My S&P Repaints

[scissorsandplanes]

Look marvelous.
B

[Don Boose]

A beautiful set. I will buy them all as soon as they appear at ECards!

Don

[Rata]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

A beautiful set. I will buy them all as soon as they appear at ECards!

Thanks Don. The third (green) one is now finished and just in the process of submitting the three to Ecards.
And now that we've shuffled Glen off, Nate's come to visit. Internet search gave I think just as many artist profiles as there were actual Ki-27's built! I'll be doing quite a few, but I'll start with this one:

[Don Boose]

Good choice, Garry. As I am sure you know, it is the aircraft of the Chutai-chō (Company, or Squadron, Commander) of the 1st Chutai of the 1st Hikō Sentai (Air Combat Regiment), 2nd Hikō Dan (Air Brigade) based in Manchuria and involved in the summer 1939 Nomonhan/Khalkhngol Campaign.

Don

[Rata]

Thanks for expanding the details of this particular Ki-27 Don, as I only knew what IJAAF unit it flew with.
One of the reasons I chose it is the old Hasegawa 1/72 plastic was my first introduction to the Ki-27 and this was one of the decal options.

[Don Boose]

Hi Garry - My post was based on a partial translation of the caption to the image of the aircraft in Famous Airplanes of the World: Army Type 97 Fighter, No. 29, Tokyo: Bunrindo, 1991, p. 69. The rest of that line reads: Aircraft of Inoue Shigetoshi, Showa 14 (1939) August Nomanhan. I think the rest of the entry describes the colors and markings (as you know, why ability to read Japanese is rudimentary - more like decoding than translation).

But I found the following entry on the Internet, quoting from Nicholas Millman's Osprey book on Ki-27 aces, which I regret to say is not in my library:

"Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu c/n 429, as flown by Capt. Shigetoshi Inoue of the 1st Sentai's 1st Chutai, based at Saienjo, Manchuria in 1939. This profile features in Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces 103, "Ki-27 'Nate' Aces" by Nicholas Millman."

The katakana symbol on the tail is "na." The 1st Chutai used katakana, while the 2nd Chutai used hiragana characters, according to Osamu T (a very knowledgeable participant in the J-Aircraft forum: "In the major reorganization of the JAAF in 1938, 1st Hiko Rentai split into two units, 1st Hiko Sentai and 59th Hiko Sentai, each with two chutai of fighters (plus a sentai HQ flight). 1st Sentai then remained a two-chutai unit through most of Nomonhan. According to Osuo/Nohara, Sentai HQ used Blue, while 1st Chutai used Yellow, both using katakana on the rudder to distinguish individual aircraft. 2nd Chutai used Red with hiragana letters." Evolution of No.1 & No.11 Hiko Sentai Unit Markings

Obviously, IJAAF units and markings of the air war over Manchuria is not one of my strong areas, and still a lot to learn.

Now back to Brewster F2A-2 BuNo 1398.

Don

[Rata]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Obviously, IJAAF units and markings of the air war over Manchuria is not one of my strong areas, and still a lot to learn.

Maybe so, but the knowledge you already have and the access you have to attain more makes you the unquestionable stand out asset of this forum. Thanks so much for what you do here Don.

[Don Boose]

Thanks for the kind words, Garry.

I have taken another look through my library and have found a photograph of your airplane in Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa, and Christopher Shores, Japanese Army Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces 1931-1945, London: Grub Street, 2002, p. 17.

The caption reads “Ki 27s of the 1st Sentai at Saienjo airfield, Nomonhan. The aircraft featuring three fuselage bands and the katakana ‘Na’ on the rudder is that flown by Capt Shigetoshi Inoue, the 1st chutai leader, whilst to the left is Corporal Miyoshi Shimamura’s aircraft, varying ‘Tsu’ on the rudder. (Kenji Takeyoshi”

I have also found an authoritative air order of battle for Nomonhan in Alvin D. Coox, Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1985, pp. 1120-1122. My earlier comment that the 1st Sentai was assigned to the 2nd Hikō Dan (Flying Brigade) was in error. The 1st Sentai was assigned to the 7th Hikō Dan of the 2nd Hikō Shidan (Flying Division), which was the overall IJA air headquarters in Manchuria and Korea. It consisted of the 7th, 9th, and 12th Hikō Dan in Manchuria and the 2nd Hikō Dan in Korea.

Incidentally, I have ordered a copy of Vladimir Kotelnikov, Air Wars Over Khalkhin: Nomonhan Incident (Astwood, UK: SAM Publications, 2010), so if you happen to build/recolor any other aircraft from that campaign, I may be able to provide some information.

Don

[Rata]

The 1st Sentai one is now complete and will be submitted to Ecards.

Onto the next one: an attractively marked 246th Sentai Ki-27 that going by the white fuselage/wing bands I assume was used on home defence duties.

[Butelczynski]

I like this one.Almost like racing stripes on cars some years later.