2017

2017, the year of the rooster.

 

 

 

Last year was the worst for Arawasi; ever. We finished 2015 very optimistic and in high spirits but we spent most of 2016 full of health problems, disappointment, depression and plain boredom. As a result we published nothing even though there were various projects almost finished. One of the worst features of last year was the constant ball-busting bombardment of demands for free help from free "friends" who remember us only when they are building a new Japanese aircraft model.  

The blog was sometimes a pleasant escape and we would like to say a big thank you to everybody who stood beside us, helped, contributed, emailed us a few kind words or simply left a comment keeping what we've been doing for 15 years now still alive and kicking. Bruised and down but definitely not out. We love what we do, Japanese aviation is our passion and rest assured we will continue to publish magazine issues and Eagle Eyes as well as posting on this blog.

So, here are our plans for 2017. We have promised ourselves to release issue#13 of our magazine and at least one Eagle Eye. Be prepared for surprises! We are also determined to post more on the blog and make it even more interesting. The modelling contests will continue so...build build build!

 

 

As always we would like to thank everybody who left a comment:

Dizzyfugu, Jacob Terlow, Jon Yuengling, Jon Godwin, Panagiotis Koubetsos, Max Brandt, Dan Salamone, David Brizzard, Wind Swords, Ron, Fluffy, Rene de Koning, Roel, Bob Alford, Gary Lai, Alcides, Gustavo Antonelli, Andreas, justforever96, George Bryant, Jan Voorbij, Cheesehat, Fugaku, Scoobs, Bernhard, Harold K, Laurent Chambon, F_IV.

 

A special thank you goes to everybody who contributed to this blog and participated in the contests:

Charlie Swank, Vladimir Martinicky, Mikhail Ageenko, The kit slayer, Jean Barby, Rui Lerias, DizzyFugu, Jan Goormans, Alexandros Angelopoulos, Allan Jeffery, Otsuki-san, Cameron Lohmann, Zbyszek Malicki, Calin Ungureanu, Adam O'Brien, Miro Herold, Michael Williams, Gary Wenko, Richard Brooker, Prof. Nemisis Goosehabit, Luigi Scarano, Ryszard Holak, Mariusz Kogut, Andrey Temnyy.

 

And finally a HUUUUGE "thank you" to our good friends:

Sinang Aribowo, James Boyd, Devlin Chouinard, Danilo Renzulli, Eric Vogel and Zygmunt Szeremeta (wherever he may be). 

 

Let's hope 2017 is better in every respect than 2016. All the best for the new year to everybody.

 

Mitsubishi G4M2-E "Kamo" (Duck) by George Eleftheriou

 

What if Mitsubishi had experimented with a canard version of the G4M "Betty"?

In Japan canard designs were known as "ente type" from the German, therefore this Betty version could be designated G4M2-E and nicknamed "Kamo" (duck in Japanese). The design could offer many advantages like plenty of space for the crew in the completely empty fuselage, from the wing main bar all the way to the nose, larger bomb bay and therefore increased bomb load, excellent arc of fire for the dorsal gunner and since it had a nose wheel lifting the tail, a ventral gunner position could also be installed deleting at the same time the two side-gunner positions.   

 

 

For my "Duck" I used the old Hasegawa G4M1 kit. It took me quite some time to locate spare parts from the new Hasegawa G4M2; the guns and the engines, cowlings and props are from the new kit. I could not find any spare G4M2 dorsal turret and although I was very tempted to use one from a "Renzan" kit, I opted for a turret from an LS "Hiryu", another Mitsubishi design. The ventral turret is from an LS "Nell", yet another Mitsubishi design.

The biggest modification was the elongation of the fuselage in two places. With a normal length fuselage and by just relocating the wings, the whole design looked too short and weird plus it offered zero advantages over the conventional G4M1/2 design. I used two large chunks of balsa behind the dorsal turret and in front of the canopy in order to incorporate the nose wheel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The overall paint job and the weathering to a large degree as well as the markings and the hinomaru for my "Duck" were from a real G4M1 belonging to the 732 Kokutai.

 

Just when I called my model finished, I discovered the following illustration from here: 

 

 

My main objection would be the two gunners on the fuselage sides from where they would be shooting the engines of their own aircraft. 

ARAWASI SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER!!!

 

50% off!!!

For one month and until we are out of stock ALL Maru Mechanic titles from #1 to #37, featuring Japanese aircraft are no more $US25 but..............only $US12*.  

For those who encounter this series for the first time, all the titles are in Japanese and were released from 1976~1984 so please don't expect any English text or mint condition.

Send over a list of the titles you are interested in to: arawasiorder@arawasi.jp

*postage not included, but no postage charge for orders of more than five titles.
**missing numbers are those of German or US a/c. For a full list check here.

That's all folks. Thank you all for your support.

