By a happy coincidence Canadian modeller Jack Geratic has also given permission to share here his excellent 1/72nd scale model of the Choroszy Modelbud resin Type 95 (Ki-9) Trainer kit.
In contrast to Zbyszek's special attacker, Jack's model is finished in the standard orange-yellow trainer scheme and represents an aircraft of the Kumagaya (Bear Valley) Army Flying School (Rikugun Hikô Gakkô) in Saitama Prefecture.
The Kumagaya Flying School began flying training courses in 1936 for potential NCO pilots and cadet officers from the reserve but once war began in 1937 it gradually expanded, eventually establishing 12 additional branches with multiple satellite fields in Japan. Kumagaya fell within the Kanto Air Defence Sector and later in the war its flying instructors would be organised into Tô Ni Go Butai - secondary provisional units - to fly Ki-43 fighter air defence sorties under the operational control of the 10th Air Division during emergency situations.
The Kumagaya tail marking has usually been depicted as black and white but more recent references have begun showing it as red and white. However it appears to be an adaptation of the mon (crest) of the Minamoto Ashikaga clan which was black and white, Kumagaya city being named after the famous Minamoto samurai Kumagai Naozane. The convincing orange yellow finish was made with a 50/50 mix of Gunze H24 Orange Yellow and Akan BS356 Golden Yellow.
With special thanks to Jack for sharing these images of his superb model.
Image credits: All © 2015 Jack Geratic
5 comments:
Nick,
I just wanted to say thank you for all these great photos and write ups of these models. Not only is the work and photography great, but the background information you write along with them is one of the things I enjoy most. It is always illuminating and I learn something new every time. Please keep these coming! Maybe someday I will be brave enough to submit one of my won. :)
Thanks,
Wind_Swords
What a beautiful little gem. Well done!
Dan
This looks very good. Fantastic job. I have few of Choroszy's model in my stash, but not this one. I think I'll buy Ki- 17 from them it could be so good too.
Thanks for this Nick. I do wonder what color was used on the landing gear and just behind the cowling. I wonder why it was different.
Warren
Those who have inspected a Choroszy resin kit know the accomplishment a completed build of one is. Not a slap together build, or one for the faint hearted. Well done, Jack.
Regards,
Ken Glass
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