Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai

[Dizzyfugu]

Another whif project, done not too long ago, and covering an exotic topic: Japanese Luft '46! I am an anime fan and have built a lot of mecha (even some whifs!), but I also found interest in Japanese aircraft designs of IJa an IJN - sleek machines, lightweight and elegant. Not the type of aircraft which take well ever-bigger engines, lots of ordnance, or - yes - contraprops

So, I present to you, the Manshu Ki-53 "Insei" fighter


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Some background
In response to the disappointing Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (US code name 'Nick') in late 1939 and 1940, the Japanese army ordered the development of another twin-engine fighter. As an alternative, a lighter and more agile design was demanded, better suited for high altitude interception tasks than the twin-engine escort fighters of the era. One proposal was the Manshu Ki-53 "Insei" ('Meteor', code name 'Stacy'), a relatively small and sleek, single-seated design which was built around two water-cooled Kawasaki Ho-40 (licence-built Daimler Benz DB 601, also used for the Kawasaki Ki-61 fighter) engines. The design was heavily influenced by German planes like the Messerschmitt Bf 110 or Focke Wulf Fw 187, in search of a better performance compared to both current single-or double-engine fighters in service.


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After a hasty development the Ki-53 was only built in small numbers and exclusively assigned to homeland defense tasks. The plane was just in time operational to be used against the Doolittle raid on 18 April 1942, though it did not see action. The 84th Independent Flight Wing (Dokuritsu Hikō Chutai) introduced the Ki-53 as the first squadron, alongside its Ki-45. It became clear that the Ki-53 could better hold its own against single-engine fighters in aerial combat than the larger, two-seated Ki-45. It was more agile and offered a much better acceleration, but it suffered from several flaws that would never truly mended.

The Ki-53's cannon armament proved to be effective against the B-17 and B-29 Superfortress raids, which started in June 1944. But the plane was complicated and not popular, production numbers remained small. Stability became poor at high altitudes, the water-cooled engines were exotic among Imperial Japanese Army Air Service aircraft and the radiator system was prone to leaking. The lack of a pressurized cabin made high altitude interceptions hazardous - most of the time, only an initial direct attack was possible. Since the basic design offered little room for future developments, a thorough redesign was rejected and only a mere 153 were built, so that the machine did not cause much impact.


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some machines received field modifications, like an additional, semi-recessed 30mm cannon under the fuselage (omitting the hard point), these machines were designated Ki-53-I. Some Ki-53 had one of their fuselage tanks behind the cockpit removed and two additional 20mm cannons, angled 30° upwards with 150 rgp each installed - under the designation KI-53 KAI. Probably 30 machines were converted this way and used as night fighters

Later, the interceptor concept was taken back to single-engine projects like the Ki-87 or Ki-94, but both failed to proceed to hardware stage.


General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 29 ft 8 in (9.05 m)
Wingspan: 44 ft (13.4 m)
Height: XXX m
Wing area: 213 ft² (19.7 m²)
Weight: 6.886 kg

Performance:
Maximum speed: 390 mph (625 km/h)
Range: 800 miles (1,200 km)
Service ceiling: 39.400 ft (12.000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,857 ft/min (14.1 m/s)
Engine: 2 Kawasaki Ho-40 with 1.475 hp

Armament:
2× 20 mm Ho-5 cannon (in the lower nose, 175 rpg each, one hard point under the fuselage fore a 500 kg bomb or an auxiliary tank. 


The kit and its assembly
This is total whif, a true Frankenstein creation from various kits without a real life paradigm. Actually, a pair of DH.88 wings were the start of it all. They are so elegant and slender, I wanted to build something for high altitudes with them, like a Luft '46 BV 155 or Bf 109H. That idea turned into a twin engine propeller fighter, like a small-scale Westland Welkin. But since such a plane would not fit into German demands, I 're-located' it conceptually to Japan. Historically it would fit, esp. its DB 601 engines, which were also used on the Ki-64 'Hien', the only other serial production plane of the army with a water-cooled engine. The sleek lines and its small size would also fit Japanese design.


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Consequently, I gave it the Ki-53 designation. I am not certain if this number had been allocated or used, I could not find a good reference?

