Advice sought on Post-War user & colour scheme for a Kyushu Shinden

[Rick Lowe]

Howdy, all

I'm in the process of making the Tamiya 1/75 kit and am wanting to do this beastie in something other than Green/Grey and Hinomarus.

My thinking was that after the war one of the Allies, seeing the airplane was worth serious consideration, put it into limited production (either domestically or in Japan) and it was passed on to a client state/nation and used in one of the 'brushfire' wars - either Korea, Algeria, or Malaya - though the latter two may have been a bit of a stretch, time-wise. (Although there is precedent, with the French use of WW2 aircraft in Vietnam).

I am tending away from the US, as aside from 'NIH', there probably would have been seriously adverse reaction to using anything Japanese, so was thinking more Britain or maybe France.

The next decision is, was it used by the actual nation, or passed on to an ally/client, such as Korea, Malaya, or the Commonwealth?

So - opinions, please, on who you could see using the aircraft and what scheme it would be in? NMF is a thought, but I'm open to whatever.

Cheers & Thanks in Anticipation

Rick Lowe

[Dizzyfugu]

I have a similar project on the agenda: a post-WWII Ki-98 from Meng. One weird but plausible option could be France/Aéronavale - they tested and AFAIK operated some Japanese remnants in the late 40ies, IIRC Ki-43, A6M Zeros and its respective flying boat version:





An all dark-blue Shinden with Aéronavale marking would IMHO look cool and not too far-fetched...

Another operator (which will be used for my whiffy-whiffy Ki-98) is Thailand. After WWII, the country's new air force also operated Japanese types, e. g. this Ki-43:

[NARSES2]

Yup I'd go French and then handed on to the Royal Thai AF. When did they go from Siam to Thailand ?

[Bungle]

Yup I'd go French and then handed on to the Royal Thai AF. When did they go from Siam to Thailand ?

Officially Siam became Thailand on 23rd June 1939 but after WWII it slipped back to being Siam finally ratifying the name as Thailand (Freedomland) in 1949.

Too many quiz nights - should stick to modelling.

[sandiego89]

I like Thailand as well. 

Another might be Chinese, after the end of WWII there were about 5 years of fighting in the Civil War, and both sides used left over Japanese equipment.  Perhaps a back story that the design was liked and the US backed Japanese production to get the Japanese economy going again, and planes were supplied as part of the massive support the US gave to Chiang Kai-shek and his forces during this period.     

[CANSO]

Another operator (which will be used for my whiffy-whiffy Ki-98) is Thailand. After WWII, the country's new air force also operated Japanese types, e. g. this Ki-43...

Actually the Thai Air Force operated several Japanese types during the WWII.

The Ki-43 were IMHO from deliveries in 1943, when the first "Hayabusa"s were handed in Singapore. AFAIK the Thai Air Force and the French Indochina forces were involved in several air battles during WWII.
The RTAF could receive some Shindens when the mass production of this nice a/c started in late 1945 and early 1946...or was it in 1947 .
BTW the Thai insignia with the elephant is remarkable!


For a whiff it could be even more appropriate, rather than the well known roundel.

[Mossie]

I like Thailand as well. 

Another might be Chinese, after the end of WWII there were about 5 years of fighting in the Civil War, and both sides used left over Japanese equipment.  Perhaps a back story that the design was liked and the US backed Japanese production to get the Japanese economy going again, and planes were supplied as part of the massive support the US gave to Chiang Kai-shek and his forces during this period.     

All of those options are good.  The Chinese Red Army markings from that period are quite striking as well, very different to the PLAAF.  They're available on a Blackbird Models sheet, unfortunately out of print. A handful of Japanese kits have them too:
http://www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk/red-army-of-china-af-1945-46-72-227-p.asp

[NARSES2]

I have a couple of kits which include the Thai Elephant markings  They are truely wonderfull 

[Rick Lowe]

Thanks, those are worth considering... I have a spare set of French roundels with anchors... Blue over White...
hmmm... would go with the RW Post-War Armee De l'Air FW-190 I plan.

Another thought is a scheme I've seen in the Graphic Novel 'Scarlet Traces - the Great Game', to wit: Tan with splotches of Brown over Lt Blue, and EUA (for"Etats Unis d'Afrique" - United States of Africa), along with Red/Yellow/Green stripes on the wingtips. Or ELA, for Etats Libres de l'Afrique (Free States of Africa)...

Cool, those are some options to mull over.

Cheers, all

Rick