-
Nakajima Ki-44
"Tojo" Pt 2
-
- Topics:
-
Ki-44 interior color
- Ki-44 "40mm Gunship"
(New)
- Ki-44 colours - HELP!
(New)
- Ki.44 cockpit doors (open or not?)
(New)
-
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Sunday, 9 December 2001, at 7:04 a.m.
-
- 3.
"Here's a Ki-44 of No. 87 Hiko Sentai, armed with 40mm cannon, although
they are shown removed! Note the difference in the camouflage pattern as it
goes from cowl, to forward fuselage section and rest of the fuselage. No a/c
numbers
- were visible
on any part of the A/C from what I was able to see in photos from various
angles."
-
- Art: (c)
2001 by James Holloway
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_87fr_jh_c.jpg
-
- Re:
HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3)
-
- Posted By:
James Holloway <bobwimple@aol.com>
- Date:
Sunday, 9 December 2001, at 5:26 p.m.
-
- In Response
To: HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3) *PIC* (James F. Lansdale)
-
- From a
Japanese newsreel showing seveal of these A/C taking off, no serial numbers
visable, and all displaying similar weathering, all A/C having the 40mm cannon
removed. I apologise for the terrible photography, I hadn't realsed the
painting was so crooked! I need to get someone to hold these.
-
- Re:
HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3)
-
- Posted By:
Yak <yak@targetrabaul.com>
- Date: Sunday,
9 December 2001, at 11:22 p.m.
-
- In Response
To: Re: HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3) (James Holloway)
-
- Fantastic
job with that very tough scheme. It's really amazingly close to the film of
that plane. I've seen that same film, and did a version of our Ki-44-IIB in the
scheme of one of the other planes on that film. I didn't include a white
outline on the tail swoop on our plane... does it show up in your research?
-
- I don't
suppose you found any evidence to help you with the green color? I left ours
with a kind of standardish IJA green, I don't remember what at the moment, but
definitely darker than the ones seen in both your painting and another 87 FR
painting I've seen. I think I'll have to think about changing colors...
-
- Re:
HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3)
-
- Posted By:
James Holloway <bobwimple@aol.com>
- Date:
Tuesday, 11 December 2001, at 1:53 a.m.
-
- In Response
To: Re: HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3) (Yak)
-
- Sir, the
white outline tho thin shows up very clearly on all aircraft in the film. As
for the colours , the process of photograghing and scanning tends to change the
colours quite a bit, plus in these paintings sometimes the colour has to be
lightened to be able to show smaller details of the aircraft. I forgot to
mention, tho no A/C numbers are seen on any of these planes, the small serial
number bar in front of the horizontal stabilizer is visable.
-
- Re:
HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3)
-
- Posted By:
Micah Bly <yak@targetrabaul.com>
- Date: Tuesday,
11 December 2001, at 9:57 a.m.
-
- In Response
To: Re: HOLLOWAY Holiday Painting: 87 FR Tojo (3) (James Holloway)
-
- Thanks for
the response. I don't have any color photos of these Ki44s at all. I just
guessed on the green, so if you have a photo, or something that you went by,
I'd sure love to see it.
-
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Wednesday, 21 November 2001, at 8:01 a.m.
-
- Below is a
closeup view of the starboard rudder on a Nakajima Ki-44, s/n 2068, captured at
Clark Field, P.I.
-
- Credit: Koku
Fan FAOW No.147, 1/85, p.51
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_2068_tail.jpg
-
-
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Wednesday, 21 November 2001, at 7:53 a.m.
-
- When the
Clark air base complex was captured, squadrons of IJA aircraft were captured.
Nearly twenty Nakajima Ki-44 Tojos were captured in the Philippines and eight
at Clark Field alone. Tojos captured at Clark were s/nos. 1291, 1747, 1753,
1792, 1883, 2068, 2143, and 2186.
-
- Below is
pictured Tojo ,s/n 2068, in NMF (or after stripping) during rapair and later
testing by the TAIU as [S 11]. Note the AKENO emblem on the rudder.
-
- Ki-44, s/n
2143, was a "brown" Tojo with a yellow hiragana [MO] on the starboard
rudder only. Ki-44, s/n 2186, was a "brown" Tojo with a yellow
hiragana [SA] on the starboard rudder. No view of the port side rudder has yet
been located on this aircraft.
-
- Credit: Koku
Fan FAOW No.147, 1/85, p.51.
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_2068_clark.jpg
-
- Re:
Clark Field Tojo s/n 2068 (1 of 2) *PIC*
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Thursday, 22 November 2001, at 6:44 p.m.
-
- In Response
To: More Clark Field Tojos! *PIC* (James F. Lansdale)
-
- I originally
wrote about the Nakajima Ki-44 Tojo s/n 2068, that it appeared in the KKF photo
to be, "in NMF (or after stripping of paint) during rapair and later
testing by the TAIU as [S 11]" and I noted "the AKENO emblem on the
rudder."
