Kawasaki Ki - 100 Jb “Goshikisen” – the Japanese fighter

The only Japanese fighter, capable of reaching the US B-29 at maximum flight altitude, was the Kawasaki Ki-61 IId "Hien" (“Tony”), powered by a in-line type 1500 h. p. power engine Ha - 140. However, the problem was, that these engines, due to the poor quality of their assembly, very rarely reached this power. Continuous problems with the supply of Ha-140 engines led to a large number of Ki - 61 aircraft sitting in the assembly halls, awaiting engine installation. In November 1944 it was suggested to consider installing another engine in the “Hien”. Thanks to this proposal, an attempt was made to adapt the Ki-61 engine to the Ha-112-II (1500 h. p. power). It was a long-tested, easy-to-maintain and very reliable engine. There was just one problem - the Ki-61 was designed to mount an in-line liquid-cooled engine, while the Yf-112-II was a 14-cylinder twin-star air-cooled engine. How do you fit a 1.22m diameter engine in a fuselage, that is only 0.84m wide?... But Kawasaki engineers, analyzed the FW - 190 and D4Y3 “Suisei” aircraft, where a radial engine was successfully and efficiently installed in a narrow fuselage. The result of this conversion was an aircraft, so different from the Ki-61, that it received the new designation - Ki-100. The plane took off for its first flight on February 1, 1945 and this flight revealed the fighter's incredible capabilities. It was 300 kg lighter, than the Ki-61, more maneuverable, easy to pilot. True, the speed was slightly lower, than that of the “Hien”, but the reliability of the engine fully compensated for that loss. The aircraft was immediately put into serial production. Between March and June 275 fighters were built, essentially converting pending “Hien” engine gliders for the new engine. All these fighters were sent to combat units and proved themselves almost immediately. Even under the control of an average pilot, these fighters were a formidable weapon at low and medium altitudes. These fighters were much better, than the American “Hellcat”, but, when faced with the “Mustangs”, the outcome of the battle was determined by the skill of the pilot. However, at high altitudes, the Ki-100 was not very maneuverable and was not suitable for the B-29 "hunter" role.

A model of an interesting aircraft of medium difficulty, well designed and well detailed - so not very suitable for beginner modelers, but an advanced beginner, under the supervision of a more experienced colleague, will be completely fine with this model.