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Super Wings Options, for the 1/32 J7W1 Shinden

Super Wings Options, for the 1/32 J7W1 Shinden
Zoukei-mura Inc, Japan
Catalogue numbers and prices listed with item reviews

I love the Shinden, so when the newly formed Zoukei-mura teased us with test shot photos last year, and then released the kit late in 2009, I had to place an order for it. Being Zoukei-mura’s first release, they weren’t going to sit on their laurels, and made the unusual step of releasing a whole range of upgrade/detail sets for their own kit. Instead of simply releasing resin weighted wheels etc, options were included to create a jet engine Shinden, or as it was to be called, the Shinden Kai.

Instead of being able to use every set below on your model, some iteme wouldn’t be used in conjunction with others, meaning you have the choice of using just the items you need for your own models configuration.

We have been lucky enough for the wonderful Mr Shigeta to send over his entire range of Shinden upgrade sets. These range from photo-etch detail frets, up to white metal sets, brass barrels and also resin detail. The items sent to us are listed here:

As you can see, the SWS team have been very busy indeed in both their own work, and in forging collaborations with some European companies. Let’s take a look at each set in turn.

 

Jet Engine ‘Ne-20 Turbo’

 

One envisaged plan for the Shindens’ development was to replace the Mitsubishi radial engine for the Ne-20 jet engine. This path of jet engine development was already planned at the outset of the Shindens specification being written, so this was no flight of fancy. The war ended before the potential of the turbojet-powered machine could be realised.

This hasn’t stopped the SWS team dreaming of such a machine that may have at one time been created. This resin set, comprising 6 parts, is all you need to convert the standard kit into a turbojet machine. Five of the parts form the turbojet itself, and the final part replaces the rear kit cowl which is unsuitable for this model.

All parts are cast in light grey resin, with the rear cowl having a very thin membrane of resin covering the intake area. This will need to be removed of course, and is only there through moulding necessity. The engine sub parts are fool-proof in assembly as they are individually keyed, meaning that both assembly and orientation is easy to achieve. Of course, check the instructions to make sure things look correct.

 

Actual moulding is flawless, and casting blocks are very small, so should take very little time to remove. As I said, assembly is a doddle. Some parts have ‘continuation of detail’ on them with regards to piping and tubing, and this looks to be very well executed. If a pipe/tube runs across consecutive parts, then each part contains that section. When the parts are lined up, you will find the pipe sections line up very well. A quick lick of putty and a sanding will make the pipes look whole.

Detail is superb and perfectly stated. I would think that there would be plenty of options to use  your imagination to make this set look individual to your own imagination. The forward chamber of the jet has a patina which simulates extreme heat and continued use which would make the metals look a little rough and flaky. Lots of scope for some great painting there!

Instructions are in Japanese, but are pictorially very good. You are left in no doubt as to how the turbojet mounts within the Shinden fuselage using the existing radial engine mounts. You will need to drill two holed within the jet mount when you have it lined up with the radial mounts. You should then simply fin this with a little plastic rod or similar.

As this configuration would be a ‘what if’ subject, I would personally go to town with regard to adding extra piping etc, to ‘busy up’ the rear of the Shinden interior. What I don’t see is a dedicated air intake from the radial cooling intakes, to the face of the turbojet, so you may wish to create something which looks plausible.

 

Early Stage Cowling

This detail part gives the builder the option of making the Shinden as it was when it flew on its early testing. The machine, at this stage, never carried any armament, and as a result, the forward gun cowl had its openings both faired and panelled over. This one part cowl is cast in light grey resin, and has no flaws. Engraved detail and riveting is very good, and commensurate with the Shinden kit itself.

 

The casting block is a thin bar which lies along the narrow front face of the cowl. Of course, this face butts up to the model and isn’t on show when completed. Just remember, if you use this, you will need to remove all armament from the Shinden.

Instructions, not that you need any, are given in Japanese. As stated, this part is simply a direct replacement for the plastic kit part.

 

 

Gun Magazine Ballast

Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t be able to see the gun magazines on the Shinden model, but due to the unique frame construction of this model, which mirrors that of the real aircraft, you can now do just that. Zoukei-mura had already modelled the recesses and structures into the injection plastic kit for this eventuality. As the Shinden is a nose-sitter, if you don’t add any ballast to the model, you always run the risk of the model becoming a ‘tail-sitter’, which would be unattractive. Under normal circumstances, you may have used this area to add your nose ballast, but this detail set is cast from white metal. The finished and attached magazines will weigh around 50 grams.

