History

(From the Arma web site): The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Falcon) fighter, nicknamed ‘Oscar’ in Allied code, was Japan's equivalent of the Spitfire and the Messerschmitt Bf-109 - it was a core piece of the Imperial Japanese Army Aviation throughout the Second World War, and was refined and produced in successive versions during all that period. Although it remained somewhat in the shadow of the naval Mitsubishi ‘Zero’, famous on the Pacific front thanks to its spectacular carrier battles, the Hayabusa played a major role in the battles over the Asian continent: over China, Burma, and Malaya, but also over the Philippines and New Guinea. There, it fought effectively against the air forces of China, the USA, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands, making a major contribution to the initial great victories of the Japanese.

The Ki-43 fighter was developed in the late ‘30s at the Nakajima factory under the direction of Hideo Itokawa, based on experience with the highly successful Ki-27 airframe, which had proved excellent in combat over China. The design of the Ki-43 was based on the specific concept of a light aircraft, with excellent maneuverability and climb and good speed, achieved at the cost of a rather fragile structure, weak armament, and virtually no armor. This corresponded to the Japanese doctrine of sophisticated maneuver combat, requiring masterful training and great courage of the pilots. Interestingly, the Hayabusa was powered by the same engine as the ‘Zero’. In the early period of the war, when the Japanese armies were conquering more and more areas of Southeast Asia, the Ki-43 was no match for its opponents, easily defeating Hurricanes or Buffalos. Later, however, the ‘Oscars’ became increasingly obsolete, and their lightweight construction did not allow for major improvements. In 1944, they began to be replaced on the main production lines and in combat units by the excellent Ki-84 Hayate, but until the end of the war, their production was maintained, and they were also used in combat, including in Kamikaze units.

The Kit

Upon opening the box, you will find a 12-page instruction booklet, two sprues of gray injected plastic, a clear sprue, a decal sheet, and a set of masks. The parts a finely molded with very nice raised detail and recessed lines. There is a bit of flash, especially on the rudder, and some heavy mold seam lines, so watch out for those. The clear parts are pretty clear, and the decals look fantastic.

Construction

Construction steps 1-3 are for the wing & cockpit. The wings are two pieces, and the cockpit floor is part of the upper half of the wings. You have a choice here as to where to drill the holes for what type of external tank you want. Steps 4-8 Finish the cockpit with the sidewall detail and control panel. One note here is on Step 4, the instructions call for painting the MG receivers (they are molded to the control panel) Aotake...I went with gun metal. On step 9, you have a choice to make depending on which of the three marking options you are building. You are provided with different exhaust ports, and one of those requires you to do some minor surgery to the cowl flaps. After this is finished, you can attach the wings to the fuselage, and in my sample, I needed to clean up some mold seam lines for this to fit.

Steps 11-14 deal with the construction and placement of the engine and cowling. The cowling is made up of 6 pieces. The cowl flaps and firewall are attached to the fuselage then the engine is attached. Next is where I had problems. Parts A1, A7 & A8 are the bottom, right, and left cowl pieces, and they basically slid into place and fit perfectly…. or so I thought. There were gaps between the parts, and when placing A20, the top piece, there was a large gap on either side. I ended up lightly sanding the lip on the backside of the cowl pieces that fit behind the engine. This helped but there was still a gap after placing A2, AND the cowl was a little bigger than the cowl ring...UGH. I ended up having to lightly sand the outer part of the engine all the way around, and I finally got a good fit.

Steps 15-24 deal with the final small parts of the construction. The landing gear and oil cooler are simple assemblies and fit well. The headrest, while easy to build, is a bit of a pain if you have fat fingers like me as it is made up of 3 pieces! No problems with the canopy, pitot tube, and prop. You are given a choice of external tanks, and I went with the early style one as it doesn’t use the bracket. If you do use the bracket, please note that the sway braces are molded on it and must be twisted 90° for the tank to fit.

Finishing

I used Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Aluminum to finish this. The rudder, elevators, and ailerons are Tamiya LP-38 Flat Aluminum, and the mottle is Tamiya XF-13 J.A. Green.

A very nice decal sheet gives you 3 options:

1. 59th Hiko-Sentai 3rd Chutai, New Guinea 1943-44.
2. 54th Hiko-Sentai, 2nd Chutai, Pilot Capt. Hisashi Koshiishi, Kurile Islands 1944. (My choice)
3. Hiko Dai 71st Sentai, Japan, Late 1944.

Most of the decals settled down nicely with a little help from Solvaset, even the squadron marking on the tail. If you choose option #2 you have to place the decal before adding the horizontal stabilizers. The only problems I had were with decals S8 & S9, the small yellow leading edge decals at the front of the wheel bay. They didn’t fit quite right, and one even fell off without my noticing it. So I had to paint these areas. I’m not sure if it was the decal or me, so maybe take a little time with these.

Conclusions

This kit is maybe a little too complicated for beginners, but modelers with a little experience should be able to build it. I would like to thank Arma Hobby for supplying this kit and the review corps for taking a chance and letting me build it.