Hien Type 1 Otsu

Plastic kit from ARII, for the assembly of a Japanese airplane of WW II, in 1/48 scale. Includes sprues with plastic parts, assembly instructions and decals.

The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien is a Japanese WW II fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. It was the only mass-produced Japanese fighter of the war to use a liquid-cooled inline V engine. Over 3,000 Ki-61s were produced. Initial prototypes saw action over Yokohama during the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942, and continued to fly combat missions throughout the war.The Ki-61-I-Otsu was a second production fighter variant: Tailwheel retraction mechanism was unreliable, the aircraft was modified accordingly. Two 12.7 mm (.50 in) Ho-103 machine guns replaced the wing 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns.