ZOUKEI-MURA Official Website

The soul of a reciprocating engine is finally here!!

It has been a while, dear SWS brothers!!

Are you doing alright?
Here is a new entry of the Old Man Blog without too much drama.

As the "prior taste" of the scale model kit, or as a preview of your SWS Do 335 challenge, this time I will focus on the SWS 1/32 Do 335 that is now in its final stage of development.

For a brief moment, please enjoy this marvelous world that only scale modelers can understand, imagine or accept.

▋Hey this is the real one! THE REAL THING!!

All of a sudden!
Somehow, the propeller and the spinner of the real Fw 190 arrived here to VOLKS/Zoukei-mura headquarter!!!

Yes it is.
Actually, these parts were handed over to me by a friend, a collector who lives in Europe.

You know me.
The moment I heard about this, I was like "give it to me!" and bought the parts in two emails!
(It will make my boss, I mean my wife, very happy too…or not!)

Well, I was in high spirits and bought the parts, but now that they will be brought here….!

Oh goodness, that propeller I got used to see thanks to photo recording is completely different in real!
It's so huge and incredibly heavy, doesn't it?

Even if 5 adults moved it, that was a pain.
(Me? You know my back hurts so I just gave a voice contribution.)

Anyway, including the propeller hub, all of this is from the real thing.
And it's the propeller of the real Luftwaffe Fw 190 you guys well know! Damn heavy.
This is of course something that we rarely see here in Japan, so everyone in Zoukei-mura was very interested! Half-convinced uproar!

It's time to spare from work: everybody gathers at the display room!
See all of their happy, happy, happy faces!
Until now, a propeller was something we could only observe from afar.
And now it's here. Boom in front of our eyes! That's a kind of astonishment.

Even if I said them "don't touch it", everybody is touching, caressing or hitting with closed fists!

"Ooooh this thing spins round and round and make the plane fly. Incredible!"
"Be careful. That's a very dangerous thing!"
"So cool anyway! That Focke-Wulf actually flew with this. It's maybe the secret of its high performance."
"Must be hard for the engine too."
"I want one at home."

And other buzzes.
Here were the reactions of the whole Zoukei-mura SWS Development team, shocked by the propeller they could look at closely.

This important masterpiece is proudly exposed every day at VOLKS Headquarter in Kyoto, in the exposure space at the entrance. Everybody come and see it, please.
I guarantee that this molding beauty and its presence have a strong impact, boost up our motivation to work on model kits, and become also a material of our work. Each time I touch or look at the "propeller's edges" I am fuddled with their delightness.

Furthermore, on the left side of the picture you can see the propeller of the Bf 109, the most special among the special machines of the Luftwaffe. How is it? It's a hit even for those who are used to it.
This is actually a replica casted from the real machine, but it looks identical to the real one, so its impressiveness is actually unaltered.

You will never get tired of looking at the beautiful roundness of the Bf 109 spinner.

The entrance of VOLKS Headquarter, where you can admire two propellers showing a crunch of the Luftwaffe aircrafts, is now a must-see place for modelers who are into WWII aircrafts.

Hey, there's one more!!

Here in the middle of the picture. What's that black round object on the left of my face?

Can't you see it?
The black one, popping out from the propeller, you saw it right?

Obviously. This is the rear wheel of the infamous Messerschmitt Bf 109.
"Are you kidding me?" is what you think? No, it's true. That is the very real one.
This baby is also very small and light but still, it's the rear wheel of the Messerschmitt.
Despite being the rear wheel there was a white ribbon inside and that's kind of elegant for a military use.

It's not over yet!!

Aren't you asking yourself what that cute, round object that Mr. T is happily holding on my right?

Believe it or not, this is the tire wheel of the main wheel of the Mitsubishi A6M "Zero"32!
Whaaat! Seriously! That thing? Unconsciously, this small and light wheel makes you see the difference between the two fighting nations' power, which filled me with deep emotions.

You cannot see it in this picture but besides these two, just behind the Zoukei-mura boys, there is also a propeller from the British Spitfire, so be careful!
Moreover that propeller is made with hard wood and has a thick paint leant on.
Later, when time will come to talk about the Spitfire, I will show it to you.

These real components collection is made by masterpieces that I receive from a person I met in 2013, during the IPMS USA held in Colorado.

Except these, there is also the radial engine of the real P&H and the Rolls-Royce Merlin originally equipped on the real P-51D exposed at the same place, but you cannot see them with this picture.

Now you know that some of the secrets of our SWS kits' development are in this place.

Of course you can enter this place and watch for free, so please come and visit us.

VOLKS (Zoukei-mura) Kyoto Headquarter & Hobby Square Kyoto (Ground and 1st floor)

60 Goshonouchi Nakamachi, Shichi-jo, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 600-8862

▋Hobby Square Kyoto

TEL: 075-325-1175
Opening hours 11：00～20：00 (open every day)
Parking available: 6 places on ground level, 14 places underground

▋Coming next! To be yours soon!!

The awaited instruction manual of the 1/32 Do 335 has finally entered its final stage!

