1:32 Ki-61 Hien

A liquid-cooled V12 in the tropics was a punishment

Kawasaki built the Hien around the licensed Ha-40 V12 engine, which by Japanese standards was sensitive to the quality of manufacture and of maintenance. When the regiments with this type flew over to New Guinea and to the base at Wewak, that showed in full: in the heat and the damp the blocks, the cooling system and the fuel pumps gave out and the units lost more aircraft on the ground than in the air. The 68th and the 78th Regiment nevertheless held on there for over a year and their experience later paid off over the Philippines.

A design on the rudder instead of a number

Japanese army aviation gave every regiment a marking of its own, painted on the vertical tail. It was usually a stylized arrow, a lightning bolt, a numeral or a shape derived from the number of the unit, and the color inside the marking distinguished the individual squadrons. Machines on the southern front had a dark green mottled camouflage often sprayed in the field over the original metal surface, whereas later aircraft meant for the defense of the home islands stayed unpainted and carried a wide band around the fuselage.

What the set is good for

The frame of the canopy is broken up here and a clearly visible interior lies beneath it, so careless masking is spotted at once. Pre-cut parts hold the same frame width on both sides of the cockpit and save long cutting of tape. The inner shapes are applied from within before the cockpit shade is sprayed.

It pays to work with good light from above. In shadow the edge of the frame on a transparent part is lost and the template is easily laid half a millimeter off.