Hasegawa 1/48 Nakajima Ki-44 "Shoki" (Tojo)

2nd Chutai, 246th Sentai based at Clark Airfield,

Pampanga Province, Philippines

November 1944

The 246th Sentai of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) was one of the only two IJAAF units that were equipped with Ki-44s in the Philippines during the war. (The other was the 29th Sentai).  The unit was sent to aid in the defense of the islands against the US invasion forces.  From the Japanese mainland, the 246th flew to Pingtung, Formosa (Taiwan) before embarking to the Philippines.  Mainly based in Japanese occupied Clark Airfield, some aircraft were deployed at the former Philippine Army Air Corps base at Zablan Field at Quezon City.  During their stint from November 8 to December 14, 1944, the unit lost more than forty (40) aircraft to aerial combat and ground attack.  The unit was then sent back to the mainland to refit and from January 1945 to the end of the war, the unit was active in Homeland defense against B-29 attacks.

 

 

The model was built straight out-of-the-box.The only addition to the construction was the use of Eduard photo-etch seat belts.  The fit was good and required very minimal sanding and filling.  Cockpit was painted with Mr. Color 127 (Nakajima Interior Color) and the intrument panels and other details were detail in black and silver.  The seat lightening holes were drilled out and the seat was painted using my own "aotake" color mix.

The wheel wells were also painted with same.  The leading IFF was painted with Mr. Color yellow orange and the white fuselage band was spray painted and then masked.

 

 

For the undersides, I used Mr. Color # 56 (Nakajima Light Grey) which for me is more on the bluish side.  Nakajima had another shade for their light grey which was more on the light tan-greenish grey side.  I did not bother myself to be caught in another AMS dilemma so I just stuck with the Gunze shade.  I then applied a lighter shade of the same color to the ailerons to produce the same effect like the real aircraft due to the fact that it was made out of fabric.

 

 

For the upper camouflage, I used my home brew mix of IJA brown using Mr. Color paints.  I then applied the anti-glare blue black using Mr. Color 125 Cowling Color.  Before applying the other colors, I applied the decals.  the hinomarus were from the kit while the 246th Sentai tail insignia was custom made using my inkjet printer and decal paper.  After the decals have set and were allowed to dry,  the fuselage was mottled with a red-brown color mix and Mr. Color #129 (Nakajima Green) applying them freehand just like the way they did it on the field so paint overspray was common in the hinomarus and other portions of the aircraft.  The canopy framing was left in its natural metal color which was common on some Japanese army aircraft.

 

 

After the colors were dry enough, i began to weather the aircraft by starting with a wash, then picking out chipped and stripped paint using a fine brush and silver.  For the exhaust stains, I used an acrylic mix of flat black and medium browns and airbrushed them to exhaust and gun ports.  I used stretch sprue for the aerial wires and applying a small blob of white paint to simulate insulators.  The propeller yellow orange warning bands were painted and then masked before applying Mr. Color #131 propeller color.  The spinner was painted with a based coat of white and then sprayed with red to avoid the translucent finish.  Red was the color of the 2nd chutai (white for the 1st and yellow for the 3rd).

 

 

Overall, I had fun building this aircraft.  Not only did I enjoy the quality of the kit but as a big fan of WWII Japanese aircraft it also allowed me to model a piece of history.

 

Tony Feredo