Dan Salamone's Fine Molds 1/48 Ki-15-II

Dan Salamone has kindly shared these images and build report of his superlative 1/48 Mitsubishi Ki-15-II project from the Fine Molds kit. Known in Japanese Army service as '97 Shi-tei' (九七司偵 for 97 Shiki Shireibu Teisatsu-ki  - 九七式司令部偵察機 - Type 97 Headquarters Reconnaissance Aeroplane). Over to Dan then:-

"Hi all, here is my recently completed 1/48 Ki-15II Babs from Fine Molds, kit # FB 25. The kit has some really beautifully detailed cockpit and engine parts, and generally good overall fit. The main exception to that were the side observation windows, which needed a fair amount of putty and sanding to fair into the fuselage correctly.

"The kit features a single piece for the greenhouse style canopy, so I replaced it with a vacform canopy and canopy mask from Dead Design in the Czech Republic.

Both of these items were of exceptional quality, and highly recommended. The Ki-15 featured side opening pilot and observer sections, hinged at the center line. In addition, the pilot's canopy sat on rails (port side) both front and rear, whereas the observer's canopy lacked that feature on the port side. Finally, there was a distinctive 'sill' that bridged the fixed portions of the canopy, so if you wish to model the open parts, this will also need to be added. As an aside, the C5M2 version of the Babs used by the IJN featured a pilot's canopy that slid backwards, rather than being hinged on the starboard side.

"For painting the model I used the new AK Interactive 'Real Colors' thinned with Gunze lacquer thinner and retarder. Colors used were # 329 (Hairanshoku) for the cockpit blue-grey, # 328 (Hairyokushoku) mixed with # 303 (IJN J3) for the overall base grey-green, and # 331 (Midori iro) for the dark green camouflage. I based the finish on an 8th Sentai example seen on a YouTube video. The kit decals were used, and may have been the best decals I've ever used, reacting perfectly to Micro Sol and Micro Set solutions. Based in Burma in early 1942, the aircraft had very subtle weathering which was achieved using MiG 'Oilbrushers', as well as the recent AK weathering pencils. Both of these products are very highly recommended.

"Other than using the aftermarket vacform canopy, I added crew steps on the port side and under the left wing trailing edge. Recent kits from Fine Molds feature some really subtle and exceptional detail, for example the gap between the rudder and tailplane, and bulb detail in the under fuselage navigation light. Opening the canopy was well worth the added work and time, as the beautifully molded details can now be seen, together with the photo etched seat belts from Eduard also used. The radio antenna is a product called invisible thread.

"And in full disclosure, the reason why I added the dirty tarp near the rear canopy was due to getting a drop of Tamiya liquid cement on the rear canopy section. Since it wasn't feasible to fix that mistake, I opted to cover it instead.

"The kit, and Dead Design products for it, are highly recommended. I am somewhat on the fence regarding the AK Real Colors, they look nice, but I still prefer the way that Gunze lacquers airbrush." (AK recommend using their own brand thinner but I don't know if that makes a difference?  Ed.)

Dan's model represents an aircraft of Hiko Dai 8 Sentai operating over Burma during 1942. The 8th Sentai was formed in August 1938 from Hiko Dai 8 Rentai (8th Flying Regiment) and three years later its 1st Chutai became a reconnaissance unit whilst the 2nd to 4th Chutai operated Ki-48 light bombers. In practice the reconnaissance Chutai operated as detached elements assigned to each bomber Chutai for navigational support as well as pre and post-mission reconnaissance sorties. The distinctive unit marking, referred to as 'Takohachi' ('octopus-eight'), was devised within the unit as a combination of '8' and reportedly the phonetic characters 'hei' (へい) for Heito in Taiwan (now Pingtung or Pingdong in Takao Prefecture, south Taiwan) where the unit was originally based, although the same pronunciation for 'hei' (of a different character) can also mean army or warfare. 

The Ki-15 was introduced to operations in 1937 when on 17 July the second additional prototype was flown In Tianjin by Maj Yuzo Fujita and WO Sadao Eguchi of the 15th Flying Regiment. On 24 July the first additional prototype was flown from Fussa to Chengde, China by Capt Takeo Aoki and 1Lt Takeshi Ohmuro. The former Asahi aircraft 'Kamikaze' had been flown to Tianjin on 14 July for evaluation flights by the 15th Flying Regiment. The first additional prototype and second additional prototype flown by Capt Heigo Matsuzaki and 1Lt Fuhito Ishizu of the 15th Flying Regiment subsequently formed the Aoki unit under the direct command of the HQ Temporary (or Provisional) Air Corps (Rinji Koukuu Heidan - 臨時航空兵団) which had been established to conduct Army air operations over China. The first operational sortie of the Ki-15 was flown over Luoyang on 22 July 1937 by Capt Matsuzaki and 1Lt Ishizu of the 15th Flying Rentai, whilst the first sortie of the Aoki unit was a reconnaissance of Jinan airfield on 26 July by 1Lt Ohmuro with Capt Aoki as observer. Production of the improved Ki-15-II variant began from September 1939. By the outbreak of the Pacific War the Ki-15-I type was known to RAF Intelligence in Air HQ (India) as the Mitsubishi Type 97 'Kamikaze' or 'Army 97' light bomber/recce aircraft with relatively comprehensive details of its characteristics and performance, although its supposed bombing capability had been confused with the unidentified Ki-36 Chokkyo Army co-op aircraft 'Ida'. 

   

Identification page for Type 97 Model I from Japanese Service Aircraft, Air HQ (India) December 1941 

Reference and acknowledgement: 'Fighting Records of Japanese Bombers and Reconnaissance Planes 1914-1941' by Dr Yasuho Izawa M.D., Ph.D.

'Japanese Army Air Force Unit Insignia' by Minoru Akimoto, Koku Fan magazine, 1977 (courtesy of Ken Glass)

'Japanese Service Aircraft', Air HQ (India), December 1941 

Image credit: All model photos © 2020 Dan Salamone; Type 97 identification page author's collection.