The Aircraft

The Ki-43 has been described as the “Army Zero”. The Hayabusa and Zero were contemporaries, and the Ki-43 was quite successful in the first part of WW2. The Allies code named the aircraft “Oscar”. But like the Zero, the Oscar had some design problems, mostly the lack of self-sealing fuel tanks, armor protection, and light armament. Nevertheless, it did well against the early Allied fighters like the Buffalo, the P-36, the P-39, and Spitfire I. Almost all of the Japanese Army aces got victories in Oscars early in their careers.

The Model

This is a Platz/Bego kit. The molding is delicate and outstanding. You get 2 kits in the box, nice extra parts, and decals for 4 Ki-43-1s. There is a nice fuel tank for beneath the fuselage, and bombs with the necessary attachments.

OKB Grigorov produces resin kits and accessories. The kits are 1/700 submarines and 1/72 armor. The accessories are for 1/35 and 1/72 armor. The kits aim for great detail. This is one of those kits, and it hits the mark.

The Vehicle

The Flak Panzer IV Kugelblitz (fireball) is a Panzerwaffe ’46 model. There was an idea for a Panzer IV armed with anti-aircraft weapons, something like the Wirbelwind, but with 3cm guns instead of the Wirbelwind’s 2cm guns. The concept was for an enclosed turret, providing protection lacking in the Wirbelwind, and greater stopping power from the larger caliber guns.

The Kugelblitz never made it into production or even prototype. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting vehicle based on an interesting idea.

The P-51 is often viewed as the most successful aircraft designed in WWII. It was originally developed in 1940 by North American Aviation for the Royal Air Force prior to being adopted by the U.S. Army Air Force. After WWII ended, all variants of the P-51 were retired except the P-51D, which was kept in service for the Air National Guard. In 1948, with the separation of the U.S. Air Force from the U.S. Army, the designation was changed from P-51 to F-51. At the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950, most of the airfields on the Korean peninsula were ill suited for jet aircraft. So the F-51D was called back into service. This new release from Tamiya captures an F-51D from the Korean War and is their newest release of their highly regarded kit, last released in 2016.