The venerable
Airfix Mitsubishi Ki-46-II 'Dinah' kit from 1965 flies again in a re-release this year in their
'Vintage Classics' series. The kit is unchanged except for the instructions, decal sheet and darker grey plastic - the original kit was moulded in a lighter grey plastic and the US Airfix
Craft Master release in silver plastic.
With the more recent Hasegawa release (2000) and the LS kit (1975, re-released by Arii in 1995 and still intermittently available) there will probably be plenty of scorn for the re-emergence of this 61 year old Airfix kit. Personally I like it, probably due to a hefty dose of nostalgia but also because it better replicates the fine lines of the original aircraft than the more detailed Hasegawa kit. The surface detail is raised but very fine and thankfully the dreaded Airfix riveter had the day off when the mould was cut. The parts of the original kit fitted well (the main components of the Craft Master release can be dry assembled without glue) and it was an easy, relaxing build. Some care needs to be taken with the plug in wings to avoid excessive dihedral but there are no other fit issues.
The modelling trend now seems to be for ever larger scale kits and more meticulous interior detail even when it can't be seen when the model is completed! The Airfix Ki-46 has good interior detail for its era - a cockpit floor with integral observer's seat, separate pilot's seat, control column and instrument panel with two bulkheads, the rear incorporating a navigation table. Although the ventral camera window was included there is no camera equipment inside the cockpit but the representation of a camera moulded to the underside of the cockpit floor. Airwaves offer a photo etch set of enhanced details for the kit as AC-72-173, including extended flaps if there is patience enough to fix the 14 tiny runner attachments on each one. Still available from Hannants at £6.50. Paint suggested for the interior, including wheel wells, is Humbrol 56 Aluminium - Metallic.
Cowlings are solid with the crude 'flange' type flaps typical of Airfix kits at the time and a little too tapered without the 'swell' achieved in the LS kit. There is some very rudimentary engine detail within the cowlings but little can be seen once the props and spinners are fitted. The spinners are too long and not representative of the original but it is doubtful any aftermarket replacements will be offered for such an old kit. A set of masks for all the kit transparencies and wheels is available from
UKScaleModeller at £5.75 purchasable from
eBay.
Markings options are as for the original kit with decals printed by Cartograf for Dokuritsu Hiko Dai 18 Chutai (18th Independent Flying Squadron) based in China during 1944 (shown below), but this time the unit's tiger motif is more representative than the leaping 'Esso' tiger of 1965. Yellow leading edge IFF strips, instrument panel decal (aluminium!) and prop blade markings are also included on the sheet.
In addition a second option offers markings for a captured aircraft operated at Eglin Field, Florida in 1945 (shown above). This aircraft, c/n 2846, was captured at Hollandia, New Guinea and in September 1944 made airworthy by personnel of the 13th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group which operated the A-20 Havoc. Red and yellow prop tip stripes for this version are included on the decal sheet. Assigned the Technical Air Intelligence Centre designation TAIC 10 it was shipped to the USA and still displaying the 13th BS insignia on its nose was test flown at NAS Anacostia, NAS Paruxent River and at Eglin Field where it was reported in April 1945, ultimate fate unknown. It seems to have been re-painted in US service but the colour remains open to interpretation. It originally had the rudder painted in the pre-war red, white and blue stripes, subsequently overpainted in a dark colour. The instruction sheet schematic shows olive drab for the rudder as well as for the elevators but in one photo the latter might just be the result of shadow.
A curious note suggests that both options were painted overall in J3 'amber grey' (to be represented by Humbrol 168 Satin Hemp) which was a Navy not an Army colour standard, the Army finish being # 1
Hairyokushoku (
灰緑色 - ash green colour). Ki-46 colours as recorded on c/n 2414 were explored at the blog in April 2010
here and indeed appear similar to the Zero amber grey colour, the pale blueish grey observations possibly due to oxidisation and chalking of the surface. A report by FO Bellinger of 5 Sqn RAF from December 1942 described a Ki-46 as having under surfaces of a pale duck egg blue with upper surfaces of a little darker blue, perhaps inspiring the 1978 Airfix re-release suggestion for an 81st Sentai aircraft to be finished in Airfix M8 Duck Egg Blue.
The Mitsubishi painting process for the Ki-46 was rigorous with an overall primer coat of # 3 Hai ran shoku ( 灰藍色 - ash indigo colour) a dark blue grey, also applied to all interior spaces including cockpit, followed by a mid coat of the elusive # 17 Tan Sei shoku (淡青色 - pale blue colour), not always applied, and finally several top coats of # 1, sanded and polished. Panel divisions were also puttied and sanded before painting, resulting in a very smooth surface finish.
Previous re-releases of the Airfix Ki-46 kit were featured at the blog in December 2012 here and in November 2008 here. Still worth consideration for an undemanding weekend 'retro' build and it won't break the bank at £9.99.
Image credit: Airfix box art and colour/decals schematics © 2026 Hornby Hobbies Ltd; Airwaves photo-etch image © 2026 H G Hannant Ltd; Mask set image © 2026 UKScalemodeller.
5 comments:
A terrific review, Nick! I It's refreshing to see a classic Airfix kit appreciated for what it is—a fun, nostalgic build that still captures the elegant lines of the Dinah remarkably well. And that dynamic box art is one of my all-time favorites—it's worth buying the kit for that alone! Thanks for another fascinating and informative read.
I fondly remember the Airfix Val in 1/72 scale. Built it in the early 1970s along with the Matchbox Zero. How fun that was. I wanted to build a Kate but no kit was available. The Val got painted with a spray can of Pactra Rebel Gray that looked good with the red markings. Nice read Nick!
Thanks for this, Nick. You'd be surprised how much that post improved another 100 degree day here. I have to echo Rob and Jim's thoughts. At least for your American readers, I'll bet this rang a bell with a distant memory similar to mine - browsing a nice air-conditioned Woolworth's or drug store and discovering this exciting Craftmaster box art. These kits were shrink-wrapped, and depending on the age of the mold, as you know quality could vary wildly, but I couldn't have known this was one of the best until I got it home.
I built two, one coated in Pactra Flat White to match the box of course (I recall the Craftmaster decals having a nicely proportioned and detailed tiger symbol), and one in high school which was patterned after the Thorpe sideview in his JAAF colors book, an overall blue-grey (#13 possibly) machine with that winding river on the tail from the 10th or 51st. It proved easier to paint a half-decent 'S' than the backwards version on the other side! Thanks again for a great post and its reminder that this kit surpasses mere nostalgia for value.
Rob, Jim & Mark, I didn't expect any comments on this one but yours were a delight to read, thank you.
What a load of nostalgia! Along with Airfix Fiat G.50, Savoia Marchetti SM.79, Val and others, the Ki-46 represents my adolescence and those summer days spent with my brother to put toghether those light blue pieces of plastic...and what about the excitement when it finally came the very day we could collect our little savings, get a bus and enter that fabulous model shop? This all also meant the school was over for nearly four months...Thank you Nick, for this lovely post.
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