Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Author: Leszek A. Wieliczko
Publisher: Kagero
ISBN: 978-83-62878-87-1
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 96 Pages
Nakajima produced some of the best fighters Japan had to offer during the Second World War. Their Ki-43 Hayabusa remained in frontline service throughout the entire war, and was a formidable foe in the hands of a skilled pilot, even late in the war. The powerful Ki-44 Shoki was a dangerous opponent for Allied bombers, with its solid performance and powerful armament. It is no surprise, then, that their next fighter would combine the best of both of those designs, and the result was the Ki-84 Hayate.
The Ki-84 came from a directive in the early 1940s to provide a fighter that had the agility of the Ki-43 and the performance and armament of the Ki-44. Not only that, but it also needed to be simpler to build, as both of those designs required well over 20,000 hours of construction. The result was the Ki-84, which looked very much like a blending of the Ki-43 and Ki-44. Powered by the Nakajima Ha-45 engine, the Ki-84 had impressive performance, and could easily hold its own against anything the Allies could throw at it (as long as it was flown by a competent pilot).
This book covers the Ki-84 in a thorough manner, following the aircraft through from its initial design to manufacture to operations. The text is thorough and well written, with a nice balance between technical and anecdotal. The photo coverage is likewise comprehensive, a challenge when it comes to Japanese subjects. There are also plenty of detail photos taken from manuals and such to give the modeler lots of reference material. Scale drawings are superb, with sections covering the differences between variants as well as overall multi-view drawings. Color profiles complete the book, including both side views and top views.
This is a great addition to the growing Kagero library of Japanese aviation subjects. My thanks to Casemate Publishing for the review copy.