1/72 Aichi E16A1 Zuiun Late

The Aichi E16A Zuiun (codenamed "Paul" by the Allies) was a Japanese deck-mounted reconnaissance seaplane of pontoon design, designed for operations from battleships and cruisers. It was created at a time when the Japanese Imperial Navy needed a modern machine capable of reconnaissance, gunfire correction and light bombardment tasks. The Zuiun was unusual in that it combined relatively high performance with the ability to launch by catapult from battleships, allowing the range of reconnaissance to be extended far beyond the horizon of the mother ship. In practice, these machines were particularly useful in the second half of the war, when the Japanese Navy faced increasing Allied superiority and needed an effective means of tracking enemy forces. For modellers, the Zuiun is interesting for its distinctive appearance with its floatplane design, clean lines and typical Japanese colour scheme.

The E16A1 Late version represents a later production variant with minor design changes and equipment modifications to reflect combat experience. The Hobby 2000 kit in 1:72 is complete with Cartograf's premium decals, which are prized for their thin texture, faithful colours and ease of application, and a masking kit that facilitates accurate painting of transparent cabin parts and other details. This combination saves time during construction and enhances the final quality of the model, especially for decals with fine details and intricate markings.

Scale 1:72 offers a good compromise between detail and space efficiency, while the seaplane with pontoons creates a visually interestingsilhouette suitable for display presentation and thematic dioramas (e.g. cruiser deck, catapult launch, shore base). For Japanese machines, dark green upper surfaces with grey lower surfaces, or natural metallic finish on later versions, supplemented by red hinomaru and tactical markings where appropriate. The package does not include the paint or adhesives needed for assembly.