dennismcc

Nice job, it looks great, the Fulmar is one of my 1/32 scale wishlist kits, hopefully one day one will appear. Cheers Dennis

After a steady diet of Pacific Coast Models Kits, I decided to treat myself and build a Hasegawa kit which from my previous experience are well engineered and build up nicely. From the stash I picked out a Nakajima Ki44, and looking in the box at the contents and reading other peoples builds I was not disappointed. The Nakajima Ki 44 was one of the not so well-known Japanese WW2 fighter aircraft, most modellers will know about Japanese aircraft such as the “Zero” and “Oscar” but the Shoki (or Tojo) is not as well known. Just to make matters more difficult there are no surviving airframes and the photographic evidence is not that extensive, I did not find much and what I did find was not of very good quality. A bit of history copied from Wikipedia The design and development of the Ki-44 differed greatly from that of other Japanese fighters of the time, incorporating speed and rate-of-climb in preference to manoeuvrability This was a result of a need for a heavy fighter aircraft that followed a more offensive doctrine and the Ki-44 is often classified as an Air Defence Fighter. Its development ran almost in parallel to its predecessor, the lighter and nimbler Nakajima Ki-43. The Ki-44 had a higher landing speed and was less manoeuvrable. These were concerns for pilots who would compare it to the Ki-43 or Ki-27 which were far more agile and responsive. As a result, the Ki-44 was first restricted to pilots with at least 1000 hours of flying time due to its tricky handling characteristics. However, it was later found that younger pilots who had not been instilled with the extensive aerobatic training of earlier cadres could manage the aircraft perfectly well, so the restriction was removed. Nonetheless, the Ki-44 was the fastest climbing Japanese fighter at the time. It was the Imperial Japanese Army's only interceptor type when the USAAF's B-29 Superfortresses began bombing the Japanese mainland in June 1944. While there were performance restrictions at high altitude, it was superior to the Ki-43 in that it was capable of matching Allied aircraft in climbs and dives, giving pilots more flexibility in combat and greater pilot confidence than the Ki-43, The basic armament of four 12.7mm machine guns or two 12.7mm guns and two 20 mm cannons (or, in a few aircraft, two Ho-301 40mm cannons of limited range) was far more powerful than the older Ki-43's two 12.7mm machine guns Production of the Ki-44 was terminated in late 1944 in favour of the more advanced Nakajima Ki-84, and when the war ended, only three sentai units were still equipped with them. The subject of my build is a Ki 44 flown by Makoto Ogawa, who was a Japanese Army aviator known for achieving ace status flying against Boeing B-29 Superfortresses during World War II. In carrying out his duties, he downed the highest number of B-29s among the pilots in his air group (seven confirmed) and also two North American P-51 Mustangs. He was awarded the Bukosho, the highest award given by the Imperial Japanese Army to living soldiers who demonstrated exceptionally valorous action in combat. And so I needed a plan for the build, I do not know that much about Japanese subjects, just enough to be dangerous, luckily, I know of a man who does, so I did a search over on Nick Millman’s Aviation of Japan site I got a great deal of really useful information on the subject. I also did a search on modelling sites for builds of the same kit to point me in the right direction, again I found lots of useful information especially from Britmodeller and LSP build threads. So, I had the information and from it I devised a build plan. But my build plan went out the window after mailing Nick and asking his advice on my plan, he very kindly sent me more information on my subject aircraft and what colours to use, a really helpfull gentleman. This is part of Nick’s reply. Ogawa's Shoki was a Hei so manufactured after January 1944. Unlikely to still have a blue grey interior and too early for # 7. Possibly the yellowish green 'Nakajima interior colour' but some Japanese researchers now suggest a grey green colour (not the early exterior grey green). In early 1943 Koku Hombu began preparations for the final battle against US Forces the following year and the required number of fighter aircraft was calculated. To secure such a vast number a drastic increase in production was required. To increase production of Hayabusa, for example, the time-consuming application of 'transparent light blue colour' (aotake) on interior surface was abandoned, and all interior surfaces were to be left unpainted except for the cockpit interior which continued to be painted, but the exact hue is unknown. Recent research on the existing wreck of a Toryu (Kawasaki) and the cockpit of Hayate suggests the paint used for Army cockpits around this time was gray green (similar to the Hayate prop colour but the exact name of the colour is unknown). It is possible therefore that the Shoki cockpit colour was similar, but a health warning is that the type was in limited production so might not have followed the norm of others. Regardless of the change of interior colour, instrument panels of all types were uniformly painted black. Cowling interiors had a heat- resistant matt black paint. The fabric control surfaces were doped either the early light grey green or silver and it's impossible to tell which from b/w photos. I've attached a chip of the interior grey green colour with comparisons. It is very similar to RAF aircraft grey green (perhaps it was that as large stocks of RAF paints were captured in Malaya and Burma). FS 24172 is similar but darker and slightly more blueish. Hope this helps but please don't hesitate to ask. The new Plan So, my revised build plan based on the information that Nick Millman kindly sent me is as follows. Cockpit interior: RAF Grey Green, Humbrol 78 or Xtracolor X10 Cockpit switches and boxes Humbrol H85 a satin black. Seat joystick and rudder pedals Humbrol Matt aluminium. Fuselage machine guns, X502 Natural steel, redone with Humbrol Metallic Black H201. Airframe Xtracolor X38 High speed silver. Prop blades: Humbrol 160 German camo red brown or Sovereign Colourcoats ACJ023 Propellor Brown. Hinomaru ACJ 20 Hinomaru Red or Humbrol 19. Fabric covered flying surfaces: silver or grey. Wing leading edges: ACJ 19 ID Yellow White Xtracolor X141 Inside the cowling Humbrol 33 Matt Black Anti- glare panel: Revell 9, Anthracite Wheel wells and Undercarriage: Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium, Tyres Humbrol 67 Matt Tank Grey. More soon Cheers Dennis

