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Tamiya 1/48 Ki61. RFI


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Just wrapped this up before work this morning. I won't go into the kit in too much depth as others have already, far more eloquently and in a more informed way. But I will say that it's absolutely beautiful. Falls together, fantastic fit, lovely details, clear instructions. I really can't fault it - beyond the sort of 'what if' scenarios of wishing there were PE belts etc. Still - for those who care enough, those can be bought! 

 

Anyway - onto the build. I am including a few along-the-way images, as I used this build to try / improve a few things I have been learning. 

 

Interior was painted with Citadel black primer, then the section behind the cockpit was dry brushed with Vallejo aluminium - total waste of time as it's utterly invisible, but I guess most on here will get the motivation. Cockpit and engine section was sprayed with Tamiya USAF tan rattle can. The details were brush painted, before white oil paint was used to pop out some raised details. 

 

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Reflector sight was a cut strip from 35mm film - a roll that came back blank goes a long way for this! It's darker than ideal, but I quite like the look of it. 

 

The main body was primed black - again with Citadel - which I really recommend for rattle can users. I then primed control surfaces with Citadel white, before painting the whole kit with Tamiya bare metal silver. Next up was the red tail. I masked it off, re-primed control surfaces white over the metal, then added a little watercolour masking fluid to leading edges. The result came out rather nicely. 

 

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I then masked off some wing sections and did a dusting of Tamiya titanium sliver rattle can to break up large areas. After this I mixed small amounts of Vallejo Air aluminium paint with Vallejo black grey, or Vallejo yellow - in varying ratios - before brush painting small panels, hatches, sections - again to break it all up. 

 

I then tried to make my own masks, cutting masking tape stuck onto the decal sheet for the distinctive flap markings... this went - well - badly. I am too slipshod with a scalpel and the masks were terrible, and the decals ruined. Instead I cut up an old German cross into small pieces and made  the stencil markings from scratch. 

 

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These ended up pretty overstated, but I was actually really happy with them. Not one for the 'accurists' - but I like the slightly oversized aspect. Still - someone defter than me might use this technique really nicely. No carrier film, and quite fun to do! 

 

All markings bar the tail, and wheel covers were home made masks (not too challenging) with varying primers under the red paint and a little masking fluid used. 

 

I then did an oil pin-wash over the whole kit. Then small decals were added. And I cut the excess carrier film off the tail marking - which I balked at making myself! Amazing how much difference a few seconds of trimming decals makes. I can't believe I never did it before. Spinner and prop were painted with Tamiya RAF dark earth, then dry brushed with Vallejo mixed brown + white, with minimal chipping. And that was that! Quite happy with how it all turned out.  

 

Thanks for looking! 

 

Bruce 

 

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Edited by bruce bay
forgot something
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Wow- best Ki-61 I have seen so far! Very realistic chipping and panel color variations. I  hope I can do half as well with my 1/72 Tamiya Tony when the time comes!

Mike

Edited by 72modeler
corrected spelling
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9 hours ago, WildeSau75 said:

What a great and convincing build - very nice job. Guess I will be never patient enough to paint that detailed like you do...

 

Cheers,

Michael

Thanks Michael

 

I am very impatient too! But actually - the brush painting option for varying metalic colours was far far easier than masking and re-masking... The Vallejo paints also seem to almost naturally fill out the smaller hatches, then stop before flowing into panel lines. And they settle very flat - so if you paint a think layer with a soft flat brush on a small to medium panel the effect is almost like a spray can finish! 

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16 hours ago, bruce bay said:

Thanks Michael

 

I am very impatient too! But actually - the brush painting option for varying metalic colours was far far easier than masking and re-masking... The Vallejo paints also seem to almost naturally fill out the smaller hatches, then stop before flowing into panel lines. And they settle very flat - so if you paint a think layer with a soft flat brush on a small to medium panel the effect is almost like a spray can finish! 

Thanks Bruce - I seem that I didn't read your comments properly - I didn't know you brush painted it. Makes it even more special. brush painting isn't really my thing - might give it once a try though with Vallejo paints looking at your result.

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This looks like a very nice model with a great finish and weathering. I like the detail accentuation, particularly as you seem not to have used after-market items.

 

By the way, there is a good article about correct IFF stripes application here:

https://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2014/03/model-commentary-2b-hien-iff-stripes.html

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15 hours ago, Toryu said:

This looks like a very nice model with a great finish and weathering. I like the detail accentuation, particularly as you seem not to have used after-market items.

 

By the way, there is a good article about correct IFF stripes application here:

https://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2014/03/model-commentary-2b-hien-iff-stripes.html

Oh - that's very useful. Thank you - I will save the link for my next Hein! 

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