Tuesday 22 January 2019

Rising's 1/48th Trio for Kate and Two Twins


Amongst a plethora of interesting new releases from Rising Decals, a trio of welcome 1/48 scale decal sheets for famous wartime Japanese twins, two for Navy and one for Army subjects (with a Navy intruder). 


Set RD48022 (above) is for the IJN Type 1 Rikko   (1 Shiki Rikujoh Kohgeki-ki  一式陸上攻撃機), the Mitsubishi G4M1 'Betty' and presumably designed for the well respected Tamiya kit. It contains decals for a choice of five subjects with plain or white bordered Hinomaru for two aircraft plus two fuselage Hinomaru on white squares.  The options are as follows:-

  •  G4M1 Model 11 of 705 Ku - '379' of 4 Hiko Chutai with Houkoku legend # 1006 operating over the Solomon Islands in 1943 and depicted in dark green over light grey with the fuselage Hinomaru on white squares.  
  • G4M1 Model 11 of Takao Ku - 'T-351' operating in the South-West Pacific during 1942 and depicted in dark green over light grey with the fuselage Hinomaru on white squares. This aircraft has an open rear gun position.
  • G4M1 Model 11 late production of 702 Ku - '321' of 2 Hiko Chutai operating from Rabaul, New Britain during 1943 and depicted in dark green over light grey with white-bordered Hinomaru. A distinguished aircraft successfully flown back to base by Ltjg Hidezumi Maruyama after a nocturnal anti-shipping raid with extensive AA damage of 380 hits, somewhat belying the aircraft's reputation for vulnerability. 
  •  G4M1 Model 11 of 4 Ku - 'F-348' of 3 Hikotai flown from Rabaul, New Britain in February 1942 and depicted in green and brown camouflage over light grey with plain Hinomaru. This aircraft was fatally damaged by Lt Edward H 'Butch' O'Hare whilst being flown against the USS Lexington by Lt Cdr Takuzo Ito. Ito then attempted to crash into the carrier but was shot down into the sea  by its AA fire.
  •   G4M1 Model 11 of 753 Ku - 'XI-331' operating from Rabaul, New Britain during July 1943 and depicted in dark green over light grey with a conjectural tail code presentation. Another distinguished aircraft flown successfully back to base by the navigator FPO Torao Maruoka after being damaged by RAAF fighters during a raid against Australia on 6 July 1943. 



The question of Betty under surface colours is thorny. This author has a piece from the upper surface of a G4M1 shot down over the Solomons which is a very dark, rich and lustrous green, almost a black-green, and not at all like the bright 'garden shed' greens so often applied to models. The paint is of good quality and proficiently applied, with an almost ceramic surface. The few deep scratches reveal the same red-brown primer beneath as on the Zero which creates doubt that the under surfaces would not have been as carefully primed and painted as well. 


Set RD48023 (above) is for the Army Type 100 Shitei (100 Shiki Shireibu Teisatsu-ki - 百式司令部偵察機), the svelte Mitsubishi Ki-46-III 'Dinah' in both recce and air defence fighter guise, again designed presumably for the Tamiya kits. It contains decals for a choice of five subjects, four recce and one fighter version with Hinomaru for one model and a choice of plain or white-bordered fuselage Hinomaru.  The options are as follows:-  

  • Ki-46-III of 106th Sentai - operating over Luzon in the Philippines during 1944 and depicted in olive drab over grey green. The instructions suggest that this aircraft can be equipped with Ta-Dan bombs using Rising's resin accessory set Acr-032 but that appears to be for 1/72 scale.  
  • Ki-46-III of 141 Ku - '141-103' of Teisatsu Hikotai T.102, a Navy operated Dinah in the Philippines and found abandoned at Bamban airfield, Luzon in January 1945. The scheme depicted is olive drab over grey green with a yellow tail code. Interesting and unusual.
  • Ki-46-III Kai interceptor of 83rd Independent Flying Squadron - operated from Ashiya, Japan in July 1945 and depicted in dark green over grey green. A colourful example with red, yellow and white unit insignia and double yellow and white fuselage bands.
  • Ki-46-III of 19th Independent Flying Squadron - '38' operating from Kanoya, Japan during May 1945 and depicted in olive drab over grey green. 
  • Ki-46-III of 18th Independent Flying Squadron - with the 'tiger on the tail' and depicted in olive drab over grey green. In Japanese lore of Chinese origin the tiger could run and hunt for 1,000 Ri (approx. 3,927 km or 2,240 miles) and then return to its lair.


The colourful 83rd DHC interceptor was the subject of a previous 1/72 accessory set from Rising, RD Acr-032 reviewed here. Although Ki-46-III Kai is a popularly used short designation for the interceptor version of the Ki-46 the official designation was Type 100 Model 3 Headquarters Reconnaissance Plane Modified Air Defense Fighter  -  Hyaku shiki San gata Shireibu Teisatsuki Kaizoh Bohkuh Sentohki. The subject aircraft on the Rising sheet is the Ki-46-III Kai Otsu, the subsequent Otsu + Hei variant having the 70 ° oblique firing Ho-204 37mm cannon positioned in the fuselage between pilot and observer positions. Other shortened designations in use include Type 100 Model 3 Air Defence Fighter -  Hyaku shiki San gata Bohkuh Sentohki and Type 100 Model 3 Modified Air Defense Fighter - Hyaku shiki San gata Kai Bohkuh Sentohki. A Key Data Guide on the Ki-46 interceptors is in preparation. 


