Rising Decal 72060: Japanese Light Bombers Part II

Decal sheets for Japanese WWII aircraft are not as prevalent as those for the other fighting powers, so if one is a fan of the type, it can be quite a bit of a search to find a sheet. So it is with the subjects on this sheet.

Rising Decal has produced quite a few sheet for the Japanese enthusiast, however, they seem to sell out quite quickly so finding them can be difficult, as was the case with this sheet.

The sheet offers schemes for nine different aircraft grouped by three different types. I should mention that the base color for all these planes is IJA light grey over which some units applied camouflage.

First is the Ki30, which offers three different units. First up is a green/brown camouflaged plane from the 31st Sentai in Burma during early 1942. This is followed by a 75th Chutai plane with green upper surfaces from the Philippines about the same time. The final plane is uncamouflaged and with the 6th Sentai based in Manchuria.

The second option is for the Ki-36. The intial one is in an interesting green/brown scheme from an unknown unit based in China during 1939. Next is a plane with green upper surfaces with the 74th Chutai based at Baguio in the Philippines during 1942. This must be late 1942 as it has the yellow wing ID band. The final one is a 73rd Chutai plane from China in 1941.

The final option is for the Ki-51. The first plane has large green patches on it and is from an unknown unit during the Okinawa campaign of early 1945. Probably a special attack unit. The other two options are overall green  with the 26th Sentai in New Guinea during 1944. The yellow tail markings are with the 3rd Chutai and the blue with the 2nd Chutai.

The sheet contains enough insignia to do one plane out of each of the three options and is very nicely done. There are kits available for all the planes shown so finding one should not be difficult. In all, a nice sheet for some aircraft that really need some aftermarket options.

April 2015

Thanks to me for getting this one for you to see.

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