Hasegawa Kawanishi N1K2 Shiden-Kai 紫電 Violet Lightning “George” in 1/72 Scale

This is the 1977 Hasegawa kit.  It has all the typical Hasegawa shortcomings of its time – basic cockpit, crude engine, and shallow wheelwells.  An additional problem which is often missed is it displays a shape error concerning the width of the vertical fin.  Kawanishi produced both a broad- and narrow-fin N1K2, Hasegawa’s kit splits the difference and so has to be modified to properly represent either version.  On this build the fin was widened to represent one of the first one hundred examples produced.

This aircraft carries the markings of Chief Petty Officer Shoichi Sugita of the 343rd Kokuti operating from Matsuama Japan in March 1945.  CPO Sugita was credited with approximately seventy victories, including seven in the Shiden-Kai.  He was killed on 15APR45.

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More N1K models here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/hasegawa-kawanishi-n1k2-ja-shiden-kai-%e7%b4%ab%e9%9b%bb-violet-lightning-george-in-1-72-scale/