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IBG Models Type 3 Medium Tank Chi-Nu Kai [FINISHED]


klr

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Having gotten bogged down with certain other kits, I am going to take a diversion here for a couple of days. It's not a bank holiday weekend here in Ireland, so I am taking advantage of "the Scottish option". My choice is the IBG Models Type 3 Chi-Nu Kai. I received this only on Friday lunchtime, so it spent less than 30 hours in the stash. Some kits have been in there for more than 30 years ...

 

The Chi-Nu Kai was an improved version of the Chi-Nu, with a longer-calibre 75mm gun, but it only reached prototype stage. The IBG kits of Japanese armour all have Japanese text on the box and in the instructions, so they are obviously meant for the Japanese market, without any changes or re-boxing by another company required. I wonder what the Japanese make of the somewhat curious artwork here? Anyway, this is the first time I've built an IBG kit. Start time, just after 7:35pm Saturday:

DSC01209_dr_030.jpg

 

The one-piece tracks with the inner wheels molded in place simplify construction, as well as ensuring a realistic "sagged" appearance. But they needed careful cleaning up first, and painting them is going to be arduous. I suspect I will spend at least half the total time on these.

 

Speaking of paint, I have plumped for Humbrol 105 to represent IJA "Grass Green", 1942 version.

 

Here's where I finished just after 11pm this evening, having taken an hour out for a walk and some much-needed eats (did you really want to see a picture of a bowl of cereal?). So total elapsed time so far is c. 2 1/2 hours, of which almost 30 minutes was spent researching the paint choice.

DSC01210_dre_025.jpg

 

The plastic is generally very thin, perhaps overly so in some cases, as it breaks easily. My first task tomorrow morning will be to remove the suspension arms from the sprue. If I can do this without breaking any of them, it will be a minor miracle, given that there is an extremely delicate section in the middle of each:

DSC01211_dre_040.jpg

 

EDIT: Forgot to show the time at the end, but it's been a long, long, day.

Edited by klr
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So, after a short walk this morning, we start again:

DSC01212_dre_020.jpg

 

Painting the rims of the road wheels and return rollers was painstakingly slow, and that's not the end of it. I'll have to go back and clean it all up, and then start to paint the tracks:

DSC01213_dre_020.jpg

 

The turret is almost complete, save for attaching the MG. The MG mount broke when I removed it - no surprise, as it had already been weakened.

DSC01214_dre_025.jpg

 

The first of the four main suspension arms, removed and cleaned, and somehow not broken:

IMG_20200830_104633_dre_050.jpg

 

... and attached to the lower hull, having painted the inwards facing side first. Note that I've not yet joined the hull halves, and I will need a couple of thin card inserts to seal off gaps.

IMG_20200830_105342_dre_040.jpg

 

So after 3 hours (5 1/2 in all so far), it's time for a break:

DSC01215_dre_020.jpg

 

 

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Two further stints, the first two hours to complete the suspension, the turret and various other steps. The MG mount broke - no surprise there - and I'll need to scratch-build a replacement.

DSC01216_dr_025.jpg

 

DSC01217_dr_025.jpg

 

Then this evening - after a lot of walking -  3 more hours of hard slog, mostly painting.

DSC01219_dr_020.jpg

 

Some of the detail parts are being painted separately, and are not shown here.

DSC01220_dre_020.jpg

 

Total elapsed time thus far: circa 10 1/2 hours.

 

Tomorrow is definitely not a holiday for me, far from it. It's going to be a very busy day at work (which of course happens to be at home). I'll have to see how much time I can spare during the day to move things along, and hopefully be able to complete the kit tomorrow night.

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I've managed to somehow find two hours all told for this today ...

DSC01221_dre_025.jpg

 

It's going to be a mad rush this evening to get it finished. I may leave off some of the ridiculously small PE parts around the back, which are almost too small to see.

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So, after 17 hours or so, I'm calling this done, even though it could really do with some more touching up. And of course the lighting conditions are very poor, even with the use of a reading lamp, requiring the brightness to be boosted during the image processing. I don't like using the flash if I can help it.

 

DSC01222_dre_030.jpg

 

More pics in the gallery in 5 minutes ...

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