Questions about 1/72 kits of Japanese bombers by LS

Since the KI. 67 and Ki.109 kits have been reissued by Arii in the last five years, I doubt those are even worth that much on eBay. Despite engraved marking locations, movable bits and the 1/75 scale (I measured my Ki.109 to confirm that), they are nice kits, worth building.

Mark Schynert

I have several kits here that I'm curious about. Perhaps some of the older modelers may remember these. Can anyone give me an idea of when these were made (there are no dates that I can make out) and what they might get if I offer them for sale? My guess is, not much, but one never knows unless one asks.

They're models of Japanese bombers made by L&S Co., Ltd. of Gifu City, Japan. Japanese characters are all over the box and the large, well-illustrated instruction sheets which have much tiny type on the development and history of the bombers and the units that flew them, done in a charming style of English-as-a-second-language. Slow going to read it, but entertaining and informative. Here's a short verbatim example:

"Since Navy set firstly about trial making of large-sized plane, endeavor of Aviation Technical Staffs must be rated highly which completed many famous planes, such as Type 96 Attack Bomber, Type 1 Attack Bomber and Zero Fighter, in which many persons made their utmost efforts and collected data always which were applied to next prototype. However, on the other side, they could not fill big difference with that of U.S. Technical Staffs. For an example, it lied in the fact that they could not completely equip anti-bullet outfit for fuel tanks to all Japanese aircrafts and lost many superior pilots and machines which hastened exhaution (sic) of fighting power."

These models look to be very well-molded (but keep in mind I haven't built an aircraft model in more than three decades and don't know what the standard is like now). The rivet detail is sunk and the panel lines are delicate. They have (very basic) interiors and many detail parts, and the landing gear and some of the control surfaces are designed to move. The clear parts are so-so, with rather heavy raised framing.

Also included are color illustrations of the paint schemes and average-looking decals which are rather thick and with the clear areas yellowed with age. The parts trees are complete or nearly so (a few parts have broken off), in two or three bags. Cement is included in a teeny little tube. Well, here are the kits, with notes:

Mitsubishi L3M1 Nippon-Go: demilitarized, civilian-marked Nell that made a round-the-world "goodwill flight" in October of 1939. Paint schemes and decals for three Nippon-Go and one military transport aircraft. Molded in black and translucent pearly gray. Least number of parts of all these kits (no guns, turrets, etc.).

Japanese Navy Type 96 Mk 11 (Mk 21) Attack Bomber Nell (Mitsubishi G3M1): Silver and black parts, looks fairly complex.

Japanese Navy Type 96 Mk 23 Attack Bomber Nell: Dark green, black and clear. Few if any obvious differences in parts with the Mk 21, but I haven't studied this in detail.

Japanese Army Heavy Bomber Type 4 Metallic Hiryu KI-67 Peggy: The two main parts trees are completely aluminized, including the interior parts, crew, ground personnel, and the "fuel truck"! The detail parts tree is black. The rivet and panel detail is left out of the areas where the hinomarus are applied. There is a beautiful color plate showing interior details of the Yasukuni (see next) with exteriors of the Hiryu and Ki 109 variants.

Japanese Navy Torpedo Bomber Yasukuni (late-war improved Hiryu torpedo bomber): Light gray and black. Has the most parts of all these kits, with provision for a separately-purchased set of motors for the props, with the included "fuel truck" model designed to hold the batteries. Also has the color plate showing interior details of the Yasukuni and the Hiryu and Ki

PS The Ki 109 variant of the Hiryu mentioned above - what a machine that would have been if they could have gotten the more powerful engines that would allow it to reach the high-flying B-29s! It had a 75mm in the nose (like the B-25 ship-killers) and most certainly would have done some bad things if it had had the chance.

I think that's the area that my two sold in but they were partially painted.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

The Ki-67 and Ki-109 are 1/75 as are their Zero and Rufe but the Nell, Nippon Go series are listed in my references as 1/72. I'd better dig out my Murphy's rule, eh?

Guy, I sold most of my LS collection for around $10. Not only the re-issue by Arii but the fact that Hasegawa has manufactured new, modern kits of these planes make them secondary in the collectible market. There are folks out there who are interested in the kitschy box art and verbage however, so you might want to point that out in your auctions. Clear pics would help also. hth

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

Very good advice, Keeper, thanks. I might sell them and might build them, got to think about it some more. I've been drawn toward modeling aircraft, armor and small vessels of the War with Japan and thinking I'd concentrate on the twin-engine planes. I might even focus on only Navy planes.

Okay, I'll admit my ignorance - what does that "hth" mean?

hope that helps

i'll build my ls as a vintage kit, oob with gap fill and good paint.

I don't have any to measure but the scales I cited were as per John Burns' PAK-20.

Please. My curiosity has been piqued now.

HTH = Hope that helps

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I finally dug out my original LS G3M1.

Clear as day on the box and instructions it says "1/72 scale".

I await the decision of the man with the Robert's Rule to make the final determination.

IIRC is sometimes as questionable as it sounds. :-)

Anybody have the L3N1 "Nippon Go" that they would like to part with?

Tom

I may build them or sell them, leaning toward building at the moment. That metallized one, now - I guess I'd have to fill the gaps and then use Metalizer or that rub-on aluminum foil (what's it called?) to smooth out the finish.

Thanks.

Yeah, but after they got hip to 1/72nd being the proper scale they started lying on their repackaging; the Rufe, Zero, and Peggy are all profered at "1/72" now. The simplest solution would be to compare the Hasegawa and LS fuselages side by side but since I've already got the LS kit I wasn't in a big hurry to buy the 'Gawa. Later,

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

There was a gent who had two of them at the Erie show; lemme see what I can find out. Cheers,

The Keeper (of too much crap!)