1:72 Kyushu K11W1 Shiragiku Early (Hi-Tech)

Kyushu K11W1 Shiragiku Early 1:72, the Hi-Tech edition

The box aims at the machines from the start of production of the naval trainer K11W1, as delivered from 1943 by the Kyushu Hikoki company. The attribute Early in the name refers to the early production form; Hi-Tech is the higher variant of the release from Kovozavody Prostejov.

A school for a whole bomber crew

While the pilots were trained on other types, this aircraft served to train those who in a combat machine operated the bombsight, the map and the radio. The glazed cabin therefore took up a substantial part of the fuselage and offered a view forward and downward. The early examples carried an honest all-metal airframe; later, for want of raw materials, the change was made to wooden elements. Nearly eight hundred examples of all forms were built in all, which makes the type one of the most widespread Japanese school machines of the war.

Tips for modelers

It pays to add belts and fine shading to the interior, because it will be clearly visible through the large areas of glass. Finish the radial power plant before you close the cowling. When masking, work from the rear forward and press the joints between the strips down carefully, so that the paint does not run under the edge.

For which modelers

• anyone interested in the training aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy
• modelers who like working up cockpit interiors
• collections of Japanese types in a single size
• builders looking for a subject outside the mainstream

You assemble and spray the aircraft yourself; the chemicals and tools needed have to be bought separately.