Mitsubishi Ka-14 Prototype, 1935
Komentarzy
Robert PodkońskiI have been tempted so many times to purchase this kit... Watching with interest!
Evan B...Thanks guys. It is an unusual kit. It was bought merely because it was on sale for $8USD and was enough to qualify another order for free shipping. Once I looked at how nicely the kit was molded, I decided that I had to build it. Lovely kit so far…
CuajeteEvan, you got it at a very good price. There is also the prototype (same tool), with a different engine, but this was only sold with Model Graphix magazine. You can still find some on eBay, but at a much higher price.
Great result on the engine!
Album info
The Mitsubishi A5M was the worlds first low wing monoplane carrier-based fighter, first flying in 1935. It was designed by Jiro Horikoshi who would later go on to design the A6M "Zero" building on the lessons learned through the A5Ms development.
The prototype of the A5M was known internally by Mitsubishi as the Ka-14 and used an inverted gull wing design that would give way to a conventional straight wing in production versions. Initial flight testing used a Nakajima Kotobuki radial engine in a smooth NACA style cowl. Already exceeding all expectations, the aircraft was later fitted with a larger Kotobuki engine and a cowl with blisters for rocker housing clearance.
Fine Molds' release of a kit of the smooth-cowl Ka-14 coincided with the 2013 release of the Hayao Miyazaki film "The Wind Rises", an animated biography of aircraft designer Jiro Horikoshi. This kit, released in 2018 is updated to represent the later larger-engined version.
My model was built largely out of the box, with only the addition of seatbelts in the already deliciously-detailed kit cockpit and making ignition leads for the partiality visible radial engine out of fine copper wire. It was finished with AK "Real Color" Acrylic Lacquers, and lightly weathered with pin washes.
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this kit, it essentially fell together. I originally bought it because its on-sale price of $8USD was enough to get me free shipping on another order. Upon seeing this little kit and how well engineered it was, I ended up building it ahead of the other models I'd ordered.
