GB-59 1/72 Mitsubishi Ki-15 'Babs' - WW2 PTO V

[Wurger]

Re the engine. Yeah, it's kind of small, and I don't know how much I can physically do to it. We'll see.
And speaking of which, in the diagram posted, the ignition wires are shown connected to the right of the cylinder, while that museum example has them on the left... does anyone know which is correct? (I have been unable to find a photo of Babs showing the engine in place clearly)

As memo serves the engine for the Ki-15-I "Babs" was the Nakajima NAP (Ha-8) but not the Nakajima Hikari 3. In the pic below it can be noticed that there were two cables going to the two ignition plugs. One cable was going from back of each of the engine cylinders to the right spark plug while the second one was going from bottom to the left one. What is more the wire coming form the back was running in front of the tappets for the Nakajima Kotobuki III engine used for the Babs prototype. The Ki-15-II was powered by the Mitsubishi Ha-25-I engine. The Navy C5M1 was the improved Ki-15-I while the C5M2 was the the C5M1 with the
Nakajima NK1 Sakae powerplant.

the pic source: the net.

 

[A4K]

Dzieki Wojtku!
I did see those model photos, but prefer to go by photos of the original.

 

[Wurger]

Certainly the photos of the original are muach better than the shots of a model. But I included these as an example of the cables. However in case of the Babs it may be a problem because there was used many of engine types. So all depends on the version of the plane. I mean the Navy or Army, etc ...

 

[Wurger]

A4K .. Evan... IMHO I know why there is the difference in the ingnition wires seen in the pic and the diagram. The diagram shows the Nakajima Ha-8 engine while the one seen in the pics is the Nakajima Hikari 3. So these are the two different units.

 

[A4K]

You're right my friend. The kit dosen't specify the version either, though I believe it's meant to be a Ki-15-I. It definitely dosen't have the straight A6M- type cowl I would associate with the Ki-15-II and C5M2 (based on my research so far - though I'm no expert). If anyone can confirm or deny, I would appreciate it.

Painting my daughter's room now, but will post pics of decal options and photos/ profiles I'm interested in later.

EDIT: your post arrived while I was typing my friend. I think you may be right, and will probably go the drawing version, unless pics come to light proving otherwise.

 

[Shinpachi]

Hikari is a code name for the navy and same one as Ha-8 for the army Ki-15 Model 1 you are building now.
Good job, Evan!

 

[A4K]

Arigatou gozaimasu Shinpachi!

 

[A4K]

These are some colour scheme options I'm interested in.
No photos found (yet) of any of the illustrated examples, so I will go with the photo documented example if I can't.

From kit instructions:

(47 and 48):

Source: Mitsubishi Ki-15 Babs (aka C5M1 C5M2)

Source: Mitsubishi Ki-15 Армейский разведчик

 

[Viking1066]

Finally had a chance to sit down and scan what pictures of the engine I could find in the book. I also scanned some color schemes that might be of interest to you. All illustrations are from the excellent book Mitsubishi Babs vol.I by Showzow Abe and Giuseppe Picarella.

 

[Wurger]

But I would follow that one ...

the source:
Sea Boots and Spats from Rising Decals!

IJA Ki-15, IJN C5M KAMIKAZE, PICTORIAL MONOGRAPH, MODEL ART PROFILE #14 | RareBooksJapan.com

JAPANESE PICTORIAL BOOK FOCUSED ON IJA TYPE 97 COMMAND RECONNAISSANCE PLANE Ki-15 "BABS", IJN TYPE 98 LAND-BASED RECONNAISSANCE PLANE, MITSUBISHI KARIGANE AIRCRAFT KAMIKAZE-GO AND ASAKAZE-GO. HARD TO FIND DETAILED PHOTOS, DETAILED SCALE DRAWINGS, ILLUSTRATIONS AND MODELING GUIDES. 4910123200798

rarebooksjapan.com

 

[Wurger]

However for the Ki-15-II ( C5M) I would follow that one ...

the source: the net.

 

[Wayne Little]

That would be a challenge in 1/72..!

 

[A4K]

Cheers guys!

There are some colourful schemes (I like the mottled Ki-15-II, hell of a job in 1:72 though, as Wayne said!), though to be honest, I love the clean look of the Light Grey airframe with Blue- Black cowls and red markings... brings out the beautiful lines of the design, and just looks 'classic Japanese' to me

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[A4K]

Cheers Wojtek and Hugh.

Work in progress...

 

[Vic Balshaw]

It's so tiny....................need to pull out some hairs for the ignition leads!

 

[A4K]

Further...

Made a dogs dinner of the cylinder scribing sadly, will try to clean that up.
Quickly filed the cylinder heads closer to true shape. Might refine them further, though the ends won't be seen once the cowl is on.
Carved down the edges of the two side inlets, to make that 'pie dish' shape they had.
Everything needs cleaning up/ refining before fitting of ignition leads.

As she stands:

 

[Crimea_River]

Good stuff Evan and a wise choice to avoid those mottles.

 

[A4K]

Cheers Andy. I'm not happy with the cylinders, so will probably replace them with some from a spare Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engine.