Japanese Aircraft Online Model Contest 002 - CHARLIE SWANK

Okay, I need to explain this first. The contest was scheduled to end on December 15 but because there were no new entries for quite a few days I decided to end it two weeks earlier since there were too much material I had gathered to post. Charlie Swank wanted to contribute to the contest and sent photos of his wonderful model after I had declared the winner. So, that was a “FAIL!” from my part and a lesson not to do that again. Also, I would like to ask you, if you have a model you are about to finish to enter in the contest and the deadline is approaching, please email me. We organised this contest to have fun so deadlines can be extended (but never again shortened) and since personally I'm a big fan of X-planes and What-ifs I plan to have contests of the same subjects again next year. So even if you haven't made it this time or you're working on an idea, you can always enter your model in 2017. Also, feel free to send photos of your work-in-progress, start a discussion and ask questions.

And so, without further ado, here's Charlie's model...

 

1/48 Raccoon Resin Kawasaki Ki-64 “Rob”
By Charlie Swank

Considered highly unorthodox due its in tandem liquid cooled engines and contra-rotating propellers, the Kawasaki Ki-64 “Rob” was designed to meet a specification for a highspeed fighter that would have a maximum speed of 435mph at 16,405ft and climb to 16,405 in 5 min. The aircraft utilized a steam vapor cooling system in which wing and flaps provided the cooling surface area for the engines.
Raccoon Resin kits are rare, but offer the opportunity to build unique aircraft in 1/48 scale. The fuselage interior halves were thinned out and cockpit parts from a 1/48 Hasegawa Ki-61 were modified to fit. Landing gear doors were scratch built from sheet plastic and new clear parts were vac formed over a resin master provided in the kit. All of the markings were painted using stencils made on a plotter cutter. If you are interested in stencils for painting your own markings, please contact Mike or Charlie at modelstencils@gmail.com.
What if the 39th Rensei Hikotai, Yokoshiba, Japan flew the Ki-64 in the fall of 1946? The model depicts what I feel allied pilots may have encountered if the war continued and this unique aircraft had its chance to prove itself in combat.

Thank you very much Charlie for the photos of your exquisite model and please accept my apologies for the mess.

Stamps

Last month two pairs of stamps were sold on the Japanese ebay. Both sets were printed in Manchukuo and were to be released in September 20, 1945. The proceedings were to be used to "buy" three aircraft but the war ended before they were circulated.  

The first pair below depicting pilots of the Manchukuo airforce receiving training instructions in front of a Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" was sold for $US5,000 (five thousand).

The top inscription says "Manshu Teikoku Yusei" (Postal Services of the Empire of Manchukuo). The marking in the middle is the Imperial Seal of Manchukuo depicting a Noble Orchid (or according to Japanese sources an Eupatorium japonicum) 

The bottom inscription says "Ikki demo oku seinen soshi juo ozora" (from one aircraft to many, from young to elderly, everywhere in the sky).

The price of the stamp is 3 Fen (1/100 Yuan the official currency unit of Manchukuo) + 47 Fen donation.

 

 

The second pair with mother and children waving flags of Japan and Manchukuo to a formation of Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" was sold for $US6,000 (six thousand).  

The inscription at the bottom says "Kenohiki gekimetsu shukuteki ozora e iko" (donation aircraft fly to the sky and destroy the enemy).  

 

Collector's Items

Vintage, rare and interesting kits from the Japanese Ebay.

First up kits in 1/100.

Fuji, "Hayabusa"

Fuji, "Hien"



Fuji, "Toryu"

Fuji, "Shiden-kai"



Fuji, "Toryu"

Marusan, "Shoki"

The "Dinah" kit by Nakamura is in 1/75 but the Zero with the horrible box art is of unknown scale.

 A Fujimi Zero in 1/72.

A Marusan Zero in 1/50.

A JN Model "Saiun" resin kit in 1/48.

And ODK "Toryu" and an KSN "Shoki" of unknown scale.

Three quite unusual "kits".
A "Hien" by Marutaka in 1/9.14 (!!!) scale. The RC "kit" includes just pieces of wood.

A lovely "Zero Acrobat" by Sharp. As can be seen from the instructions, the kit includes a motor and a swing arm for maximum fun! They just don't make them like this any more...

And finally a Sindo Zero "glider" from styrofoam.

Artist - Vladimir Martinicky (2)

The latest painting by Mr. Vladimir Martinicky from Slovakia has for its subject a Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" of the Shokaku aircraft carrier during the Battle of the Coral sea. Amazing work in brush and temperas.
Moc ďakujem.
Check HERE for more art by Mr. Martinicky.

Japanese Aircraft Online Model Contest 002 - And the winner is...

...JAN GOORMANS from Belgium with his fantastic Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" in BAF colors, here...

 

 

 

AND "DIZZYFUGU" with his excellently presented Nakajima Ki-104-Ic "Kurono-o" (Candice), here.

 

 

 

Why? Because both models were brilliant, completely different and because I couldn't make up my mind.

Each winner gets a T-shirt from here and all the other contestants an Arawasi decal set.

 

Thank you all for taking part in our contest and also for your comments and votes.

The theme for contest #3 is "Civilian Aviation" and will start from January 15. The theme for contest #4 is "Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" (Oscar)" and will start from March 1st.

So, START BUILDING!