Nakajima Kikka; Eagles Talon 1/72
Posted: December 26th, 2017, 11:48 am
Yes, it looks like an ME 262, but it isn’t. It’s a Nalajima Kikka, an ‘orange blossom’ special. It was quite a bit smaller than the Me 262, about 4/5ths smaller. It was designed and built in Japan fpr the Nakajima works. The Ne-20 jet engine was also about 4/5ths smaller than the german BMW 003A on which it was based. An Me 262 was en route to Japan in a submarine and plans, but it did not get to Japan so the design had to be based on knowledge of the technology.
The aircraft first flew in August 1945. For its second flight, it was fitted with RATOs. These made the takeoff difficult to control so the aircraft ended up on the beach of Tokyo harbour. A few more airframes were assembled but production ended when WW2 came to an end. Three of the airframes went to the USA to be studied. One still exists in the National Air and Space Museum. One can only speculate as to the effect on US bombers might have been had the aircraft been a bit earlier.
The kit if from Eagles Talon Inc. It’s a 1/72 vacform with very finely recessed surface detail. Too much paint will fill in these lines. The plastic is thick enough to make it fairly easy to build, i.e., there are no weak thin points that need extra care. There is no undercarriage or decals so one has to depend on scratch building and scraps. I had to print the roundels as I had none that were small enough.
All in all, it’s an oddity to have in a collection, but an interesting one to have.
The aircraft first flew in August 1945. For its second flight, it was fitted with RATOs. These made the takeoff difficult to control so the aircraft ended up on the beach of Tokyo harbour. A few more airframes were assembled but production ended when WW2 came to an end. Three of the airframes went to the USA to be studied. One still exists in the National Air and Space Museum. One can only speculate as to the effect on US bombers might have been had the aircraft been a bit earlier.
The kit if from Eagles Talon Inc. It’s a 1/72 vacform with very finely recessed surface detail. Too much paint will fill in these lines. The plastic is thick enough to make it fairly easy to build, i.e., there are no weak thin points that need extra care. There is no undercarriage or decals so one has to depend on scratch building and scraps. I had to print the roundels as I had none that were small enough.
All in all, it’s an oddity to have in a collection, but an interesting one to have.
