Well it's done and in time for the extended deadline 

Meng Model Manshu Ki-98

Background – Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Mansyū Ki-98 (also written as Manshū Ki-98),[1] was a Japanese ground-attack aircraft proposed by Mansyū (Manshūkoku Hikōki K.K. - Manchuria Airplane Manufacturing Company Ltd.) during World War II for use by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. The still unassembled components of the first prototype were deliberately destroyed before Japan surrendered.

Design and development

By late 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force issued requirements for new combat aircraft, including a ground attack aircraft. Kawasaki proposed the Kawasaki Ki-102 and Mansyū the Ki-98. The Ki-98 was to have been a single-seat, twin-boom, low-wing monoplane with a central nacelle housing both the cockpit and a turbosupercharged 1,643-kilowatt (2,200-hp) Mitsubishi Ha-211 Ru radial engine behind the pilot driving a four-bladed pusher propeller rotating between the booms. The underslung booms extended aft from slightly forward of the leading edge of the wing with ovoid fins supporting the tailplane and elevator between them.  The aircraft had a retractable tricycle landing gear, bubble canopy, and an armament of one 37-mm and two 20-mm cannon mounted in the nose.  Entry to the cockpit was to have been through a door in the nose undercarriage bay.

In the spring of 1944, the Army Air Force instructed Mansyū to adapt the design as a high-altitude fighter. The major change being the engine, substituting the turbocharged Mitsubishi Ha-211 Ru for the original Ha-211 III. The increased bulk of the new engine required the fuselage to be enlarged, and the larger diameter propeller necessitated moving the booms outboard.

Construction of the first prototype was delayed by bombing raids on the Harbin factory until January 1945. Components for the first prototype was still under construction and hadn't been assembled when the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria in August 1945; the Manchukuo Imperial Army ordered all documentation and material to be destroyed to prevent capture by Soviet forces, bringing the Ki-98 project to an end.

The Model

This is the Meng Model 1/72 kit and I have to say it is one of the best I've built when it comes to ease of assembly. Any errors you see, and there are a few, are down to me. She's finished as per one of the options in the box using, Xtracolour for the IJA Grey and Green and my usual mixture of other manufacturer's for the remaining parts. Transfers are straight from the box and performed very well indeed.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this build, and it is perhaps the first one where I've fully accepted the limitations placed on my abilities by my ongoing medical conditions and not got overly frustrated when things have gone wrong. Hopefully I'll continue to be able to do that and enjoy this hobby of ours for a few more years.

I.J.A.A.F. Mansyū Ki-98. Allied reporting name : Chris

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Don't forget to post on the finished entries thread, Chris, please!

Quote from: kitbasher on Today at 05:34:50 AMDon't forget to post on the finished entries thread, Chris, please!

Just done so 

Now I just have to set the One Week Build Boards up followd by the next GB Boards on Monday. All good fun