The gun magazines come in the form of 8 white metal solid boxes, complete with plate and latch detail. There are two different type of magazine, with the first two on either side being common, and the rear two on each side being of the other type. Whilst the instructions are in Japanese, the drawings and photos are clear in how you should fit these.

Each magazine housing has a pouring spout which will need to be cut off and sanded flat. The spouts are on the top rear of the magazines, where they wouldn’t be seen.

 

 

In order to see these on the finished model, you will have to remove the corresponding panel from the fuselage side, adjacent to the forward undercarriage bay. You are probably advised to do this with a fine razor saw or a sharp knife so that you may use the removed plastic to depict the opened panel.

As these parts have lead in them, I would suggest that you polish these with some polishing compound on a rotary tool or similar, and prime them with metal primer before painting. The addition of these will certainly add some real interest to the forward fuselage of the Shinden. They will be added to my model.

 

Metal Struts

Simply put, these are white metal undercarriage leg replacements for the kit parts. The parts themselves look very similar to the kit parts, but the added strength of these parts are the key to their use. This set comprises 4 parts of white metal, with the first three being the undercarriage legs themselves, and the fourth part being a fork which forms the lower part of the forward strut. This is cast separately to allow the wheel to be fitted.

A very, very fine seam exists down each leg which will need no more than light sanding to remove. The overall appearance of the parts is quite dull, and again, I would advise that you polish these items on a rotary tool with polishing compound, in order to bring out the natural sheen of the metal.  Would incorporate that element into the compression strut on each leg too, after sealing the metal with a clear lacquer. Detail is very good also, and casting spouts are cleverly incorporated into the design as the undercarriage to model plug connectors. The only removal of waste will be a small spout on the separate fork, and a little clean up on the top of the forward undercarriage strut.

 

 

The Japanese instructions show how this set is to be used, along with the addition of the brake lines and fitting of the undercarriage doors for the rear struts.

Weight-Changed Tyres

 

To give them the correct modelling vernacular, these are what we would call ‘weighted wheels’, or ‘weighted tyres’. A simple 3 piece resin set, cast in light grey, and without any flaws, these are beautifully cast with outer ridge tread detail for the rear tyres. The front tyre has no tread. Casting blocks are thoughtfully placed on the ‘flat’ of each tyre and are quite small.

 

 

 

 

Instructions are given as to how to incorporate the kit wheel hubs. This is a simple set, and is a ‘must’ for the modeller who wants their Shinden to sit correctly and look more realistic.

Photo-Etched Interior Set

 

Please welcome the first Zoukei-mura collaboration! This set, as are the other Shinden photo-etch sets are produced by that safe pair of hands we know as ‘Eduard’, of Czechoslovakia. Zoukei-mura obviously know a quality manufacturer when they see one and contracted production of these sets to them. Results of this collaboration do not disappoint. Shinden and Eduard fans, read on..

Two frets are included in this set; one of them in colour, and the other in a regular unpainted finish. The colour fret contains several major components such as a 2-ply instrument panel, seatbelts and various other instrument box faces etc. Unlike some colour etch we’ve seen from Eduard recently, there is no pixilation in the printing of the inks. Colour is solid and true, as well as being very fine and extremely well printed. The instrument panel is formed from a rear plate with the instruments faces printed upon a black surface, and the fascia is printed with various raised detailing and colour also. In all, a very nice set. The seatbelts are printed in dark leather and look very good.

The bare metal fret contains a complete seat, engine ignition leads, mesh screens for the rear cowl, and various other parts including riveted strips for extra cockpit detail. Etching is as one should expect from Eduard, i.e. superb.

 

 

Two sheets of instructions in Eduards usual style are supplied. Eduards drawings are exemplary in their layout and illustration, which is just as well, as all text is in Japanese! It is obvious where areas need to be filed flat in order to add new detail, or where parts need to be removed with a knife. Some small icons do actually show these needs with each step, so worry not.

Some surgery is required with this set, such as drilling small 0.5mm holes through the ring of plates running around the circumference of the engine. This is to allow the ignition leads to pass through.

This set will make the Shinden interior like quite special, and I recommend it thoroughly.

 

 

Photo-Etched Undercarriage Set

This is the second Zoukei-mura detail set created by the masters at Eduard. The Shinden does have quite an open undercarriage bay, and the aircrafts frame structure is quite obvious in this area. The kit frame though is flat faced and contains no detail, presumably due to moulding limitations as the frame is extremely complex.

