1/48 Tamiya Hyakushiki Shitei III 

Kai Air Defense Fighter

by Rai

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Greetings from Singapore!!

Due to its ability to fly at high altitude (10,000m/32,000ft) and inherent high maximum speed (630km/hr or 390mph), the Mitsubishi Ki-46 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft was selected to be modified as a new type of high performance heavy fighter to combat American B-29 Superfortresses. As a result, two 20mm machine guns were fitted in the nose and a 37mm dorsal canon fixed to fire upward at a 700 angle was installed in the fuselage (ala the German’s schrage music). The new platform was named the Hyakushiki Shitei III Kai Air Defense Fighter (Type 100 Model III Modified ADF) and although differing from the base platform, the Allies retained its original ‘Dinah’ codename. Although a good idea at that time, its lack of climbing-power, self-sealing tanks and armour ultimately made the Hyakushiki Kais vulnerable to the B-29 defensive firepower. And without radar, the Hyakushiki Kais could not fight at night which was the primary domain of the B-29. There were a few B-29 kills but in the end it was not the right weapon for the job.

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Having built the base Hayakushiki Shitei III kit, I was intrigued by the ADF version. Again due to the exceptional Tamiya quality, I built this kit OOB. And again as the earlier kit, this one also came with that annoying joint in the middle of the wheel-well. I decided to depict the kit as a machine from the 16th Dokuritsu Hikotai (Independent Air Unit) as recommended by the instruction sheet. This machine was painted in the non-traditional brown finish not accustomed to Japanese aircraft with white base behind the national ‘sun’ emblems. Apparently the lighter brown color and white base behind the national emblem was necessary to make the Hyakushiki Kais more identifiable to Japanese gunners on the ground.

As this particular air unit only saw limited action before the end of the war, the kit was not weathered significantly. And so, it was a relatively easy paint and weathering job for once. The brown tone making a nice break from the monotonously and largely green of Japanese aircraft in my collection. 

Rai

Photos and text © by Rai