-
- Today I
found another photo of the same Tojo s/n 2068 as captured on Clark Field. It
appeared in Dick BUESCHEL's "Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki" book published by
Schiffer Military/Aviation History on page 28.
-
- Please note
that it originally was in a dark camouflage scheme when captured with outlined
hinomaru and the Akeno emblem and katakana [68]on the rudder. In the photo
below, the rudder is in backlight. See posting "Clark Field Tojo s/n 2068
(2 of 2) for better imaging of the rudder.
-
- Credit:
Richard L. Seely via Dick Bueschel
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_2068_clark_a.jpg
-
- Re:
Clark Field Tojo s/n 2068 (2 of 2) *PIC*
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Thursday, 22 November 2001, at 6:52 p.m.
-
- In Response
To: More Clark Field Tojos! *PIC* (James F. Lansdale)
-
- See below
for the port rudder view of Nakajima Ki-44 Tojo s/n 2068 as captured on Clark
Field. While this print is of poor quality, the Akeno emblem and the katakana
[68] may be more clearly seen in the original negative for this photo.
-
- Credit:
Richard M Bueschel/Schiffer Publication "Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki," p.28
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_2068_clark_b.jpg
-
-
-
- Posted By:
Pete Chalmers <pchalmers@carolina.rr.com>
- Date:
Monday, 19 November 2001, at 5:59 a.m.
-
- The photo is
from the July, 1972 Kokufan. I provided the original scan - I'm looking at the
original magazine page now.
-
- (1) The
original camoflage line is visible low on the fuselage - the underside is
clearly NOT unpainted but in a gray. The camo. break runs along the lower
fuselage and does not flare up to the H.S.
-
- (2) The
aircraft DOES have a black forward anti-glare - because the canopy is open, the
rear anti-glare cannot be determined.
-
- (3) The
serial no. appears to be gray rather than yellow, when compared with the yellow
tail marking.
-
- FAOW #16 on
the Ki-44 has a number of pictures which lead me to believe that this aircraft
is one with the reflector sight, as follows:
-
- p.48-49. 3
pictures of a factory-fresh aircraft in the exact camo. ( colors unknown ) pattern
with similar serial placement. No gunsight fitted, but a solid forward
windscreen.
-
- p.50 Another
captured aircraft ( # 2143 ? ) from the same unit as the color photo; 3 photos,
reflector gunsight; identical camo.
-
- Also, if you
have the Ki-84 FAOW #19, a suspiciously similar "factory" scheme is
to be seen on p.28-29.
-
- Also, many
photos of Ki-43-III aircraft seem to exhibit a similar scheme.
-
- I'm
certainly not suggesting that this is proof positive that the "Brown"
scheme was the only IJAAF late war scheme ( another color photo take in Korea
clearly shows a dark almost "naval" green ) , but it does present a
possibility as one alternative for late-war Nakajima fighters.
-
- Re:
Brown Tojo (1 of 2) *PIC*
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Tuesday, 20 November 2001, at 12:52 p.m.
-
- In Response
To: Re: Ki-44 External Colors/Brown Too! (Pete Chalmers)
-
- Pete
CHALMERS writes, "The aircraft DOES have a black forward anti-glare"
(see below)
-
- Credit: KKF
Magazine, 7/72 via Pete Chalmers
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_closeup_a.jpg
-
- Re:
Brown Tojo (2 of 2) *PIC*
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Tuesday, 20 November 2001, at 12:56 p.m.
-
- In Response
To: Re: Ki-44 External Colors/Brown Too! (Pete Chalmers)
-
- Pete
CHALMERS wrote:
-
- (1) The
original camoflage line is visible low on the fuselage - the underside is
clearly NOT unpainted but in a gray. The camo. break runs along the lower
fuselage and does not flare up to the H.S.
-
- (2) The
aircraft DOES have a black forward anti-glare - because the canopy is open, the
rear anti-glare cannot be determined." (N.B. The rear deck appears brown
in this view below)
-
- (3) The
serial no. appears to be gray rather than yellow, when compared with the yellow
tail marking."
-
- Credit: KKF
Magazine, 7/72 via Pete Chalmers
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_closeup_b.jpg
-
-
- Posted By:
Garth O'Connell <garth.o'connell@awm.gov.au>
- Date:
Sunday, 18 November 2001, at 3:37 p.m.
-
- Negative
Number: AC0210
-
- Caption:
JAPANESE SINGLE ENGINED FIGHTER AIRCRAFT NAKAJIMA KI-44 "SHOKI (DEVIL-QUELLER)" ALLIED CODE NAME "TOJO" SHOWN IN AMERICAN
MARKINGS. AFTER CAPTURE, RESTORED BY TECHNICAL AIR INTELLIGENCE UNIT SWPA AND
FLOWN BY ALLIED PILOTS FOR ASSESSMENT PURPOSES.
