Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Dragonslayer) Nick – Japan Army AF

1/72 scale diecast model of Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Dragonslayer). This was a two-seat, twin-engine fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The army gave it the designation “Type 2 Two-Seat Fighter”; the Allied reporting name was “Nick”. In packaged box with optional undercarriage and display stand. This is the only known diecast model of the aircraft and hard to find in the UK.

The Ki-45 was initially used as a long-range bomber escort. The 84th Independent Flight Wing (Dokuritsu Hikō Chutai) used them in June 1942 in attacks on Guilin, where they encountered, but were no match for, Curtiss P-40s flown by the Flying Tigers. In September of the same year, they met P-40s over Hanoi with similar results. It became clear that the Ki-45 could not hold its own against single-engine fighters in aerial combat.

It was subsequently deployed in several theatres in the roles of interception, attack (anti-ground as well as anti-shipping) and fleet defence. Its greatest strength turned out to be as an anti-bomber interceptor, as was the case with the Bf 110 in Europe. In New Guinea, the IJAAF used the aircraft in an anti-ship role, where the Ki-45 was heavily armed with one 37 mm (1.46 in) and two 20 mm cannons and could carry two 250 kg (550 lb) bombs on hard points under the wings. 1,675 Ki-45s of all versions were produced during the war.