Lifelike
Decals
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1/48
Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighters Part 2 decal
sheet
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Decal sheet
product # 48-021
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Review
by Steve
Bamford on Sept
19 2007
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This latest
release from Lifelike
Decals decal
sheet features six different Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighters. This is
Part 2 of a series dealing with the Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighters in
Japanese markings from January of 1940 to the summer of 1943.
The
first plane is a Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighter (probably) of some training
units in Manchuria, Time and location unknown. This aircraft
might have been assigned to the 28th Fighter Training Unit which was
located at Shimen AB in northern China in the summer of 1944. The colours for this plane is
Dark Green on the upper surfaces and grey on the lower surfaces with no
white fuselage band. The leading edges of the wings are yellow and
will need to be painted. Markings include a large black horse on a
yellow circles on the tail. The
Hinomarus on the fuselage have a white outline.
The
second plane is a Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighter (s/n 5362) flown by M. Sgt.
Totaro Ito, 5th Sentai 3rd Chutai, Kashiwa AB in Chiba Pref. at the end
of 1940. The overall colour for this plane is a
"greenish gray" (gray color with slight green tint, and is
slightly lighter than RLM 02 color). Markings include 2 yellow diagonal stripes (included as decals) on the sides of the
tail. M. Sgt. Totaro Ito continued to fight with the 5th Sentai
with a final score of more than 13 big bombers and survived the
war.
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The
third plane is a Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighter flown by Major Kato, Commander of
the 64th Sentai, Kwangtung AB/Cjina in May 1941. The
overall colour for this plane is a "greenish gray" (gray color with
slight green tint, and is slightly lighter than RLM 02 color). Markings
include a wide yellow and narrow fuselage band and a large yellow arrow on
the tail. There are 3 kill markings below the canopy on the side of the
fuselage indicating May 1941, when he participated in an attack against
Hulzhou. Major Kato fell to the guns on an RAF Blenheim IV on May 22 1942
and was promoted to Major General posthumously. The
fourth plane is a Ki-27 Kou Type 97 Fighter of the 10th Independent Chutai,
Taiyan A/B in northern china in 1929 and 1930.
The overall colour for this plane is a "greenish gray" (gray color
with slight green tint, and is slightly lighter than RLM 02 color) with a black
tail.
Markings include a narrow black as well as a narrow white fuselage band. A
paper template is provided to assist in painting the tail.
The
fifth plane is a Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighter with the 50th Sentai, 3rd Chutai
(Hoshi Hikoutai), Clark AB in the Philippines in January of 1942. The
overall colour for this plane is a "greenish gray" (gray color with
slight green tint, and is slightly lighter than RLM 02 color). Markings
include a long yellow lightning bolt with a black outline across the tail and
the rear half of the fuselage as well as a large red star on the tail.
This lightning bolts demotes 3rd Chutai of 50th sentai and the central red star
on the tail was designed for Colonel Komataro Hoshi, the commander of the 14th
Army Air Division, to which Chutai belonged.
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The
sixth plane is a Ki-27 Otsu Type 97 Fighter flown by Capt. Toshio
Sakagawa, leader of the 3rd Chutai, 24th Sentai, Hailar AB in
Mongolia in January 1940.
The overall colour for this plane is a "greenish gray"
(gray color with slight green tint, and is slightly lighter than
RLM 02 color).
Markings include yellow horizontal bands with red outlines on the
tail. There is also a red fuselage band. This aircraft
is fitted with an external fuel tank, which the Japanese Army Air
Force was the first to introduce to combat A/C in the world.
Capt. Toshio Sakagawa was a very able leader and later commanded
the 47th Independent Chutai in Burma, 25th Sentai and 200th Sentai
and survived the war as a Major with a score of about 15.
The quality of
these decals is of very good quality. The decals themselves
are clearly printed and in perfect register on 1 decal sheet with
an additional paper template for masking the tail on one of the
aircraft. Some decals come in 2 layers to ensure perfect
registration. You also get 2 full pages of text telling about
each of the aircraft. The instruction sheets show the
placement of all the decals.
You can purchase these
decals either directly from Lifelike
Decals at
fax number is +81-3-5680-6733, and e-mail is lifelike@eos.ocn.ne.jp.
or from HobbyLink Japan.
Other shops that
stock Life like Decals are *Hannants/UK, *Mister Kit/Italy, *Revi
(publisher)/Czech Republic, *SkyGrid/Canada, *Roll Models/USA,
*Great Models Webstore/USA, *FlightDecs/Canada,
*Victory Models/USA
*M & Models/USA, *Zed
Hobbies/Australia,
*AB &S Enterprise/Australia, *Desert Miniature/USA
Yet
another very nice Ki-27 sheet with some excellent aircraft marking
to choose from
Steve
I
would like to thank Lifelike
Decals for
providing me with this review sample. |
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Click on
images below to see larger images
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Photos and text © by Steve
Bamford
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