Kawasaki Ki-61 II Kai
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The RS Models kit probably represents the production version of the Ki-61-II-Kai, armed with 2 x 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns in the wings and 2 x 20 mm cannon in the fuselage. In this version it returned to the wings of the Ki-61-I-Tei, fuselage was extended by 220 mm, vertical tail was enlarged, and it used Ha-140 engine, the equivalent of DB-605.
The machine, which my miniature is meant to represent, apparently was deprived of machine guns in the wings, presumably in order to reduce weight and improve performance.
At the end of the war, 56. Sentai used possibly four such planes, of which there are two known to me photos showing the machines captured (two different machines and possibly a tail unit of a third one), taken after the end of hostilities.
Comparing the line of Hasegawa's Hiens, I rate the Czech product quite high. There are some visible similarities (so that the resin cockpit dedicated to Hasegawa fit nicely), but there are also many small differences in favor of this or that kit.
Drawbacks ar
