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Tachikawa Ki-54 Hickory ‘Captured & Post War Service’ (SH72485) 1:72 Special Hobby The design that was to become the Ki-54 was requested as a response to the need for a twin-engined trainer aircraft to teach novice pilots that had already learned to fly single-engined aircraft the specifics of flying a multi-engined aircraft. Tachikawa was a major aircraft manufacturer between the wars, and it was their design that won the contract and first flew as a prototype in the summer of 1940, successfully entering service during 1941 before the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbour and brought the USA into WWII. It was an aircraft that most multi-engined pilots spent time earning their wings on at the time, before they moved on to fly the Ki-21 bomber, which had similar flight characteristics to the Ki-54, so was ideal for the task. The initial Ki-54a variant was designed for pilot and navigator training, and given the suffix Koh, followed by the Ki-54b, a Gunnery and Wireless trainer variant called Otsu, and finally the Ki-54c Hei, which was a transport and liaison variant that was also used in civilian service. A few airframes were converted to Ki-54d standards as anti-submarine bombers that were named Tei, with a total of just over 1,300 aircraft produced spanning all types. Named ‘Hickory’ by the Allies for ease of identification, the aircraft survived the end of the war, with numerous airframes used by the Allies for sundry roles, and more finding their way to different parts of the world in civilian hands. It is perhaps for this reason that two still exist in museums in China and Australia. The Kit This is a rebox of a 2021 tooling of this lesser-known type, and arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject matter flying over a coastal area wearing US roundels. Inside the box is a resealable clear foil bag that contains four sprues in a couple of shades of grey styrene, a small clear sprue and decal sheet in their own separate bag, plus the A5 portrait instruction booklet that is printed in colour on satin paper, with painting and decaling profiles on the rearmost pages. The wing sprue gives the impression that it is from a slightly earlier period, partly due to the colour of the styrene, but also because the fabric control surfaces are a little softer than those of the tail surfaces. Detail is good overall, and includes a seating area in the main fuselage behind the cockpit, gear bay details and a representation of the Hitachi radial engines that will be seen through the front of the cowlings. Construction begins with joining the two halves of the centre console together, then building the two crew seats from four parts each, with decal lap-belts on the sheet. Both crew members also have a two-part handed control column made, and the instrument panel has a decal applied to depict the dials, plus a small V-shaped coaming to the front, after which the assemblies can be brought together on the small floor, starting with the centre console that also acts as the base for the instrument panel. The seats and control columns are mounted behind on raised location points, then the passenger seats are built with two short C-shaped legs under opposite sides of each cushion, adding the seat back to the rear, making six legs in total. They mount on the floor after it has the two sections of spar glued across it, locating the seats on short rails moulded into the floor, and fitting raised sides that represent the inner root of the wings. A scrap diagram shows the location of the three bulkheads in red, which are fitted next along with what looks like overhead lockers along the insides of the fuselage above the side windows, cutting an extra window for two decal options that is marked by a depression from inside, all of which are glazed after the fuselage is closed, although for the sake of losing one or more inside, it might be wise to glue them into position beforehand. The cockpit bulkhead door has a small window added, fitting the cockpit in front, and the tail-wheel bay in the rear, then closing the fuselage, dealing with the seams in your preferred manner, and gluing the canopy over the cockpit cut-out. If you’re wondering why the passenger floor hasn’t been mentioned in closing the fuselage, it’s because it can be installed from below, locating on tabs moulded into the bottom of the bulkheads, taking care that the seats are facing forward. As you may have already surmised, the lower wings are moulded as a single full-span part, and once the seams with the upper halves are dealt with, you should paint the underside of the wing where the gear bay will be painted a suitable green shade before adding the three struts that begin work on the landing gear assembly. The nacelles are built in a slightly unusual manner, as the upper wing has the cowling moulded-in, requiring just the lower halves of the nacelles to be glued under the wing after inserting a bulkhead that is previously mated to the main gear legs and separate oleo scissor-links. A scrap diagram helps you with this, and two additional small parts are added while the lower nacelles are brought up to complete the shape. Another jack is fitted after the nacelles are complete, and a line drawing of the completed gear mechanism is shown to help with alignment of the parts. The two engine cowlings are each split horizontally, and are assembled in preparation for the engines over the page, first joining the wings to the fuselage and fitting the two elevators, one either side of the tail fin, their tabs slotting into holes beneath the fin with moulded-in rudder. The engines are each moulded as single parts that have a bulkhead glued into their rears, mounting on the nacelles by way of a keyed peg that slots into a hole in the rear, covering them over with the nacelles, then adding auxiliary intakes and exhausts to the outer nacelle sides. The model is flipped over onto its back to complete the landing gear, adding two-part wheels to the axle on each strut along with a narrow captive gear bay on the forward side, inserting the tail-wheel with moulded-in strut into the tail, and the crew step under the port trailing-edge of the wing. Righting the model, the two-bladed props and separate spinner are slipped into the bell-housings on the front of the engines, clear landing lights and wingtip lights are inserted into the leading-edges of the wings, plus a pitot probe in the starboard side. Another clear light is inserted in the rear end of the fuselage, an antenna mast over the cockpit, and the side access door is fitted with a small window before it is fixed to the fuselage in open or closed position. If you plan on closing the door, it might be best to glue it in before the fuselage is closed, as this will give you the best chance of getting it nice and level with the surrounding fuselage skin. Incidentally, a scrap diagram shows that the landing light parts have a circular depression moulded into them for you to fill with paint to depict the reflector around the bulb if you wanted to add a little extra detail. