Scale aviation modeller international

Tamiya’s New 1/72 Kawasaki Ki-61-Id (Tei) Hien Tony

by Mike Williams

T

oday’s mainstream plastic

model manufacturers

seemingly cover every

aspect of our hobby in considerable

depth and detail, with high

quality products and a plethora

of subjects covering all principal

aircraft types and versions.

Particularly, the Supermarine

Spitfire, Messerschmitt Bf 109, and

Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien have been

especially favoured over the years.

After building Tamiya’s 1/48

scale Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien

Tony in 2017, I thought I had the

ultimate plastic miniature of this

famous Imperial Japanese Army

Air Force (IJAAF) high performance

Pacific War-era fighter, and I felt

that my collection held the very

best example of the Ki-61-Id Tei

version. However, I have just had

the opportunity to revise this

complacent opinion, because

Tamiya, thinking of the 1/72

scale community, have released

yet another superb Tony.

THE FIGHTER

The Ki-61-Id Tei, or San-Shiki

Sentoki Ichi-Gata Tei (Type 3

Fighter Model Id), was the most

numerous type of the Hien

(Swallow) from the total of

2,750 examples of all versions

produced, so this particular

subject can be regarded as a

sound base from which to derive

a number of optional finishes.

The Ki-61-I type is an

aesthetically pleasing subject: a

single-seat, all-metal, low-wing

monoplane fighter, which hobby

manufactures and modellers have

fully recognised in all scales,

from 1/700 right up to 1/32. It has

found its way into many display

collections in some guise, as its

streamlined fuselage’s oval cross

AROUND

S E CO N D T I M E

22 • JULY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

BY SACCO DE VRIES

KI-61-ID (TEI) HIEN

BY MIKE WILLIAMS

1/72

022-27-JapWings-Tony-0718.indd 22 11/06/2018 13:54