**** DONE: GB-54 1:48 Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien - Pacific Theatre

[CATCH 22]

I'm not sure where's this photo from (must check the books I have), but it clearly shows the 2 panels: one in place, one on the wing.

Cheers!

 

[Crimea_River]

Beauty Yves, thanks. Sure makes the case for that panel line. Here's another from Snautzer's thread:

 

[CATCH 22]

Beauty Yves, thanks. Sure makes the case for that panel line. Here's another from Snautzer's thread:

Just to play devil's advocate for a moment: I don't know this a/c beyond the obvious. Is it possible that one of its variants had a one-piece cover?

 

[Crimea_River]

I was thinking that too. Maybe Shinpachi knows if the cowl in front of the windscreen came in two types, one split on the centerline per the above few pics and another that was solid?

 

[fubar57]

The Ki.100, which was a Ki.61 with a radial engine, also had those panel lines. It was produced in early 1945

 

[Wurger]

And my two cents ...

the fusealge structure at the front area

Here the line can be noticed as well ..

and two screen shots form the youtube film ..

the source:

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Looks like you have a conundrum, hard decisions have to be made but the build is looking good all the same.

 

[Wurger]

And one more shot found via the net .. Ki 61-I-Otsu ...

 

[Vic Balshaw]

That looks like the clincher Wojtek.

 

[Shinpachi]

Here is comparison between drawings

Ki-61-1-otsu(b)(Maru-mecha)

Ki-61-1-otsu(b)(Best-collection)

Ki-61-1-tei(d)(FAOW)

Ki-61-2-kai(Best-collection)

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Looks like you need the panel line Andy and 8 rivet dimples.

 

[Wurger]

All seems to be clear now.

 

[Crimea_River]

Sure does. Thanks everyone for your inputs. A-scratchin' I will go....

EDIT: That said, I do note the differences between the drawings above and the colour shots in post 66. The pics show two longitudinal panel lines between the gun troughs, a square access panel, and some kind of filler cap near the front, all of which don't appear on the drawings. Also, the plane in the video does not have the quarter windows under the windscreen. There must be some reason for these differences but I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole now.

 

[CATCH 22]

EDIT: That said, I do note the differences between the drawings above and the colour shots in post 66. The pics show two longitudinal panel lines between the gun troughs, a square access panel, and some kind of filler cap near the front, all of which don't appear on the drawings. Also, the plane in the video does not have the quarter windows under the windscreen. There must be some reason for these differences but I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole now.

The restored a/c in the movie shown in Kobe in 2016 is Ki-61-II-kai-ko. I believe the variant you are building is Ki-61-I-tei: "tei"=d (the earlier being ko, otsu and hei = a, b, c).
AFAIK tei had 2x20mm fuselage mounted cannons and 2x12.7mm guns in the wings.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks for that CATCH 22 Yves. Yes, I continue to read up on this and have discovered the same. As I read the same description of the Ki-61-I Tei armament in Wiki, which states what you have said, I'm wondering if there is a typo and whether or not they have mixed up the fuselage and wing armament. It seems unlikely that two cannons could be fitted in the fuselage above the engine.

 

[CATCH 22]

Thanks for that CATCH 22 Yves. Yes, I continue to read up on this and have discovered the same. As I read the same description of the Ki-61-I Tei armament in Wiki, which states what you have said, I'm wondering if there is a typo and whether or not they have mixed up the fuselage and wing armament. It seems unlikely that two cannons could be fitted in the fuselage above the engine.

Andy, I have a page from Maru Mechanic which shows the configuration with the 20mm cannons in the fuselage and the 12.7mm guns in the wings:

I don't know which variant of Ki-61 this is though. In the lower corner (picture 2) I can recognize I (Latin) and "otsu" (Japanese), but that's all.
In the same issue a big drawing of Ki-61-I-otsu shows 12.7mm guns in the fuselage and in the wings, but that's an earlier (b) variant - see attached.
I also have a table with comparison data between I-otsu and I-tei (otsu-left, tei-right; tei is easy to remember - it looks like T):

Armament is second from below - top is fuselage, bottom is wings (or this is how I have noted it). Since I can't read Japanese, all is based on translations, posts and discussions in other forums. I'm sure Shinpachi can easily decipher it all .
Cheers!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks man. Seems an odd configuration but OK.

I'm studying the subject aircraft which I now understand appeared in various schemes over its career, including having had armament removed and then replaced at least once. The Tamiya scheme that I chose with the mottles is said to depict this Hien (s/n 4424) as flown by 2Lt Shunzo Takashima who used it in a ramming attack on June 6, 1945. Neither he nor the aircraft survived. The aircraft was built in July, 1944 and seems to have been mostly flown by Capt Teruhiko Kobayashi. In December, 1944 it had a scratchy green paint scheme applied over the factory bare metal and carried a white fuselage stripe. Some time before February 1945, the green paint was stripped, the tail painted red, and the fuselage stripes were painted in blue. (Some references say the stripes were red but Nick Millman in his 2015 "Ki-61 and Ki-100 Aces" book maintains they were blue in accordance with initial interpretations before red was suggested.) In December and in February, the aircraft is said by Millman to have had no wing armament to improved high altitude performance. Some time before March, 1945, the aircraft received the green mottles, which on close inspection appear to be have painted around the previous markings. Additional Kanji characters appeared on the rudder and the wing guns were reinstated. Takashima was given the aircraft in April after Kobayashi started flying the Ki-100 and all of the latter's markings, including victory tally, remained on the aircraft.

 

[Shinpachi]

Andy, I have a page from Maru Mechanic which shows the configuration with the 20mm cannons in the fuselage and the 12.7mm guns in the wings:
View attachment 672674
I don't know which variant of Ki-61 this is though. In the lower corner (picture 2) I can recognize I (Latin) and "otsu" (Japanese), but that's all.
In the same issue a big drawing of Ki-61-I-otsu shows 12.7mm guns in the fuselage and in the wings, but that's an earlier (b) variant - see attached.
I also have a table with comparison data between I-otsu and I-tei (otsu-left, tei-right; tei is easy to remember - it looks like T):
View attachment 672675
Armament is second from below - top is fuselage, bottom is wings (or this is how I have noted it). Since I can't read Japanese, all is based on translations, posts and discussions in other forums. I'm sure Shinpachi can easily decipher it all .
Cheers!

For the security, they can be read like these

 

[Crimea_River]

Thank-you very much Shinpachi ! This confirms the cannons in the fuselage and MGs in the wings for my type. Good to know.

 

[Shinpachi]

You are welcome, Andy.
As a piece of trivia, IJA called the Ho-103 12.7mm MG as 'cannon' as it used explosive ammunition while IJN called the Type99 20mm cannon as 'MG' though it also used explosive shells.