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, and none of them have a hint of squiggle camouflage, happily for the squiggle averse. You have a choice of three colours for three nations that flew Hickory airframes after the war. From the box you can build one of the following: Unknown airframe flown by US forces, ‘Lemon’, Philippines, 1944 No.8 Groupe de Marche d’Extreme Orient, French Indochina until 1947 Captured airframe operated by DPRK Air Force The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A well-detailed kit of this minor type from the Allies point of view, but an important one for the Japanese pilots that trained in them, shown in its post-war guise in this boxing. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Messerschmitt Bf.109G-6 ‘Captured’ (AZ7818) 1:72 AZ Model With almost 34,000 examples constructed over a 10-year period, the Messerschmitt Bf.109 is one of the most widely produced aircraft in history and it saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Designed in the mid-1930s, the Bf.109 shared a similar configuration to the Spitfire, deploying monocoque construction and V12 engine, albeit an inverted V with fuel injection rather than a carburettor as used in the Spit. Initially designed as a lightweight interceptor, like many German types during WWII, the Bf.109 evolved beyond its original brief into a bomber escort, fighter bomber, night fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance platform. The Bf.109G series, colloquially known as the Gustav, was first produced in 1942. The airframe and wing were extensively modified to accommodate a more powerful engine, greater internal fuel capacity and additional armour. In contrast to early 109s, which were powered by engines delivering less than 700hp, some of the later Gustavs could output almost 2000hp with water injection and high-performance superchargers. The Gustav series accounted for a dizzying array of sub-variants, some of which featured a larger tail of wooden construction. Odd number suffixed aircraft had pressurised cockpits for high altitude operation, Erla Haube clear view canopy with clear rear head armour, underwing points for tanks, cannon or rockets and larger main wheels resulting in square fairings on the inner upper wings to accommodate them. The Kit This is a reboxing of AZ’s original tooling from 2014, with some new parts somewhere along the way. It’s a well-detailed kit with moulded-in equipment in the cockpit sidewalls, details in the wheel wells, and subtle exterior detail too. It arrives in a small end-opening box with an attractive painting of the subject matter on the front, and the decal option profiles on the rear. Inside are two sprues in grey styrene, a tiny clear sprue in its own Ziploc bag, two decal sheets and the instruction booklet, which covers G-5/6,8 and G-14 variants. You will need to pay attention to the headings on the various steps to ensure you build the correct version, and some scribbling out of unnecessary steps could be a good plan if you’re forgetful like me. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is well-detailed as previously mentioned, consisting of the floor with rear bulkhead, seat base, rudder pedals, control column, trim wheels, gunsight, a well-recessed instrument panel (sadly no decal), and the moulded-in side wall detail, plus the forward bulkhead, which has the cannon-breech cover inserted before it is added to the front of the assembly. It is glued into the starboard fuselage half when completed, and the exhaust stacks are slipped through the slots in the cowling on both sides ready to be closed up, after which you can add the chin mounted oil-cooler fairing. There is a top insert added later to complete the fuselage, which has the central hinge-point of the cowlings moulded-in, as well as the two nose machine gun troughs, a section of the fin and a choice of two rudders, the prominent Beule fairings over the enlarged breeches of the nose armament, and a choice of head armour, one of which is clear because it has a section of armoured glass in the centre. Incidentally, the port Beule has a smaller fairing to the front, which should be cut off and made good unless you are building a tropical Gustav. The lower wing is full-width except for the tips, which are moulded into the upper surfaces for finesse, and these have the radiators depicted by front and rear faces inserted into the fairings, reducing their size if necessary. The uppers are glued over, and then you can paint the two gear bays and insert the radiator flaps, which also get a coat of RLM02 on the inside, like the majority of the interior. The wings and the fuselage are mated, then the landing gear is prepped, although they’re best left off until later. The struts have the scissor-links moulded-in, separate wheels and captive bay doors, using the narrower tyres in preference to the thicker ones that are left on the sprue. The elevators are both moulded as a single part, and attach to the tail in the usual slot and tab manner, then the prop with the broader blades is made up with the appropriate front and back spinner parts, sliding into the hole in the flat front of the fuselage. The correct tail wheel and insert to close the bay over are fixed under the rear, and the single-part canopy covers the cockpit with a choice of two styles of antennae. There are some additional parts on the sprues to add weapons and extra fuel to your model, with two-part MG 151/20 that depict field-modification or Rüstsatz VI, 20mm cannons in their own gondolas. A four-pronged palette under the centre of the wings is also included, although these were generally taken off captured aircraft. Markings There are three options on the main decal sheet, while the separate sheet contains all the stencils, which is good to see at this scale. These aircraft were captured, so are wearing their new owner’s markings, sometimes painted straight over the crosses of the then defunct Luftwaffe, and these background markings are included on the decal sheet. Where the old crosses and swastikas have been painted over however, you will be responsible for painting those, so be prepared for a little detail painting. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are well-printed in good register, with a thin glossy carrier film close to the printed edges for the most part, but with a few that are a little larger. This shouldn’t cause too much of an issue however, as the film is thin and has a relatively soft edge. There are decal seatbelts on the sheet, which should add a little realism to your finished cockpit. Conclusion This boxing includes some interesting markings options that were in use before the end and just after WWII, and it’s an iconic variant of this aircraft into the bargain. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of