-
- Source:
Australian War Memorial photographic database
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://anzac.mdsnews.com/attachments/kkoori/ac0210_ki44rearview.jpg
-
-
-
- Posted By:
Jacob Russell <Bf109nut@aol.com>
- Date:
Friday, 16 November 2001, at 9:00 p.m.
-
- What's the
proper color for Ki-44 cockpits and wheelwells? I have both Otaki and Hasegawa
Ki-44 kits. The Otaki kit calls for Aotake for both the cockpit and wheelwells,
whereas the Hasegawa kit calls for Nakajima Interior Green for both areas.
Robert Mikesh's new book on Japanese Interiors takes no position on this topic,
perhaps because there are no known surviving aircraft, so I'm curious.
-
- Also, can
anyone confirm or refute the existence of BLACK Ki-44s? I have an AeroMaster
sheet that has a Ki-44-II that's described as having natural metal lower
surfaces, and black uppersurfaces. Black, or dark brown? There is precedent for
AeroMaster getting it wrong. They have a Special Attack Squadron sheet for the
Ki-84 that depicts an a/c that was supposedly black, and all information that
I've seen points to this plane being brown, rather than black.
-
- Re:
Ki-44 External Colors... *PIC*
-
- Posted By:
James F. Lansdale <LRAJIM@aol.com>
- Date:
Saturday, 17 November 2001, at 4:45 a.m.
-
- In Response
To: Ki-44 internal/external colors... (Jacob Russell)
-
- You ask,
"Also, can anyone confirm or refute the existence of BLACK Ki-44s?"
-
- Although, to
the best of my knowledge, no relics or color photography has shown that black
Nakajima Ki-44 Tojos existed, it is possible but probably not common!
-
- The origin
of the black Tojos may have, in part, come from the famous photo below taken in
the Fall of 1944 by Shunkichi KIKUCHI at Mukden A/F, Manchuria of a No.70 Hiko
Sentai Ki-44. The upper surface appears very dark (almost black ?). It is the
only dark Tojo in the series of photos taken by KIKUCHI-san. It is very likely,
but speculative, that the upper surface finish was the "official" IJA
dark olive-green, No.7 (FS-34086/34088) or dark blue-green, No.27
(FS-34036/34056). Both colors would appear very dark in b/w photography, particularly
if there was a bad exposure or by the use of orthochromatic film.
-
- It is also
likely that the lower surfaces were an oxidized (flat) natural metal finish.
Other photos of this same airplane show a lighter lower surface finish not
apparent in this side-view.
-
- Photo
credit: (c) Shunkichi Kikuchi/Bunrindo Publications, "Japanese Army Wings
of the Second World War," p.70
-
- Editors
note: Picture at http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/ki-44_70fr.jpg
-
- Re:
Ki-44 internal/external colors...
-
- Posted By:
Nick Millman
- Date:
Sunday, 18 November 2001, at 3:27 a.m.
-
- In Response
To: Ki-44 internal/external colors... (Jacob Russell)
-
- There are
numerous RAF combat reports from the Burma theatre that describe
"black" and "jet-black" Japanese fighters, albeit mostly Oscars.
Some scoff at the accuracy of these reports, quoting misinterpretation in the
"heat of combat" but I have to say that many are remarkably detailed
and describe close-up encounters in broad daylight. Being military personnel,
the importance of intelligence and the accuracy of observation would be second
nature to these pilots although we must indeed allow for the inconsistencies of
visual perception prevalent amongst human observers.
-
- The Japanese
used small numbers of Oscars in Burma for night-intrusion sorties, fitted with
field-rigged fuselage bomb racks, and it is possible that these dark schemes
were applied for night operations. Similarly, reports of "blue" and
"dark blue" Oscars may refer to aircraft painted for night operations
or where the original black finish has faded to a blue-black. We just don't
know.
-
- Significantly,
the solid black Ki-44 most often illustrated, the 87th Sentai example, seems to
have no photographic basis. Rare newsreel footage of the 87th in Burma
(courtesy of Joern Leckscheid) shows Ki-44's in the "standard" dark
squiggle/mottle over natural metal. This camouflage could be interpreted as
grey, brown, various shades of green or all three - but contemporary and
near-contemporary documentary evidence points to the predominant use of dark
green only.
-
- Numerous
contemporary anecdotal references in CBI to a Japanese "Black Dragon"
squadron are enigmatic and one wonders if this name arose from the colour of
the aircraft of a particular unit. Believed to be a Navy squadron it is
tempting to speculate whether these were in fact mis-identified Ki-44's. Here
we begin to drift into the mythology of WWII and perhaps we should leave these
mysterious black fighters to fly on in the realm of the yellow Zero, on garish
1950's pulp fiction covers and kit box-art !