ICM

1/72 Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate"

Kit Number: 72202

Reviewed by  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $18.95 ICM Web Site: http://www.icm.com.ua ICM Email: icm@icm.com.ua Review Kit Supplied by Dragon USA: http://www.dragonmodelsusa.com/dmlusa/welcome.asp History First flown in 1936, the Nakajima Ki-27 became the standard Japanese Army single seat air superiority fighter, designated Ki-27, Type 97, in 1937. Its designers were trying to design a fighter with superior maneuverability, even at the expense of maximum speed, heavier armament, and protection for the pilot and vital aircraft components. Although designers in other nations were building fighters with higher gross weights and wing loadings, resulting in better speed and more effective armament, the Japanese Army persisted in following the agility route, resulting in a fighter that was a supreme "dogfighter", but which also was generally slower and had smaller caliber weapons than its usual adversaries. Japanese planners actually rejected a more advanced Nakajima prototype, the Ki-12, which featured a liquid cooled 610 hp. Hispano Suiza engine, a retractable landing gear, and a 20 mm. cannon armament. The Ki-12 was designed by a pair of French engineers who had worked for Dewoitine, and was rejected mainly because the aircraft lacked the agility that the General Staff required. The Ki-27 was an extremely light and clean all metal low wing fighter monoplane with a fixed landing gear and an armament of two 30 caliber Type 89 machine guns firing through the prop arc. The fighter first entered service with the 1st Chutai of the Second Air Battalion, replacing the ageing Kawasaki Ki-10 biplanes they had operated in China for over a year. Major opposition during this time period were Chinese flown but Russian built Polikarpov I-15 biplanes, which the Ki-27 mastered with ease. Unfortunately for the Japanese, this success led their planners to believe that agility and maneuverability were more important than speed and armament, a policy that was to prove disastrous to Japanese air operations during the course of World War II. The design of the Ki-43 "Oscar" was the result of this policy, and this aircraft was the major Japanese Army fighter for most of the war, providing Japanese Army pilots with a decidedly inferior mount compared with the P-38's, P-51's, Hellcats, and Corsairs which would eventually oppose it. In service, the KI-27 was popular with its crews, and was initially successful against second rate Allied fighters and minimally trained aircrews which opposed it. However, against Chennault's AVG pilots, using more modern P-40's and superior tactics, the Ki-27 did not do so well, resulting in their withdrawal from service and use as trainers and eventually Kamikazes towards the end of the war. The trainer version continued to be produced throughout the war, and some were sold to Thailand. At least one Ki-27 survives intact, having been raised from a Japanese lake in the past few years. The Kit The ICM replaces the ageing but still good Mania kit, whose dies were obtained by Hasegawa and which is probably still available. This kit is at least 25 years old, but is still accurate in outline. The ICM kit contains about 58 parts cast in grey plastic, and four clear plastic parts, one of which is not used. The kit is highly detailed and should present an extremely accurate and detailed model of this famous aircraft. I recently obtained a similar kit with many of the same characteristics, the RS Resins kit of the Manshu Ki-79b, a two seat training version of the Ki-27. So, a number of variants of this aircraft are available in the scale, and from the look of the ICM kit, more variants are planned.

