Tsukuba Kaigun Kokutai Kinenkan #2

Right after the entrance and inside the small theatre room the tail section of a Zero is on display.

 

 

It's a Nakajima built early A6M2 Model 21, indicated by a stencil with a partial manufacturer's date with the first number being "3". It was also carrier based since the arrester hook mounting is still there but from some point probably operated from a land base either from Rabaul, Balalae or Buin. It was in New Zealand for many years and now rests in a private collection in Osaka. The exterior surface colour is gone but the red-brown primer is visible everywhere. There are small patches of metallic blue green in the interior surfaces but apart from the colours the relic is a major detail treasure trove. If you ever have the chance to see it from up close you will be able to discover hundreds of small details revealing incredibly detailed craftsmanship that would certainly require many many hours of work. The beautiful esthetically and aerodynamically perfect lines of all the exterior surfaces is a pleasure to the eye and personally I felt that building a model in 1/72, with just an empty plastic cone in the rear, of such an incredibly detailed aircraft is actually an insult to the designers and the factory workers. 

 

 

Apart from the Zero relic, in the same room, there is a 13mm Type 3 machine cannon, installed on the port wing of Model 62 Zeros, and a   are two cannons and a 20mm Type 99 2Go Model 4 cannon and a number of instruments.

 

Tsukuba Kaigun Kokutai Kinenkan #1

In modern Japan there are very few locations with remains from the War. The only original installation in good condition is located in Tomobe (present day Kasama city), Ibaraki prefecture. From 1934 and for the duration of the Pacific War it was the headquarters initially of the Kasumigaura Kokutai branch, from 1938 of the Tsukuba Ku and from 1944 of the fighter training unit of the Oita Ku.

 

We visited the location last week invited by aviation researcher and collector Kojima-san who informed us that the building is scheduled to be demolished in the near future and therefore a collective effort has begun to save it. To support his effort, collectors from all over Japan have contributed aircraft relics from their private collections and have filled most of the rooms of the building with priceless and most interesting relics which we will present little by little. 

 

The official site of the project, HERE

 

To visit the place you need to take the fast and comfortable "Fresh Hitachi" train of the Joban line from Ueno station. It takes about an hour and the one-way ticket costs 3,300Yen (about $US35). From the station you need to take a taxi for the 10 minute ride. The entrance ticket is 500Yen (about $US6).  

The building was recently used during the shooting of the movie "Eternal Zero" and a few rooms still have the furniture of the movie sets giving a most realistic, if not eerie atmosphere .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately the future of the building is very bleak and the whole exhibition will be there until March. So if you are thinking of visiting the location, hurry up! Note that on the way to Tomobe, the train stops at Tsuchiura where the JIETAI Ordnance School is located with a number of Japanese WWII tanks and more.

We would like to thank Kanazawa-san, a member of the preservation project,  for his impeccable hospitality.

Gliders - Meiji Shrine Competition

One of the "classic" tourist locations of Tokyo is Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine).  

In December 1942 the 13th Meiji Shrine National Training Games were held. Among the various sports a glider competition was also held for the third consecutive year with groups from all over Japan. 

 

In the photo below representatives of the glider groups parade in the "Meiji Jingu Gaien Kyogijo".

The parade was followed by a visit to Meiji Shrine.

The glider contest took place in the central glider field of Dai Nippon Hiko Kyokai (Grate Japan Aviation Society) in Ishioka city, Ibaraki prefecture. On November 1st, the chairman of the Games, HIH Prince Mikasa-no-miya, visited the glider field with his wife and wished all the glider pilots the best and to become soon "Wild Eagles".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The programme started with the primary gliders.

Note mount Tsukuba in the background.

Then it was time for the secondary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally the soarers.

