Imperial Hayates

Pt. III

Best Sellers

AeroMaster Decals
 

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

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AeroMaster Products sheet 48-623 is another in their Best Sellers series.  It provides markings for four Ki-84 Hayate of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. 

Ki-84 Ko of the1^st Hiko-Sentai when it was based in the Philippines in 1945.  Finish is given as Nakajima dark green over grey green with a red cowling ring, yellow ID wing leading edges and a red and white striped rudder.  The markings are sparse but consist of: 

·        The red and white striped rudder (a one-piece decal). 

·        National insignia (Hinomaru) in six places.  The fuselage and upper wing insignia have white borders whilst the ones on the lower surfaces of the wings lack the border. 

Ki-84 A of the 3^rd Chutai, 1^st Fighter Regiment out of Taichun, Formosa in the summer of 1945. Finish is Nakajima dark green over grey green with a yellow spinner, and yellow ID wing leading edges.  The aircraft bears the squadron’s unique fin/rudder/fuselage marking, (in yellow denoting the 3^rd Chutai).  Markings consist of: 

·        National insignia as per the first aircraft. 

·        The squadron insignia.  This is supplied as a one-piece decal so you will need patience and care when applying it or alternatively, you could cut it into two pieces to make it more manageable. 

Ki-84 Ko of the 2^nd Chutai 52^nd Hiko-Sentai, Shimodate airfield, Ibaraki Japan.  Finish is Nakajima dark green over grey green with a blue/black anti-glare and a red spinner cap, and yellow ID wing leading edges.  Markings consist of: 

·        National insignia as per the first aircraft. 

·        White ‘combat stripe’ around the rear fuselage. 

·        Stylized squadron insignia for the fin and rudder in red and white.  Using a fair bit of imagination, the leading symbol looks like a “V” or Roman numeral 5 and the second symbol an Arabic numeral “2”. 

·        Red 071 with white shadowing for the rudder. 

Ki-84 A of the 502^th Temporary Interception Regiment based at Nakatsu airfield, Japan in 1945.  Finish is given as IJAAF dark green over light grey or natural metal undersides with a red spinner, and yellow ID wing leading edges.  As this machine was employed on “Home Defence duties” it also bears the white Home Defence Bands or “bandages”.  The bandages are not supplied so you will have to either paint them on or cut them from white decal sheet.  Markings consist of: 

·        National insignia (Hinomaru) in six places. 

·        Squadron insignia consisting of white-outline bird (Eagle?) over a white bordered red band for the fin/rudder. 

·        Numeral 16s in white for the cowling and the base of the rudder. 

·        White ‘combat stripe’ for the rear fuselage. 

AeroMaster has been generous with this sheet in that there are enough markings to produce each and every option without having to find markings from other sheets.  Also included are eight yellow wing-walk warnings and black non-slips for the flaps.  The main decal sheet containing all of the markings have been printed in Mexico whilst the smaller sheets containing the flap markings have been printed in Italy. 

The placement sheet is AeroMaster’s standard fare of an A-4 sized sheet with colour drawings showing each aircraft in profile as well as top views of the wings to show the flap data and the Home Defence bands of the last option.  As well as guidance on the external camouflage finish the sheet also provides notes on painting the propeller, anti-glare panel and the interior of the cockpit and wheel wells.  The decal sheets (three of them) and the placement guide are packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag. 

The suggested kit is the superb Hasegawa one.  The placement sheet advises that the markings have been tailored for this kit and not the ancient Tamiya or Otaki/Arii efforts. 

The placement guide provides a comprehensive list of references but one you might want to add to the list is J-Aircraft.Com. http://www.j-aircraft.com/ to the list.  This is an excellent site that provides detailed information on aircraft flown by the Japanese military during WWII. 

A nice sheet from AeroMaster. 

Recommended.

Thanks to AeroMaster Products for the review sets

On-line sales are available from the AeroMaster Products / Eagle Strike Productions web site.

Review TextCopyright © 2003 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 28 August, 2003
Last updated 28 August, 2003

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