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Ki-45 Toyru “Nick”


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Ok... I’m actually an armor modeler. But I have a secret passion for WW2 Japanese aircraft. Keep this under your hats! Here we have the Nichimo Ki-45 “Nick” I’ve been working on it while my airbrush has been down and here is the progress so far:

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And a belly shot:

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I’ll post as we go! Any questions, comments, threats welcome!

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Coming along nicely Sandlapper.

 

I share your passion. 

 

Ki-45 was a pretty bird. I have Hasegawa's 1/48 in my stash. 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Bigglesof266 said:

Coming along nicely Sandlapper.

 

I share your passion. 

 

Ki-45 was a pretty bird. I have Hasegawa's 1/48 in my stash. 

 

 

I have the Hasegawa kit too with the refuel truck. I have four Nichimo kits though. Since this is something of a return to the hobby I elected for the older kit.

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Nice. I get that. I'm currently building an Academy 1/48 La-7 for the same reason.

 

How does the Nichimo Toryu compare? I know I have some original oTaki kits too, and they go together fast and scrub up nicely stand off. Finishing off their Arii reincarnation of the N1K1-Ja Shiden in 1/48 now. They go together in a two or three easy days and can be finished to the display shelf within a week. Easy builds to completion to get the mojo back and use as a 'hand and eye back in' mistakes canvas. For Japanese subjects in the particular, Hasegawa do a good value fidelity feature balance IMV, and can be sourced at a reasonable price ex-Japan.  The newer Tamiya 1/48 stuff, Ki-61-1, A6M3 & A6M5 type Zeros are certainly extra tasty, but the local etail and retail prices are getting a tad too stratospheric for me. My eyes don't really appreciate all that cockpit etch work in 1/48 any more. I'd rather fill it with a pilot as the natural eye magnet. Modelkasten's Japanese 1/48 aircrew are beautifully sculpted and reproduce outstandingly for injection moulded figures. Their Rabaul Pilots set is absolutely gorgeous. 

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The Nichimo kit is respectable straight from the box as I am building it. It does not have the same level of detail as the Hasegawa kit but it is worlds above and beyond the Otaki/Arii kits. If one wanted they could lavish the kit with extra detail as there is little molded in detail to remove. Detail in the cockpit consists of electrical boxes in front and rear and some hydraulic controls. Of course there are two seats and an instrument panel with outlines for the gauges. I have some generic gauge decals that I had considered but since the cockpit would be closed decided against them. Landing gear detail is basic and could venefit from brake lines and a few bits and bobs here and there. The landig gear wells are devoid of detail.  Fit wise it is a product of its day with the engine nacelles needing some shaping and filler. For some reason there were knock outs on the joining halves of the fuselage. The instructions are completely in Japanese , luckily I was a tenured professor of Medieval Japanese literature at the university of Kyoto and had a side job proofreading and editing documents for the Japanese atomic energy commission. ColoUr call outs are all in Japanese so some research is needed for painting. While the Ki-45 was a Kawasaki product most relic part from them were not the same color as the Ki-61 colors in the cockpit area at least. I painted mine khaki drab your taste may run differently.

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7 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Looking pretty good 👍 ... After the Ki-61 these are my next favorite japanese type. 

Did someone say Ki-61? 😁

Might do one next! 

Edited by Sandlapper
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I have started the green mottling and am having some self doubt. My Maru Mechanic book has an excellent close up of the nose of a Nick showing a fairly (actually very) sloppy application of the green. Im sort of trying to replicate that here. I am doinv the Green freehand. Have a look comments questions threats proposals and haikus all welcome!

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I think I may “flesh in” some of the green and connect some of the smaller sections.

Edited by Sandlapper
Added thought. One remaining! Make it count, Jon!
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47 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Looks pretty good to my older Mk.I 👀‘s .

I had to run and buy a moisture trap for my airbrush i was getting water in the work. 

 

Do you think I should consolidate same of the green for a more tortoise shell look?

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Personally i like the way it looks right now. You mentioned a photograph from the book ? If it were my build, I  would go with the example given. I think these camouflage patterns were usually not perfect. However if you prefer the Tortoise shell look then by all means go for it. In the end you have to look at the built model and be happy with it. 

 

Dennis

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Looks really good. I have just done this on my A6M3 in the Pacific group build. I found it really nerve racking to do. Just one mistake and the whole thing goes west. I had one which was a headache to fix because my background colour wasn't the standard colour out on the bottle. I saved some for touch ups, but it wasn't the same colour anymore when I went to use it. 

Now the next question is what colour are you going to do the panel lines,? I think black it too dark on the light colour, so I'm thinking of mixing a dark grey. 

Edited by Greg Law
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12 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

 

Now the next question is what colour are you going to do the panel lines,? I think black it too dark on the light colour, so I'm thinking of mixing a dark grey. 

Thank you Greg! I’m going with a dark grey for the panel washes. Weathering is going to be minimal on it too.

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3 hours ago, Greg Law said:

I think black it too dark on the light colour, so I'm thinking of mixing a dark grey. 

Well id base it off the surface of the airbase the plane operated off of ? If compressed coral id use a medium grey or tan. If sandy soil id use a brown or dk. yellow. If tarmack or concrete dk. grey or black. I believe its the dust that catches in the joints that makes them stand out. 

 

Dennis

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