Now that does look great, I will bookmark this ready for when I build mine. Cheers Dennis

Nicely done Max, looking good. Cheers Dennis

Yes Cheers Dennis

Just read this report of a 2 seat Spitfire force landing in a field in Kent, both pilot and passenger are safe and the plane does not look to be seriously damaged. Spitfire crash lands in crop field in West Hythe Cheers Dennis

Belated birthday wishes Max, I go out for the day and you have a birthday. Hope your day was fun and enjoy the flypast. Cheers Dennis

Nice work, and it is amazing how time flies when you put your head down and get on with it, I must get my modelling head back on after our holiday. Cheers Dennis

The Fairey Battale has been on my wish list for years. Cheers Dennis

Nice to see you resurecting builds Kev, looking forward to seeing progress on this one. Cheers Dennis

Nice one Erwin Cheers Dennis

Bit late as I have just got back from holiday but this is very different, a model within a model, very fine work you are doing on this Max, it looks tremendous. Cheers Dennis

Great perseverance, and a superb finished model, well done Kev. Cheers Dennis

A belated happy birthday Tolgar, all the best. Cheers Dennis

That is ever so impressive, considering that the Stirling was the RAF's first 4 engined heavy it seems to be a rather neglected subject despite its impressive stature. Cheers Dennis

Late due to being on holiday so a belated Happy birthday Mike, I will be here next year as I intend to linger like a bad smell. Cheers Dennis

This is a hard one to answer, but the one that really pleased me the most was my MDC Typhoon, despite the challenges it brought I was very pleased with the end result, though for some reason my Hasegawa Raiden always takes my eye. Cheers Dennis

Now that is a real golden oldie, I have fond memories of building one. Cheers Dennis

I go on holiday and look what happens, its finished, my dream 1/32 scale kit. Superb build Tolga, and a genius production Peter, and this build was only a prototype, stunning. Cheers Dennis

Thank you Max, it is one destination from Viv's bucket list, mind you a visit to Pearl Harbour and a tour of USS Missouri is also included from my list. Cheers Dennis

Amazing films, I was surprised by the amount of dust raised there must have been some very dry weather. Cheers Dennis

That looks great, painted markings are the only way to go, nice work. Cheers Dennis

Woke up to a chilly but sunny day, wrestling with British Airways online checking in procedure ready to fly out tonight to San Francisco ready to board for a cruise to Hawaii. Very Frustrating the BA app refuses to scan my passport or issue a Boarding pass for my wife, so maybe will have to leave her behind. Will have to try again later Cheers Dennis

Superb, for some reason the XII is one of my favourites, it embodies the lines its merlin cousins with the powerful look of the mighty Griffon engine, love it. Cheers Dennis

Fabulous work and very entertaining descriptions, amazing. Cheers Dennis