I usually don’t build props in 1/72 but this one is hard to resist as it was featured prominently in Godzilla Minus One.
The Shinden featured in the film was all CGI with a 1:1 mockup made for the shots which involve the actors. It played an important role in the film as the aircraft flown by the protagonist, Shikishima Kōichi (portrayed by Kamiki Ryūnosuke) to fight Godzilla.
We begin again with the cockpit. [SPOILERS] In the film, the Shinden was modified to include an ejection seat but it was only mentioned and not shown so I have no idea what it looks like.
I decided to just add restraints for the seat and proceeded to paint it as per the instructions. The instrument panel is a decal.
Like most prop aircraft the parts are few so assembly is a simple affair and fitting was good enough. There are some problem areas like the bottom where there is a join line in the recessed panel. Annoying.
Luckily the top side fitting is good with the real problem being the intake lips which fit slightly proud of the fuselage. There is ample room for a fishing weight inside the nose.
There are seam lines that cross panel lines but nothing that’s too difficult to fix.
The kit doesn’t have an open canopy option so I quickly (relatively speaking) masked and cemented it in place.
For some reason Hasegawa leaves two out of the four cannon barrels to be attached separately and of course I managed to ping both into the ether in no time. I replaced them with Evergreen rods. Note the gaps round the barrels. These were filled with Vallejo putty.
My solution to the gap in the recessed panel was to simply cover the whole panel with some 0.18mm plastic plate.
As usual for me nowadays, I attached as much of the detail parts as I can get away with. I’d deal with whatever accidental breakage during painting (and the nose pitot did break a few times). Note how thick the main gear doors are which I believe are over-scaled.
Build Log
Pt.1 – Construction | Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
