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Kawasaki KI-61 Tony (Swallow )

phantom II

Master at Arms
Tried to post this earlier but things went awry :blush:


Will try to figure this out tomorrow

Ok, I'm back . I pulled this out from Wikepedia for those of you that do not have any back ground on the subject matter .

The Ki-61 was the last of the fighters powered by the DB-601 or its foreign derivatives, and it was soon overshadowed by fighters with more powerful engines. By the time it first flew in December 1941, one year after the Macchi C.202's first flight and three years after the first Bf 109E, the engine was already underpowered compared to the new 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) inline or 1,491 kW (2,000 hp) radial engines being developed (and already nearing the mass-production stage) to power the next generation of combat aircraft such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. Moreover, the inline Ha-40 engine proved to be an unreliable powerplant.[12][13]

The DB-601 engine required precise and sophisticated manufacturing; the Ha-40 was lighter by roughly 30 kg (70 lb) and required even higher manufacturing standards. Reaching these standards proved difficult for Japanese manufacturers, an issue further complicated by the variable quality of materials, fuel, and the lubricants needed to run a sensitive, high-performance engine. The Japanese equivalent of the more powerful DB-605 engine was the Ha-140, which was fitted onto the Type 3 to produce the Ki-61-II high-altitude interceptor.[12][14]

Compared to the Ki-61-I, the Ki-61-II had 10% greater wing area, used more armour and was powered by the Kawasaki Ha-140 engine generating 1,120 kW (1,500 hp). After overcoming initial fuselage and wing stability problems, the new interceptor reverted to the original wing and was put into service as the Ki-61-II-KAI. However, the Ha-140 engine had severe reliability problems which were never fully resolved, and around half of the first batch of engines delivered were returned to the factory to be re-built. A US bombing raid on 19 January 1945 destroyed the engine factory in Akashi, Hyōgo, and 275 Ki-61-II-KAI airframes without engines were converted to use the Mitsubishi Ha-112-II radial engine, resulting in the Ki-100. While the Ha-112 solved the problems encountered with the Ha-140, the new engine still had a major weakness: a lack of power at altitude, which diminished its ability to intercept high-flying B-29 Superfortresses relative to the Ki-61-II.[12][15]

During testing, the Hien proved capable,[16] but several shortcomings were subsequently revealed in operational service[citation needed], namely the armor protection that was insufficient against larger guns and a sub-standard engine that eventually led to a new engine being considered.[

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This is a earlier production KI-61 . Not sure which . There seems to be a bit of confusion as we get to the end of the production as to wether the last airframe to test the inline engine was in fact a KI-61 II or a KI-61 III . Depends on who's article you read.

Ki-61-I-Otsu Second production fighter variant: Tailwheel retraction mechanism was unreliable, the aircraft was modified accordingly. Two 12.7 mm (.50 in) Ho-103 machine guns replaced the wing 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns.[12]
Ki-61-I-Hei: The Hei was built in conjunction with the Otsu variant, the wing machine guns were replaced by Mauser MG 151/20 cannons.
Ki-61-I-Tei Fighter variant with two fuselage mounted Japanese 20 mm Ho-5 cannon and two 12.7 mm (.50 in) wing mounted Ho-103 machine guns.
Ki-61-I-KAId: Interceptor variant with 2 × 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns and 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) Ho-155 wing cannon.
Ki-61-I- w.c.e.s: Experimental aircraft with evaporation system, as used on the Heinkel He 100. It was the fastest Ki-61 built, achieving 630 km/h (395 mph).
Ki-61-II Prototype with 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) Ha-140 engine and first flown in December 1943.
Ki-61-II-KAI: Pre-production version which reverted to the Ki-61-I-Tei wing, a 220 mm (8.7 in) fuselage stretch, enlarged rudder, and Ha-140 engine; 30 built.
Ki-61-II-KAIa: Armed with 2 x 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns in the wings and 2 x 20 mm cannon in the fuselage.
Ki-61-II-KAIb: Armed with 4 x 20 mm cannon.
Ki-61-III Prototype: This version had a cut-down rear fuselage and a canopy design which was later used by the Ki-100-I-Otsu

Anyhow , I am interested in the last prototype with the bubble top , of which no other was produced . This airframe however led to the KI-100 which was a sucessfull airframe.

