Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia" by Jean Barby

My first take of the year, the Ki-51 from Wingsy kits. Nice kit but I run to some unexpected problems like a bad reaction of the plastic to any kind of glue, larger pins than holes in general, a different fuselage width than the wings, a clear moving part of the canopy which could have been thinner. Apart from those comments, it gives a good looking Ki-51 and I wish this kit to last as long as the Nichimo one! Plane from the 6th Hikotai in China in 42, no decals, all masks. 

Jean Barby

 

 

 

 

 

IJAAF & IJNAF photos & more

Another photo from the "Asahi Shimbun" collection, featuring various derelict Japanese aircraft found at the end of the war at Nagoya at the "bombed ruins of of Mitsubishi airplane factory September 8, 1945". 

Apart from the Mitsubishi "Nells" and the "Raidens", a few other types of aircraft are also visible. Can you spot them?

Jan Kanov sent over an excellent email with his take

1. - J2M Raiden

2. - G3M Nell

3. - G4M Betty

4. - L2D Tabby

5. - K5Y Willow

There are tail marking barely visible on two "Raiden". The more clear is definitely "ヨD-11??" (YoD-11??) which means it's a 302Ku aircraft. I believe the second has a "YoD" marking too on its tail but can't make out the number.

 

The marking "YoD" means "YOkosuka Defence" or YOkosuka and the letter D denotes that it's the fourth unit under Yokosuka Chinjufu (Yokosuka Naval District). The 302Ku had about 40 "Raiden" in its strength and they had tail numbers either in the 100s or the 1100s. I wasn't able to find any reason for that in my Japanese sources.

Note also that the hinomaru of the Willow have already being removed by souvenir hunters

Japanese Aircraft Online Model Contest 013 - And the winner is...

...well, very few people voted. The contest ended on December 31 and I gave it one more week for those who would like to compare the models and vote for the best.

If you don't care to vote, I'll simply decide on my own.

So, all three modellers are winners. Different scales, different kits, different subjects.

Congratulations to:

DAN SALAMONE

ALEX RODIONOV

JEAN BARBY

for their really beautiful kits.

You all get a book and kit from our on-line store, free of any charge, courtesy of Arawasi.

Thank you all for your participation.

The theme for the next and last on-line model contest is "A6M2" and will start from January 15.

VIPs - Fokker Super Universal - Manshu Koku K.K.

We start the year with more stills from an "Asahi Shimbun" collection video dated January 1, 1935. It features extremely rare footage of a Fokker Super Universal flown by Manshu Koku KK. The registration is not clearly visible but I believe it's "M-138" (Super Universals M-135 & M-139 were added to the MKKK fleet some time in 1935). The airfield setting with the mountains in the background closely resembles Lianshan airfield in Lianoning Province. 

Unfortunately the video narration caption are generic and do not offer information as who were the VIP's on-board the aircraft.

The video is HERE.

2020

2020, the year of the mouse

More than 120 posts this year. We hope you found at least some of them to your interest. 

You think we are slowing down after 8-9 years? We have just started!

Four modelling contests this year. We would like to thank everybody who participated, left comments and voted. We asked for your suggestions as to the theme of the next contest but nobody bothered to leave even one comment. It seems you got tired of them and therefore the next contest will be the final one.

The theme is "A6M2" and will start from January 15.

A special thank-you to everybody who contributed to this blog this year: Terry Jones, Harold K, Allan Jeffery, Jean Barby, Vladimir Martinicky, Jan Voorbij, Joe Falen, Jan Kanov, Michael Furry, Gary Wenko and Doug Beardsworth.

 And finally a HUGE "thank you" to our good friends:
Sinang Aribowo, James Boyd, Devlin Chouinard, Danilo Renzulli, Zygmunt Szeremeta and Eric Vogel.

 All the best for the new year to everybody out there.

VIPs - Junkers Ju 86 - Manshu Koku K.K.

