Eduard 1/48 scale
Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi

by Roland Sachsenhofer

Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi

Trumpeter's 1/24 scale Bf 109 G-6 is available online from Squadron

Nakajimas Ki-115 is a unique military plane, being the first aircraft developed from the outset for missions it should not survive. The construction had not to be faster, more maneuverable, better motorized or fitted with harder punching armament then its adversaries. Its only task was to find the enemy, get through the protective shield of enemy Flak and fighters and end its existence in a destructive fireball – resulting in the sinking of an enemy vessel.

The pilot was doomed, his death the price - accepted by the Japanese military - to drive this weapon into the target.
Thousands of mostly young and inexperienced “Kamikaze” pilots were slaughtered before the end of the war.
No Ki-115 ever started to attack allied forces, but dozens of Tsurugis in various production stages have been found after the August 1945. They had been spared for the defense of Japanese mainland in case of an allied invasion.

Hence my model shows a hypothetical appearance. In most pictures you see a 800kg bomb applied and the wooden flaps, that have been improvised for training flights to make landing the tricky Ki-115 possible, removed. This would be the condition before the final flight.

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Thumbnail panels:

Eduard's boxing of this Kamikaze plane represents one of the earlier short run kits, but includes all the benefits of a “Profikit” like some etched parts and masks. For the few markings I used the kits decals.

If you are interested in the building process, please have a look on the workbench at the JAM Forum.

As ever, remarks will be appreciated: ro.sachsenhofer@gmx.at

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2013 by Roland Sachsenhofer
Page Created 11 November, 2013
Last Updated 11 November, 2013

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