Nakajima KI-84 Hayate/Halinski/1:33

[Don Boose]

Gordon -

The red lightning bolt was the emblem of the 1st Chūtai (Squadron or Company) of the 50th Hikō Sentai (Flying Regiment or Air Group) of the Imperial Japananese Army Air Force. That unit mostly flew Ki-43 and Ki-61 aircraft.

The markings at the bottom of the rudder are a two-character phrase that I have been unable to translate so far that distinguishes the individual aircraft (see my Post #138, above).

I will do some further checking when I get home and have access to my references. Eventually, I expect one of the IJAAF markings mavens (such as Shrike, Charlie C, or Mike Krol) or one of our Japanese-speaking Forum members (YuG or Ruf0us, for example) will weigh in with some authoritative information.

Don

[dansls1]

If it helps any, the aircraft depicted is that of ace Yojiro Ofusa (later Higuchi) of the 50th Sentai.

[ruf0us]

Hi Gordon,

Your Hayate looks good! Nice work on the control surfaces.

I believe that the two characters on the rudder reads "Mutsu", which is the old name of the area around Miyagi prefecture, where Yojiro Ofusa was born.

I hope this bit of information helps.
Shinji

[g force]

Originally Posted by ruf0us

Hi Gordon,

Your Hayate looks good! Nice work on the control surfaces.

I believe that the two characters on the rudder reads "Mutsu", which is the old name of the area around Miyagi prefecture, where Yojiro Ofusa was born.

I hope this bit of information helps.
Shinji

Thanks! I did a bit more research, and found that there was an IJN Battleship called "Mutsu", so I wonder if there is some relation here? I found this box cover for a Hasegawa model kit of the Mutsu Battleship, and sure enough the markings on the Hayate tail match those on the Mutsu box! Interesting.

[Don Boose]

Thanks for the input, Shinji. I had just been going through home references before checking this thread and had also found that the characters 陸奥 mean “Mutsu” with the second character being a rather stylized version of:
奥</SPAN>

Gordon: This “Mutsu” refers to the prefecture where Ofusa was born. The only connection with the battleship is that the battleships is also named after that prefecture.

Based on Dan’s earlier identification of the pilot as Warrant Officer Yojiro Ofusa (also rendered in many sources as Ohbusa), I was able to read his bio in Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa, and Christopher Shores, Japanese Army Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces 1931-1945, London: Grub Street, 2002. He joined the 50th Sentai at Mektila, Burma, in January 1943, was badly injured while attacking and shooting down a B-24, recovered, and went on to score 19 credited victories. He was one of the few decorated IJAAF aces to survive the war.

I also found a painting of this specific aircraft in Henry Sakaida, Japanese Army Air Force Aces 1937-45, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 13, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1997, pp. 49 and 95. I think the caption of the painting contains an error, since it reads, “Ki-84-Ko of the 1st Chutai/103rd Sentai, flown by Capt Tomojiro Ogawa, Itami Airfield, Japan, January 1945. The white kanji character on the tail reads ‘Mutsu’ after Tomojiro Ofusa’s native prefecture back in Japan . . . Most of the aircraft in the 1st Chutai were named after birds. Ofusa won the Bukosho on 10 June 1945 for distinguished service. Amongst his 19 victories were five Mustangs and two Thunderbolts.”

I have put the questionable parts in bold. The sentai marking is very definitely that of the 50th, not the 103rd Hikō Sentai. The pilot appears in Sakaida's caption both as “Captain Tomojiro Ogawa” [an actual person who was the hikotai commander of the 103rd -- hikōtai literally means “flying unit,” it was the air combat component of the sentai] and as “Tomojiro Ofusa” (I can find no record of any person by that name, but the later reference to 19 victories is entirely consistent with Yojiro Ofusa). Furthermore, the 1st Chūtai of the 50th Sentai named their aircraft after birds, while I can find no evidence that the 103rd Sentai did so.

There is also a little confusion about the location, since the 50th Sentai was in Vietnam in January 1945, not in Itami, Japan (the 103rd was based at Itami at that time). And if he were stationed at Itami, why would Sakaida refer to his “native prefecture back in Japan”?

The 50th moved around a lot, being based in Vietnam (August-October 1944; January-April 1945), Burma (October 1944-January January 1945); Cambodia (April-July 1945); and Formosa (July-September 1945). The 50th also sent detachments to Malaya and Thailand during this time. Richard M. Bueschel, Nakajima Ki.84a/b Hayate in Japanese Army Air Force Service, Canterbury, UK: Osprey Publishing Company, 1971, Plate c, shows an aircraft in markings identical to yours, Gordon, but without the Mutsu kanji. It is identified as of the “50th Air Combat Regiment, 1st Company, Formosa-Japanese Home Islands, Spring 1945.”

Putting all this together, and subject to correction by someone who knows more about this than I, my conclusion, Gordon, is that you are building “Mutsu,” the aircraft of Warrant Officer Yojiro Ofusa, probably during the last months of the war, flying from a base in Formosa (Taiwan).

Don

[dansls1]

If I would have taken the time earlier, some of the information you provided is in the English translation of the instructions / fluff sheet from Halinski:

"The below model presents Ki-84, which were using by Yojiro Ofusa - ace from 50 Sentai.

Yojiro Ofusa was born in 1918, in Miyagi, Japan. In the middle of the '30's he joined the Army and took part on fights with Russians as a soldier of infantry. Results of Japanese aircraft with the fights with the Russians impressed him, so he decided to join the aircraft and become a pilot of fighters.
After the training (he has finished it in 1942) he has been sent to Indochina. In January 1943 he joined 50 Sentai in Burma. In 24 November 1943, during the attack on Liberators from 7th Bomber Team, he shot down one aircraft, but his shoter came in time and shot to Oscar (Ki-43), which was attacked them. Ofusa (he was hurt) jumped from the aircraft and the next 41 days he spent in hospital. In August 1944 50 Sentai got the aircrafts Ki-84 and after 2-months training was sent to Mingaladon, in Burma. During one month the unit shot down 25 Ally's aircrafts, but their main mission was attack the earth targets.
In June 1945 for his attainments he get a very high distinction: Bukosho, B-class. Then, he was one of the best pilot from 50 Sentai. He shot down about 19 aircrafts (five P51, two P47, 4 Hurricanes and one Spitfire), damaged and sink down aircraft-carrier near the Akyab, on Indian Ocean. He has been shot down five times. Last months of war his unit spent in Formosa. After the war he has changed the surname for Higuchi and settled in family area."

[g force]

Don, thank you for your vast amount of knowledge on the subject! Another aspect of Halinski's kits that I really appreciate - their historical accuracy.

[Don Boose]

Gordon -- It was a pleasure to do what I could to identify your airplane. My research skills pale in comparison with your model building artistry!

Dan -- I'm glad I got that posted first! And I am even gladder that my info tracks with the Halinsky data. I'm still curious as to how the very reliable Henry Sakaida managed to have that garbled caption occur. On the other hand, there are a few very embarrassing glitches in both my recent books about which I am also curious.

The only downside is that I will have to pay for the enjoyable hours I spent looking at the photos of Gordon's splendid model and trying to track down the information, since I did most of it during duty hours and will now spend Saturday in the office, doing the student evaluations I was supposed to be doing today.

Cheers!

Don

[kenlwest]

An absolutely stunning example of patience and skill. Beautiful job!

Ken

[g force]

I have continued with construction of the control surfaces, moving on to the wings. This part was not too difficult, except for the very tiny elements that make up the control mechanism - and its tiny curved coverings.