Hasegawa 1/48 Nakajima Ki-84-I
Type 4 fighter Hayate (Frank)

by Milton Bell

History

The Hayate (Gale) was undeniably the best single engine fight the IJAAF possessed during WWII. It was produced in great numbers but today only one example survives. That one example was recovered from Clark Field in the Philippines after being abandoned by retreating Japanese forces in 1945. It was returned to the U.S. and restored to flying condition. Subsequent flight tests proved the aircraft's performance was equal to or better than several current fighters.

A quick glance at the Ki-84, (Allied code name Frank) quickly reminds the viewer of the earlier Ki-43 Oscar. But this is an evolved machine-more robust and better armed. Its lines are very nice to look at. I've often wondered it took so long for a manufacturer to take so long in producing a good model of it. I built the old Otaki/Arii kit years ago and was pleased with it. I had to be since it was the only game in town in my favorite scale.

The Kit

Even in the box, Hasegawa's kit is as good to look at as the real thing (well, almost). Its molded in their usual gray styrene and comes with a very clear, three-part canopy that, thankfully, can be shown open. How I wish some of their earlier 1/48 scale kits had allowed for open cockpits. Decals for two aircraft: 22nd Flight Regiment and Hitachi Training Flight Division, are included. They are packaged with the clear parts and three sprues of vinyl inserts. My decals were not scratched and were in good register. The builder has the choice of using the raised instrument panel or two decals-one with a black background and the other on a clear background.

One of the outstanding features of this kit is the cockpit. There are over 20 pieces that include just about every knob, lever, and box the original could have had. Actually, they may have left out a part or two but there doesn't seem to be room for any more! And the best thing about the cockpit detail is that everything fits. I followed the instructions and painted the basic cockpit framing, floor, and bulkheads in Polly Scale aotake. Individual details such as knobs, boxes or levers were either aotake, flat black or red. All that is missing are seat belts, some wiring and plumbing that I chose not to add since I wanted to do this one as nearly OOB as I could. Those straps molded onto the 'seat cushion' are for the 'chute. If you choose to add belts, I would add lap belts only. I can find no reference for a shoulder restraint. And one other item is missing; the canopy adjustment crank that is prominent in most cockpit photos. I can't imagine why Hasegawa left this feature out. I made one with thin sheet, a Waldron punch, a very small drill and a sharp #11 blade. And yes, you can see it. For placement I referred to the Aero Detail #24 on the Frank which I strongly recommend as a reference.

The instrument panel is the usual Hasegawa quality; nicely raised details for the gauges and switches. The Aero Detail book again shows one small detail left off and is backed up by the Maru Mechanic #8 (1978). That is the small data table that fits in the notch of the panel on the right side, just below and to the left of the gun butt. I painted it light yellow because that's what the Maru Mechanic shows. Those two round things just below the main panel and left and right of the lower panel are cocking switches for the wing guns and should be yellow as well.

Hasegawa has gone overboard, in my opinion, in their use of the soft vinyl inserts to hold everything from the propeller to, in this case, the tail wheel. Granted, some modelers may want the prop to spin. Actually, I just like to remove it when I transport the model. But using inserts to attach landing gear, drop tanks, and even the fuel cooler seems just a little excessive. I used them in the places specified and they didn't interfere with construction, but next time...

The engine consists of a single bank of cylinders with molded in detail with the gear housing and other details are separate pieces. On my kit the cowling had a few raised lines where parts of the tool joined but these were easily removed with a piece of worn 400 grit wet/dry paper. The exhaust pipes are in individual sections and I painted them separately, then added them to the already painted cowl flap section.

The clear parts are very thin so be careful removing them from the runner. The windscreen fits very well. I dipped all the clear parts in Future to improve the clarity and give them a degree of protection. The windscreen was so clear that when I dropped it on the floor it totally disappeared to my poor eyes. It was quickly found by my foot and had to be replaced with a new one from a new kit! And you might know that this popular kit was already sold out of all the shops and I had to wait a week. Oh, well... When the new part was in hand, I attached it, after a couple of coats of Future, with Weld-On. I like to use this solvent because it is so fast and, if you are careful to use very small amounts, it doesn't fog or creep out of the joint.

