Tamiya 1/50 Ki-44 Shoki

The Nakajima Ki-44 Shōki (鍾馗, "Devil Queller") was a single-seat fighter-interceptor which was designed and produced by the Japanese aviation manufacturer Nakajima Aircraft Company. Operated by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) from 1942 to 1945 during World War II, its official designation was Army Type 2 Single-Seat Fighter (二式単座戦闘機) and its Allied reporting name was Tojo. The name Shōki refers to Zhong Kui (鍾馗), a Taoist deity in the Chinese mythology, traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings.

The development of the Ki-44 was launched in 1939 as a dedicated heavy fighter aircraft. Performing its maiden flight in August 1940, the initial prototypes initially failed to attain the demanding airspeed requirement of 600 km/h (370 mph); a redesign effort centred around decreasing drag proved the aircraft could exceed this speed. The Ki-44 differed greatly from the typical Japanese fighters of the era, its design prioritising both speed and rate-of-climb in preference to maneuverability. In contrast to its predecessor, the lighter and nimbler Nakajima Ki-43, the Ki-44 was far less maneuverable and, as a consequence of its use of relatively small wings giving the aircraft a relatively high wing loading, possessed a higher landing speed, which many Japanese pilots disliked.

When Tamiya first got into the larger scale model airplane kit business, they banked on 1/50 becoming a standard scale. In fact, if you look at older Koku-Fan magazines, you will find that all their scale plans are to 1/50 scale. Thus Tamiya's initial release aircraft kits that were not 1/72 were tooled to this scale. Some of these were later reissued as 1/48. The Ki-44 was not one of them.

This kit was designed to be motorized and while the motor was to be purchased separately, the metal housing for it and the battery were to be part of this kit. Unfortunately, my example did not include this feature. However a proper propeller shaft is included. The overall detail of the kit is actually quite good for a 60 year old tooling. The engraved panel lines are something Matchbox would be proud to produce and there is a lot of raised rivet detail. My sample is molded in a silver-grey, though other shades were used.

The kit is almost as much a toy as a 'serious' kit. As an example, the landing gear are designed to be moveable, and that includes the inner gear doors. Wheels are quite toy-like and are to be made to roll with the application of some heat to the axle once the wheel is installed. There is no gear well detail.

Since this is to be motorized, there is a considerably abbreviated pilot figure that fits into the cockpit trough along with the main instrument panel. Tail gear is also on a pivot so that can be retracted as well. However, the tail gear doors are fixed. Once the fuselage halves are together, the canopy can be posed open or closed with the position determined by holes in the upper fuselage through which a small peg on the back of the canopy is fit. There are two fuel tanks that will fit into the very large holes already drilled into the lower wing piece.

My kit came with two sets of instructions, one of which is in English. Markings are for four aircraft. They are from the 246 Sentai, 70th Sentai, 47th Sentai, and 85th Sentai. The decals are probably past their prime but could be revived if one so wishes. The black anti-glare panels as well as any other colorful areas (like the large red fuselage and nose flash on the 70th Sentai plane along with the white 'bandages') will need to be painted. Take all the camo info with a huge grain of salt.

Those who want an accurate Ki-44 would be best served by the Hasegawa kit. However, I know that a lot of people (some of whom are reading this now) enjoy building these older kits. This would be a good one. The shape is there and aftermarket can deal with the decal issue. This and the earlier boxing are quite easily found for those who are so interested.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-44_Sh%C5%8Dki

October 2026

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