MYK Decals A48064: Ki-43-I

Over the years, I have seen these decals offered for sale on a web site I frequent. They seem to sell out quite quickly and seem to require they be pre-ordered to avoid disappointment. So that is what I did with this particular set.

All of these planes operated in Burma during 1942. It was at this time that they were very effective against Allied aircraft so many who flew the plane became successful. Since the Ki-43 looks so similar to the A6M, most Allied pilots reported them as 'Zeros', but in fact they were 'Oscars'.

This sheet covers five aircraft from two different units. Those with the large lightning bolts are from the 50th Sentai. The others with the arrows are from the 64th. Both units spent most of the war in the Burma theater. These planes are all in overall dark green over unpainted metal, though the first option is in a more brown upper surface camouflage.

These decals are different from standard waterslide or dry transfer. You cut out the marking not getting too close to the inked part. Dip it in water, place it on the model, pat it down and remove the covering sheet. Let it dry for a day then place a piece of tape over it to remove the decal carrier film. The inked part of the marking will stay in place.

This actually works quite well and pretty much removes all carrier film from the markings. The decals will snuggle down into engraved panel lines without the need for setting solutions, but will tolerate the weak solutions just fine without issue. However, it does require you to think ahead. For instance, if you are attaching a two piece fuselage band, you have to attach one side, let it dry and remove the film before attaching the other side. This is because if you overlap any decal, removing the underlying marking's film will rip the overlapping decals. Note also that the sheet only contains unique markings. For the common ones, use the kit decals or get sheet A48063.

I've used these decals on several models and can highly recommend them to you. One thing for sure is that they can sell out quite quickly.

November 2019

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