Anyway, now that the basic idea was clear, here's a list of what went into this fantasy creation (all 1:72 scale):

- Fuselage, tail and cockpit from a Hobby Boss He 162
- Engines from an Italieri He 111
- Propellers from an Airfix OV-10D
- Main wings and rear engine nacelle parts from an Airfix DH.88
- Wing radiator units from a Matchbox Me 410
- Landing gear from a Dragon Ho 229
- Main wheels from a PM Ta 183
- Tail wheel from a Revell Eurocopter 'Tiger'
- Matchbox pilot figure


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The He 162 fuselage lost its jet engine on the back (closed with 2c putty), resulting in a very clean fuselage, IMHO a great complement to the sleek DH.88 wings. Since I wanted to keep the original cockpit from the He 162 (even though the Hobby Boss kit is gruesome in this point!) but not use a tricycle undercarriage, the wing roots were moved forward and lowered. To hide the poor cockpit, I added half of a pilot figure, added two narrow side consoles and a steering stick, but left the rest OOB. The undercarriage doors of the He 162 were all closed and hidden under NC putty, as well as the original guns under the cockpit.


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

But coming back to the wings: the DH.88's engine nacelles were (much!) too narrow. Height would fit the bill, but their width hat to be increased by 4-5mm in order to 'accept' the Ho-40/DB 601 engines! These engines are not big at all, but in comparison with the tiny DH.88 wings, they look like huge metal bulks!

Consequently, I kept the DH.88 nacelles' inner sides, cut the original motors away, attached the new engines and finally added the outer nacelle halves. Bits of plastic sheet and lots of putty filled the remaining gaps, but the result ain't bad at all. After the nacelles were done, I also added thin radiators from a Matchbox Me 410 to the wings' undersides. The propellers become problematic, too. I wanted to keep the original He 111 propellers, but they were too big for the slender machine and the narrow space between the engines! It took a lot of searching in the pile yard, but I finally came up with two propellers (complete with spinners) which were small enough for the Ki-53! Nevertheless, the engines look  brutally big, esp. with the tiny OV-10 propellers. As a positive side effect, something of the original air intakes at the nacelles' front can be seen - they'd be hidden behind the original He 111 spinners.


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The new landing gear well covers were cut and 'welded' from flat polystyrene sheet, inside a mounting basis from polystyrene was added in order to hold the landing gear. The tail wheel well was cut from the massive(!) fuselage of the Hobby Boss He 162, the wheel comes from an Eurocopter 'Tiger' from Revell.

A lot of work, esp. at the wings, but the result looks plausible. The Ki-53 reminds a bit of a De Havilland Hornet, Westland Whirlwind (esp. its early P.9 design with two tail fins) or a Gloster G.39?


1:72 Manshu Ki-53 "Insei", 1st chutai, 4th sentai - (Whif/Luft'46/scratch-built/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Painting
The Ki-53's livery was inspired by a Nakajima Ki-43-IIb 'Hayabusa' from 3rd chutai, 25th sentai, operated in January 1944 in China. The rather strange paint scheme with ever more green on the fuselage from the front to the back looked interesting - not sure if it had been a field improvisation?
The Ki-53 received an overall light grey base coat with dark green mottles and an almost 'fully green' tail. The horizontal stabilizers were painted fully green, too, but the wings' upper sides received typical 'blotches'.

Even though authentic tones are available (e .g. from Tamiya or Testors), I went for a free choice of colors and settled for Humbrol 167 ('Barley Grey') and Humbrol 105 ('Marine Green'). All interior surfaces including the landing gear were painted in Humbrol 226 ('Interior Green' and dry-painted with a mix of olive drab and zinc chromate green).

For markings I used Japanese Ki-45 profiles as a design benchmark. Hinomaru, stencellings and the white home defense fuselage band stem from an Aerormaster aftermarket decal sheet. The fake squadron markings for the hypothetical 1st chutai, 4th sentai actually belong to a JASDF F-86 in 1:48 scale! Everything is made up from scratch and fantasy.

[NARSES2]

Glorious  and like most Japanese twins very elegant 

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you very much. 

The pictures hardly do the thing justice, because it is so small! An F4U looks like a brute giant next to it...

[Army of One]

What a fantastic build n paint job there.....

[RussC]

Excellent build and photography !

  The outline is evocative of Soviet designs like the Tu-2.

