To purchase this print, please to order the item from HobbyLink Japan, our distribution partner.
While the very capable English Electric Lighting possessed astonishing speed and altitude performance (88,000 feet in one instance!), its looks were another matter. "Long legs, a long gear cover hanging down from the wings, that big mouth, the mach cone inside that big mouth, the two-seater is rough, a little on the ugly side," opines Koike. One might also add the bulging belly that's all too obvious when the plane is viewed from abeam. But for a plane that's a little on the "ugly side," Koike has produced a gorgeous portrait brilliantly conveying both the speed and power of this 1960s staple. It's also probably the only Koike painting that doesn't show the aircraft's cockpit, and a testament to his brilliance as a painter that the illustration doesn't suffer for it. He's also used the composition to cleverly hide that bulbous fuselage, and the colors to deemphasize the unusual shape of the wings. Genius.
This print is reproduced on heavy art board and sized identically to the original, measuring 400mm x 315mm (15.75 x 12.4 inches). It's offset-printed, and the color reproduction has been approved by Koike himself. The art board measures 625mm x 453mm (24.6 x 17.8 inches), leaving white borders around the image to give you the freedom to have it framed as you please. The prints are packed in a special sleeve inside a sturdy shipping box designed to prevent any bending while on their way to you (for this reason, they cannot be combined with other types of items for shipping, they will be shipped separately, even if ordered with other items).