Hasegawa 1/48 Hasegawa 1/48 Ki-61-I Tei Type 3 Hien (Tony) and Type 95 Small Sedan Kurogane 244th Flight Regiment Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Kawasaki began development of the Ki-61 Hien (flying swallow) in late 1939 in response to a requirement for a new fighter designed around Ha-40 engine, a license-built Daimler Benz DB 601. The forward fuselage has similar lines as the Heinkel He 100 which was also powered by the DB 601, but the rest of the aircraft is based upon Kawasaki experience. Over 3,000 Ki-61s were produced during the war and some survived the war to serve the air forces of China, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

Here is a regular subject in Hasegawa's limited edition series teamed up with a recent tooling to create this latest offering, the Ki-61-I Tei Type 3 Hien (Tony) and Type 95 Small Sedan Kurogane 244th Flight Regiment. The kit is a combination of their Ki-61 and Type 95 kits with a special edition resin figure added to round out this release. In short, you have a nice vignette or small diorama in this box which only needs a display base of a grass field to complete.

The Ki-61 kit is molded in light gray styrene and presented on four parts trees plus one small tree of clear parts. The Type 95 is molded in tan styrene and presented on five parts trees plus one tree of clear parts. The figure is cast in tan resin and consists of four parts - standing torso, head, and two arms.

Among the features and options with the Ki-61 kit:

• Simple construction
• Nicely detailed cockpit
• Canopy is not positionable
• Nice resin standing pilot figure to pose near the aircraft
• Optional external fuel tanks

Among the features and options with the Type 95 kit:

• Nicely detailed engine
• Hood is not positionable so engine detail only visible from underneath
• Detailed suspension and drive train
• Detailed three-place interior
• Positionable windshield
• Choice of open or covered convertible top
• Optional driver figure
• Optional machine gunner figure w/gun

Markings are provided for three aircraft:

• Ki-61-I, 244 Sentai, Hamamatsu AB, 1944 as flown by Capt. Teruhiko Kobayashi
• Ki-61-I, 244 Sentai, Chofu AB, 1945, as flown by Capt. Teruhiko Kobayashi
• Ki-61-I, 244 Sentai, Chofu AB, 1945, as flown by Lt. Chuichi Ichikawa

This release will make for a nice diorama or vignette which provide a nice context in which to display your aircraft model. The colorful spinich green and silver camouflage used by the Imperial Japanese Army aircraft plus the distinctive unit colors and markings will make a nice eye-catching model. Add the Kurogane sedan with driver that shuttled the pilot to his aircraft and you'll have nice display for your model shelf and/or contest table.

My sincere thanks to Hasegawa USA for this review sample!