Ki-61 Hien "Tony" - 1:72 Revell

[Julien]

Ki-61 Hien "Tony"

1:72 Revell

The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hein or "Tony" was used by the Imperial Japanese Army air Force in WWII. This was the only mass produced Japanese fighter to use an inline liquid cooled engine. Production aircraft would use a Kawasaki licensed DB 601 engine. The Ki-61 was a more lightly armed fighter for general duties rather than its more heavily armed cousin the Ki-60.

The ki-61 looked so different from normal Japanese designs that American pilots first reported combat against Japanese Bf 109's and Italian designed fighters. One of the main problems was that the DB 601 engine required a degree of manufacturing sophistication not normally seen with other Japanese engines and reliability suffered from this. Initial encounters with Allied aircraft caught pilots off guard though as they were not able to dive escape like they had with the lighter Japanese fighters. In addition unlike other Japanese fighters the Ki-61 had self sealing fuel tanks and was not a "flammable" as the other fighters. However increasing Allied numbers coupled with larger attacks on the Japanese forces negated many of the advantages. Due to desperation in the latter part of the war Ki-61's were stripped of armament and used in ramming attacks on American B-29's. Only three know airframes are now know to exist.

The Kit
The kit is a re-release by Revell from the original Revell USA moulds as evidenced by "Revell Inc Venice CAL" moulded onto the underside of the topleft wing.. The original was released way back in 1963 so is older than the reviewer! On the whole the moulding of the kit is actually quite good considering the time frame. Surface detail consists of fine raised panel line and rivets, with some recessed detail on the wings tail. There are a couple of sink marks on the lower wing where the pins are to slot into the holes on the top wing. Also a couple on the upper wing where the landing gear attachment points are. The modeller will not be able to do much with these which will not remove the surface detail. There is a little flash on some of the parts but its not too bad.

Construction starts by placing the pilot on his seat like part. This,the tail wheel and propeller boss are added to the fuselage and it is sealed up. Next the Exhausts, intake and tail planes are added. The wings are a conventional single part lower and double upper. These are constructed and added to the fuselage. The radiator is then added to the underside. The wing assembly is added then to the fuselage. Landing gear is added along with the gear doors for the main and tail wheels. In all a simple build.

Decals
The decals look good for this, they are matt and have very little carrier film. They say "Made In Italy" so can we assume Cartograf? One decal option is provided with the kit. cn 3295 Commander T Kobayashi, 244th Sentai, Japan 1945.

Conclusion
The kit is from a bygone era, when toolings were simple, the detail sparse, and the target market were boys with their pocket money that would build, paint and play with the kit the same day. Its re-release into a market that has moved on appreciably in the last 50 years could be better understood if it were the only moulding of the Ki-61 in this scale, but as it isn't, reboxing it with new decals does little to endear it to the discerning modeller, if they aren't approaching the purchase with their eyes opened as to its failings. Neither is it a suitable kit for a novice, so It would seem that it is most likely to find favour as a trip down memory lane to relive the glory days of your youth.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers.

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[Foxbat]

MIne was intended for the 'Less than a Tenner' group build, but I think I'll just use the decals on my Hasegawa kit instead and just use the plastic as a paint testbed. On that basis, it's quite good value.

Andy

[John]

I seem to recall that the one I built may back probably in the late 1960s had an opening canopy.

John

[sroubos]

I referred to this kit in the Ta-152 topic. Compared to that, this one has even fewer redeeming values in today's market.

[Prenton]

Mmmmmm....

You said it. Why bother with a kit that old? It's really unfair to inexperienced / young modellers to have to find, once buying the kit, that it is well past its prime and does not meet modern standards of production....While the decals are nice, and may indeed be sufficient to cover the cost of the kit for those of us in the know, more inexperienced modellers would not be aware of the kit's limitations and could be put off the hobby as a result There should be an "advisory" on all kits making it clear the date of the moulds, and then let the buyer choose. Not to provide such a caution is, in my opinion, unfair to inexperienced modellers (or those who are not on Britmodeller, of course)

Philip

[Julien]

I referred to this kit in the Ta-152 topic. Compared to that, this one has even fewer redeeming values in today's market.

If anything looking at the moulds close up this is the better kit in my view, not by a lot that is.

Julien

[sroubos]

That's possible, my versions date back from a previous rerelease at least 15 years ago, goodness knows what happened to the molds since then.

They must sell loads of them to unsuspecting buyers for them to come round once more.

[colin]

I think the Revell are doing themselves no favours with this, how many people are going to be put off buying another Revell kit after buying this, and thinking their all going to be like that

[Gene K]

They must sell loads of them to unsuspecting buyers for them to come round once more.

Yes ... worked on DUH-me. Not an uncommon Revell marketing ploy.

Gene K

[tempestfan]

The decals look good for this, they are matt and have very little carrier film. They say "Made In Italy" so can we assume Cartograf?

As far as I know, they also use (or did use) another Italian decal printer, Zanchetti. Zanchetti had the printer code "Z" after the kit number on the sheet, so "C" should indeed indicate Cartograf.

[Julien]

These decals have a "C" so looks like cartograf.

Julien