Lifelike Decals ~ Ki-44 Shoki in 1/48th Scale Part 1

As a predominantly 1/72nd scale modeller I hope that Lifelike Decals of Japan will release their three sets of Ki-44 Shoki markings in that scale too - as they have done with other sets. Good quality aftermarket decal options for the Ki-44 in the popular quarter scale have been surprisingly thin on the ground following the series of modern Hasegawa kits of this type. Decal sheets from other manufacturers have proposed some rather curious colour combinations or stuck with old favourites. The Lifelike sets have a good mixture of better known examples updated with insightful information, together with some stunning examples not seen before. One of the qualities of the Lifelike Decals is that the narrative on the sheets is so comprehensive and provides almost a mini-reference by itself, with sources for each presentation clearly stated. There is no attempt to conceal interpretative conclusions but they are invariably soundly based and often consider viable alternatives. Japanese modellers appear much more comfortable with this, whereas many Western modellers agonise and argue endlessly over colour details that will probably never be confirmed, seeking that elusive old impostor "consensus" - a gathering of opinions, too often ill-founded. Another quality of these sheets is their printing by Cartograf - to an excellent high standard.  

Part 1, 48-036 provides markings for four aircraft, beginning with Lt Inayama's distinctive black-painted Shoki of the 87th Sentai which featured as the cover art by Ronnie Olsthoorn for the Osprey Ki-44 Aces book. I had the opportunity to discuss this aircraft - and others - with the owner of Lifelike, who very kindly indulged my suggestions about it. The greyish-black (anthracite) paint was thinly sprayed over the whole upper surface and this should be replicated on a model, finished first in overall natural metal, rather than just painting it black. The rudder appears to be dark green but is meant to represent the thin black paint over the original grey-green dope. It is also possible that the rudder was not over-painted on this machine. 

The second aircraft is a Ki-44 flown by the great China-based 85th Sentai ace Yukiyoshi Wakamatsu, "the Red-Nosed Ace", and is believed to depict the tail marking accurately for the first time. The photograph of this aircraft reveals the natural metal finish to have been oxidised and dull at the time and it may have had the forward cowling rim painted red too.

Third choice is a well-known and oft-modelled 246th Sentai Shoki on Homeland Defence duty which has been depicted and discussed many times, often with some fanciful colour combinations based on that arcane art of interpreting monochrome photographs. Here we have a more realistic interpretation, no less colourful. The significance of the colour trim on the 246th machines is not fully understood in terms of Chutai and Shotai. This particular aircraft highlights the difficulties of Ki-44 variant identification conventions and the narrative touches on this. Whilst it has the cowling armament of the Hei, the optical gunsight is more usually associated with the Ko and Otsu. The profile on the sheet shows the narrow magazine access panel of the Ko whilst the photograph of the real aircraft reveals the Hei cowling armament. These unusual detail combinations need to be considered carefully if building this particular example from one of the available kits. 

Finally, another interesting 246th Sentai example, with two prominent white fuselage bands and carrying the revised unit marking seen on aircraft following the Phillipines campaign. This plain red tail stripe was said to represent "a loyal and sincere state of mind". As with all the aircraft offered, the markings include the various coloured bands and undercarriage trim, but note that stencils and yellow leading-edge IFF strips are included for one machine only. 

These sheets retail in Japan for ¥1,500 each (about £11) but their value is considerably enhanced by the detailed information provided in the narrative and they include full upper and lower surface plan views. The recommended kit is the Hasegawa Ki-44 but the decals could probably be adapted to fit the perennially popular and simpler Arii (ex-Otaki) Ki-44 too. Thanks to Lifelike Decals for providing the review sample.

Image credits: © 2011 Lifelike Decals

Eric Bergerud's 1/48th Hasegawa Aichi D3A1 "Val"

Eric Bergerud, the author of 'Fire in the Sky: Air War in the South Pacific', very kindly sent these images of his recent Hasegawa 1/48th Aichi D3A1 build. Eric wanted to depict a post-Pearl Harbor bird and mostly used Golden Fluid Acrylics for the paint job. The major components were painted ochre and neutral gray with a bit of Vallejo Model Color khaki, lightened for scale with a very light gray and tinted with about a drop of phthalo green. He found it "really tough to photograph: for every pic that reproduced the khaki-gray intended there were five that showed the fugitive green wanting to escape." This observation highlights a significant issue. The fugitive green that sometimes shows up in colour photos often contributes to stubbornly articulated perceptions of a cooler, minty grey-green or a colour approaching RAF Sky. It is important to get the constituent pigments right and they don't result in anything like Humbrol 90!

Eric's approach in mixing the colour rather than seeking something close out of the bottle or tin is to be commended as such trial and error experimentation often helps to better appreciate the characteristics and subtleties of colours. The result here is a very fine impression.