[sequoiaranger]

I applaud ANY "frankenplane", but this one is superb! Well done!

>Everything is made up from scratch and fantasy.<

Atsa my boy! 

(PS--the He-111 used Junkers Jumo engines, not DB-601's--no matter, they both were inverted-V inlines)

[PR19_Kit]

(PS--the He-111 used Junkers Jumo engines, not DB-601's--no matter, they both were inverted-V inlines)

Not quite.

The most numerous mark, the He-111H used the Jumo as you said, but the He-111P did use the DB 601 and could be recognised by the cooling air intake on the cowling being on the opposite side to the H version. The P was the first version that had the glass-house canopy.

[JMN mode off......}

[lancer]

That is an amazing build and paint of a beautiful and elegant machine.

[pyro-manic]

Beautiful! I instantly recognised the DH.88 wings, as I'm currently butchering the same kit for my DH Fireball build. They really are a lovely shape. Your "Insei" is a stunning machine - sleek and elegant (very Hornet-esque) and indeed tiny! Fantastic stuff.

[comrade harps]

It really looks the part; totally believable. Have you ever popped it on a table at a model show and if so, did you get any confused reactions? 

[RussC]

You don't just drop one of these what-if's onto a table at a show without preparation comrade!

You need some smelling salts for the rivet-counter-JMN-experten who might come to grief looking at it.

Some gauze in case their eyes start to bleed, some codeine, probably a strait-jacket just in case.....

[TallEng]

That's terrific  , a really nice build and amazing use of disparate airframe pieces
I like especially the use of the He162 fuselage, it makes it very elegant.
And having re-read the 'recipe'  for the build it's one small aero plane!

Regards
Keith

[Dizzyfugu]

It really looks the part; totally believable. Have you ever popped it on a table at a model show and if so, did you get any confused reactions? 

Thank you all for the positive feedback. No, never been to a show with this stuff. The last 10 years or so I have rather been into anime and mecha, and started with planes and esp. whiffing about 2 years ago, so I have a pile of completed projects at hand (and to post!). I think that whifs are a rather special British subject. German "serious" modelers are VERY sceptical about the ues of fantasy, and putting "such things" into a show is like treachery, I guess. I met fellow board member TomZ (I think that's his handle) on an exhibition in Borken in April, and he was the only one who'd show some whif models (e .g. a Belgian Draken or Marineflieger F-18s). I guess I was the only one who recognized this stuff. We talked a little, and that finally made me sign up here since THIS is the right "audience".

At the moment I relish the delight of creativity and "changing" things - copying reality seems SO boring... 

Again, many thanks, esp. for the positive reactions, I did not expect that. 

[PR19_Kit]

German "serious" modelers are VERY sceptical about the ues of fantasy, and putting "such things" into a show is like treachery, I guess.

Thomas,

We had exactly the same reactions back in the 70s when a few of us started to show Whiffs (I called mine 'spoofs' and still do sometimes....) and when we started the UK Whiff SIG (was it 21 or 25 years ago this year?) the general run of modellers predicted we'd have a short life. Were they ever wrong! Now Whiffing has become part of mainstream modelling in the UK, viz the increasing number of Whiffs seen on non-SIG stands.

You stick to your guns in Germany, the others will come around eventually.

BTW What's the reaction to the many available Luftwaffe 46 models amongst the general German modelling public?

PS One thing that helped Whiffing in the UK was the 'Mushroom Monthly Trophy', offered by the very open-minded editor of that Magazine Roger Wallsgrove, in the early 90s (I've got two of them  ) which brought Whiff modelling to the fore-front at the IPMS Nationals (I don't think it was SMW in those days...) Nowadays the 'Mushroom' had been incorporated into the general competition as Class 34, so that tells you the level of acceptance we have here.

[Dizzyfugu]

Uh, you rarely see Luft '46 models at all. "It's fantasy, you cannot count rivets, it's rubbish", I guess. Additionally, anything German from the 1939-45 era is... difficult. Germans and German public have a very touchy (and mostly conscious, but also a bit hysterical) relationship to military things - even if they have NO political intention whatsoever, esp. among model kit builders. Really difficult. Personally, I have done some Luft '46 planes and whifs (which I will show here), but the public reaction might be strange.