The Ki-45 was one of those 'heavy fighters' that was so popular during the late 1930s. It spawned the development of the Bf-110 and Me-210/410 series of aircraft in Germany. Not all of them were the huge success as was hoped by their designers, though they were useful in other roles. The Ki-45 was used primarily as a ground attack aircraft early in its career. When the US began strategic bombing of Japan itself in 1944-45, the Ki-45 was pressed into service. Unfortunately, high altitude performance was not its strong suit so until the B-29s started bombing from lower altitudes, it had little success in that area.

This particular sheet covers three planes and offers full markings for each. First is an overall Kawasaki Dark Olive aircraft from the 5th Sentai. As with all the aircraft, the props are in a dark brown primer.

Next is a plane that is most easily recognized. This 45 Sentai aircraft was the first Ki-45 photo I ever saw and has been republished countless times as it is one of excellent quality. This aircraft has a large number of dark green patches over the base coat of overall light grey. A most fetching camouflage.

Finally, from the 27th Sentai, is this overall dark brown aircraft. This plane was stationed in the Philippines during 1944.

For kits, you have two choices. Once is the very old Revell kit that can still be found. However, most modelers of this type in 1/72 will head for the much newer Hasegawa kit. I can tell you from experience that this kit is a real beauty.

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