world. In January 1942, the Kawanishi Aircraft company started adaption of the Kyofu into a land based fighter, strictly as a personal endeavor. This project ended up being soon officially authorized in designation N1K1-J, using the very first prototype flying in December 1942.
The airframe ended up being basically the identical to its predecessor, with main landing gear and end wheel changing the floats. In place of the Kyofu&39;s Mitsubishi Kasei motor, an even more compact and effective Nakajima Homare motor, a more compact and effective Nakajima Homare engine ended up being installed. Excellent performance and superb maneuverability had been achieved using this motor, nevertheless it created serious issues.

To be able to utilize most of the available energy in the motor, a large diameter propeller had been required. This required unusually long principal landing gear feet, due to the midwing configuration. This caused difficulties into the landing gear retraction system. Kawanishi engineers been able to solve the issue by presenting telescopic main landing gear legs. The complex gear system and unreliability of engine, plagued the N1K1-J throughout its job, until the introduction associated with the enhanced, low-wing N1K2-J Shiden-Kai. About 1,000 N1K1-J fighters were produced and were active around the Philippine Islands, Formosa, Okinawa and within the Japanese Island of Honshu.