"HAMAMATSU
Flight Training Division"
In 1941 Japanese
army specification was issued for a successor to the Nakajima Ki-49. This
specification required the successful design to be a high speed twin engine
bomber, and unusually (for Japanese aircraft design of the period) the bomber
was required to have good defensive armament and the ability to survive heavy
battle damage. Another requirement was that it was to be highly maneuverable
allowing it to carry out dive-bombing attacks and escape at low level.
What the Japanese
Army received was one of the fastest and most maneuverable bombers of the Second
World War. It was designed by a team lead by Chief Engineer at Mitsubishi, Ozawa
Kyonosuke, and incorporated features commonly seen in US fighters and bombers
that were usually absent on Japanese aircraft, such as self-sealing fuel tanks
and armour.
Typical bomb load
for the Ki-67 was 1,070 kg carried in its internal bomb bay, but due to the
course of the War most found themselves as low level torpedo bombers, and
unfortunately the torpedo most frequently carried could not fit within the bomb
bay and had to be slung in an exposed and vulnerable position underneath the
aircraft. This bomb load while large for Japanese aircraft would classify it as
a medium bomber for the USAAF and RAF.
The performance of
the Ki-67 was where it really shone, in level-flight the top speed of the Hiryu
was 537 km/h/334 mph, making it much faster than most other US and RAF
medium bombers. Diving speed was 644 km/h, and combined with its excellent turn
and climb characteristics it was a formidable aircraft to encounter. There are
even accounts that the Ki-67 could do loops! By the end of the war 698 aircraft
of different variants were produced, with some of the most notable periods of
combat being the intense fighting during the air-sea battle off Formosa in
October 1944 and during the American landings on Okinawa. As was the case with
many Japanese aircraft near the end of the war, some were modified and expended
in kamikaze attacks, up until the Japanese surrender.
Click on
images below to see larger images
This kit is a
limited release re-issue of the earlier Ki-67 Hasegawa kit, and comes with
special markings for two aircraft of the Hamamatsu Flight Training Division.
The kit comes on 6
grey plastic sprues, 2 clear sprues and one rubber sprue totalling 133 pieces
with no photo-etch pieces. Instructions are typical Hasegawa instructions, clear
and in both English and Japanese. The construction of the aircraft is completed
in 8 steps, with two additional steps for either the ta-bomb or torpedo
assembly.
The sprues are free
from flash and there is very minimal swirl on the parts, overall the modeller
would not have to spend much time at all with clean up and could jump straight
into painting and construction. Overall the detail is good, the panel lines are
recessed and there is some really excellent rivet detail on the upper and
particularly the lower surface of the wings. The fuselage has all the panel
lines proportioned correctly, but sadly lacks some of the rivet detail that
would really set the kit apart. This bomber has a lot of windows and turrets,
and although the detail is of good quality in the cockpit and glazed nose, it is
a little sparse in other parts of the rear fuselage, and I would thoroughly
recommend obtaining the excellent 1/72 Platz (Made by Eduard) Photo-Etch Detail
Set specifically made for this kit.
Engines are well
designed in this kit, and show good detail in the Ha-104 engine considering how
little of this engine is visible once the prop hub has been installed. The 12.7
mm and 20 mm cannon are well moulded and fit well into the appropriate gun
stations.
The clear parts are
very well made and that is a good thing for this kit because there is definitely
a lot of turrets and windows on this bird! The forward glazed fuselage is
particularly well modelled, and shows the structure of the airframe nicely. The
cockpit has the option of having the canopy in an open, or shut position.
The decals are well
made and feature the instrument panel and console instruments for which there is
no relief on the plastic part. The colour, registration and overall thickness of
the decal is perfect for 72nd scale, and the kit comes with options for 2
aircraft which are as follows:
-
Hamamatsu Flight
Training Division, Number 159, 1944-1945 (featuring a squiggly green
camouflage over a light grey base)
-
Hamamatsu Flight
Training Division, Number 715, 1945 (featuring an overall upper green over
light grey scheme)
This is the best kit
out there of this really excellent Japanese aircraft and considering its limited
release status snap one out now while you can!
Special thanks to Hobbylink
Japan for supplying this
review sample.
Dean Reynolds
Click on
images below to see larger images
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