Arma Hobby presents a new 1/72 scale kit of Ki-84 Hayate in the markings of Japanese Special Attack Units (Shimbu-tai – commonly known as Kamikaze).
The kit includes plastic parts, decals for three very interesting markings and a mask for painting the canopy and wheels.
The kit is now available for promotional pre-order – with a 10% discount and a free set of additional 3D-printed resin details (seat with seatbelts, exhaust tubes, cannon barrels, cockpit levers and knobs, and a gunsight).
Order Ki-84 Hayate Special Attack Units kit in promotional pre-sale in the Armahobby.com online!
Pre-ordered kits will be shipped after February 24th.
The promotional pre-order lasts until February 24, when the model will go on normal sale.
The boxart illustration, made by renowned artist Piotr Forkasiewicz, shows the plane of pilot Tadashi Kono of the 57 Shimbu-tai in attack against the American fleet near Okinawa on May 25, 1945.
Japanese attacks, in which planes and pilots crashed into the decks of Allied ships, bring to mind the word “Kamikaze”. However, the name “Divine Wind” was used only in the Naval Air Force (IJNAF) and is more popular in the Western world than in Japan. Similar formations of the Army Aviation (IJAAF) created a little later were called “Shinfu”, and specific units received a number supplemented with the name “Shimbu-tai”. The latter is to be understood as a “Special Attack Unit”.
USS Bunker Hill aircraft carrier burning after Japanese aircraft suicidal attack. 11 May 1945.
Initially, the Ki-84 Hayate, which was then the Army’s most modern fighter aircraft, was not intended to equip the Shimbu-tai. However, the low efficiency of attacks of older types (eg Ki-51 or Ki-27) forced a change in the approach of the Headquarters. The speed and manoeuvrability of the Hayate gave it a better chance of breaking through the cordon of American fighters and the wall of barrage ships’ fire. Thus, the Hayate became one of the main participants in the fierce struggle known as the Battle of Okinawa. Several hundred machines of this type took part in it, used both for special attacks and as their escort by regular Sentai fighter units.
Order Ki-84 Hayate Special Attack Units kit in the Armahobby.com online!
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