 

 

Mitsubishi J2M3 "Raiden" (Jack) by Bernhard Tomaschitz - WIP#2

In this second instalment I'd like to continue with the cockpit which is chapter 3.2 from A to F in the Zoukei Mura Raiden Manual.
Something completely new to me was the inclusion of details under the cockpit floor, equipment and controls. All the kit parts are nicely done and fit perfectly. One big error concerns the photo-etched parts and specifically the headrest. In the photo-etched part instructions the headrest is depicted on the wrong side and the modeller is supposed to grind down the positioning for the radio compartment. Unfortunately if you follow this instruction you destroy part C-53 and this will be fully visible on the finished aircraft.
Regretfully I did not have instructions about the working mechanism, the cables and other details of the seat adjustment. As you see in the photos, a pulley is on the right and left above the seat. The cables, which are now not installed run horizontally above the seat and on both sides vertically down. This is a prominent visible detail I missed.
For the seat adjustment only the plastic parts of the kit should be used, the photo etched parts are wrong, even the headrest. All other photo-etched parts though, as mentioned above, fit properly. Apart from that overall building of the cockpit is pretty straightforward. The Model Art #470 is a good guide for painting and proper installation. I used Tamiya glue as well as cyanide glue.

 

I contacted ZM and pointed out these inaccuracies to them. They were very kind to reply:

"Regarding the mistake in the manual(part C53 is shown the wrong side):
We will correct the manual and upload a PDF file on our website to download, as soon as possible.
Regarding the etching parts:
The shape will be revised, considering the defects you pointed out, as soon as we have a new production."

Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" (Oscar)

A rather classic photo from a vintage publication of an early type Nakajima Ki-43-II "Hayabusa" (Oscar) with the machine gun port fairings retouched by the censor.

In the background is a Tachikawa Ki-54 and an Army Type 100 Transport or Mitsubishi Ki-57. 

 

Aichi AB-4 by Kalle Kindel

Here is my 1/72 Aichi AB-4 from Choroszy Modelbud resin kit. The kit is good and comes together with no big trouble.

Hope you like it:)

Kalle Kindel - Estonia

 

FANTASTIC model Kalle. I wouldn't even dare a resin kit in that scale. Thank you very much.

More on the type, HERE.

Artist - Vladimir Martinicky

Mr. Vladimir Martinicky from Slovakia kindly shared with us his excellent artwork collection of Japanese aircraft. He is working with brush and temperas. Moc ďakujem.

 

Mitsubishi J2M3 "Raiden" (Jack) by Bernhard Tomaschitz - WIP#1

After completing his excellent Kyushu J7W1 "Shinden" (HERE) our good friend Bernhard Tomaschitz decided to tackle another Zoukei-Mura* masterpiece; their Mitsubishi J2M3 "Raiden" in 1/32. So, for the next two months, every Sunday we will feature a new part of his work-in-progress. 

Bernhard explained:

The accuracy and details from this kit were so amazing, that I started building it full of joy.
The reference literature I have is Mechanism of Military Aircraft #4 and Model Art #470 Profile #11 (check HERE for "Raiden" bibliography). Both books contain mainly the same photos many of which were taken after the end of the War. So most of them feature non-operative aircraft or unfinished aircraft partially built on assembly lines or destroyed examples. As a result, many photos were not particularly useful to me.

In this first report I will talk about the engine. This is Part 3 in the building manual which is easy to read and interpret. The parts are wonderfully designed and easy to handle. Compared to the photos in my two reference books the colors mentioned in the instructions are unfortunately not accurate. For example: the propeller extension shaft shown in the photo on p.66 of MA#470 is not black as Part A-4 is indicated in the instructions. And that's just one example.
The wiring for the spark plugs is not included in the kit. The photo etched parts are wrong, since the wiring is done even around the push rods. Therefore I did my wiring with lead wire. The pattern for the wiring was an interpretation based on the rather poor photo sources I had.
But all in all the assembly is pretty straightforward.
Stay tuned for the second part next Sunday.

 

 

*pronounced: "Zo" like in "Zodiac", "kei" like in "cake", "Mu" like in "moon" but shorter and "ra" like in "rabbit"