Finemolds Ki-15, 1/48. 'Wild Goose Kamikaze'
Evening all, modelling is slow these days but I need a break from a modern day jet built I'm doing to go back to something more fun and decided to finish off this kit I started last year. The interior was completed previously, but the rest got completed over the last couple of weekends.
This is Finemolds's 1/48 Ki-15 Karigane/Wild Goose depicted as the prototype aircraft known as Kamikaze which would complete a record setting flight in 1937.
History
Kamikaze was the second prototype of the Ki-15, a reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber designed for the Army (and, rare for Japanese aircraft, also used by the Navy). Despite it's look with fixed landing gear and having a rather lower powered engine it was, was a brief period in 1937 the fastest production aircraft at the time and certainly proved it's ability to avoid interception during first years of the Sino-Japanese war.
Although the intentions for the design were for military use, the second prototype was purchased by Asahi Shimbun, a newspaper company that utilised it as a fast courier aircraft. A few more were also purchased by other similar companies after it's significant flight proved the capabilities of the design.
Between April 5th and April 9th, Kamikaze became famous for setting a world record flight between Tokyo and London in 1937, in tribute of King George VI's coronation. Crewed by pilot Masaaki Iinuma and navigator Kenji Tsukagoshi, the flight spanned 9,542 miles with a flight time of 51 Hours and 17 minutes, and a total time of 94 hours taking 11 stops, something that can now be done commercially on a 14 hours non-stop flight.
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- 1. The route undertaken by Kamikaze
A monetary prize was also received for being the first to fly between Paris and Tokyo within 100 hours, a record previous attempted but not succeed by French aviators in the past and as a result both the pilot and navigator of the flight became recipients of the French Legion d'honneur. Kamikaze would be the first ever Japanese aircraft to land in Europe.
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- 1. Kamikaze upon it's arrival to Croydon, London
Upon returning to Japan, the crew became celebrities with the pilot named as 'The Japanese Lindbergh'. Kamikaze and it's distinctive scheme would draw crowds. Just a few months after this flight Kamikaze was pressed into military service as the high speed photo-reconnaissance aircraft it was originally designed as, receiving an Army green paint scheme but the Japanese flag and both English and Japanese names on the fuselage were left uncovered.
By the end of the year the aircraft had crashed, and although considered beyond economic repair, Asahi Shimbun spent the funds to have it returned to flight as they recognised the value Kamikaze had to their image. The aircraft briefly served again in the military, but was later repainted to the original civilian scheme and used as the company's flagship until it crashed 100m off the shore of Taiwan in 1939. The aircraft was recovered but salt-corrosion ended any chance of it becoming airworthy. Once again the aircraft was repaired, however this time it would become a static display in its civilian scheme, looking a little different due to using later versions of the Ki-15 in the rebuild.
Kamikaze managed to survive the war with only minor damage due to allied bombings, however in Autumn of 1945 the aircraft was destroyed by US troops to comply with the ban on Japanese aviation post-war. In 2021, part of the aircraft's skin with the Japanese flag on it was donated to Mitsubishi having previously been kept as a trophy by a US serviceman.
The Kit
The Finemolds kit goes together very well, with no issues at all except from having to fill in some panel lines caused by the fuselage window inserts and the difficulty trying to fill those parts in without using anything too strong that will ruin the clarity which is a side effect of having the kit be able to become an early or late Ki-15. It's a very well designed kit and I highly recommend it for the rather unique subject whether you go for the military or civilian variant. The interior was painted in an approximation of Japanese cockpit blue, it's probably not the right shade as I mixed it myself (it should probably be lighter) however it isn't clear whether the aircraft should have this blue or the Mitsubishi cockpit green that started to be used around this time. That being said I used the idea that it's a prototype to for the excuse to paint something different to green, but if I was doing a production military aircraft I'd definitely go for that instead. If anyone can locate where I managed to loose sprue C at some point I'll give a small reward and then also be able to fill in those circles on the landing gear covers (maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it so you wouldn't have known it's not there!)
