There have been some conversations among several of us who happen to have a Ki-45 "Nick" in their stashes. So I have this idea...

After talking with Spiros Pendedekas, @fiveten
Chuck Villanueva, @uscusn
and Jaime Carreon @jetmex

about starting a build thread here on building this particular plane, and I came up with this thought.

We could all post up pictures of our work here as we build our Ki-45 models. This would also act as an information center on the type. If you have anything you want to share about the Ki-45 you can also add it here.

This is an open invitation to drag out your Toryu models and build them. It doesn't matter what scale it is or what manufacturer you have. Nichimo, Hasegawa, whatever you have... Just go for it and start building one... Please feel free to add your work here, and we can share thoughts, ideas etc., and this might be of help.

You can also post your own individual build if you want to... Nothing is keeping you from doing that.

So if you have one of these kits in your collection and you want to join in this "mini" group build within a group build, please feel free to do so. This will be open to all who want to participate.

I'll start out by showing what I have in mind for a future project, one that will happen sometime soon. I have two of the 1/48 scale Hasegawa Ki-45 kits. What surprised me was how small they are... You would expect the model to be much bigger than it is, and since it's a twin engine plane, it seems even smaller to me.

These are some photos of my model kits. I will be building these two up soon.

The parts are the same in both boxes. It is a typical Hasegawa kit, and the parts are molded perfectly from what I can see inside the bags. I don't see any flash present anywhere.



The only difference is the decals that are provided for each kit. I still have yet to decide on which version I will be building...


Do I build a high flying B-29 interceptor ? A night fighter or what ? It's still up in the air at the moment.

These are the illustrations for the marking options that are provided in the box. I like the overall dark green one and possibly the one wearing the green spots over the light grey green...which describes the majority of these planes.

Time will tell which ones I chose to build.

So if you have a Ki-45 in the stash, and want to build it, there's no better time than right now. Drag it out, get busy with it and please feel free to post your work here...Tell us something about how it's going together and what you are experiencing with yours.

Let's get this party started...

What a great idea Louis @!gardner!
Got my Nichimo kit ready to go!
Hopefully tonight I will post kit pics and my schme choice!
Once again, thank you for the inspiration: I feel really excited!

Here is my Nichimo Toryu:

Looks great in the box!

Instructions are nice (in Japanese), with a separate translation leaflet provided.

Only one camo option is referred to the instruction sheet, however more options seem to be provided at the decal sheet (which IS old, but looks useable) . After some research, I found a machine I like that is covered by the decal sheet.

It is No 98 aircraft, belonging to 53rd Sentai, 3rd Shinten Seikutai, Matsudo Air Base, 1945. This scheme is, amazingly, a marking option of one of the Hasegawa released "Nicks" and I managed to get my hands on this sheet.

So, why not using their sheet as a guide?

I also found a wonderful photo at the net, with 6 pilots of the 3rd Shinten Seikutai, standing in front of a "Nick" with the exact scheme I would like to depict!

Isn't life wonderful?

All the best, Mini Toryu GB!

I like your thinking Louis Gardner @lgardner, both of your kits look great!
I too have the Nichimo 1/48 kit hidden somewhere, and I have always wanted to put it together.
I also wanted a 1/72 kit and got the Hasegawa CP3 kit back in January.
Too many options!

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Hey Spiros, it is very tempting to join you guys right now but I might just wait a week or two and get my Korean Seafire started up first.

Lookie what I got! Went on Vacation up North to visit my kid (He's 31) and got this highly surprise Father's Day gift. Imagine the bug-out my eyes did when I seen this. He knows I'm a Toryu fan (he is too) and I mentioned in passing the possibility and unreality of getting this one. So I reckon I can join this group too, altho I'm not sure when I can get to it, with all the other stuff I have going on. Or where to put it when the wings get on it...have to make a ceiling harness.

Kit has some decisions to make, as you might know it has whole sprues of clear exterior parts, to cover up the extreme detail Zoukie Mura put in would be a shame, so I probably have to do one side in clear, or leave open paint areas around engines, armament, etc. Also hate to not put in the highly detailed cannons, so need an armed color scheme, with mottled camo. Can't see this one in solid green. Research time. Too lazy to take pics of all the insides, so this vid will do it for me, if you're interested.

Also while I'm here, I fixed up my Hasegawa 1/32 J2M Raiden I built a while ago. It actually rumbled off it's shelf with several others when they paved my street. The vibratory roller shook them right off the shelf. That was an interesting day. bad things seem to happen to my poor models. Anyway I finally glued all the bits back on and took a pic. Also redid my Saadaki Akamatsu pilot figure's face. Still not the greatest but...

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

I have both of these books in my collection. They have some very nice illustrations of various Ki-45's.

Spiros, @fiveten

Does the plane on the front cover look a little familiar to you ?

The stories contained on these pages are definitely worth picking up a copy, and spending some time reading about how these machines were used... It will help give you a better understanding on the subject.

Spiros, @fiveten
Thanks for the kind words. There is no need to hurry with starting our Ki-45 projects, as we will have ample time to build ours. I am probably going to wait until I get a project completed before I start another one.

That last sentence I have heard before... it sounds hauntingly familiar ! : )

Once I start reading a book on the subject, I find it increasingly harder to set it back down. Before I know it, I have read a chapter or two... Both of these are fantastic books, and are a definite "must have" for your library, especially if you like to study the Japanese Aces (which I do). It is always best to hear the "other side" of the story.