COBI Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien Set 5872

COBI's Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien is a 1:48 model built from 141 blocks, 19 cm long with a 25 cm wingspan. The propeller moves, the wheels detach on rubber tires, and all markings are printed — no stickers.

The only Japanese fighter that could reach a B-29

From late 1944 American B-29s bombed Japan from around 9,000 metres, and most Japanese fighters could not get there. Their engines were optimised for lower altitudes, and an interceptor that arrives below its target is useless.

The Ki-61's liquid-cooled inline engine held its power higher than the radials everything else used, and the Hien became the principal defender of the home islands — the one aircraft the Japanese Army could send up with a reasonable chance of making an intercept.

Even so it was marginal. Ki-61 units resorted to ramming: stripping aircraft of armour and armament to climb faster, then flying into a bomber. Some pilots survived and did it more than once. The Shinten units that did this were not kamikaze in the usual sense — the intention was to bail out afterwards — but the distinction was thin.

In the COBI range

Set 5740 is the Ki-61 at the larger 1:32 scale with a pilot figure.

Specifications

Pieces: 141 · Scale: 1:48 · Age: 6+ · No stickers
Model dimensions: 19 × 25 × 9 cm (7.5 × 9.8 × 3.5 in)