Nakajima Ki-115a Army Special Attacker Tsurugi (Sabre)
AvUSK (AV-1001) 1/72 Ki-115 Kamikaze!
The Subject
The Ki-115 was developed in 1945 in response to an anticipated need for simpler Special Attack aircraft that could use a variety of engines to be used against the expected Home Island invasion force. The requirement was established in January 1945 and by March 1945 the prototype was completed and immediately began flight tests. The landing gear was simple tubular steel with no shock absorbers and coupled with the cockpit being so far aft handling on taxi/takeoff was difficult, especially for inexperienced pilots. Flight tests were completed in June 1945 resulting in some significant changes — shock absorbers on the landing gear, auxiliary flaps, and provision for rocket power to be used in the terminal dive.
Only 105 were produced before the war ended and apparently none were ever used in combat. The proposed Ki-115b moved the cockpit forward and altered the wings to be made of wood and of a larger area. None were completed before 15 August 1945.
The Model
I came across this kit shortly after it was released in 1993 at a traditional model shop on SoCal. It was odd enough that I decided to buy it, knowing full well that the crudeness of the sprues meant this would challenge my modeling skills. When I got home I immediately broke out my copy of “Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War” by Rene’ J Francillon and looked up the Ki-115. Yep, I had made a good purchase.
While the kit comes with the auxiliary flaps it does NOT include the rockets or mounts. So this is sort of an intermediate variant.
I began construction after using quite a bit of sand papers just to clean up the parts, learning quickly I needed to dry fit the parts. Often. Once I thought it was ready I started cementing the few parts together. It quickly was ready for paint.
Kit instructions recommended an overall silver (NMF?) finish with some camouflage green crudely sprayed on the upper surfaces. The only photos I had from the Francillon book showed an overall silver finish, which may have been unpainted metal but the finish did look smooth and consistent, not the visible panels that would tell me it was unpainted. It received a simple Tamiya AS-12 overall paint.
I then picked out the flaps in another metal shade, and of course painted all the details. This appeared similar to the photo reference so I called it “done.” Decals came from my spares box and the kit decals shattered. There were no markings other than the hinomaru, which made it simple.
Summary
This was my first limited run kit and while it took me almost 30 years to actually complete it, the construction was done early on and I learned quite a bit from the experience. I’ve been able to apply these lessons to quite a few limited run kits in the meantime, and to use those lessons on most kits in general.
Thanks for looking…
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