This set contains one fret of bare metal etch upon which is supplied the realistic faces for the inside edges of the frame which create the wheel well sides. The frames simply fit to the frame faces in order to create the riveted girder style, complete with external vertical components that you also have to add.

 

 

 

 

Parts are supplied to face the existing undercarriage gear door exteriors, albeit with a little surgery needed to the kit parts. The forward undercarriage doors also have exterior metal detail sheathing, and the replication of the rivet detail is superb, and incredibly fine.

Again, this is a set which anyone building the Shinden should seriously consider. I am a big fan of Eduard sets, and this is another thoughtfully designed and thorough set. A single sheet of instructions depict the various areas of assembly, and despite being in Japanese, no knowledge of the language is required to use this set! Recommended.

 

Photo-Etched Exterior Set

Finally, in this triptych of etch sets from Eduard, we have the Exterior Set. I quite like Eduards exterior sets as they tend to add detail to areas I would never have considered upgrading. This set comprises of one etch fret of bare metal parts.

First on the slab to be improved upon are the landing flaps. Anyone who has seen these sets from Eduard will be familiar with the stages shown here. Removal of existing plastic, followed by the facing of them with detail metal parts and other constructional detail such as ribs, is order of the day. The end of wing flaps are treat to rib finishing detail, and flying surface control horns also get the full treatment. The Shindens ‘gills’ just behind the cockpit are replaced with more a more realistic metal part, and some cowl flaps are now to be removed via surgery, and replaced with some great metal parts.

 

 

Instructions come on a single sided sheet and should present no problem to anyone who’s used a little photo etch on their models previously. Again, Japanese instructions are excellently illustrated with iconology that non-Japanese speakers can understand. Excellent stuff!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Turned Metal Machine Gun & Gas Spring Set

This set is produced as a collaboration with Czech brass barrel manufacturer, Aber. In all, 4 brass barrels and 8 gas springs are contained within, and some surgery will need to be performed on the bare kit parts in order to incorporate these. Nothing of any hardship is required though, and this is a nice, easy set to add. The Shindens 4 MG barrels are quite attractive and have flared ends which are ringed by discharge gas holes. Barrel detail is as good as any you could buy. The eight gas springs, or recoil springs as I imagine they are, are faithfully reproduced and very fine indeed.

 

 

The Japanese instructions are well designed and illustrated, and should present no problem to the average modeller. Once you have seen brass barrel replacements, you really wouldn’t want to stick with the plastic parts. Of course, there is a premium you pay for this, but if you are willing to purchase a super kit like the Shinden, then it makes little sense not to add these to your order.

 

Shinden Flight Set

This is Zoukei-mura’s latest Shinden set, and it is a ‘corker’, as we say in the UK. To everyone else, roughly translated, that means it is really very good indeed!

This set is designed so the modeller may build their Shinden as it would be ‘in flight’. Of course, you will need to manufacture your own display stand, unless Zoukei-mura will make us one. The core part of this set is the resin pilot. The pose of this pilot is quite chilling as the figure-maker has managed to capture the image of a pilot looking over his shoulder, and involved in evasive action. Despite the fact that we can’t see the pilots face due to his mask and goggles, you can almost sense the trepidation on his face. It really is quite striking, and almost haunting. The pilot comes in 5 parts, and his right hand has the top part of the control stick already gripped within it, so you will need to remove the kit part and position this in that place. The effect looks so much better than if the hand had been loosely modelled and made to sit around the existing stick. Well done Zoukei-mura for that very neat touch.

 

 

Lastly, a replacement pair of undercarriage doors is included, and moulded closed as a single part. Fitting it very simple, and will provide a more positive appearance than trying to use the kit parts to simulate closed doors. The only omission I can see though is the fact that the panel line where the bottom parts of the doors meet is missing, so you will need to scribe this using the kit door as the template for the shape.

All parts are moulded in light grey resin and are flawless. Casting blocks are minimal and will present no problems in removal and clean up. Very highly recommended!

 

So what do we think?

I think the SWS team have pretty much nailed every aspect of Shinden upgrade possibilities with these detail sets. I currently have a Shinden being built into which I will incorporate some of these parts. Many of the others will be used on the second Shinden set which I have. You really can NEVER have too many Shindens! I can’t wait to see what else Zoukei-mura and the SWS team have up their sleeves. Very highly recommended!


Overall: 10/10

 

My sincere thanks to Zoukei-mura for supplying the review samples used here. Purchase these directly from ZM via the above link or clicking the banner below.