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Vader’s Model Desk: Kawasaki KI-61 Hien “Tony”
Posted on 4/13/24 at 3:44 pm
Posted on 4/13/24 at 3:44 pm
quote:
The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (??, "flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft. Used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, it was designated the "Army Type 3 Fighter" (?????).[2] Allied intelligence initially believed Ki-61s were Messerschmitt Bf 109s and later an Italian Macchi C.202, which led to the Allied reporting name of "Tony", assigned by the United States War Department.[3] The design originated as a variant of the Kawasaki Ki-60, which never entered production. The Ki-61 became the only mass-produced Japanese fighter of the war to use a liquid-cooled inverted V engine. Over 3,000 Ki-61s were produced. Initial prototypes saw action over Yokohama during the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942, and continued to fly combat missions throughout the war.
LINK
Hasegawa 1/48 Kawasaki Type 3(KI-61) Hien
244th Sentai
Chofu Airfield, Southern Japan
1945
6
Posted on 4/13/24 at 5:49 pm to Darth_Vader
Good one Darth my favorites, aircraft.
Is the Clover symbol emblematic of a specific squadron?
Your link took me down a brief rabbit hole where I learned this aircraft was reduced in weight with no guns and used in Kamikaze mode against B-29’s. The Me 109 story was also interesting reading.
Primitive aircraft by today’s standards and advanced for their day.
Is the Clover symbol emblematic of a specific squadron?
Your link took me down a brief rabbit hole where I learned this aircraft was reduced in weight with no guns and used in Kamikaze mode against B-29’s. The Me 109 story was also interesting reading.
Primitive aircraft by today’s standards and advanced for their day.
Posted on 4/13/24 at 5:56 pm to Darth_Vader
TIL Kawasaki made airplanes. Very nice as always
Posted on 4/13/24 at 5:56 pm to Mr Breeze
I want to do the Tamiya version. Nice work especially on the paint must be relatively new to the squadron because the Japanese late in the war started having big time problems with paint adhesion because of no primer. Also that aircraft had big problems idling on the ground in tropical climes boiling off the coolant.
This post was edited on 4/13/24 at 5:58 pm
Posted on 4/13/24 at 5:59 pm to Mr Breeze
quote:
Good one Darth my favorites, aircraft.
Thanks!
quote:
Is the Clover symbol emblematic of a specific squadron?
The clover is specific to this one aircraft as far as I can tell. The markings on the tail however are for this particular air regiment.
quote:
Your link took me down a brief rabbit hole where I learned this aircraft was reduced in weight with no guns and used in Kamikaze mode against B-29’s. The Me 109 story was also interesting reading.
The commander of this particular air regiment, gained fame in Japan for this tactic I do believe. This particular KI-61 though isn’t his. This guy though did score like a dozen B-29 kills the old fashioned way.
quote:
Primitive aircraft by today’s standards and advanced for their day.
True. But if you look at the aircraft being operated at the start of the war and compare them to the ones being flown at the end, the level of advancement is astonishing.
Posted on 4/13/24 at 6:05 pm to choppadocta
quote:
I want to do the Tamiya version. Nice work especially on the paint must be relatively new to the squadron because the Japanese late in the war started having big time problems with paint adhesion because of no primer. Also that aircraft had big problems idling on the ground in tropical climes boiling off the coolant.
Thanks. I looked to see if I could find any actual photos of this aircraft but came up empty. I wanted to use it as a guide for weathering. What little I could find is I think it was not very old. Also, it operated out of Japan itself, serving as an interceptor of American bombers in late ‘44 and into ‘45. That’s why, other than the some panel accent on the underside, I left it rather fresh looking.
Posted on 4/13/24 at 6:31 pm to Darth_Vader
Posted on 4/13/24 at 6:45 pm to cypresstiger
Thanks. One of those looks a lot like the first KI-61 I built some years ago…
Posted on 4/13/24 at 7:51 pm to Darth_Vader
I’ve read in several places that Japanese planes were not very robust, especially since they sacrificed armor for maneuverability.
Posted on 4/13/24 at 8:09 pm to cypresstiger
quote:
I’ve read in several places that Japanese planes were not very robust, especially since they sacrificed armor for maneuverability.
This was true for most Japanese aircraft. Little to no armor and lack of self-sealing fuel tanks were the norm. These two thing meant that oftentimes, Japanese planes were easily brought down, or outright exploded, after only a few hits. The KI-61 was an exception to this though, at least when it came to self-sealing fuel tanks.
Posted on 4/13/24 at 8:23 pm to Darth_Vader
Love it. Fantastic as usual.
I appreciate your link for background information and history.
Thank you for sharing.
Have a great weekend!
Posted on 4/13/24 at 8:28 pm to Bayou Warrior 64
quote:
I appreciate your link for background information and history.
Thanks! I always like including a link to give some context to my builds.
Posted on 4/13/24 at 8:51 pm to Darth_Vader
Their engine tech wasn't up to Allied standards, and they built their aircraft for lightness, range and maneuverability. Little armor, lighter armament, and much less in the self-sealing fuel tank department .
Posted on 4/13/24 at 9:15 pm to FightinTigersDammit
quote:
Their engine tech wasn't up to Allied standards, and they built their aircraft for lightness, range and maneuverability. Little armor, lighter armament, and much less in the self-sealing fuel tank department .
Range and maneuverability were everything to the Japanese. They really didn’t even put much emphasis on speed. In addition to sacrificing things like armor and self-sealing tanks, the Japanese also sacrificed speed, especially on the A6M Zero. One big misconception about the famous A6M Zero was that it was fast. But it really wasn’t.
Though it did outpace the F4F Wildcat by about 15 mph. But the Wildcat was far more rugged than the Zero. And the Brewster Buffalo was only about 10 mph slower than the Zero.
(Yes, crazy it may sound, the dumpy Brewster Buffalo was faster than the Wildcat.)
Posted on 4/13/24 at 9:27 pm to Darth_Vader
You couldn't dogfight with a Zero. Period. But early in the war, that's what everyone was doing. Once they learned not to fight the Zeros fight, that was that .
Posted on 4/13/24 at 9:27 pm to Darth_Vader
Nice work, Darth!
Posted on 4/13/24 at 9:51 pm to Darth_Vader
Yeah the glass is finally clean. Glad you’re masking now.
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