Samurai Cavalry Mount

Historical Background

In the 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Army began experimenting with the concept of combined arms formation. However they found out that the Type 89 I-Go, designed as an infantry support tank, cannot keep up with truck-borne infantry. The Imperial General Staff then issued a requirement for a fast, lightweight tank which can be used for infantry support and also spearheading assaults on their own. In 1933, the Army Technical Bureau proposed a 7-ton tank, capable of 40km/h speed. A technical delegation was sent abroad to study French cavalry tanks and also Christie tanks and Carden-Lloyd tankettes. The prototype was completed in 1934 and was tested in Manchuria during the winter of 1934/35. In 1935, at a meeting in the Army Technical Bureau, the Type 95 was proposed as the main tank for mechanised infantry units. The infantry had concerns that the tank was insufficiently protected but the cavalry arm insisted that the improved speed and armament compensated for the thin armour. The cavalry won the argument as the infantry arm conceded that the new tank was better than the alternative - armoured cars. Production was started by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1936.

The Type 95, whose full designation was Type 95 kyugo-shiki kei-shensha Ha-Go, weighed 7.5 tons and was powered by a Mitsubishi A6120VD  air-cooled diesel engine allowing it a road speed of 45km/h. The complement was 3 crewmen : commander, hull machinegunner and driver. Like many light tank commanders of the period, the commander sat alone in the turret and he was responsible for observation, loading, aiming and firing the main gun, as well as commanding the vehicle. He also operated the turret machinegun (which was in the five o'clock position, rather than mounted co-axially with the main gun). The main gun was a 37mm Type 98 gun with elevation of -15˚ to +20˚. The armour-piercing round can penetrate 25mm of armour at 500 meters, although the majority of the rounds carried are of the HE type. Secondary armament was two 7.7mm Type 97 machineguns, one at the hull front and the other at the aforementioned turret. The suspension is of the simple bell-crank type but it had a tendency to pitch badly in off-road movement so that the Type 95 had to slow down to negotiate rough terrain. The interior was lined with asbestos in order to insulate the crew from outside heat and also to protect the crew from injury resulting from being bounced around when moving through rough terrain.

The Type 95 entered service in 1937 and were first used in China.  Although not designed for tank vs tank combat, it proved more than capable to deal with the Vickers, Panzerkampfwagen I and CV33 tanks/tankettes of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. The first true test however came in June 1939 during the Battle of Khalkin Gol (the Nomonhan Incident) where Type 89 I-Go medium tanks, Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks and Type 94 TK tankettes faced Soviet BT-5 and BT-7 fast tanks. Although the Soviet tank armour was no thicker than their Japanese adversaries, their 45mm gun could penetrate Japanese armour at up to 1,000 meters while the 37mm gun of the Type 95 have a maximum range of 700 meters. When the Pacific War broke out in December 1941, Japanese armour was used in the jungle terrain of Malaya, smashing the British belief that tanks cannot operate in the jungle. The success of the Japanese stemmed from proper tactical deployment of their tanks, surprising the defenders where they least expecting them. In this instance, the relatively light weight of Japanese armour certainly helped. The Type 95 was also used during the invasion of the Philippines where they fought against American M3 Stuart light tanks. While both tanks have the same calibre of main armament, the Stuart have the advantage of thicker armour. However, the Japanese were more experienced and have better training (at the time), enabling them to overcome the American resistance. Later in the war, the Type 95 were outclassed by the Matilda, M3 Lee/Grant, M4 Sherman and even the M5 Stuart; when the Soviets entered the Pacific War in August 1945, it was totally vulnerable to T-34 and IS tanks. In fact, the Type 95 was vulnerable to any weapon larger than rifle calibre, especially in its hindquarters.  

2,300 Ha-Gos were built by Mitsubishi and also by Sagami Arsenal, Kokura Arsenal, Hitachi, Niigata Tekkosho and Kobe Tekkosho. Apart from the Japanese Army, the Type 95 were also used by the Imperial Japanese Navy's Special Naval Landing Force and the Thai Army. Captured examples were used by both sides in the Chinese Civil War and also by the French during the earliest stages of the First Indochina War. The Type 95 was also used as the basis for the Type 95 Ki-Ri engineering vehicle, Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank and Type 4 Ke-Nu conversion (using the turret of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank). The chassis was also used for the Type 3 ke-Ri tank prototype, Type 2 Ho-To self-propelled gun/tank destroyer prototype and the Type 5 Ho-Ru tank destroyer.

The Kit

While there are numerous kits of German, Soviet, US and to a smaller extent, British, armour, there are practically no kits of Japanese World War 2 armour by the major manufacturers. The only kits I can think of (before being acquainted with Fine Molds) were the Type 97 Chi-Has and Type 1 Ho-Ni from Tamiya. Then in 1990s, Fine Molds came up with a whole lot of Japanese armour kits, starting with the Type 95 Ha-Go in 1993. According to online reviews, Fine Molds did not do themselves any favours by pricing the kit at ¥9,800 (the average 1/35 kit costs between ¥3,000 to ¥4,000). In 2001, Fine Molds reboxed the kit with a new box art and at the same time reducing the RRP to be more competitive (I got mine from Hobbylink Japan for ¥3,200). The kit came in 145 olive-coloured styrene parts, a pair of vinyl tracks, a small PE fret and five white metal parts. The parts are well-moulded although the white metal tow cable (or whatever it was) have some flash in my example. A form for bending the PE (for the exhaust screen) is also included. 

