Kit: No. CP3
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Hasegawa, distributed by Marco Polo Import Inc., 532 S. Coralridge Place, City of Industry, CA 91746
Price: $36.98
Comments: Injection molded, 81 parts (4 vinyl), decals.
THE NICK was designed as a heavy fighter, a philosophy in vogue in the mid-1930s. After difficulties finding suitable engines, Kawasaki began production in 1941. The Ki-45 was produced in a number of variants, utilizing different engines and armament. In its role as night fighter, the Nick was one of the first aircraft equipped with upward-firing 20mm cannon.
Hasegawa’s new kit is the heavy fighter version with a 20mm cannon and a pair of 12.7mm machine guns in the nose. The nose and cannon bulge are molded as separate pieces. A 30mm cannon bulge (No. 2) and upward-firing cannon (part Nos. 9 and 10) are on the sprues, but are destined for future versions of this kit. Decals provide markings for an overall gray aircraft and the splotchy green-and-gray machine I chose.
The parts are molded in gray and clear styrene and feature fine engraved panel lines. Hasegawa’s cockpit interior provides the basic floor, panels, stick, and seats, but there is no sidewall detail. A decal provides the instrument faces for the flat panel.
Two vinyl caps are included to anchor the propellers in the engines. This allows you to remove the propellers (to protect them when moving the model) yet permits them to spin freely.
Parts fit is excellent. I didn’t use filler on any major joints, and the canopies fit perfectly. I used white glue to fill the gaps at the front of the intakes where they meet the cowls.
Most of the 15 hours I put into the project were devoted to masking and painting. The decals provide the white bands for the upper surface of the wing and around the fuselage, but I masked and painted them instead.
The instructions don’t offer Aqueous color matches for the camouflage, only Mr. Color enamel codes (not distributed in the United States). Color names such as “propeller color,” “cockpit color (Nakajima),” and “dark green (Kawasaki)” are no help.
After painting Gunze Sangyo Aqueous Japanese army gray acrylic overall, I masked for the green splotches with white glue. This worked for the most part, but the glue pulled up the gray paint here and there. I “splotched” with Gunze Japanese army green. The decals went on well, but the white areas are translucent. The Hinomarus are too bright for my taste.
The finished Nick scales perfectly in span and only a scale inch or two short in length according to Ren&eacut; J. Francillon’s Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War (Putnam).
Beginners should have no problems assembling Hasegawa’s Nick, but they may want to choose the simpler paint scheme. If you are looking for a near-perfect-fitting World War II twin, you’ve found it.
Chuck Davis