1/72 Hasegawa Ki-44 II Tojo

[_BlackHawk_]

Not a bad little kit, although the decals were pretty thick and detail is sparse. I masked and painted the fuselage red and white along with the anti glare panel and the wing leading edge. I really should have painted on the roundels too. This aircraft was armed with two 40mm HO-301 cannon designed to knock down B-29's, but in reality, the weapon was just as lethal to the pilot as the B-29 due to the low muzzle velocity. Pilots had to get dangerously close to open fire with any accuracy.

[hrtpaul]

That looks cool as mate. Great job

[tor lives]

I'll give you your due Ace....you sure do build a dam fine model. 40mm cannons ...that's pretty kick-arse!!!
So were they successful in bringing down B-29s????
Ray

[_BlackHawk_]

Not really. Most were destroyed on the ground in the Philippines and by that time the Japanese were halting production of the Tojo for the Ki-84 Frank. The weapon had a 10 round box magazine with a 450rpm firing rate but the case less ammunition meant you'd have to close to within 150 meters of your target....I'd rather be blasting away with 20mm out of range of return fire!

[oz rb fan]

nice job brad...i have the new sword kit....but it may have a problem...and i might just have done too many japanese planes this year

[Adam the Akrodude]

Great work Brad - nice job on the wash there. Kinda odd looking bird isn't it. I bet it would look amazing as a racer!