SH72270 Tachikawa Ki-54Hei boxart - new model coming soon

 Standa Hajek, the author of many fabulous boxarts you will already know from Special Hobby kits, has finished his latest one now, depicting the Japanese Ki-54Hei (Ki-54c) twin engined transport, anti-submarine and training aircraft. The type was built in four versions and saw service during the Second world war. A handful of captured machines found themselves flying with several other air forces in the post-war years, too. All the produced version will be released, one by one, in the future, wearing markings of all operators. Now, this boxart is to adorn the first released kit, item no. SH72270.

   The machine shown in the amazing painting is known as the Lake Ghost. The machine, production number 5541 flew with Sentai 38, and on 27 September 1943 made a crash landing on Lake Towada, following a engine trouble during a flight from Noshiro base to Hachinohe. The machine sunk, taking with her three members of the crew to the deeps. Only the fourth one luckily survived. The wreck of Hickory 5541 was only fished out after almost 69 years, on 5 Sept 2012, to be displayed in the Misawa museum.




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