Tomy/Swallow/Doyusha 1/32 Ki-84 Hayate "Frank"
By Ronnie Murray
The section of the fuselage directly behind the cockpit appears to have been cannibalized from another aircraft with an all green paint scheme. The underside of that section is gray. The port horizontal stabilizer was also taken from that same aircraft to replace damaged parts. This is a well worn Frank.
This view shows the two sections of the plane that were replaced with parts from another "Frank" that was no longer air worthy. The step below the wing root is made with steel pins.
The tiny oil cooler seen directly behind the starboard landing gear strut was fabricated, both coolers have brass screens. The wheels are the True Details wheels set for the 1/48 Do-335. Gun barrels were hollowed out as were the exhaust stacks. The numbered scale on the lower front cowling is for setting timing on the engine.
This article was published on Friday, September 27 2013; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016