Details
ファインモールド(FineMolds) Fine Mold FB16 1/48 Japanese Navy Cherry Blossom Practice Gliding Machine K1 Plastic Model

This plastic model requires assembly and painting. Requires separate tools and paint
Color: Orange
Gender: unisex
Material: Plastic
Based on a design by Ensign Mitsuo Ohta with the assistance of students of the Aeronautical Research Institute at the University of Tokyo, the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry blossom) was first conceived. Over 850 of these rocket-powered, anti-shipping, kamikaze planes that were dropped by Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers were constructed during 1944 and 45. The idea was to glide in on the attack, and then the pilot would ignite three rocket engines on the final approach, delivering a 1200 kg (2646 pound) payload to the target. The aircraft had a limited range (twenty-three miles), and with delivery being via a heavily laden bomber, there are no recorded successful attacks by the Ohka during World War II (although there was a near miss with the battleship USS West Virginia on 1 April 1945). The basis for this particular kit, though, is the unpowered K1 variant that was filled with water in place of the explosives and engines in order to train the pilots for their mission. Forty-five of the K1’s were built during the war by Dai-Ichi Kaigun Koku Gijitsusho.