Oil stains were added around the cowl and beneath the exhaust ports on the basis that radials burned oil and Japanese radials burnt a lot of oil. Eric made all of his own markings except for the tail code. There was no attempt to duplicate a particular plane, he just wanted to depict "a grunt Val" wearing attire much simpler than found on flight or squadron leaders' planes. Eric wanted to weather the plane as it might have looked on the return from Ceylon. He did an oil paint dot filter on the entire surface but didn't use the usual washes, filters or pigments, only giving the panel lines a light pin wash with black/burnt umber oil.

Eric observed wryly that "teaching and writing military history for 30 years (specializing in America's Asian  wars) has done nothing to help me model."

The fugitive green escapes!

Image credits: © 2012 Eric Burgerad 

Cyber Hobby (Dragon) 1/72 Aichi D3A1 "Val"

This one has kind of snuck up and surprised but is out now - slightly late for the Pearl Harbor anniversary. HLJ are retailing it for around the £17 mark but goodness knows what it will sell for if and when stocks reach the UK. There are only two previous contenders - the "old Airfix" (just re-issued for £7.49) and the delicately detailed Fujimi, produced in two versions which meant a breakdown of parts contributing to fit complications but still available for just under £5! The three together should make for an interesting comparison.

Decals are included for eight markings options (shown below) but it appears Cyber Hobby have settled on the traditional light grey for the airframe colour. For Val's Pearl Harbor carrier mate Kate the "old Hasegawa" (ex-Mania) kit rumbles on unchallenged - if you can find one. "Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice. Let's hope Airfix or Revell have plans to do one before Cyber Hobby or one of the East European short-run crowd. 

For the A6M2 Zero fighter escorts in this scale there is now a choice of Fine Molds (superlative, expensive and appears to be unavailable), Hasegawa (honest but hard to find) and Airfix (easily available, cheap but suspiciously fat in plan view).

Image credit: © 2012 Cyber Hobby

Aoshima Mitsubishi A7M2 Reppu "Sam"

Further to the blogs on Aoshima (or Aosima) kits here and here  I came across this Reppu box art on an internet auction site. It's an early "white" one I've never seen before and appears to show bomb-armed Reppu taking off from Iwo Jima with Mount Suribachi smoking ominously in the background - or maybe it's meant to be Rabaul? It must have taken a very special kind of idiot to use the box top for the sales graffiti, including the desecrating non sequitur "Rare!" (rare it might have been but its esoteric value plunged with that unnecessary adornment). Anyone who has any of these kits in his or her collection will appreciate why the absence of decals is no big deal anyway.

It is arguable whether this sort of vandalism is on a par with those people who post collectable mint boxed kits in jiffy bags, allowing the postal services to demonstrate just how flat they can make them, or the memorable kit box I once received where the sender had sealed it all round with duct tape before putting it in the jiffy bag. The duct tape had not prevented the postal flattening process so it was a double whammy. What had been a pristine box when sold was absolutely destroyed by the time it arrived. It was then damaged even more by being soaked in tears . . . 

Image credit: © Aoshima circa 1960 via unknown retailer

Platz 1/72nd scale JASDF T-33

For JASDF enthusiasts the new Platz 1/72nd scale T-33 kit follows on from the recent Sword release of the same type and seems, in the box, to be an impressive kit. Contrary to expectation the decal options include no less than 9 aircraft rather than just one commemorative bird:-


#81-5360 304th TFS Tuiki AB 1992
#61-5206 305th TFS Hiyakuri AB 1978-1992
#91-5406 103rd TFS Chitose AB 1959-1968
#81-5378 3rd AW Komaki AB 1959-1968
#81-5360 304th TFS Tuiki AB 1977-1995
#81-5360 301st TFS Hiyakuri AB 1973-1985
#61-5206 Agressor Gp.Tuiki AB 1981-1995
#81-5378 5th TTS Komaki AB 1978-1995
#91-5406 203rd TFS Chitose AB 1964-1995

There is an in-box review on Aeroscale here and on Modelling Madness here. The kit retails direct from Japan for about £14 but is already showing on back order at HLJ. I have no idea whether it will remain generally available as Platz kits do seem to come and go fast! Also available is a pre-coloured photo-etch detail set marketed by Platz but made by Eduard which retails direct for about £9. Nice to see this aircraft get the modern kit treatment and combined with the enduring appeal of the T-33 the JASDF markings make for a very colourful model.

If the Platz kit should disappear without trace before you can obtain one there is also a recent kit from Sword of the T-33 which features JASDF markings as reviewed here.

Image credits: © 2012 Platz, Aeroscale & Sword

Kopro 1/72 Kawanishi Shiden & Shiden-Kai Family

I suspect, but have not been able to confirm yet, that the new Kopro "George" kits from the Czech Republic are connected to the highly respected Aoshima range. The box art is similar but different! They are available direct from Hobbyshop.cz - the official Kopro agent - who can supply the whole range of Kopro kits. Price about £8-9. If they are the Aoshima kits, this is good news as they have been hard to find lately.

More good news is that the Kopro decal sheets are available separately (from the same source) and at a very reasonable price too.

Image credits © 2012 Kopro and Hobbyshop.cz