Ki. 62 "Inline Hayate"

sequoiaranger · June 05, 2011, 09:38:40 AM

This is a future project, but I am putting it here for whatever interest it can garner, and hopefuly have a "response" in my e-mail to which to refer a whole lot later when I get around to actually making it.

This inline-engined predecessor to the Ki.84 "Hayate" just looks SO COOL, IMHO, that I will just *HAVE* to do it someday. I think it will be NMF, with the blue "wave"-and-arrow in the tail like the Hayate boxtop. Though Unicraft makes a kit of it, I am not interested. My whif conversion using a Nichimo Ki. 61 Hein, the Hasegawa Hayate, and wing outer panels of a Fiat G.55 will suffice to make a nice-looking model, methinks. At a recent swap meet I found a UPC (Unrelenting Piece of Crap) Hayate, the Revell Hayate (that I lusted for but have now rejected) and the Hasegawa one. Luckily the Hasegawa is the most slim, and of course the "nicest" one.

HOWEVER, there will be LOTS of slicing and matching to try to "slim down" the radial-engined Hayate body to "fit" the narrow Hein, and making the wings longer and still fit up against the slimmed-down fuselage. I am going to have to fill in the wheel wells and "move" them outward, needing to slice and narrow the fuselage/wing interface for the dramatically narrower Hein fuselage. The extra outer wings from the G.55 would normally make the wings "too long", but with the needed narrowing at the fuselage interface they should end up about right. I will have to "wedge-narrow" the underside of the Hayate rear fuselage (by "wedge-narrowing" I mean forcing one end smaller whilst keeping the other end the same by taking out a very acute-angled slice of plastic). I also need to "shorten" the Ki.84 fuselage a bit too, to fit the Ki.62 specs. I enjoy this type of "butchery" if it produces a good result!!

Pablo1965 · June 05, 2011, 01:13:05 PM

Nice Idea, I wish It was mine....I'm sure it will be awesome.

Leading Observer · June 05, 2011, 02:24:03 PM

I look forward to seeing this one - far beyond my own humble abilities!

johnsjunk · June 05, 2011, 06:58:59 PM

Can't wait to see more pic's

sequoiaranger · June 05, 2011, 08:33:59 PM

johnsjunk, Lead-O, and Pablo-- Thanks for the look-see.

I am currently starting on a "Ship GB" project (IJN Yonaga WW II super-carrier) that will supercede the Ki.62 for awhile. I have such a backlog of projects in my "pipeline" that I am reluctant to insert a new one (the Ki.62) but it *IS* intriguing. Gotta get to my carrier first, though!

I will probably let this thread "die" and resurrect it when I get around to cutting plastic for the Ki.62! Thanks, all!

TomZ · June 06, 2011, 08:49:08 AM

Not wanting to spoil your butchery.... but Unicraft produce this as a kit.

I have one in my stash. Typical Unicraft kit, also requires some hard work to get right.

TomZ

sequoiaranger · June 06, 2011, 08:56:40 AM

>Not wanting to spoil your butchery.... but Unicraft produce this as a kit.<

Thanks Zuid99, but I did mention the Unicraft kit in my first narrative.

>Typical Unicraft kit, also requires some hard work to get right.<

Kinda why I didn't buy it---If I am going to go to a lot of trouble anyway, might as well be *MY* concoction!

royabulgaf · June 06, 2011, 03:55:17 PM

Also, if you have a Ki-84 and a DB2005 source in your stash, free beats $40 any day.

PACOPEPE · June 08, 2011, 01:50:00 AM

Craig; the project is very interesting once again, but; name it otherwise....."Ki 70". It´s a kidding.

Cheers
Fran

sequoiaranger · June 10, 2011, 08:43:15 AM

I found out, with a little research, that there was never a prototype made of the Ki.62. Seems it was a "paper project" that got assigned a specific "Ki" number in anticipation of a prototype, but Nakajima gave up on it (apparently in a dispute with Kawasaki, who had a stranglehold on the engine rights to production, or something like that).

Of course this frees me up even more (as if I was *EVER* tied down to reality) to "fudge" on the aircraft's specs. Shortening the overall fuselage was/is going to be a real slice-and-dice affair, and I may still do it in an attempt to be "faithful" to the original specs, but we all know that on REAL aircraft, from prototype to operational version, all manner of things can be modified. I have thought of the paint scheme, and may do a Japanese version of the German "Papagei" squadrons that would protect the jet (Ki. 201 Karyu) airfields from predatory Allied loiterers. I do love that "red-orange" that was prevalent on Japanese trainer aircraft, and I had so much fun with the "Newt". But in my collection I have two other Japanese aircraft in "Trainer Orange" already ("Gang Bang", and "An Emil Called Mike"--both in my gallery here). Hmmmm. I will probably name it "Mozu", Japanese for "shrike", or "butcher bird" (sound familiar? Fw-190 anyone?).

It's still no closer than third in my "pipeline" of models to be made, however. I have a 1/2000 aircraft carrier project for the current "ship GB", and an HO-scale custom truck for my brother's birthday ahead of any aircraft project I might envision.

Pablo1965 · June 10, 2011, 01:28:32 PM

I see, it is a big proyect as usually.

sequoiaranger · June 22, 2011, 10:02:41 AM

... produced this mock-up. A little PSR will join them well. The Nichimo Ki-61 in the front is shaped VERY CLOSELY to the nose of the Ki-62. "My" Ki-62 will be a "Kai" version, slightly longer with a little "license" taken. Supposedly the original Ki-62 specs called for a length of 28 feet, but that is shorter than a Ki-43 Hayabusa, Ki-84, Zero, or Ki-61 even---more like the "stunted" Ki-60. So a little added fuselage length is a "proper" adjustment to an "on paper" proposal. Total length will be about 32 1/2 scale feet.

Now I have to figure out how to interface the wing/fuselage lash-up with the least amount of deformity and PSR--the Ki-84 interface, with the large radial engine, is considerably wider and rounder than the Ki-62's should be with its slim in-line engine. GOING BOLDLY!

Taiidantomcat · June 22, 2011, 10:05:06 AM

That is pretty smart plan there!

I would not have thought of that. I would have replaced the nose and then from there the project would be in my closet for years as I figured out how to PSR it

Pablo1965 · June 22, 2011, 01:54:40 PM

It's a promise of a great plane. I follow closely this developement. Well done

sequoiaranger · June 22, 2011, 04:00:18 PM

Much more C-A-R-E-F-U-L cutting got the wing/fuselage interface cut out of both the Ki-61 and Ki-84 halves. Here they are shown taped together and the canopy and spinner PLACED carefully. The shiny silver part is all that is left of the Ki-61! The dark green is the Hayate. WHEW!

I *ALMOST* just put the Fiat G.55 wings on whole (SOOOO tempting), as it had the right wheel-wells in the right spot, guns in the right spot, and the right wingspan! On this Ki-62 I will have to "move" all the above (cut/paste/PSR). However, as cool as it might have looked with the G.55 wings, those wings are "bent", and do not have the straight leading edge of the Hayate, so would NOT capture the Hayate look that I want. Doing it my way is going to be "costly" in cutting, pasting, and PSR, but should achieve the result I want. I have a lot of wing-cutting to do to get a near-match to the thinner fuselage, so...I take a deep breath...