Apart from photos the "Asahi Shimbun" collection also includes videos. Below are stills from a video dated November 30, 1940 and the caption mentions: "Delegations arrive for signing of China-Japan Treaty Concerning Basic Relations in 1940".

The aircraft is a Junkers Ju 86 belonging to the Manshu Koku K.K. (Manchukuo Aviation Co., Ltd.) fleet. It's name was "Shoryu" (ascending dragon), written on the nose sides, and had the civilian registration M-222. A VERY rare footage of a MKKK Ju 86.

The politician that disembarks from the aircraft is Zang Shiyi, who was serving as ambassador of Manchukuo to the collaborationist Reorganized National Government of China headed by Wang Jingwei. On that day, Zang Shiyi signed for Manchukuo the Japan-Manchukuo-China joint declaration, in which the Wang Jingwei regime recognised the country. It was part of the Basic Treaty by which Japan recognised the Reorganised National Government.

HERE is the link for the complete video.

Note the letter "M" written on the wing and the hinomaru instead of the MKKK roundel.

IJAAF & IJNAF photos & more

Photos of a drop tank recently on-sale on the Japanese ebay. The owner knew nothing about it, so no information from that end, except that it's 203cm long and 50cm wide. The tags could have shed more light but they are in bad condition and we can barely read some parts of them.

 

 

 

 

 

The top kanji in the circle reads "A" (as in Asia), the other reads "mokusei" (wooden). 

From the above tag we can only partially read the top inscription which says: "Gokoku No 4110 factory". "The term "gokoku" is associated with presentation aircraft in Manchuria, so perhaps this tank was manufactured there.

The other indication we can read is the "Weight: 19.6 kg".

Unfortunately we can read nothing on this tag.

After checking the drop tank designs of the IJNAF and IJAAF single engine fighters (Zero, "Raiden", "Shoki", "Hien" etc) it is safe for me to say that it's not a drop tank carried by one of them. Also, it's too long. My other thought is that it was probably used by a reconnaissance plane. It's too big for a "Babs" and too short for a "Myrt" (it's drop tank was 4 meters long) so my only other conclusion is that it could be a drop tank for a "Dinah".

If it's indeed an IJAAF drop tank, it offers a brilliant sample of the Army hairyokushoku standard paint. 

Any ideas?

By the way, it was sold for a mere 231,000Yen or 2,110$US.

VIPs - Mitsubishi MC-20

Another photo from the "Asahi Shimbun" collection. On May 5, 1943, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo landed in Nichols Field, an airfield south of Manila, for a state visit to the Philippines. On his right is General Wachi Takaji, Chief of Staff of the 14th Army responsible for the Philippines.

At least three Mitsubishi MC-20 transport aircraft are seen in the background. Unfortunately no tail markings are visible.

There is also a video from the NHK collection.

The Second Philippine Republic was established a few months later, on October 14, 1943, during the Japanese occupation.

IJAAF & IJNAF photos & more

Two photos from the "Asahi Shimbun" collection featuring the Nakajima G8N1 "Renzan" (Rita) captured at the end of the war and shipped back to the States for evaluation.

The caption of the first photo mentions:

This is the Japanese "Rita" bomber, St. Newark Air Base, where technicians are completing the job of overhauling it for its test flight to Wright Field, Ohio, on June 21st. The only four engine Japanese bomber in existence, the "Rita" was captured in Japan and shipped here. At Wright field engineers will conduct extensive tests on the bomber to see if the Japanese had any ideas that may be useful to our aircraft industry. 

The caption of the second photo mentions:

The only four-engined Japanese bomber in existence takes off from Newark Army Base with an American pilot at the controls. The plane, dubbed "Rita" by the Army Air Forces, is an experimental model that the Nips were never able to perfect for combat. Captured in Japan, the bomber was shipped to Newark, where American engineers studied it made it ready for the June 22nd test hop to Wright Field, Ohio. 

Mitsubishi Ki-30 "Ann" by Terry Jones

AZ kit in 1/72.

Terry Jones
Ottawa, Canada