Instructions The instructions consist of two sheets with four sides each, and give a basic history in English and what appears to be Russian or Ukrainian, specifications in metric, and a good sprue diagram. This is followed by two and a half pages of exploded diagrams showing how the unpainted parts should be assembled. There is not any description, only exploded drawings produced photographically. There are some color references, but more would have been helpful. The last page of the first section has some final assembly material, plus an extensive color guide and instructions for applying the decals. I did not find the instructions very clear at times, and had to rely on other sources for some material. The second sheet provides four different color schemes, including aircraft of four different units. Decals are provided for all four aircraft. Assembly Process The assembly begins with the seat, which is in two pieces. Next comes the engine and firewall assembly, which amounts to 11 parts, with a carburetor air intake coming later. The engine consists of the crankcase and cylinders, crankcase facing, engine back, with magnetos and ignition harness, exhaust collector ring (two halves), and a crankshaft. The shaft is a little long, and must be trimmed slightly. The firewall and engine mount must be assembled separately, and also prepainted, which is logical. I did all of this, and set the engine assembly aside for the later assembly stages. The cockpit is well detailed. The floor must be glued to the lower wing section. The seat, control stick, and rudder pedals can then be attached. The instrument panel must be glued to one of the fuselage halves. When I glued the fuselage halves together, the vertical fin assembly seemed to be straight, but later, I discovered that it was twisted off to one side, requiring some bending and straightening. At this point I was ready to join the lower wing section to the fuselage, and that was when the problems began. The cockpit floor was too wide, and I had to trim half of it off in order to get the wing section to fit flush with the bottom of the fuselage. This was done with wire cutters, and wasn't too much of a problem. When assembled, you can't see inside that part of the cockpit anyway. At this point, I discovered that the vertical fin needed straightening, as it was cocked off to one side. Once this was dry, I attached the upper wing sections. The dihedral angle came out right on the money. Now for the engine and firewall. This was where the problems really became apparent. With the engine fully assembled, the firewall must first be inserted into the forward fuselage, and this was a very tight fit, and I only got it in by trimming off part of the lower part of the firewall, but once in place, I was ready for the engine. This is supposed to slip in over the firewall, with the exhaust stacks protruding through two small holes in the bottom of the cowling. There was no way this was going to happen, and nothing seemed to fit. Besides, unless you are going to leave a cowling or engine cover open, there is no way you could see this detail anyway. I ended up removing the collector ring behind the engine, planning to reinstall the tips of the stacks later, which eventually worked out. The engine didn't fit too well on the mount, and the outside diameter was too large for the forward section, so I ended up filing down the edges of the cylinders so that the thing would fit inside. The little carburetor air intake was eventually installed. Then the cowling covers and front cowling sections were attached, and it was beginning to look a little like an airplane. The whole thing reminded me of trying to put two pounds of fertilizer in a one pound bag. At this point, I added the horizontal tail plane. This took a little trimming, but eventually this was accomplished. A small tail cone must be added after the rudder and tailskid (one unit) were installed, and this took some serious trimming. Also, the ailerons needed to be attached to the wings, and these also need some trimming, and they still didn't fit quite right. I then filled a couple of seams in the fuselage. The landing gear is a very strangely engineered unit, with small tubes sticking up into the upper wing surfaces. These attach to little stubs on the wing lower surfaces. The tubes are a little long, and need to be trimmed slightly. Once the struts are in place, the wheel pants, which consist of two halves, are attached to the strut legs. The wheels, when painted, are to be pushed into the recesses inside of the wheel pants. More on this later. The canopy was then installed, and all necessary masking was done prior to painting. Painting and Finishing Four aircraft are provided for in the instruction sheet and decals. Three are one-color aircraft, while one has a multi-colored three tone camouflage scheme on top, with IJA light grey underneath. I opted for one of the one-color schemes, although I wanted to do one with the white "bandages" on the wings are fuselage. After painting the white "bandages", and masking off and spraying the wing leading edges and fuselage band in RML 04 yellow, I sprayed the entire aircraft IJA light grey. I then tried to insert the wheels into the wheel pants, and discovered that the wheels were too thick to fit properly, the rear portion of the wheel pants separating outward in the process. I merely filled in the cracks and painted them over. Decals I opted for decal combination No. 4, which is a Ki-27b operated by the 244th Sentai, defending the Japanese homeland in 1944, although how such an aircraft was going to intercept a B-29 or P-51 is beyond my comprehension. They must have really been scraping the bottom of the barrel, using these aircraft for first line combat duties at that stage of the war. The hinomarus on the wings are fuselage went on with no problems, but the tail trim, which is fairly intricate, was a surprise, as the decal disintegrated according to color, and I had to attach each separate piece and line everything up. My suggestion would be to coat the decals with a decal film solution before attempting to use them. The last details include the radio mast, gun camera, and a couple of little protrusions on the trailing edge of the right wing that turn out to be magnesium flare dispenser chutes. The oil cooler can then be attached to the front of the engine, and the gun sight can be installed ahead of the windshield. With the prop in place, the model is essentially finished. It looks very good. Recommendation This is a good kit, but overly complicated. It would have been better had everything fitted together correctly. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend this kit to anyone except a fairly experienced modeler. However, if you plan to do a "teardown" version, with open panels, the additional detail will be welcome. It probably is better than the older Hasegawa kit, but it is debatable whether the kit is a real improvement. Have a shot at it. Build one. Thanks to Dragon Models USA and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

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