26 Colourful Tonys (and 2 Nates) ~ 1/48 Lifelike Decals for Ki-61

Lifelike Decals have just released no less than four new decal sets for the Ki-61 in 1/48 scale. In addition to re-issuing the three 244th Sentai sets in updated format as 48-003(R) to 48-005(R), they have also released a new set 48-050 'Kawasaki Ki-61 Part 1' with decals for four aircraft sporting victory markings. With the release of the new Tamiya 1/48 Ki-61 Tei these sets are timely and welcome temptations to think outside the box!

244th Sentai Part 1 48-003(R) contains the markings for no less than three Tei and five Hei variants as follows:-

• Ki-61-I Hei '295' flown by Capt Kobayashi in mottled green with with blue and white fuselage stripes and red painted empennage.
• Ki-61-Tei '24' flown by Capt Kobayashi in mottled green with red fuselage stripe, red painted empennage and drop tank slogans
• Ki-61-I Tei '24' flown by Lt Takashima as above but with blue fuselage stripe
• Ki-61-I Hei '43' flown by Cpl Ishioka in mottled green with red and white lightning flash on nose and yellow spinner cap
• Ki-61-I Hei flown by Cpl Suzuki in natural metal finish (nmf) with red fuselage stripe, redpainted empennage and five victory markings. This aircraft has the Hinomaru on white Homeland Defence bandages
• Ki-61-I Hei '57' flown by Lt Shinomiya as above but with lightning-style fuselage stripe. This aircraft does not display the unit insignia on the tail but instead has the katakana character ㇱ (Shi) in white on the rudder 
• Ki-61-I Tei '57' flown by an unknown pilot in mottled green with red lightning flash on fuselage and Homeland Defence bandages
• Ki-61-I Hei '45' flown by Cpl Ando in mottled green with red lightning flash, white fuselage stripe, red-painted empennage and Homeland Defence bandages

This set is very comprehensive with alternative markings, such as red and yellow leading edge strips, where these details are uncertain or contested, but it should be noted that it contains sufficient Hinomaru for one aircraft only and the white Homeland Defence bandages must be painted on by the modeller. As usual with Lifelike there are detailed notes for each subject, generic notes on the colours and markings of 244th Sentai aircraft, plus additional schematics showing the placement of wheel cover numbers and stencilling, etc.

244th Sentai Part 2 48-004(R) offers markings for two Type 97 (Ki-27 'Nate'), a Ki-61-I Ko, an Otsu, two Hei and two Tei.

• Type 97 in grey-green with colourful early air defence markings of blue forward cowling, red and blue fuselage bands and white Homeland Defence bandages. This aircraft has the early form of 244th Sentai tail emblem and red leading edge IFF strips
• Ki-61-I Tei '24' flown by Capt Kobayashi in nmf with red fuselage stripe and red painted empennage. This aircraft represents subject # 2 in 48-003 with the camouflage mottle removed
• Ki-61-I Tei '62'' flown by Capt Kobayashi in factory-painted # 7 olive drab with red painted empennage and white fuselage stripes 
• Ki-61-I Hei '15' flown by Cpl Suzuki in mottled green with seven kill marks and Homeland Defence bandages
• Type 97 in grey-green with air defence markings and later sentai emblem 
• Ki-61-I Ko '16' flown by Cpl Nakano in post-factory applied dark green with red painted empennage, Homeland Defence bandages and three kill marks
• Ki-61-I Hei '33' flown by Cpl Nakano in nmf with red painted empennage, katakana character ナ (Na) on rudder and Homeland Defence bandages
• Ki-61-I Otsu '73' flown by Sgt Itakagi as above in nmf with katakana イ (i) character on rudder

Another set of interesting markings options with the Type 97 subjects providing an opportunity to model some of the aircraft operated by this famous unit in chronological sequence.   

244th Sentai Part 3 48-005(R) presents markings for five Ki-61-I Tei, two Hei and one Otsu.

• Ki-61-I Tei '87' possibly flown by Capt Kobayashi in dark green with red painted empennage. 
• Ki-61-I Hei '21' flown by Lt Hiranuma in mottled green with red and blue fuselage bands and Homeland Defence bandages. This aircraft has two kill marks on the right side of the fuselage
• Ki-61-I Tei '62' flown by Lt Itakura in factory applied # 7 olive drab with red painted empennage and drop tank slogans
• Ki-61-I Tei flown by a special attack Shinbu-tai in factory applied # 7 olive drab with a large artwork of a Hien diving on a ship painted on the fuselage
• Ki-61-I Tei '24' flown by Capt Kobayashi with roughly applied green blotching, white fuselage stripe and red painted empennage
• Ki-61-I Otsu '16' flown by Capt Shono in mottled green with Homeland Defence bandages
• Ki-61-I Hei '88' flown by Capt Shono in nmf with red lightning flash and Homeland Defence bandages
• Ki-61-I Tei '71' flown by the Soyokaze-tai of the 244th Sentai in factory applied # 7 olive drab with plain Hinomaru

Another interesting collection of subjects with options for several differently painted Tei requiring interpretative choices. From these three sets all Sentai Commander Kobayashi's various aircraft can be modelled. Of interest is the suggestion to paint the interiors a light blue colour close to FS*5550. This is based on an article by Mr Katabuchi in Gakken 61 which states that Kawasaki painted the interiors of the Ki-61 in Army colour # 1 grey-green (hairyokushoku) which over time became brownish with the appearance of a khaki tan or sand brown. Gakken 61 contains a printed colour chart and the chip for # 1 is shown as a pale blue like FS*5550. The idea that Kawasaki applied a more blueish-grey version of # 1 has arisen before,  reinforced by some extant paint samples.

Kawasaki Ki-61 Part 1 48-050 contains markings for three Hei and one Otsu type Hien, all of which display kill marks.

• Ki-61-I Hei flown by Lt Takeo Adachi of 55th Sentai in nmf with four kill marks.
• Ki-61-I Otsu flown by Sgt Shuichi Kaiho of 39th Rensei Hikotai in green mottle over nmf with four kill marks
• Ki-61-I Hei flown by Lt Tomiho Tohda of 55th Sentai in post-factory applied dark green with four kill marks
• Ki-61-I Hei flown by Lt Takeshi Nakamura of 18th Sentai in nmf with a single kill mark

The two 55th Sentai aircraft are from the stay-behind cadre in Japan which participated in Homeland Defence operations led by Lt Tohda whilst the rest of the unit was serving in the Philippines. Again the instructions include notes for each subject, a coloured schematic showing stencilling placement and this time sufficient Hinomaru for two models. The decals are sharply printed by Microscale for Lifelike with good colour saturation.

With special thanks to Lifelike for the review sheets.

Image credits: All © 2017 Lifelike Decals