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This is a nice drawing but suffers from ficticious markings since it did not see combat . I also think ( according to J. aircraft.com ) to be the wrong paint color for the time of production.

The color is referred to as Khaki brown, so I'm going with that . This picture shows what I believe to be the real aircraft.



Finaly , there is a good choice of this aicraft on the market in 1/72 .

KI-61_II_Kai_002a~0.jpg


Fine molds has also had their shot at it but it's rare, expensive and in my opinion lacking when compared with the Aoshima rendering .

KI-61__III___c.JPG


Ok, so much for the intro . Can you tell I'm excited about this bird yet ?


The build starts with painting the side frames and the interior surfaces.


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Floor and seat.


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Next , the IP needed a lot of help since there were only depression and regular decals do not fit.
I took aacets sheet and punched out the dials and glued them in one at a time


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Finaly all the places were assembled and inserted in the fuselage


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Great fit on everything :woohoo:

If you look at the wing cannons, they look like toys . Out came the exacto, the dremmel and we fixed the throths.

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Next is assembling the engine mouts and mouting the engine in th fuselage


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I think this will straighten the picture snafu and bring this up to date
Cheers, Christian
 
Well guys, you might be happy with this way of posting here but if you read my text and look at the picture, you will soon see that nothing actually matches the description.

I have tried my best to edit these pictures and even remove them but my best efforts are not working at all. Sorry .

I miss the old way of doing this and do not understand why I'm unable to correct it :vmad

and I was told this is the way of the future :sick:

Christian B)
 
Well guys, you might be happy with this way of posting here but if you read my text and look at the picture, you will soon see that nothing actually matches the description.

I have tried my best to edit these pictures and even remove them but my best efforts are not working at all. Sorry .

I miss the old way of doing this and do not understand why I'm unable to correct it :vmad

and I was told this is the way of the future :sick:

Christian B)



Well, regardless of all that, it sure looks good to me!

(y) (y) (y) (y) (y) (y)

Bob
 
Well guys, you might be happy with this way of posting here but if you read my text and look at the picture, you will soon see that nothing actually matches the description.

I have tried my best to edit these pictures and even remove them but my best efforts are not working at all. Sorry .

I miss the old way of doing this and do not understand why I'm unable to correct it :vmad

and I was told this is the way of the future :sick:

Christian B)

Do it the old way if you want, it hasn't been turned off.
 
Your post may be a train wreck but your modeling skills aren't! :popcorn


Thanks Dave . After trying to post according to instructions, that's what came out and then, it would not let me change anything . My brain was a train wreck :bang head .

By the way, that is an excellent kit in 1/72.

Cheers,Christian B)
 
Well guys, you might be happy with this way of posting here but if you read my text and look at the picture, you will soon see that nothing actually matches the description.

I have tried my best to edit these pictures and even remove them but my best efforts are not working at all. Sorry .

I miss the old way of doing this and do not understand why I'm unable to correct it :vmad

and I was told this is the way of the future :sick:

Christian B)



Well, regardless of all that, it sure looks good to me!

(y) (y) (y) (y) (y) (y)

Bob


Thank Bob. Things are simpler if the text and the pictures move in unison . Loaded the pictures in the gallery. I'll see if I can straighten them out tomorrow

Cheers, Christian
 
Thanks for all the support guys . Got all the picture to go with the text so now you'll be able to understand what took place.
No idea what happened last night . Did the same tonight and it's working fine.

Cheers, Christian B)
 
Ok, I'm at a point where MrSurfacer is curring , so I'll post while I wait on it :popcorn


h900b138.jpg



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The radiator cowl was opened and I added the screen, so it sort of looks like there might be a radiator in there.


h8d8cabe.jpg


The kit exhaust were rather plain , so I removed the fairing and then substituted the stock exhaust with Quickboost parts meant for a BF 109 .

The wing cannon fairing were installed but the fit is less than great, so now the milliput will hopefuly correct the issues .

The windshield and aft canopy fairing were also installed at this point but the windscreen itself stood proud, so I'm trying to remedy that with some MrSurfacer.

h5522df7.jpg


Cheers, Christian B)
 
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