Decals provide markings for eight vehicles:

1. #203, 8th Tank Regiment,  August 1945, Manchuria

2. #755,  8th Tank Regiment, June 1942, Manchuria

3. #244, Army Youth Tank School, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

4. #20, 1st Tank Regiment, 3rd Company, Malaya 1942

5. 13th Tank Regiment, 2nd Company, Changsha, China

6. 6th Tank Regiment, Manchuria 1944

7. #1556, 7th Tank Regiment, 3rd Company, Philippines 1942

8. 14th Infantry Division Tank Company, Peleliu 1944

The instructions are almost entirely in Japanese and may cause some confusion especially for the painting and marking schemes, but otherwise have excellent illustrations.

Construction

As usual with AFV kits, construction starts with the suspension/lower hull. The halves for the idler and sprocket wheels were mated and the wheel bogies assembled. I however did not assemble the return rollers as instructed at this stage. Unlike many Japanese model kits with one-piece hull, the hull was made up of seven pieces with part A10 acting as a stand for a crew figure (sourced elsewhere) and part A9 acting a stiffener for the hull assembly (and sort of a bulkhead). As usual with multi-part hull, care need to be taken in order to ensure good fit. Afterwards the external fittings of the lower hull were cemented, including the bell-crank suspension. The instructions mention something about Parts B15, B18, C1 and C2, which I guess have something to do with gluing parts C1 and C2 to B15 first and cementing them onto the hull before cementing Part B18. To ease painting, the wheels were left off at this time (and apparently Fine Molds thought so, as the instructions placed the fitting of the wheels somewhere towards the end of the build). 

The upper hull was then mated to the lower half. Before that happened, dry-fitting showed a bad fit especially between the final drive housing and the forward mudguards. After removing away locating tabs on the upper hull, the gap was merely reduced so out with the putty, Various smaller portions of the upper hull was then cemented to the main part, such as the driver's hatch, the hull MG sponson and the engine grilles. These larger parts were followed by smaller parts such as the driver's vision hatch, latches, towing eyes and lights. The tools and the jack were temporarily left off although the instructions instructed you to place them at this time. More stuff were added to the rear of the hull including what look like hinges. The exhaust was assembled and the muffler painted XF-64 Red Brown. Using the included PE former, the exhaust muffler guard was formed and superglued to the fender. Again, external items such as the vehicle ID plate and the 'tow cable' were left off. And although meant for later, I cemented the headlights and also the hull MG fairing/mount, leaving only the barrel for later.

Finally it was time for turret assembly. The turret was a simple affair with nothing inside, not even a rudimentary breech for the main gun or the machine gun. The turret shell was mated with the bottom. I left the interior unpainted because I wanted to have the hatch in the closed position (there are no interior to speak of and there are no figures to be placed in an open hatch). The two-part commander's cupola was assembled, taking care to avoid seams. The hatch covers were then cemented to the commander's cupola. The gun assembly consists of four parts and was meant to be moveable. Being a 1990s kit, the muzzle is solid and had to be drilled out. The assembly was then cemented to the turret and it was off to the painting stage. 

Painting and Decalling

Maybe it's just me but I find Fine Molds' painting directions rather confusing. So to clear things a bit, I referred to the Tamiya painting instructions for their Type 97 Chi-Ha. Despite a number of interesting markings including the one in Saipan (the photo of which showing its turret blown off the tank), I decided to paint my Type 95 as an early war example, specifically as one of the Ha-Gos that took part in the invasion of Malaya. The model was painted the same colours as my Type 97 Chi-Ha: Khaki (XF-49), Dark Red Brown (XF-10) and Dark Green (XF-13 IJA Green). The lightest colour (Khaki) was painted first with the Dark Green last. The yellow line was painted using Tamiya XF-3. While the embossed star on the glacis plate is instructed to be painted in Gold, I used Gunze Brass as it looks more to scale. The decals were then applied. While thin and not having registry problems (they are just white anyway, with the exception of the Hinomaru on the front hull plate), they are quite translucent, revealing the colour underneath. I had to paint over the decals to overcome this problem. 

Finishing

I started by adding the few uncemented items such as the registration plate and the towing cables. The model then received a wash. Minor streaking was then done using AK Interactive products. I got lazy by this time and decided just to add Earth Effects wash on the lower hull and the wheels. Dirt was added into the track cleats using Mig Productions Russian Earth pigment and washed with AK Interactive Earth Effects solution. The tracks were then mounted onto the model. Fit is OK although it would be better if separate-link track links were provided as Type 95s usually display saggy tracks. The machine gun barrels were then cemented into place followed by the turret, finishing the build.  

Conclusion

Up until the time this post was written, Fine Molds is basically the only manufacturer with a fairly wide range of Japanese World War 2 vehicles (Tamiya only has the two Type 97s and the Type 1 SPG while Dragon has the Type 2 and Type 95). While generally very good in terms of surface detail, the Type 95 kit has a rather poor fit for the hull parts. The tracks while good, did not reflect the 'dead' tracks of the real vehicle unless you add retainers or invest in aftermarket tracks. The decal selection is good although the decal itself was rather disappointing. Nevertheless, it was still a good value for money.