Article number: 300061115
Product: 1:48 Jap. Ki-61-I d Hien
The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien was a WWII Japanese fighter powered by the Ha-40
engine - a license-produced version of a Daimler-Benz power plant. On
account of its liquid cooled engine (it was the only Japanese fighter in
the Pacific fighting to have one), the Hien was apparently mistaken for
a German aircraft and then for an Italian bird, and was given the
reporting nickname "Tony." It saw combat action from early 1943 and
proved a competitive aircraft with its top speed of 580km/h, used in the
desperate Japanese defense of the Solomon Islands and even as an
interceptor when U.S. B-29s got in range to bomb the Japanese home islands toward the end of WWII.
