Service!

Recently there was a tad of a hullaballoo on the Check Your 6! discussion group regarding metal vs. resin planes, to which I had made a lengthy response, mostly pointing out to someone who apparently did not like my choosing of 3D prints over metal as some sort of sin. In my response I had mentioned that I had a recent issue with some early model Raiden P-38s that I had purchased from I-94 - some of the booms being rather twisted and really unable to be twisted back into place due to the brittleness of the metal - I needed the Lightnings for my Operation Vengeance project, and Raiden happens to be the only mainstream maker of an early model. I had also mentioned in my post that I did not reach out to I-94 because I have had "favors" from Dave in the past and I did not want to complain. Dave reached out to me and offered to make things right, and gave me some great insight as to some of my mistaken comments in my post about mold wear and such. 

Today I received a pair of replacement Lightnings and once again I-94 shows why their service has always been top notch. Not only did Dave set me up with perfectly cast miniatures, but he also sent a second decal sheet from the Genda's Blade pack that others had mentioned having some issues with (I have the Genda's Blade pack, but have yet to try the decals from the set). Dave did not have to do that, but he did. That says even more about his business practices and he wanted to ensure that in case I had an issue with the first set of decals that I had a second set at hand.

My go to choice for planes will always be the 3D prints - they are scaled so nicely with fine details and usually good price points. They also are lighter and less prone to tipping. But my go to choice for rules and scenario books will always be I-94.

Genda's Blade

Website image - not great

I am trying to fill in gaps in my World War II gaming -the challenge being the number of theaters that makes this an impossible task to go along with my interest in just about everything. Regardless of my lack of focus, recently I have been looking at late war action in the Pacific, and to that end purchased the "Genda's Blade" pack from I-94. The pack features either eight or sixteen Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-Kai (Violet Lightning-Improved) fighters (Raiden Miniatures) along with a decal sheet for the 407th Hikotai (made by the now defunct Dom's Decals) which is not available for separate purchase (and because I have a bit of an addiction, I have also ordered the same planes from Flight Deck Decals, for a future comparison post). The N1K2-J, known to the Allies as "George", was a beast - fairly fast, decently maneuverable, and armed with four 20mm cannons, albeit I believe the same type found on the A6M series (and hence possibly meriting only an LVC rating in Check Your 6!) - the Type 99 Mark 2.

My image, a little better

The term Genda's Blade comes from the formation of the 343rd Kōkūtai, an elite unit created in late 1944 by Minoru Genda, himself an extremely experienced pilot, although one with no victories during the war. Genda recruited the best Japanese Navy pilots he could gather, which included several aces. The following chart lists some of them and their number of kills before joining the 343rd (if Japanese records can be believed). Bear in mind I use a similar convention for rating aircrews as found in the Battles Above series of scenario books but with experten (fifty kills or more) being given a +4 rating and the ability to adjust up to three turn codes left or right of the originally plotted turn code (although I still need to test that last tweak a bit). Aces then have twenty to forty-nine kills, veteran aircrews are either highly experienced and/or have five to nineteen kills, skilled pilots are well trained and/or have one to four kills, and green are just that. 

Several other pilots became aces while serving with the 343rd Kōkūtai, and noted ace Saburō Sakai was a member of the unit, although not active in combat as far as I can determine (Sakai would rate as an experten (+4) aircrew). Overall, aircrew quality for the kōkūtai should be similar to early war Japanese ratings, with little to no green aircrews, a bulk of skilled, and as you see from the above table, numerous veterans.

Raiden version - needs some cleanup but the casting is crisp

And then we have the Flight Deck Decals version, with some initial painting. Bee-You-Te-Full!

When American pilots encountered this unit, they realized they were not facing the remaining dregs of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force, but pilots with skill as great if not better than their own, flying an aircraft as good if not better than their own. 

There is an exceptional book titled...wait for it...Genda's Blade! This detailed offering provides an insight, through several first person accounts. However, the book is out of print and is expensive on the aftermarket sites. However, if one wants a deep dive into the N1K and/or the 343rd Kōkūtai, it is a must have title. Using Genda's Blade and AI I will be working up some scenarios in the future.

Blue Falcon Hobbies - More Decals

Well, I have certainly spent enough money with Blue Falcon to warrant a response to my inquiries about making more decals - I used their online request form, I used direct email, and I made a comment on one of their posts. No response. That is shite service, only balanced by the good service I receive when ordering their decals. Well, the following might be the last I order from Blue Falcon since I cannot get them to respond. Why have a form on your site to request custom decals if you are not going to answer? Why have an email address if you are not going to answer? 

CR.42 decals - I have several CR.42s from my departed friend's collection but they need a bit of squadron markings added - these will do.

I had ZERO use for these (get it?) but want to add some distinct markings to my A6M2s.

Repeat after me - it is NOT called the Football War! But needed decals all the same.

These are super handy for my Darwin project.

Okay, difficult to see, but late war Hellcat markings, which I did not need!

Eventually I will have a couple of schwarms (schwarmen? schwarme?) of Bf 109G miniatures and these decals will be sued for them.

I am awaiting the 343rd Kōkūtai decals from I-94 as part of their Genda's Blade pack, but it did not hurt to buy more!