1/48 Mitsubishi Karigane - The Divine Wind goes West [Done!]

[alt-92]

During the initial flight testing of what would become the Ki-15 Reconnaissance/light bomber, the newspaper Asahi Shimbun obtained permission to purchase the second prototype. The aircraft was given the designation Karigane (Wild Goose), flying on 19 March 1937, being named Kamikaze and registered as J-BAAI.

It was the first Japanese-built airplane to fly to Europe and caused a sensation in 1937 by making the flight between Tokyo and London, for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, between 6 April 1937 and 9 April 1937 in a flight time of 51 hours, 17 minutes and 23 seconds, a world record at the time.

 

Fine Molds has reproduced this aircraft in 1/48 scale:

 

And they did a pretty good job on it. Lovely details, nice plastic.

 

 

 

Let's find out if I can set a record as well and get it done in a month!

 

 

[Brad]

Cool mate,welcome along. Still heaps to time to build.

[alt-92]

Ok, cut all the bitsy thingies that need a coat of primer and Mitsubishi Interior Green M3, and pointed the airbrush in the general direction.

 

The astute observer will notice a couple of big ejector pins on the fuselage insides - as did I  - but fret not, these are cleverly hidden (I checked) by the internal framework and various bits that need attaching thereon.

 

Back to the Harvard for now...

[PeterB]

That looks interesting - I remember seeing the 1/72 Hasegawa kit of it back in the mid 1970's, together with the Army Ki-15 version  Babs version and possibly the JNAF C5M as wellI believe but I never bought it.

 

Pete

Edited July 4, 2021 by PeterB

[alt-92]

Internals (mostly) done. Need to apply a couple of instrument decals and then it's closing time.

 

 

The kit allows for subassembly of a good part of the kit, so you can do the gear and engine parts / exhaust system without too much trouble. 

 

[alt-92]

Closed up and feathers added - the fit is really, really nice. Barely any gaps.

 

 

Cleanup and very minor smidgens of PPP filler to smooth out the seams. 
Then, anti-glare in black done..

 

 

About the only bit where more work is needed is at the bottom rear wing join. Otherwise, seriously impressed with the fit of all the parts.

 

 

[PattheCat]

The only FineMolds kit I have built is their 1/48 A5M4 Claude. I was really impressed with this kit, one of the best (if not the best) global experiences I ever had considering engineering, fit and detail. Well, OK it's a simple plane but still.

Nice choice and nice job so far. Eager to see the result.

 

[alt-92]

Glass fitted and all masked up, primered with Surfacer black.

 

 

Added some gloss black on the fixed undercarriage, and then the AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium - and that looks very good. 

 

Meaning, the rest of the aircraft will also receive that treatment. 

The Blue is the now out of production H328 FS15050 that will be going on top. 

 

 

 

[rob Lyttle]

This is looking superb, Alt. The kit looks great and so does your build. The surface details through the metal paint is right on 😎

[alt-92]

Tossed one bottle of AK Black base as it reacted badly to the primer. The other one is unopened, but not risking it on this one.

 

Luckily, I started on the underside first where repairs wouldn't be that much of a visible issue (and it proved to be a wise choice). 
So after remedial work, a coat of Tamiya X-1 Glossy black and a prayer, on went the Xtreme metal Aluminium:

 

 

 

That doesn't look half bad...

 

 

Now, don't touch it for at least 24 hours and do some panels with white aluminium. 

 

 

 

[PattheCat]

Your metal coat doesn't look "half bad" but excellent to my eyes and not only mine, certainly.

 

I sometimes think we should follow a degree in chemistry. My worst experience was when I saw the disaster the next day after putting decals on. The softener had reacted with the Tamiya X11 (chrome silver) and the paint had become pure white under and around the decals! Well, OK I had forgotten to apply a clear coat before decalling but that's not a reason for such a thing to happen.

[alt-92]

We'll see  Xtreme Metal is enamel based, so should take it well.

I would like to have had a good metalizer gloss/protective coat but the only one I know of that doesn't dull down too much is Testor's which is long gone by now.

Still, that's without decals on and those definitely need a gloss coat over them.

 

-- 

engine bits as a separate subassembly  - I've not yet glued the cowling halves together but did spray them 15050 blue so I only need to touch up the seams later.
Looks very nice, glad I did add some accents with the ignition wires.

 

The exhausts, didn't spend too much on that as they're barely visible hidden in the cowling backend. 

 

Bit like the interior  all that lovely detail, and it's stuffed down into a dark cubbyhole. Eh.. whatcha gonna do..

 

 

 

[alt-92]

Pfffff.... masking sweeping curves...

 

 

And I did not forget the brown propeller blade rears (reminder: pick off lint). 
The exhaust stacks are even somewhat visible. 

 

FineMolds provide a vinyl cap for holding the prop without glue so props to them (badum tsss) 

And the whole engine with prop is engineered like a snap-fit mini-model. Not glued on yet so it's a bit off-kilter.

 

 

Now for the decals, landing light and antenna bits.

[PattheCat]

Wonderful paint job. It's going to be amazing when finished.

[alt-92]

How's this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brad]

Very nice, great finish.

[Hewy]

 very well built and finished 👍

[Herrick]

Very nice build!