All the main parts of the assembly went together like a dream. The rudder is in two separate pieces but you will have to do some trimming to show it offset. The horizontal stab/elevators are made to key into each other so alignment is not a big problem. This is without a doubt the best fitting kit Hasegawa has done-and yes, I've done all the late ones. It's not without its challenges, especially handling those microscopic navigation light lenses. A word of caution: I checked the parts against the drawings in the Aero Detail book and it appears that the fuel cooler, that little cylindrical housing that fits under the right wing, is shown installed backwards. Check out the photo on the back of the book as well. Note the little "bump" on the bottom-it's aft on the drawing and photo but forward in the plans. You might want to make a note of that.

The kit is designed to show the flaps deployed but none of the wartime photos I've seen show this. Even so, the flap detail is interesting and I wasn't about to show them retracted. Another questionable item is the part that fits over the hub of the main landing gear. I wasn't sure of its position and on most photos it doesn't appear to be fitted. I decided to leave them off.

The propellers for Franks were painted a medium green. The call for 'light green' but Baker (Ian Baker, Japanese Army Aircraft Colours and Markings in the Pacific War) [Editor's note - Click here for a review of Baker's latest work.] gives an FS number of *4128. I came very close to this shade by lightening Medium Green with a little light gray. It works for me.

I used Aeromaster Nakajima Interior Gray/Green to paint the underwing fuel tanks. A nice feature of this kit are the sway braces for the tanks.

I used Floquil Old Silver to paint the landing gear struts, gear door interiors and well interiors as well as the flap interiors. To simulate the oleo, I used a strip of silver mylar (Christmas Tree icicle) cut to the proper width, held in place with a tiny amount of CA. The cut end is hidden by the door cover. Its mirror finish isn't likely to fade. When all the major components were assembled, there was hardly any need for filler. The wing-fuselage join was made with cement only-not a bit of filler was needed. About the only area I filled was the lower wing joint to the fuselage bottom and that was done quickly. Since I lost a little detail here, I rescribed. Five minutes of work, tops.

I used Polly Scale paints for the main colors but first I gave the fuselage sides, cowling and wing a coat of Floquil Old Silver. Then, using Micro Mask, I masked off a few areas where I wanted to show worn paint. I pre-shaded some areas with RLM 66 and then sprayed on a light coat of Polly Scale IJA Green. Surprise! When it dried, I had a very nice OD color, a lot browner than I had anticipated. For the final coat, I added a touch of Medium Green and I liked the result much better. Before the paint had fully cured, I used a piece of masking tape to pull off part of the top coat to expose the silver paint. In some areas, I used a piece of work wet/dry paper to rub off the color coat, in others I used a knife point to "chip" the paint away.

The undersides were painted IJA Light Gray. After waiting a couple of days I gave the entire model a coat of Future, let that dry completely and then added he decals. I choose the markings of the 22nd Flight Regiment, a red and white half-mum over a winding river (can't remember exactly what it's called) and all the deals worked well with Micro Sol. One change I made, based on data in the Aero Detail publication, was the color of the fuel fill covers. The kit supplies yellow decals for the fuselage tank only and red for the wing fuel points. The book shows red on NM aircraft and yellow on the painted versions so I painted mine yellow. I also substituted Aeromaster hinomarus since the kit's decals were too bright for what I was looking for.

Conclusions

The finished model looks convincing and is a nice addition to my collection of Japanese aircraft. What's missing? Well, aside from the canopy crank and he placard, nothing that I can see. What would I change? I would hope that sometime in the future, manufacturers would stop using clear parts for gun sights. I prefer a styrene (or resin) piece with a piece of clear sheet that I can cut for the reflector glass. And I personally don't care for the plug-in landing gear-it's too hard to align properly.

Would I build another? Darned right, but I'll have to get another windscreen or wait for someone to market a vacuum formed one. It was a fun kit to build and easy enough for a beginner but you'll have to have some tweezers to get all the stuff in the right place for the cockpit. I recommend the kit and wish to thank Hobbylink Japan for supplying the review kit.