It's worth noting that by the time you get everything assembled you really can't see much of the interior, and that's without putting on the greenhouse canopy which doesn't help the matter.
For paintwork I went with MRP White Aluminum, and Blue Angel's Blue (what the instructions recommend) for the blue. Decals went on well and settled down generally nicely, but issues arose on the rising star on the underneath. Eventually some parts of the decal ripped off and while I repaired it a little, damage kept appearing so I ended up removing them entirely with tape and trying my best to paint them myself. I also managed to damage some of the upper side decals when handing the aircraft but this could be fixed quickly with a brush. It's worth noting that the decals for this kit, while good, have ridiculous amounts of carrier film. For example, the 'A A I' on the right wing is one decal making it 50% carrier film. Naturally I'd recommend cutting these into smaller parts, same goes with the fuselage decals.
Overall it's a very nice small and fun build (when you aren't having to repaint rising suns). It definitely gave me a good bit more fun than taping off a modern jet and painting 50 shades of grey. I'm looking forward to building the other Finemolds kits I added to the stash last year.
Credits to the articles at oldtokyo.com and aviationofjapan.com for the information and photos of one of the more niche subjects out there.
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- 1. Kamikaze after nosing over after landing in muddy turf. The crew survived, dazed but otherwise unharmed.
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- 1. Kamikaze following it's second crash off of Taiwan, the pilot survived but the Navigator's body was never recovered.
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- 1. Kamikaze after being pressed into military service in 1937, showing the name and flag being left uncovered.
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- 1. The remaining parts of Kamikaze following it's donation to Mitsubishi
Great build and great story Harvey, @scalerambush. The kit looks really good and your finish is excellent. I like the plane itself, it has very pleasing lines, very 1930's streamlined look. I have seen a number of Finemolds kits on this site, and they look like very nice kits.
I've built a few now and they've all been very nice and pretty simple kits. Got a few more in the stash to get round to at some point
A very fine model with a super quality paintwork. The NMF/ Blue finish is top notch!
I am doing the military version of this kit and the only real issue so far has been the engine cowling, but probably my fault. Like you say it’s a nice little kit of a unique looking airplane imo. Thumbs up
Thank you! I was tempted to get the military variants but the silver scheme looked too good against the other kits on the shelf to pass up
An inspiring built. Beautiful!
refreshing! thanks for sharing
Fantastic
Well done, Harvey! That’s one of my favorite models.
Wonderful build and finish. A great looking model.
Well done, Harvey (@scalerambush). Paint and decals are amazing. I have built a couple of the Fine Molds kits and they are really well done.
That's a great result, Harvey @scalerambush
Beautiful painting indeed.
Thanks a lot for the historical part of this aircradt, very interesting.
A truly beautiful model Harvey.
A really beautiful build of a beautiful bird with a great nmf and paintjob overall. Great pictures too!
Fine looking build, Harvey. Very eye catching with that great scheme and finish.
Occasionally someone builds a model that is so far beyond the regular accolades given to a well done model that it leaves me without something wonderful to say except that it is Absolutely Beautiful. If I could achieve this level of building myself, I would call myself fortunate. I am in awe. Thank you for showing us what can be done.
Well thank you very much! Gotta say though the heavy lifting is from MRP paints on making it look good and shiny!
I've always loved this aircraft, and the Fine Molds kit is excellent. I've been working on it, but it got backburnered while I've been working on other projects. Seeing yours is making me want to get back to it.
Definitely recommend it when you get the chance, it's a good simple model to get the creative juices flowing
Super build and beautiful finish. I did a military version of this one, it's a great kit. Now I'll have to do the civil version, it looks spectacular.
Absolutely wonderful, Harvey! Fantastic job, awesome result and equally wonderful article!
Congratulations!
Thank you very much! It was very fun doing the research for this one
The article ( as Spiros has pointed out)has been formatted beautifully and intelligently. Professional is a good word to describe on so many levels.
A job well done,well done indeed Harvey.
Thank you very much!
That is a really stunning build! Well done!