Aviation of Japan 日本の航空史: J7W1 Shinden Replica and Ki-43-III Ko Conversion Set

Friday, 15 December 2023

J7W1 Shinden Replica and Ki-43-III Ko Conversion Set

Hat tip to Chad Akins for kindly alerting to this interesting article by David R Krigbaum on the Stars and Stripes Japan website about a full-size J7W1 Shinden replica at the Tachiarai Peace Memorial museum reportedly used in a Godzilla movie set in 1947 and as shown in the heading image from the website.

In other news an interesting resin conversion set has been released from HMA to transform the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-43-II 'Oscar' into a Ki-43-III Ko. The set contains a Ha115-Il engine, new engine cowling, water methanol filler tube, butterfly flaps, additional tank/bomb racks and fuel cooler. This set being designed for the Hasegawa Oscar is welcome despite its vintage (1982) and raised line panel detail (shock horror!) because it is a still accessible kit at a reasonable price (it can currently be bought from HLJ Hobbylink Japan for an astonishing £4.21) and a quick straightforward build producing a good looking result (even with those 'pesky' raised lines). The HMA set retails for £12.30 from HLJ but there is only one left in stock at time of writing!

Update 03 Jan 2024

The HMA Ki-43-III Ko set, now examined, is very finely 3D moulded in blue-grey and comes complete in a single sprue 'cage'. It consists of a combined engine and firewall designed to neatly fit into the Hasegawa kit fuselage once superfluous sectiions of the cowling are cut away from the kit parts, with separate sets of thrust exhausts for each side, a beautifully moulded new cowling in one piece, water methanol filling spout, fuel cooler, drop tank racks and flap assemblies. The latter consist of two parts for each flap, the internal flap housing and the separate flap itself. Instructions are schematic, including illustrating how the Hasegawa kit is to be modified by cutting. The set comes in a protective bubble pack, attractively presented with colour backing card and schematics. An excellent product well worth the effort in searching out and hopefully back in stock at HLJ soon. The manufacturer HMA Toys is a Japanese company and has a Twitter/X reference @V1models427.

4 comments:

WD said...: And then there were none.

Oh well. Perhaps Arma Hobby will bless us with a new Ki-43 kit.; 16 December 2023 at 16:12
Baronvonrob said...: A day late and a dollar short...hope I can find a conversion set somewhere down the road :); 17 December 2023 at 07:55
Kevin Bade said...: Www.1999.co.jp shows it in stock; 17 December 2023 at 12:58
Baronvonrob said...: Thanks for the update Kevin :); 26 December 2023 at 03:34

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