IJA Type 99 Army Assault Plane Ki-51 `Sonia`

[russ c]

Hi Everyone,

 Glad so say I`ve finally finished my attempt at building a `Sonia` from Wingsy Kits 1/48 kit

Finished to represent an aircraft of the 27th Hikosentai, Burma, 1942 ( Oh why did I chose _that scheme and _that armament ! )

Built almost entirely from the box contents, the only additions being the aerial wires

I found the kit to be a bit of a struggle and, because of Wingsy`s `why make a part out of one piece when you can make it out of five` approach, a bit of a chore too 

The fit of the parts is great and the level of detail is very high.........

....but the plastic is very similar to Kitty Hawks `Twougar` kit and is hard to sand and doesn`t stick well ( I found Humbrol Liquid cement worked best )

The opening part of the pilots canopy isn`t a good fit either, it`s very thick and really needs a vac formed part.

Still, got there in the end and am glad to have one in the collection.

Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking

Cheers Russ

[phil23]

Hi

Nice kit of of a nice plane! Finally I get to see one of these Wingsy kit finished…..It looks very tempting.

How did you get the mottles done? Looks like airbrush for the center and hand painted for the rest???

 

good job😉

[RidgeRunner]

Nice one, Russ. I know little aboutJapanesemachines but your posts enlighten me bit by bit

[Reini78]

Nice end result and good looking potato camo

[russ c]

3 minutes ago, phil23 said:

Hi

Nice kit of of a nice plane! Finally I get to see one of these Wingsy kit finished…..It looks very tempting.

How did you get the mottles done? Looks like airbrush for the center and hand painted for the rest???

 

good job😉

Thanks Phil, It`s all hand painted. After the green I painted grey blobs all over, then did smaller brown blobs in the middle of those. Next with brown still and a small short stiff brush stippled around the outside of the brown blobs to soften it up a bit. Took a few evenings to do.

Cheers Russ 

[Mig88]

Unusual scheme! Looks great and I did a fine job!

 

Miguel

[Toryu]

Fantastic rendition of a 'little' complicated scheme. I thought a long time about this for my own Sonia since it is such a rare camouflage but finally decided against it. It's too time-consuming - more than a 'few' evenings I guess - and the scheme unfortunately is not 100% confirmed whether brown over green vs. green over brown.

I admire your dedication to achieve this and the great photography as always.

 

Cheers, Michael

[Graham Boak]

Nicely done.  Coincidentally I was looking at my Hasegawa one last night, but put it back in the box with no further work done, and turned my attention to a Lily.  I haven't seen this camouflage before; mine is intended to be a blue one - but which blue?

[Toryu]

1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

mine is intended to be a blue one - but which blue?

Graham,

 

There is some doubt about blue-coloured Sonias. The ARMY Air Force probably used blue in the anti-submarine role - this would then have been the mission of this specific (often reproduced) Sonia, whose Sentai history is otherwise unknown IIRC. The blue is described in Nick's article here: http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2011/02/sentai-hombu-blues.html

 

There is also a recent book about Japanese anti-submarine activities which covers the Ki-51. I don't know, however, if it's clarifying the colour since I don't own it. http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2018/03/new-book-japanese-anti-submarine.html

 

Arawasi Eagle Eye Series No.1 includes a short caption about blue Sonias with colour profile. http://www.arawasi.jp/salebook.hp/aramag/eye1.html

 

Hope this makes your decision easier.

Cheers, Michael

 

 

 

[Baldy]

Well Russ the result is great - an attractive looking aeroplane and avery unusual colour scheme. Melon slice? - bet it took an age to paint!

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[Smithy]

Great job, really turned out wonderful!

[Tempestwulf]

5 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Nicely done.  Coincidentally I was looking at my Hasegawa one last night, but put it back in the box with no further work done, and turned my attention to a Lily.  I haven't seen this camouflage before; mine is intended to be a blue one - but which blue?

I finished a Hasegawa one recently (need to post pics), went for single grey colour scheme for ease of painting. Had to scratch build a lot of cockpit detail & added racks/bombs from the Hasegawa Nell. Lily should be good.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Excellent work and what a camouflage scheme ! ... Sorry to hear it was a witch to do, but it was definitely well worth it. 

[Red Dog]

Going crosseyed looking at that camo. Great job on replicating it. Looks suitably weathered and worn.

Well done.

[IPMS19]

- Nice piece of camo - I always hesitate to go in this way with similar painting of some Regia Aeronautia fighters......Congrats....

[Graham Boak]

Just to make clear that it is my Sonia which is intended to be blue, not the Lily.  I'm aware of doubts about the scheme but perhaps there are even more directed against the Oscar!

 

I have the book, but it deals largely with dedicated ASW types not those of other types that may have been hauled into use in desperate times.  I'm pretty certain that it says nothing about blue Sonias.

[Ron Pearcy]

That's a beauty. Paint scheme eye catching and excellently done.

[Adam Poultney]

Looks great, wouldn't want to paint that camouflage though, that's got to have taken an age to do!

[Robert_]

Well done, great work with the brush. 

[Vinnie]

Cracking build there Russ, especially as you hand painted the camo.

[Greg Law]

Another fantastic build Russ.  That scheme would have taken a great deal of patience.  You have done it so well it is amazing. 

[Greg Law]

Another fantastic build Russ.  That scheme would have taken a great deal of patience.  You have done it so well it is amazing. 

[Greg Law]

Another fantastic build Russ.  That scheme would have taken a great deal of patience.  You have done it so well it is amazing. 

[replicant]

Hello Russ,

i like your Red Sonja! Polka Dots in japanese!

Cheers,

Tom