HOBBY SPACE 1:72 KAWASAKI KI-78 KEN III
'INBOX Review'

 

Reviewer: Johan De Wolf (rec.models.scale)   

Kit Details

History

In 1938 a design for a high speed research plane was started at the Tokyo University. The KEN III (research 3) as it was known, was also to attempt to break the world speed record. When Japan entered the war the project was taken over by the army and the designation became Ki-78. 

The aircraft had several advanced design features not used in Japanese designs before. The wing would have a laminar flow section, a combination of Fowler and split flaps together with drooping ailerons would be used to keep the landing speed down. Power was to be provided by an imported 1175HP Daimler Benz inline engine, which was to be boosted to 1550hp by incorporating a water methanol injection system. Almost flush fitting radiators were fitted to the rear fuselage, and to improve cooling, a turbine driven van was installed. Kawasaki would build two prototypes. 

The first had its maiden flight on 26 December 1942. It was quite a handful with very high take of and landing speeds, and rather unforgiving handling characteristics. The weight, and therefore wing loading were higher than calculated, and elevator flutter set in at speeds over 635Km/h. The last problem was somewhat alleviated by installing horn balances. Almost a year after its first flight the machine reached its top speed of just under 700Km/h. This was well below the anticipated 850Km/h. As improvement of the performance would take too many engine and airframe modifications, the whole project was abandoned in January 1944. The second prototype was never finished.

The kit

I came across this kit on a modeler’s convention. I had heard about the existence of it, but its one of those things you don’t expect to find because it is so extremely rare. I jumped at the change to buy it at a bargain price. It comes in a high class box, and judging by its colour it might as well hold expensive lingerie.  Upon opening the sealed (with a paper seal like on expensive liquor bottles) box you can immediately see that thought has gone into ensuring the safety op the parts. The box is filled with Styrofoam chips so the content cannot bounce around and get damaged. To further minimize the chance of damage the compartmented bag with parts is stapled to a sturdy piece of card. The bubble and blemish free cream coloured resin parts are very finely engraved and details are crisply molded.  The white metal gear legs are finely detailed too. The vacuform canopy is crystal clear, but the frame lines are a bit indistinct, so cutting it out will not be easy. The A-4 size instruction sheet is in Japanese only. The construction drawings are clear enough though and the limited amount of parts should ensure an easy build. There are no decals with this kit. 

Accuracy

Both span and length are too short. The span is missing 4,5 mm while the length comes up 2mm short. So the kit is actually closer to 1/75 scale. However comparing the kit to photographs, it shows that it captures the sleek thoroughbred lines of the original very well.

Construction 

The cockpit consists of a floor, a rear bulkhead, a seat, a control column and an instrument panel. Some structural detail is molded onto the side walls. Joining the full length left half with the part length right half revealed a 1 mm gap at the rear that needs to be filled with a piece of plasticard. The one piece wing fits without drama. Next the intake and exhausts of the radiators can be fitted as well as the wing intake. The tail wings simply slot into place. If you are building your model with the gear down, you now need to separate the one piece doors into their separate sections. The drawings clearly show how these and the gear itself need to be installed at the correct angles. The canopy and prop can then be installed. If you mess up the canopy, there is a mold provided so you could make a new one. The pitots and horn balances have to be provided by the modeler him/herself.  

Painting

As far as I can tell no painting information is given in the instructions. The few photographs show the machine in two liveries. The initial scheme is bare metal, devoid of any markings. The other scheme shows a dark colour overall with hinumarus on the rear fuselage and possibly on the wings. There are also black/white markings for photographic purposes. That the machine shows up in a dark colour is probably a result of the type of film that was used. This also makes the hinumarus appear black. So in my opinion the machine was painted in the standard colour for experimental aircraft, which would be orange, and not a dark blue as shown on the box art. As there are no decals with this kit the roundels will have to come from the spares box. Same goes for the black/white calibration markings.

Conclusion

Although the packaging suggests a high quality product, the kit is sadly a bit under scale. Nevertheless it will build into a good looking replica of this little known and unsuccessful research aircraft. 

References

 

SMAKR Home  |  What's New  |  Submissions  | Information Requests |  News  |  Links  |  Reference Corner  |  Site Info 
1/72 Reviews  |  1/48 Reviews  |  INBOX Reviews