▋Machine gun construction
The position and angle of each part are a little unclear. So, you might get confused. If you rush to glue the parts, you may have a problem later when attaching them to the fuselage, e.g., the axis center of each machine gun will be not aligned.
It is safer to use a very small amount of glue so that you can adjust the machine guns.

▋I managed to fit the machine guns. Four 30mm machine guns! This is an amazingly heavy armament for Japanese aircrafts at that time. I wonder how big the impact would have been if they were fired at the same time!

▋The feeding belt is also reproduced as much as possible based on the material data.

▋The Shinden is what is called a fictitious plane, and there is no official data left about its internal structure, nor are there any photos of the actual aircraft. We had to procced the designing with ambiguity.

▋The engine, the cockpit, and the machine guns are mounted, and here begins the difficult part. I should say this is difficult to understand. It is important to get a grasp of each part and the overall structure while repeating temporary assemblies.

▋Note the engine mount parts on the page 19 (right side).
If these parts are glued securely, you may not be able to change the positions and angles when mounting the engine. Use the minimum amount of glue and leave the parts adjustable for later.

▋Check that the main fuselage and the underside of the main wings are attached correctly.
Unless there is some deformation, the parts should fit together, but it is still safer to check them by temporary assembling for several times.

▋Working on the engine mount now. If this goes well, your appreciation of this kit will be a good one, but if it doesn’t, your appreciation will suffer. Take your time making sure that the engine mount parts and the engine fit correctly and securely in the fuselage.
Some say, "It was surprisingly easy" while others say, "It was so hard, and I got disappointed”. The difference between them is some were careful while others were in a hurry. Please do not rush, do not panic, and be careful.

▋Note the engine mount, and the radiator section cowling at the rear of the engine.
Then come the oil coolers on both sides. Check if the fillets on the sides of the fuselage match up nicely. This is the most troublesome part of the temporary assembly. Hang in there.

▋Building the nose cone, nose cover, and the cover parts for the muzzles.
Each of these parts must be assembled correctly, otherwise there will be a gap. Pay extra attention to the H-5 and H-6, gun covers, and the fuselage. Repeat temporary assemblies and adjust. Also be careful when attaching the engine cowl or the air intakes to the fuselage. The same applies to the upper cover at the rear of the fuselage.

▋This unusually long landing gear to prevent a ground damage to the propeller was unique to the Shinden. It was also its weakness. The same holds true for this kit. Be careful of the unusually long landing gear struts for breakage.
Please take enough time to dry the glued area to ensure the strength of the glue. Also, refer to the as-built drawing for the correct angles.

▋I was totally puzzled because the position of the wheel cover was unclear. It took me several trials to get it to fit, and I got frustrated.
As a tip, please try accurate installation of the wheel cover before gluing to the main gear. If you do this the other way around, you'll have difficulty with the main gear getting in the way.

▋This is a landing gear part runner in black.
I am utterly amazed that Japan could conceive and design, and planned to deploy such an aircraft to the front lines when the country was running out of everything including tires and propellers.

▋The transparent parts are minimal because it is a single-engine aircraft (the kit includes a masking sticker sheet).
Bulletproof glass is on the front of the windshield, which indicates that bulletproof was installed in the Japanese aircrafts by that time. The instrument panel is also transparent, allowing light to enter from the rear, and the instruments can be painted with fine details to make them look great.

▋This is a skeleton model of the Shinden. It is one of the best parts of the SWS kit that you can learn about the structure and mechanism of the aircraft. If you want, why don't you just paint and complete it as it is. Surprise your modeler friends,
“Look, this is the unique Japanese interceptor, Shinden. You haven’t seen it before, have you?”

▋Well, we are now approaching the final stage. For modelers who enjoy painting, each part must have been painted, and they just need to do the final assembly- very exciting moment of the SWS kits.

▋At this point, keep building just like running across the wide plains. As usual, the parts should be aligned and assembled in precise positions and angles.
This unique body makes me wonder if it really floated in the sky and maneuvered in the air.
I stated feeling a kind of affinity, if not affection, for it.

▋The painting work is completed with the official Imperial Navy aircraft paint scheme "dark green with the rising sun".
Since the Shinden was never deployed in actual combats, we can only imagine, but we tried our best based on the standards of naval fighters of the time as much as possible.

▋The formation lights, navigation lights, etc. are not done yet, but anyway, the model is now completed for straight built.
Thank you very much for reading my blog. Please continue to support Zoukei-Mura SWS.