Scale Plans 40: Mitsubishi J2M Raiden

12 pages of 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scale A3 plans for all versions of the famous Japanese fighter. The Mitsubishi J2M Raiden ('Thunderbolt') was a single-engined land-based fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. It was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the A6M Zero, to meet the official specification. It was to be a strictly local-defence interceptor, intended to counter the threat of high-altitude bomber raids, and thus it relied on speed, climb performance, and armament at the expense of manoeuvrability. The J2M was a sleek, but stubby craft with its oversized Mitsubishi Kasei engine buried behind a long cowling, cooled by an intake fan and connected to the propeller with an extension shaft.