Manufacturer: Italeri
Scale: 1/72
Additional parts: some Revell Ju 87 parts
Model build: Jan-Feb 2015
Mitsubishi 87G2
Italeri
1/72
1/72
Kanon no Tori: The Bird of Cannons (August 1945)
Lieutenant Hiro Tanaka gripped the control stick, sweat slicking his palms. Below him, the once pristine shores of Etajima were a smoldering ruin. Smoke billowed from burning buildings, and the metallic tang of blood filled the air. This wasn't the paradise he remembered from his childhood visits.
Tanaka wasn't flying the nimble A6M Zero he trained with. No, today he piloted the ungainly but brutally effective Mitsubishi 87G2, the "Kanon no Tori" - Bird of Cannons. Introduced just last year, these planes were Japan's answer to the American onslaught. Their 37mm cannons could tear through tanks, and the single 250kg bomb they carried packed a devastating punch.
But the Kiyanon no Tori, like its German cousin the Junkers Ju 87, was a slow, lumbering beast. A prime target for enemy fighters. Just that morning, Tanaka had witnessed the carnage. Half his squadron, bravely diving towards the American landing crafts, had been ripped apart by a swarm of Hellcats.
Suddenly, the radio crackled. "Godzilla sighting! Etajima Bay! All available units engage!"
Tanaka's heart hammered against his ribs. Godzilla. The mythical beast, long relegated to children's stories, was real, and it was tearing through their homeland. Panic threatened to consume him, but then a steely resolve settled in. He wouldn't let fear paralyze him. He had a job to do.
As Tanaka and his remaining comrades approached the bay, a monstrous sight met their eyes. A colossal, reptilian creature lumbered out of the water, its roar shaking the very air. Buildings crumbled beneath its titanic feet, and ships were tossed around like toys.
"Target the dorsal plates!" Captain Matsuo, their leader, barked over the radio. "Those seem to be its weak point!"
Taking a deep breath, Tanaka steered the Kiyanon no Tori into a steep dive. The wind howled in his ears, threatening to tear his canopy off. He lined up the massive creature in his sights, ignoring the tracers arcing towards him from Godzilla's hide.
With a deep roar, Tanaka unleashed the cannons. The 37mm shells slammed into Godzilla's back, erupting in orange bursts. The beast roared in pain, thrashing its tail, sending shockwaves through the air.
One by one, the remaining Kiyanon no Tori rained fire upon the behemoth. Godzilla bellowed in fury, its rage momentarily turning towards the pesky insects daring to challenge it.
The bombs found their mark. One landed with a deafening boom right behind Godzilla's head, sending a plume of smoke and debris into the air. The creature faltered, its advance momentarily stalled.
It was a meager victory, but it was enough. Godzilla, perhaps surprised by the tenacity of the aerial assault, retreated back into the sea.
As Tanaka limped his battered plane back to base, the cheers of the surviving troops echoed in his ears. They had faced a god and lived to tell the tale. The Kiyanon no Tori, the ungainly Bird of Cannons, had proven its worth.
Tanaka knew the war was far from over. But for now, they had bought themselves some precious time. And as he looked back at the smoldering ruins of Etajima, a sliver of hope flickered within him. They may have lost the battle, but they hadn't lost the war. Not yet.
Uneasy Alliance: Dancing with Monsters (August 1945)
Lieutenant William "Wild Bill" Evans gripped the control stick, his knuckles white. Below, the once idyllic shores of Etajima were a smoldering ruin. But it wasn't American bombs or Japanese artillery that wrought the destruction. It was Godzilla, a colossal prehistoric leviathan tearing through the island like a child through a sandcastle.
Evans wasn't one for theatrics. He'd seen enough horrors in the Pacific to turn a man's hair white overnight. But Godzilla? That was a whole new level of nightmare. Yet, here he was, staring at the beast through his Hellcat's canopy, not with the intent to destroy, but to defend.
The radio crackled. A voice, heavily accented but unmistakably Japanese, spoke in broken English. "American pilot. Stand down. We must work together to repel this… creature."
Evans blinked. Working with the enemy? It was a concept so outlandish it almost made sense. Godzilla was a threat to everyone, not just the Japanese. He glanced towards his wingman, Captain Miller, who simply gave a grim nod.
Suddenly, four Mitsubishi 87G2s – lumbering Kiyanon no Tori dive bombers – roared past Evans, their cannons barking defiance at the monstrous reptile. These were the very planes American fighters had been hunting relentlessly. Now, they were unexpected allies.
The sky erupted in chaos. Godzilla bellowed in fury as the combined American and Japanese air force rained fire upon it. Evans weaved through the tracers, adrenaline coursing through his veins. This wasn't how he imagined ending the war, but survival had a strange way of rewriting the script.
One Kiyanon no Tori wasn't so lucky. A burst of green energy, like a bolt of lightning, erupted from Godzilla's back, ripping the plane apart in a fiery explosion.
Evans felt a pang of morbid respect for the fallen pilot. Enemy or not, they were all in this fight together. He focused on his own task, peppering Godzilla's back with machine gun fire. It was a gnat bothering a giant, but every little bit helped.
The combined assault seemed to have an effect. Godzilla roared in frustration, thrashing its tail, sending shockwaves through the air. The remaining Kiyanon no Tori peeled away, their mission apparently complete.
With a final earth-shattering bellow, Godzilla retreated back into the depths, leaving behind a trail of destruction and a fragile sense of victory. Evans landed on the battered carrier, the stench of burnt flesh and cordite thick in the air.
He climbed out of the cockpit, a newfound respect for his former enemies warring with the lingering fear. Maybe, just maybe, this shared enemy could forge an uneasy alliance, a bridge built not on camaraderie, but on the desperate need for survival in the face of a monstrosity that defied all logic. The war wasn't over, not by a long shot. But for now, a terrifying new chapter had begun.
Japan tested the Junkers Ju 87A model in 1940 after they were impressed by the aircrafts performance during the German attack on Poland. However, Japan did not decide to build a licenced version of this plane.
With the progress of World War II, the lack of capable ground attack planes started to hurtt badly after American troops made more and more progress in capturing occupied territory in the Pacific.
Therefore, it was decided in early 1944 to produce the Junkers Ju 87 G2 "Kanonenvogel" under licences at Mitsubshi as Mitsubishi 87G2 キヤノンの鳥. While the plane also carried the German designed 37mm anti-tank guns, they were also able to carry a single 250kg bomb (unlike the original Junkers plane).
Production was started in January 1944 and until the production stop in June 1945, 248 planes were produced.
During their first attacks at the Battle of the Marshall Islands, they could take the American landing troops by surprise. However, like the Junkers Ju 87, the Mitsubishi proved to be very vulnerable against Allied fighters. Therefore over 80% of the operational planes were lost to enemy fighters.
The remaining aircraft were pulled back to the Japanese main islands in preperation of an Allied landing operation there. They got famous for their missions during the first reported Godzilla attack at Etajima in August of 1945, where they were able to force Godzilla back into the sea.
The model showes the first Mitsubishi 87G2 production plane during its rollout in February 1944.
The model was made using a Italieri 1/72 Junkers Ju 87 G2 model. As one landing gear was missing, those were replaced by the ones of a Revell Ju 87 D model. Painted with Revell Aqua Color, the model was build OOB. The decals were taken from an Airfix Val dive bomber model.
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