Ida Page

Historical Background: The Ki-55 was the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force's main advanced trainer during the Second World War. It was a development of the Ki-36 Army Cooperation plane, which was used as a scout, light bomber, and liason aircraft. 860 Ki-36s were built. They were successful in operations in China where there wasn't much air opposition, but were easy meat for allied fighters later in the war.

When the Army needed an advanced trainer, it found the Ki-36 easily adaptable to the role. The single Lewis gun was removed from the rear cockpit, and a second set of controls added. The underside observation windows were deleted, along with the wing bomb racks. The radios were also removed, along with the undercarriage spats. 1,077 Ki-55s were built, and served throughout the war with Japan, and the air arms of occupied countries. After the war, abandoned Ki-55s and Ki-36s were pressed into service by several Asian countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, and China. Both types were given the Allied code name "Ida."

The Kit: Fujimi has released both the Ki-36 and Ki-55 in 1/72 scale. Both are basically the same kit, with some optional part and different decals. The Ki-36 kit has a cut-out in the windscreen for a telescopic gunsight, and representations of the sliding panels that covered the observer's windows on the sides of the fuselage. The K-55 kit has a "solid" windscreen, and the un-spatted undercarriage. The kit is typical Fujimi, basically accurate, with engraved (if a bit overdone) panel lines. Fit is very good. The cockpit detail is minimal, and while the canopy is nice and clear, it's also about a scale foot thick.

The Model: I had always wanted to do one of those funky, bright orange Japanese trainers, and as Halloween approached during construction, I decided the scheme was appropriate. I've also always thought the Ida was a cute little bird. It sort of looks like it might someday grow up to be an AT-6.

One of the first things to go was the kit canopy. I replaced it with one from a Falcon Vacu-Form set. Since the interior could now actually be seen, I had to dress it up a bit. I added a new floor made from corrugated Evergreen sheet, and added rudder pedals, foot tracks, and a control stick linkage. I also used some Eduard photo-etched seat belts. The interior color is an "eyeball mix" of blue-gray.

As assembly continued, the underside observer's windows had to be filled and sanded flush, since the trainer didn't have them. I cut out the wingtip lights, and replaced them with chunks of tinted plastic, sanded and polished to shape. The landing light was also cut out, and a piece of clear styrene faired into the leading edge. I first drilled a shallow hole in the back side, painted it silver to represent the light, then painted the rest of the inside edges black.

The kit pitot tube was just a straight rod, but the real thing was a complex affair, which I replicated with bits of .005 styrene and stretched sprue. After painting, I also added a fuselage and wing root steps made from sprue, and a photo-etched gunsight. I couldn't get a definitive answer as to whether the trainers retained the cowl gun, but I know many of our AT-6s did, so I left it.

The overall exterior color is straight-from-the-bottle Tamiya Orange, with a slightly lightened shade on the control surfaces, to represent faded fabric. I mixed up a brownish black for the cowl and landing gear fairings (the instructions called for "chocolate brown," which agrees with my references.

A quick note on painting the canopy. I mask mine with Bare Metal Foil, but acrylics don't stick to the soft vac-form plastic. I prime the frames with an appropriate color from Pactra's "Racing Colors" line. This is a "hot" paint, designed for Lexan RC car bodies.

The only kit decal I used was the Kanji symbol on the cowling. The Hinomarus came from an old IPMS USA sheet. I stumbled on a cache of these a couple of years ago, and I still think they're the only ones to get the color right. The tail emblem was a combination of a painted white disc, overlaid with a symbol drawn on clear decal film with a ballpoint pen.

Overall, I'm happy with the final model. It's a subject you don't see very often, and definitely sticks out on the shelf among the various camouflaged subjects.