Japanese Profiles.

[lyric1]

Some other profiles I can't find images for.

[Krusty]

Nice catch Krusty, there is definitely a tonal variation there.

However, it could also be caused by a scuffing by the canopy's lower edge on bare metal. This would cause shallow lateral scratches catching sunlight from above, and giving a lighter appearance from the point of view of the camera.

Also, it looks like the marks are two parallel lines of equal width. They seem too uniform to be from random wear. I wonder if there are a pair of rollers under the canopy that contacts the fuselage sides.

True, and it could also be a color shift on the photo itself -- the top half overexposed or the bottom half left sticking out of a pile for a year so that it was exposed to UV light and faded a bit. There are other reasons, but still even if in reality it's a uniform tone and the photo is just wrong I find it interesting to note that the shade of "whatever" between the splotches is still darker than the rivet heads themselves. Usually you might see the rivet heads sans paint, and if they're bare metal, what is the area immediately around them? It's hard to tell if that's just weather-beaten metal, or some kind of clear-coat, or even a shade of gray.

[lyric1]

23rd Sentai.

Always thought this plane was tinkered with in regards to its meat ball on the fuselage not painted red.
Based off of the profile it never was. Nice quirk if any of you like the skins like that.

[Krusty]

Something in so bad a state of repair, so poorly treated, so poorly cannibalized for parts, at the end of the war? I think the burden of proof is on whether it was ever actually used for combat or not. It may have been the equivalent of a squadron hack or a training plane, or something along those lines. Or, even if it was an active combat airframe, it may have looked radically different when it was in service as compared to when it was on the ground for bored ground-crews to relieve stress by adding some camo to it so that they could strip its parts with more safety.

IMO photos like this need a LOT more context before you could assume that they were actually used in the state they appear in the photo.

[lyric1]

Some excellent panel line & rivet shots in this link.

http://www.asisbiz.com/PNG/Kawasaki-Ki-61-Hien.html

[lyric1]

56th  Shinmu squadron

Same pilot same plane.

Found a drawing of this pilot & plane on a Japanese sight.
I think the 3rd digit is a zero?



Few more profiles.

[lyric1]

I made a mistake in my first posting of this squadron all the aircraft with these tail markings are 18th drilling squadron not 18th Sentai.

Sorry about the mistake.
That aside this Hien pilot below probably had the most amazing career after the war he became Prime Minister of South Korea.



https://translate.google.co.jp/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25E9%2587%2591%25E8%25B2%259E%25E7%2583%2588&prev=search

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ko&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.daum.net%2Fjink062%2F15670778&edit-text=

[lyric1]

55th Sentai.

Found this drawing that shows this aircraft off the best.



Also made a mistake on this one it is not a 23rd Sentai it is a 19th Sentai.



Colour photos of a blown off 78th Sentai tail in the background.



Same tail on the left.



Another 78th wreck in colour.

[lyric1]

I was looking at this link & has a few new profiles that I can match up with photos & a few I can't.

http://angelof.web.fc2.com/index.html

The artist believes there is two blue stripes in the photo?

55TH Sentai.





5th drilling squadron was it's second unit based off of the rudder. It was a 59th Sentai prior to that due to the stripe on the vertical stabilizer.





55th Sentai.



68th Sentai.










244th Sentai.



After looking at the above profile I looked at a photo I have of this aircraft & there is B-29 kill markings on it.

Also looks like the artist didn't have the two rear views to match his profile that I do.

[Devil 505]

I was looking at this link & has a few new profiles that I can match up with photos & a few I can't.

http://angelof.web.fc2.com/index.html

The artist believes there is two blue stripes in the photo?

55TH Sentai.

I'm not seeing any stripes, Also, the spinner seems to be the same color as the rest of the plane.

[lyric1]

I'm not seeing any stripes, Also, the spinner seems to be the same color as the rest of the plane.

The photo in the book has an inkling of what the artists describes. After scanning it it's not quite so obvious.

Here is the translated text from the link.

This is also a famous picture from before, and the letter of "arrow" surrounded with zero in a tail assembly is drawn.
There is a fuselage of a flight 55th squadron with blue areas for a body.
This letter of "arrow" is an initial of a flying corps chief Yano Takehumi captain of the said corps, and if it's Yano machine, the said machine is being talked about.
But another fuselage which drew the letter of "arrow" which (isn't surrounded by a tail assembly with zero) as expected comes out in left of the said machine....
Did this choose more than one machines with the good condition for now until a leader machine was fixed?..
Moreover though it's indistinct, a body of this machine seems to have two thick blue areas. A mysterious thing.
August 20, 2015
Information, supervision, explanation and Mr. MARU
Taking pictures and ta.gucci

He is talking about the other aircraft below in the photo as well as the two striped one.




Personally I think its just the way the light is reflecting off the aircraft giving the impression of two stripes.

[lyric1]

Another 23rd Sentai.

[lyric1]

55th Sentai.

I do have a photo of this one.

[lyric1]

55th Sentai.

The second profile I think is of another aircraft or it is simply wrong.

It is another aircraft.

[lyric1]

Couple of new photos I found.
Already have other pictures of this one.





Two more of the same squadron different aircraft I think from my previous posts.