Needless to say we will never make an SWS kit without putting the due attention to the instruction book.
The reason is that these instruction manuals that analyze in every aspect the soul of SWS are one of the selling points of this series.

The spirit is different! The spirit!!

To respond to your high expectations with the best kit ever, the assembly instruction manual of this Do 335 will be done as always: with an amazing degree of completeness, as you can see here.
(You may enjoy an entire week just with this, seriously.)

▋We have come this far!! Look at the precision of the details and the completeness of the cockpit!

Thanks to the full cooperation of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, we have reproduced all the information possible with this 1/32 kit. Flight control system, weaponry, ammunition equipement, emergency ejection system, and the fuel tank equipment. So you can experience how building the real aircraft would be like.

▋Of course! The engine has been reproduced until its pistons and conn-rods!
Fit left and right parts and have your engine precisely built.

Going this far is the trademark of the SWS kits!!

"Awww!! I would like to just have this DB 603 engine itself"

That's it! I really want that too!!

Such a complete contents and their related work, that only an SWS kit can offer, will fascinate your modeler's soul.

The scale models have already gone so far.
(The engine doesn't start. Just to make sure.)

▋From the fuselage to the main wings, until the attachment of the equipment.

I don't know who said that but…
"Is it hard to work on an SWS kit?" The answer is no. If you take your time, do a provisory assembly, understand the structure of every part and section, and start cementing with the necessary attention after making sure again and again, well, it will not be hard at all.
A 68 years old guy like me can do it, so I guess you have nothing to worry about.

However, if you do not do any provisory assembly, do not check anything and just proceed building your own way…

Well, maybe it was fine with a kit of the previous generation, but that would be a death blow with an SWS kit. Please enjoy the provisory assembly and make sure you understand everything.

Then, if you can enjoy the work itself, cementing with utmost attention, it will be an easy victory.

▋Regarding the work on the landing gears, checking each single part one after another and waiting for each single cemented part to dry up are the basics of the work. The secret here is "no rush, no panic".

If you have reached this point, you can feel relieved. I know you want to rush and get to the final stage as soon as you can but please be patient for a while. I say this, so please believe me.

The work with the landing gears is really important. Take your time without any hurry.

As you know, the SWS Do 335 model is a big model. And the landing mechanism is based on these three landing gears, which must absolutely support such a big volume plane.

So, making sure each part's angle and their assembly strength is more important than anything else. I may sound boring but I will say this again and again.

Please do the work with precision, without rushing.
A few days later you will be required the utmost care to make sure the cement has dried up and solidly, in order to have no slips in the attachment angulation.

You know "the more haste, the less speed". That is the attitude I mean.

▋The kit you see in these pictures is a marvelous sample made by the famous Mr. "Naoki Kobayashi", for the Do 335 Concept Note.
As always, this kit sample will be used in the Instruction Manual, the package, and featured in many advertisement you will find in the magazines to fascinate you, SWS fans.
I have told you this in advance.

▋And… it's finally complete!

It's a kit in 1/32 scale, but if it's from Zoukei-mura it's pretty easy to build isn't it? Enjoy it!

Then it's up to you to challenge this aircraft you don't know yet.

Now it's time to make one step forward!!

Or maybe you don't know the SWS kits yet.
Maybe you have heard about it but have not built one SWS kit yet.
Why did you trust these rumors about the complexity of the SWS kits' assembly?

I already like you, who swear only by the SWS kits.

I would like to give a heartfelt hug to whom think that "now it's time to challenge the SWS kits".

This time, this scale model kit is the one asking you to finish it by your hands.

I, as Zoukei-mura's old man, as a modest scale modeler, and as your SWS brother, have full confidence and recommend you this one from the bottom of my heart

How do you do if the world ends tomorrow while you have still never bought an SWS kit? Beware beware!

Like me, collect all the SWS kits: one to enjoy the assembly, one more to enjoy the painting, and one more just to enjoy its existence and the possible price increase it will have one day.

I am saying you that buying three kits is good for the sake of your heart.

If you have any doubt, buy it.

Cause there is an indispensable lesson of life in the SWS kits.

▋And now, the 1/32 Do 335 release date that you're waiting for!!!

The kit is scheduled for this May 2016!!

Your dream, my dream will come true very soon!!!

Are you ready for this!??

Kit to be delivered according to the reservation order.

Hurry up and reserve it at the closest VOLKS Stores.

It will be also available by our Friend Shops, in Japan and overseas. Reserve your kit.

* Pre-order period will be announced in each store and on each Website.

At the end of World War II, in a hopeless situation, this incredible aircraft was about to be sent in as the last trump card of the Luftwaffe.
Two engines installed, back and forth. Amazing high performance that unfits with this curious silhouette.
"And if…" someone put light expectations on it but…

Seventy years have passed since that day.

Finally this aircraft with its uncommon shape comes back to life as the 10th entry of the SWS series.

I recommend you strongly, I mean absolutely, to give a try to this aircraft as an important piece of your collection, as a must-be in the military aircraft history, as an innovative, special machine.

See you next time on this blog.

Next time I will show you some runners of the Do 335 and a part of the assembly.

Hideyuki Shigeta
President, Zoukei-Mura

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