A development of the Kawanishi N1K1 "Kyofu" seaplane, the Imperial Japanese Navy's N1K1-J Shiden had a unique pedigree among the world's landplane fighters during World War II.
In January 1942, Kawanishi began converting the Kyofu into a land-based fighter as a purely private endeavor.
This project was soon officially approved under the designation N1K1-J, and the first prototype flew in December 1942. The airframe was essentially the same as its predecessor, with the floats replaced by main landing gear.
Instead of the Mitsubihi-Kasei engine from Kyofu, a more compact and more powerful Nakajima-Homare engine was installed.
This engine achieved excellent performance and excellent maneuverability, but it presented serious problems. In order to utilize all of the engine's available power, a large diameter propeller was required.
Due to the center wing configuration, this required unusually long main landing gear legs.
This led to difficulties with the landing gear retraction system.
Kawansihi engineers managed to solve the problem by introducing telescopic main landing gear legs. The complex system and unreliability of the engine caused problems for the N1K1-J throughout its career, until the introduction of the improved low-wing aircraft N1K2-J Shiden-Kai.
About 1,000 N1K1-J fighters were manufactured and saw service around the Philippines, Formosa, Okinawa and over the Japanese island of Honshu.
Plastic model kit
Scale 1:72
unbuilt / unpainted
Write now your personal experience with this article and help others with their purchase decision.
