N1K2-J Shiden Kai (George)

"Hellcat Killers"

Yellowhammer Models

Reviewed by Dale Smith

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Meteor Productions

During the latter part of World War 2, the Japanese 343rd Air Group was formed by Captain Minoru Genda in an effort to win back air superiority over mainland Japan. The Air Group comprised 3 Squadrons (or Hikoti) and were numbered 401, 407 and 701.

This latest release from "Yellowhammer Models" covers two aircraft from these squadrons.

1. N1K2-J Shiden Kai (George) , 343rd Air Group, 401 Squadron, April 1945. This particular aircraft, photographed on April 10, 1945 was flown by Lt Naoshi Kanno, a veteran of the Philippines conflict with 25 kills.

2. N1K2-J Shiden Kai (George) , 343rd Air Group, 407 Squadron, Kyushu, April 1945. Aircraft flown by WO Isamu Miyazaki.

The decals in this set, designed for the Doyusha kit, come supplied in the familiar zip lock bag, with a double sided sheet of artwork covering both aircraft in the set. All of the decals are beautifully printed with good colour density and are inperfect register.

Two white discs are supplied to be placed under the fuselage roundels to enable the specific marking for Lt. Kannos' aircraft to be duplicated.

Another nice feature of the set is that the fuselage stripes on both aircraft (that were painted on the aircraft in the field by the groundcrew) are supplied with an uneven edge as they would be if applied with a brush. Each fuselage stripe decal on Lt Kannos' aircraft is separate to enable them to be placed correctly, with the fuselage Hinomaru needing to be cut after application of the stripes as per the artwork.

Sufficient fuselage stencilling is supplied for two aircraft.

This is another excellent addition to the "Yellowhammer Models" range of decals. The rest of the range can be inspected at the Meteor Productions website on www.meteorprod.com

Highly Recommended.

Many thanks to 'Meteor Productions' for supplying the review samples.

Review Copyright © 2001 by Dale Smith
Page Created 22 September, 2001
Last updated 22 July, 2003

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page