Tamiya Models Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden (Jack) Model Kit

Very nice kit , recieved in very good shape

Although this Raiden kit was first released in 1974, it’s nicely molded and doesn’t have a lot of parts for ease of assembly. It can be built over the weekend for modelers who’ve built a few kits. Recommended for fans of WW2 Japanese aircraft!

I have always hated that green Japanese color so I decided to make this into a captured version. I was pleasantly surprised at the interior of this model it's roomy and a good amount of detail for the money. It has enough room inside to add some of your own touches, I added a radar unit and a new radio set up behind the seat. This was a fun model to build as I was able to take some liberties with it. There is a decal set available for the captured version but I decided to leave it alone as I anxious to get going on another kit. This would have gotten five stars but it was the worse fitting Tamayi I've ever done. The fuselage fit poorly, the wings fit poorly (had to do a lot of sanding) and the cockpit was molded poorly to boot, I had to remind myself that I was working on a Tamiya, not a Revell...but it's well worth the money and fun to build, I would most certainly do it again.

I painted this as a Japanese Aces might have been painted.

The Mitsubishi Raiden has the wide-body look of a razor back P-47. Tamiya's 1:48 scale kit comes with two sets of instructions--one in Japanese and the other in English. The instructions are easy to follow and understand with just a couple of very minor grammatical errors. There are 4 spruces of light gray plastic--2 spruces are just for the wings. All panel lines are very thin. The wings have recessed panel lines while the body lines are slightly raised. The kit comes with two figures--one seated for the cockpit and the other standing. There is one clear plastic sprue for just 2 pieces--the one-piece canopy/windscreen (canopy shut) and a flat clear piece (bulletproof armor) that is mounted above the instrument panel. (The canopy is incredibly wide for a single seat fighter!) The plane can be built with landing gear up (doors shut) or with gear down. The tires are not weighted (no flat bottoms). There are decals for three aircraft from different air groups--Genzan Flying Group, 302nd Flying Group, and 352nd Flying Group. The kit comes with a 7" x 10" colored print showing the left side profile of the Raidens from the Genzan Flying Group and the 352nd Flying Group. The kit only has 44 total pieces but the details in the moldings make it seem like it has more parts, which is typical of Tamiya excellence!

Loved this kit.

Good kit.

As a typically older Tamiya molding, the kit has good, basic detail and overall fitments, but beware a great discrepancy on the under wing and fuselage join that should be be shimmed to make flush.I had to add .010 styrene strips to fill the upper wing roots to the fuselage, nbd.Otherwise, this is a weekend kit of a pretty cool airplane.