Scale aviation modeller international

and sound, the robust top-opening

box contains three sprues, an

instruction pamphlet, and a

decal sheet in clear polythene

bags. My initial components

check established that the 47

medium-grey parts, three clear

parts, and two poly caps would

require minimal preparation work.

There were negligible seams,

light attachment points, and

certainly no extraneous flash or

imperfections to contend with.

The supporting instructions

are presented on a folded ten-

page double-sided sheet with a

logically arranged assembly of

twelve clearly illustrated stages.

THE BUILD

Tamiya invariably markets quality

models, so there is really no need to

delve into the assembly of this new

kit. Suffice to say that, regarding

the crucial issue of scale accuracy

of the original to the model, this

kit measures out perfectly. With

the smooth style of the aircraft

concisely and accurately captured,

all surfaces are nicely finished

off with restrained detail.

Certain areas are the particular

beneficiaries of a high commitment

towards fine detailing; the very

nice cockpit interior has to be

noted, with its well-defined

integral sidewall, separate floor,

seat, instrument panel (with a

decent decal), and seatbelt.

Once assembled, this pleasing

mini-model of the cockpit is

fitted into the fuselage halves.

The work carried out here can

be fully appreciated thanks to

the single-piece, crystal-clear

thin canopy, which makes

everything quite visible.

One overwhelmingly positive

aspect running throughout this

entire build was the quality of

the presentation and finish. The

absolute minimal time was required

to prepare every component, and

the precise fit of all individual

parts and sub-assemblies resulted

in a single superb example of

the plastic modeller’s art.

However, I was somewhat

disappointed to not see the

provision of an exposed Ha-40

inline engine and open cockpit

option in this 1/72 scale kit, after

appreciating it in the earlier 1/48

scale example. The omission of the

wing-mounted auxiliary fuel tanks

is also a surprising exclusion.

THE AFTERMARKET

Seemingly immediately following

Tamiya’s 1/48 scale Ki-61-Id

release last year, I noticed a

wealth of super-detailing etched

frets and resin replacement

Another very positive aspect of Tamiya’s new 1/72 version had to

be the minimal preparation time required to make all parts ready

for assembly

A very respectable degree of detailing has been worked into the

cockpit, with the fuselage halves to be later perfectly aligned

through a series of edge tabs As with all builds, painting various sections and features as it

progressed was an essential requirement for a clean result

The subject I decided to model, the final finish of Ki-61-Id Tei No.24 transferred from the 244th

Sentai to end its days in the 159th Shinbu-tai, flown by 2nd Lieutenant Shunzo Takashima in his

suicide mission against the allied fleet of Okinawa on the 28 May 1945

24 • JULY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

022-27-JapWings-Tony-0718.indd 24 11/06/2018 13:54