Ki-61-II ‘Bubbletop’
Back in 2014 Aviation of Japan referenced a challenging project by Tetsuya Inoue to kit bash the 1/48 Hasegawa Kawasaki Ki-61-I and Ki-100 to produce a model of the Ki-61-II ‘Bubbletop’ fighter, linked to his own impressive website Tets Research Institute. Now after eight years Tetsuya’s project has finally reached fruition and he has very kindly shared these images of his stunning model (which will fortuitously herald a short season of Imperial Japanese Army fighter models and topics) as well as uploading many more at his own website. Previous updates for Tetsuya’s project can be found in Aviation of Japan entries for August 2020, May 2019, October 2018, March 2018 and June 2017.
These awesome images speak for themselves in terms of Tetsuya’s magnificent achievement, the details of which would be considered superlative in 1/24 scale let alone in 1/48 scale. A painstakingly meticulous and systematic approach, combined with a forensic appreciation of full-scale detail realized by patient modeling skill taken to an extraordinary level have created a more than museum quality model which literally presents the Ki-61-II ‘Bubbletop’ in miniature form inside and out. Wonderful. With very special thanks to Tetsuya for so kindly sharing updates and images of his incredibly impressive project with Aviation of Japan. Do please visit his website to enjoy more of a truly magnificent exposition of applied modeling skills to produce an exceptional model of this rare Kawasaki fighter aircraft.
https://tets-ri.sakura.ne.jp/root/