Hasegawa Nakajima Ki84 Type 4 Fighter Hayate (Frank) 1:48

[Shar2]

Nakajima Ki-84 Type 4 Fighter Hayate (Frank)

1:48 Hasegawa

History

"Forget it - it's a Frank." It is said that this comment was made frequently by USAAF personnel watching radar screens on Okinawa in the closing weeks of the Pacific War. It was customary to watch for a contact to appear and then to scramble P-51 Mustangs to intercept the enemy aircraft. But when the blip was moving so fast that it was inferred to be one of the advanced new Japanese Hayate fighters it would be assumed that the P-51s would stand no chance of catching the intruder.

Generally regarded as the best Japanese fighter of World War Two, the Hayate, (Hurricane) was nonetheless not without its problems. Much of its superlative all-round performance stemmed from its extremely advanced direct-injection engine, the Army's first version of the Navy NK9A. Yet this same engine gave constant trouble and demanded skilled maintenance. T. Koyama designed the Ki-84 to greater strength factors than any previous Japanese warplane - yet poor heat-treatment of high-strength steel had the consequence that the landing gears often snapped. Progressive deterioration in quality control meant that pilots never knew how individual aircraft would perform, whether the brakes would work, and even whether - in attempting to intercept B-29 Superfortresses over Japan - they would be able to climb high enough. Despite these problems the Hayate was essentially a superb fighter - a captured Ki-84-1a was to out climb and outmanoeuvre a P-47 Thunderbolt, and a P-51.

The first batches were sent to China, where the 22nd. Sentai, when equipped with the new fighter, were able to fly rings around Chennault's 14th Air Force. The 22nd Sentai was later moved to the Philippines, where problems overtook them, with many accidents and shortages and extremely poor serviceability. Frequent bombing of the Musashi engine factory, and the desperate need to conserve raw materials (the shortages resulting primarily from the American submarine blockade) led to various projects and prototypes made of wood or steel. Total production of the Ki-84 still reached 3,514, showing the importance of the design to the Japanese forces.

The Model

Originally released in 2000 this is another example of Hasegawas superb mould design and upkeep. Inside the very attractive box, with a very nice painting of a Ki84 flying solo above the clouds, are seven sprues of medium grey styrene and one of clear, along with 8 grey and 4 black poly caps. From reading reviews of the day and researching the type, the kit was very well regarded as almost, but not quite the perfect model kit being both accurate and nicely detailed. I see no reason why this has changed with this release, so expect it to be a fun and enjoyable build.

There are only nine build sequences in the instructions and as is the norm the build begins with the cockpit. The cockpit floor is fitted out with more levers, apart from the regulation joystick, than seems appropriate for a single seat fighter, but, whatever the real on looks like the seven included in the kit are certainly well represented, also fitted are the centre lower console and rudder pedals. To the now well populated floor the seat is attached, followed by the front and rear bulkheads, instrument panel with decal instruments, upper cannon breeches, and sidewalls, each kitted out with further controls and black boxes pre moulded and in need of some careful detail painting.

The completed cockpit is then fitted to one half of the fuselage and with a poly cap in the tail wheel position the fuselage can be closed up. The lower wing is then fitted with five poly caps in the bomb and drop tank positions. The upper wing panels are then attached to eh lower wing, with the landing light fitted to the port side. The wing, single piece horizontal tailplanes and two part rudder are then attached to the fuselage completing the mainframe.

The kits gives alternative main wheels, and some research should be carried out as only the later style should be used and the instructions don’t make it clear which is which. The single piece tyres have separate inner and outer hubs, with the inner one fitted with a poly can and the outer one with an unidentifiable part. The completed wheels are then attached to the oleo along with the main gear door.

The engine is quite a simple single piece affair, but with the close cowl not much will be seen anyway. The engine is attached to the firewall onto which the multiple exhausts are also attached. The gearbox housing is in three parts, well four if you include the attachment ring and this is fitted to the front of the engine, the gearbox housing also accommodates another poly cap, whilst just above the housing an intake is fitted. The completed engine is the slid into the cowling and attached to the front of the fuselage. There is another intake, in three parts fitted on the centreline at the join where the cowling meets the forward lower fuselage.

Flipping the model over the main undercarriage is attached, along with the inner bay doors and their respective retraction actuators, whilst to the rear the tailwheel is slotted into the previously fitted poly cap and finished off with the attachment of the two bay doors. The drop tank crutches, landing light cover, pitot probe, foot step and wing cannon barrels are all fitted along with the three piece oil cooler which is fitted under the starboard wing root. Check the orientation of the cooler as when first released the instructions showed this to be fitted the wrong way round and it cannot be presumed that Hasegawa have changed this. The individual navigation lights above and below each wing tip and either side of the fin are then attached.

The three piece drop tanks are then assembled and slotted into position into the poly cap held within the wing. The flaps are separate items and can be posed up or down as per the modellers wishes. Turning the model over onto its wheels the gunsight, four piece head rest are attached before the windscreen, sliding canopy and fixed canopy sections are all fitted. The last operation is the assembly of the propeller, which consists of the single piece four bladed prop, axle pin and spinner; this is then slid into the poly cap within the gearbox housing completely the build.

Decals

Hasegawas own decals are well printed with very good density/opacity, no sign of carrier film on any of the decals, including the wing walk areas which would normally cause a problem, and in good register. They are slightly matt but thin and should settle down well. The modeller may wish to leave some of the markings off, such as the yellow leading edges and paint them instead. The decals provide markings for two aircraft, both in olive drab over grey-green, these are:-

• Ki84 No.62 flown by Capt. Shigeru Tsuruta of the Hitachi Flight Training squadron from June 1945.
• Ki84 No.762 flown by Capt. Yasuro Masaki, of the Hitachi Flight Training squadron from June 1945.

Conclusion

This is another welcome re-release from Hasegawa, and from reading build reviews from earlier releases it should be a fun and rewarding experience. It should make for a nice weekend build, or one to get the mojo going again after a difficult build of a lay off. Whatever the reason for building, it will be a nice addition to the collection, particularly if you're into Japanese aircraft. Very highly recommended

Review sample courtesy of
UK distributors for