Finally the third set is RD48026 for Japanese Naval Carrier Bombers Part II (above). This features both the Nakajima B5N1/2 'Kate' and B6N2 'Jill' with no less than six subjects for the former and two for the latter as follows:-
  • B5N1 of Yokosuka Ku - '整練(SeiRen)-372', '-377' or '-386' (three choices) all in silver (natural metal) and red finish with yellow tail codes. 'SeiRen' (seibi renshuu 整備練習 -maintenance practice) aircraft were used for groundcrew instruction as noted in the instructions.
  • B5N2 of Zuikaku - 'EII-301' flown by Lt Cdr Shigekazu Shimazaki during the Pearl Harbor strike depicted in dark green over grey-green. Aircraft armed with 800kg armour-piercing bomb.
  • B5N1 of 12 Ku - '3-356' flown over China during 1939 and depicted both in original natural metal with Houkoku legend # 268 (Tokyo Machinery Works) and in green and brown field-applied camouflage over natural metal with red tail surfaces retained. Aircraft armed with six 60kg bombs.  
  • B6N2 of Zuikaku - '653-33' of 653 Ku, 263 Hikotai during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 depicted in dark green over grey-green with training kanji on the fuselage Hinomaru.
  • B6N2 of 551 Ku - '51-301' of 251 Hikotai flown by Capt Masayuki Hida  at Truk during June 1944 and depicted in dark green over grey-green with morale-boosting characters 'Kamikaze' painted on fuselage and command markings of three diagonal yellow stripes on the fin and rudder with diagonal yellow bands on the upper surfaces of the wings. 


Some very interesting and well chosen subjects on all three sheets which will be appreciated by 1/48 modellers looking for something different. With special thanks to Mirek of Rising Decals for the notification and review samples. 
Image credits: All decal sheets & instructions © 2019 Rising Decals; Heading box art © 1996 Tamiya Inc., via Hobby Search

11 comments:

Dan Salamone said...

Thanks for posting this, along with your thoughts Nick. I pre-ordered the Dinah sheet last week when I first saw them listed, and I noted the Ki-46III Kai is not shown with the 37mm cannon on the profile sheet. Good to know this aircraft actually had it...

Dan

Straggler 脱走兵 said...

Hi Dan

Thanks. Sorry to confuse but the Rising subject as presented is an Otsu without the oblique 37mm cannon. The 37mm cannon armed version was Otsu + Hei using that rare double suffix (also in use for some Ki-45 variants) with the Japanese 'purasu'(プラス) for 'plus' - thus spoken 'San gata Otsu purasu Hei Bohkuh Sentohki' but written as 'Otsu + Hei'.

Hope that clarifies it!

Regards
Nick

Dan Salamone said...

Hi Nick, thanks for the clarification!

Dan

Mark Smith said...

Nick,
Thanks for the heads-up, especially as these decals disappears so quickly. Mine are ordered also. Mirek, I would love to see some reprints of your Japanese subjects, which seem so hard to find, such as the 1/48 Zero items.

Dan, if you have Tom Laemlein's "Setting Suns" (the first volume), the intriguing Dinah interceptor from the 83rd is seen in its Ashiya hangar, its rear fuselage and left wing on trestles, with the right landing gear extended, in a three-quarter rear view on page 113. It shows that the wing hinomarus were plain with no home defense bands. To my eye no armament is visible, and the nose panel directly ahead of the windscreen appears loosely placed but not fastened. On page 119 and 120 may be seen both a -II and -III Shitei of the 106th, another interesting marking on this sheet; both are looking, as Don Thorpe once wrote, 'extremely retired,' but the tail marking is clearly seen.

Michael Thurow said...

Thanks Nick for the alert. I will get one for my B6N - Capt Hida's plane is so very attractive. Great background info, too.

Dan Salamone said...

Thanks so much for this Mark, it's appreciated! I do not own that book, but it sounds like I need to find a copy.

I also agree with your comment to Mirek about some 1/48 re-prints....

Dan

Straggler 脱走兵 said...

Mark, Dan

That 83rd Dinah interceptor was probably a Ta-Dan equipped aircraft as presented by Rising. Back in 2016 and FWIW when Rising released their 1/72 decals for this aircraft with resin Ta-Dan armament I wrote:-

"The 83rd independent air squadron was originally intended as the reconnaissance element of the 12th Air Division formed from the 19th Air Brigade on 17 July 1944 under Maj Gen Furuya, but as bombing raids increased two-thirds of the unit's aircraft were re-assigned to the Ta-Dan interceptor role. The 12th Air Division was formally assigned to the General Defence Command but operated under Western Army Command and the other units within the Division were the 4th, 47th, 59th and 71st Hiko Sentai. The 16th Air Brigade (51st and 52nd Hiko Sentai) and 246th Hiko Sentai were also attached to the Division. The 246th gave birth to the 82nd independent air squadron, designated in February 1945 with a specialist high altitude interception role and also equipped with Ki-46-III fighters. The relationship between the 82nd and 83rd, if any, is unknown."

I should add a link to the 2016 blog to the article above and will do! Someone once commented that you could search this blog "until the cows come home" which probably (partly) explains why so much I have recorded here gets ignored elsewhere as wheels are re-invented!

Regards
Nick

Dan Salamone said...

Hi Nick, thanks for this. Now that you brought it up, it does "ring a bell". It would make a great model with the weapons mounted for sure.

Dan

Michael Thurow said...

That's right Nick - the thing with the cows I mean. On a number of lonely hotel evenings during a project I scanned through all the blog entries and compiled a list of references to those topics that may once be of interest to me. With this I preserved your precious work for my future models.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, that last Jill is a must have!

Regards,

Vedran

Ken Glass said...

Thanks for this heads-up, Nick.