The Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe was a floatplane development of the famous Zero fighter. It met with success early in the Pacific War, but like most Japanese aircraft was soon outpaced by the rapid improvements in its Allied opponents.
This is the old Jo-Han kit, which still can be built up into a presentable model today. I built this one in the late 1970s. It is one of the oldest kits still in my collection and was my first attempt at a scratch-built cockpit. The camouflage was inspired by a magazine article on “purple Rufes”, which at the time I concluded must have actually have been brown. Consensus now is that they were most likely dark green like other IJN aircraft of the time. Many years later I constructed a beaching dolly from Evergreen to give it a proper display. Despite some errors, I am still a bit nostalgic about this one.
Inch High Guy 