Hasegawa 1/32 Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate 'Frank'

[Stew Dapple]

This is my eighth completion for 2019, the Hasgawa 1/32 Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate which went under the Allied reporting name of 'Frank'. It represents an aircraft of the 101st Sentai based either at Taisho Airbase near Osaka, at the end of the war, or at Miyakonojo Airbase on Kyushu Island in June 1945; most sources state the latter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of Hasegawa's older 'new tool' kits dating from 2004, and its' age is apparent when compared to the Ki-44 kit that I finished last, it is a bit more clunky and primitive-feeling, but it went together very well and was a pleasure to build. I did use a bit of aftermarket on it, namely the Profimodeller brass guns and pitot tube and the Mastercasters wheels and exhaust outlets. I also used the Eduard mask set for the canopy. Oh, and I swapped the pilot's head for one from the Ki-44 kit that I hadn't used as the moulding and detail was better. I'm not in the habit of building my models with the flaps deployed but Hasegawa did not give me the choice this time.

 

For the paint scheme I first gave the model an overall coat of Alclad, to which masking tape, salt and masking fluid was added with the aim of reproducing (as closely as possible, anyway) this scheme. Not only is there evidence of extensive flaking of the camouflage, but some panels around the cockpit look to have bare-metal replacements. In fact I have no idea if the aircraft actually flew in this condition, as the picture was pretty certainly taken in an aircraft 'graveyard' and could have been abandoned half-repaired. In my favour is the fact that almost certainly nobody else knows either.

 

The uppersurfaces were painted in Colourcoats ACJ22 - IJAAF #7 Ohryoku nana go shoku with the anti-glare panel painted in Vallejo Black Grey. The undersides were painted in a mixture of the uppersurface colour and white paint, which was probably how they actually painted the underside of aircraft finished in this colour.

 

I used the kit transfers, despite my reservations that the Hinomaru and their white outlines were supplied as separate transfers; Hasegawa transfers do have a reputation for being a bit thick but they turned out okay anyway and the stencils etc. all went down well with no silvering.

 

For the final touches the navigation lights (which are moulded opaquely on the wings and tail, but are also supplied as clear parts if you trim off the originals) were painted in Tamiya Clear Red and Blue, and the R/T antenna wire was made from Infini White Lycra thread, the 120 Denier version, attached with Bob's Buckles eyelets.

 

I'm actually very pleased with how it turned out, it was a nice easy build and it kept me out of trouble for a few weeks  

 

Thanks for dropping by  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[opus999]

This is great! I love the subtle weathering and the not-so-subtle wear!  Combined with the paint finish it makes it very realistic looking.  The Frank may be my favorite Japanese fighter and this is a terrific example. 

 

Did you paint the exhaust streaks on?

[Toryu]

That's a fantastic reproduction of the original, Stew. Very genuine effect of the flaking. I had exactly this Hayate in mind for my 1/48 collection. Just hesitating because of the uncertainties that you mention. The topside could be camouflaged in the earlier field-applied dark green over bare metal underside, too, which would explain the excessive wear. But who knows? I appreciate the research and the thought process that you put into this build. I have to think it through again.

 

ハッピーモデル構築  - Michael

[Robert_]

Excellent work- looks great! 

[Stew Dapple]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

Did you paint the exhaust streaks on?

 

Thank you mate - yes, I airbrushed them. I've got into the habit recently of doing the exhaust staining with ground-up pastel, but the staining visible on this aircraft was too much for that  

 

1 hour ago, Toryu said:

That's a fantastic reproduction of the original, Stew

 

Thank you very much Michael - regarding the camouflage, you're quite right, it might well have been the dark green applied over natural metal. In the first picture I linked to it looks too light for that, which is what led me to do it in the browner camouflage, but in the second picture it looks too dark for the brown camouflage and probably about right for the dark green.., but it's unlikely to have been both  In the end, as you say, who knows? I hope I haven't put you off building yours  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[opus999]

Thanks. I haven't been brave enough to try airbrushing exhaust streaks on, but I've seen many cases where it is more realistic than just pastels.  Especially when there are several colors involved, like the F6F Hellcat or the AD Skyraider.  I'm currently working on a P-40 that might need the multi-color approach.

[Stew Dapple]

7 minutes ago, opus999 said:

Thanks. I haven't been brave enough to try airbrushing exhaust streaks on, but I've seen many cases where it is more realistic than just pastels. 

 

If you can adjust your airbrush so that it sprays more air than paint, that helps; also you can increase the translucency of the paint by mixing it with matt varnish, this doesn't make it as runny as using thinners and so it's easier to build it up gently without it 'spidering' due to the paint being too thin. Apologies if I'm trying to teach you to suck eggs, I'm sure if you experiment on some scrap plastic you will be able to work it out for yourself  

 

Cheers, 

 

Stew

[opus999]

Thanks Stew.  I have plenty of scrap... I'll give it a try!

[spitfire]

Nice one, it's great to work from a photo and you have caught that just right.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[RMCS]

Superb 

[Stew Dapple]

8 hours ago, spitfire said:

Nice one, it's great to work from a photo and you have caught that just right.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Thanks Dennis, and yes, finding pictures of both sides was a real bonus, though as noted above it wasn't as conclusive as it might have been  

 

6 hours ago, RMCS said:

Superb 

 

Thank you very much Richard  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Lovely jubbly Stew!