Brengun 1/72 Kokusai Ta-go

The Ta-Gō was a single seated kamikaze plane made mostly out of plywood, fabric, and wood lathes. The original Ta-Gō design used wood lathes for the fuselage and structure, and used plywood and fabric for the outer skin and control surfaces. The pilot’s compartment featured a simple acrylic glass. The landing gear was fixed, meaning they couldn’t be retracted. It featured a Hitachi Ha-13 Ko 9-cylinder radial engine that produced 450hp, with thin steel sheets as the engine cowling. The only armament it could carry was a 500kg bomb, which cannot be released. Other than these details, little is known about the original Ta-Gō as hardly any evidence exists.

The refined design for Kokusai made the Ta-Gō much smaller than its original size. Due to this, the plane could no longer house the Hitachi Ha-13 Ko, and was replaced by the Hitachi Ha-47 11 producing 110hp instead. Because of the severe engine power decrease, the 500kg bomb load had to be changed to 100kg. Another change from the original design was the cockpit was open topped. The only thing that covers the pilot is a simple acrylic glass pane that shields from the wind. As for the engine, it was protected by an angular wooden cowling. The engine was paired with a two-blade fixed pitch wooden propeller. The engine mount was made of metal, with the fuel tank placed on top of the engine, thus using a gravity feed system. In between the acrylic glass pane and the fuel tank, there was an oil cooler. As for cockpit instruments, only the very basic and important ones were kept. Such instruments used were a compass, speedometer, altimeter, and engine-related gauges such as fuel and oil. The fuselage was also boxier than the original design. This design feature was extremely simple to manufacture, but was very un-aerodynamic.

You'd expect a minimalist aircraft like this to be light on parts, but Brengun managed to fill a sprue so you are not being cheated in terms of bits. Cockpit is a simple floor with stick, seat, and rudder pedals which fit in between two bulkheads. There is framework detail on the sidewalls. Once the fuselage is closed, things like instrument panel (for which a decal is supplied if you want to use it), fuel tank, exhaust and tail skid are attached.

Landing gear are two halves that trap the main wheels. Wings are upper and lower sections and you'll need to drill a hole for the pitot. These and the tailplanes slot in place. Next are the braces for the tailplanes and the main gear. A one-piece bomb and rack then fit into the underside of the fuselage. Lastly, the pitot, prop, and windscreen are attached.

Instructions are a folded piece of paper and provides generic paint colors. The lone markings option is based on the prototype which is shown on the box art. This plane is painted in a dark olive drab.  

So there you have it. It looks simple enough and is the perfect build for those times when you get frustrated with fiddly kits. It would make a nice companion for your Ki-115

August 2024

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permission from the editor.