A Japanese WW2 Autogyro Arrives

[Epap]

The latest diecast to arrive from the Hachette Collections Japan series, is certainly the most unusual. It's an 1:87th scale rendition of the Japanese Army's Kayaba Ka-1 autogyro, which was used for artillery spotting, general recon work and, sans the spotter but armed with a small depth charge, for anti-sub duties operating off an Army aircraft carrier trying to protect coastal convoys. Here's a picture:

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

That's pretty cool, where can I get one of these?

[Epap]

I get all of the planes in this series via a subscription using a Japanese bookstore in San Francisco. Aside from going that route, some models from the Hachette Japan Collections line appear on eBay from time to time and, I understand are frequently listed on the Japanese version of eBay. If you have any friends in Japan, or someone who understands Japanese in The U.S., you might ask him to help. As far as I know, these models are not available via normal vendors in this country.

[Dauntless]

Now that's an interesting aircraft.
Had no idea the Japanese used these.

[snake]

Also had no idea the Japanese even had these.

Though not great quality, an interesting model, none the less.

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

I get all of the planes in this series via a subscription using a Japanese bookstore in San Francisco. Aside from going that route, some models from the Hachette Japan Collections line appear on eBay from time to time and, I understand are frequently listed on the Japanese version of eBay. If you have any friends in Japan, or someone who understands Japanese in The U.S., you might ask him to help. As far as I know, these models are not available via normal vendors in this country.

Does that book store have a web page?
There's a few Japanese book stores around here, but they have nothing like this.

[Epap]

My contact at the Kinokuniya store is Takeyoshi Sakai. His email is: t_sakai@apps.Kinokuniya.com. He is familiar with the Hachette series and may be able to order "Volume 93" ( the Ka-1 ) for you.