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A Swallow over New Guinea - Finished


Andwil

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For my entry I will be building the following:

 

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I won’t be using the kit decals but these rather nice Rising Decals:

 

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This one, Capt Shogo Takeuchi, 2nd Chutai, 68th Sentai, Cape Gloucester.

 

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Build will mostly be OOB, but I’ll add a bit of detail to the rather sparse Hasegawa cockpit.  The camouflage should be a test of my airbrushing skills (or lack of..).

 

I’ll make a start after aI finish the Falklands Sea Harrier, not sure how far I’ll get before I go away to the Northern Territory for the whole of May, first holiday away in two years!

 

AW

 

Edited by Andwil
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Good luck with the mottling - I have never managed to do it well in 1/72 with an airbrush. I hand painted my original Revell Ki-61, and when I did the Hasegawa version like your boxing I did it plain green over silver as on the box art. Incidentally I have read somewhere that the big clover leaf is questionable - there is it seems a suggestion it was added after the surrender by allied troops.

 

Pete

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Welcome along AW and with nice choice too.

 

I do like these aircraft and was going to build a large one until  I realised how much was involved with my build!

 

I like the scheme you've chosen, I've not seen the one before, the airbrush work doesn't look to be as bad as some of those schemes, so you should be ok.

 

Good luck with the build, i hope you enjoy it.

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12 hours ago, PeterB said:

Incidentally I have read somewhere that the big clover leaf is questionable - there is it seems a suggestion it was added after the surrender by allied troops.

Yes, I’ve seen that as well.  I was at one time quite keen to do that scheme until I saw that reference.  If I remember correctly there is a photo taken post war at an airfield in Japan and the shamrock Hien is parked among other abandoned  aircraft.  The fact that all the planes are neatly parked in a row and there are GIs also in the shot lends credence to the theory.

 

AW

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10 hours ago, Andwil said:

The fact that all the planes are neatly parked in a row and there are GIs also in the shot lends credence to the theory.

I’m not sure where I saw this, if I ever saw it at all.  I’ve been reading a lot about the “Shamrock Hien” over the last couple of days and such a picture has never been mentioned.  Maybe I just imagined it?  Anyway there is plenty of doubt surrounding the plane that as a modelling subject it is best left well alone.

 

Even the subject of my model, which was captured intact, has some uncertainty over the fuselage band.  The Rising  decals give it as white with a blue border, Nick Millman in his Osprey volume on Ki-62 Aces has it with a red border with the reasoned explanation that as Takeuchi was leader of the 2nd Chutai it likely had a red command band that was subsequently painted over white when it was passed on to another pilot.  So I’m leaning toward painting it with a red band.  Then there is the thorny issue of the interior colour.....

 

More to come.

 

AW

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So a start on the Tony.  The Hasegawa cockpit is...basic.  A floor, a seat, an instrument panel, a pilot figure.  No control column.  So a I started by making a front bulkhead/firewall and a bit of a rear bulkhead to fill the gap behind the seat.  A control column from thin rod.  Although very little will be seen once closed up I also added the switch panel beside the seat and a lever on the other side, some sidewalk detail including the throttle quadrant and oxygen regulator (?).  The gun breeches were also added to the shelf that supports the IP.

 

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Some of the knobs and switches are over scale but they are only intended to busy up the cockpit, 1/72 is just too small to depict each one accurately.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

 

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Cockpit painted, still got some belts to add.  The information I have found on Ki-61 interior colours is conflicting and confusing so I settled for a dark grey-green shade (actually Lifecolour RLM 74 Grungrau).

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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Actually made some progress today, welcome relief from the horror show that is the Do 215B-5 I’m attempting to build over in the Dornier STGB.

 

Cockpit and IP in place:

 

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Fuselage closed up:

 

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and wings on:

 

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Fit is good, there looks like a small gap at the wing roots but shouldn’t be a problem.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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Airframe completed with the addition of the tailplanes, radiator and carburettor scoop.  It’s hard to see but I’ve made up the support for the gun sight.

 

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As the subject of my model is a Ki-61 I Ko with a retractable tail wheel, I made up a pair of doors:

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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I will be watching with interest as the campaign for New Guinea is not all that well known over here. I have a book on the 68th Sentai during that campaign and it seems to have been a real struggle - bad climate, lack of resources particularly nearer the end, and on top of that they were struggling at first with a new plane that had a totally different engine from the type the mechanics were used to, and one that was not particularly reliable as well. I have read that being an inline it had a much longer crankshaft than a radial and there were problems with machining the correct tight tolerances during manufacture that caused crankshaft failures. In the end, the 4 Sentai involved were effectively wiped out and were disbanded in 1944, never to reform, or so the book says.

 

Pete 

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On 4/30/2022 at 9:53 AM, trickyrich said:

she's coming along nicely, she looks to be a nice build.

Thanks Rich, it does go together quickly and easily.  It’s nice to build a simple kit once in a while as a welcome relief from more complex ones, and proves that a kit doesn’t have to be an over-engineered wonder kit with a four part fuselage to make a nice model!  A few little additions is all it really needs.

 

And with that, a small piece of acetate for the gun sight and the canopy on, which is a near perfect fit.

 

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I have also made up the undercarriage, just needs a wash to bring out the detail.

 

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This is as far as I’l get before my trip away, when I return in a month it will off to the paint shop.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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  • 1 month later...

Back from holidays and rescuing this thread from the depths of page four.  Canopy masked and primer sprayed.  This revealed a few seams that will require a bit more work.  Some sprue gloop brushed on, when this has set I’ll sand the joints down and reprime.

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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Started to get some colour on today, yellow on the leading edge, light green-grey on the fabric covered control services snd the black anti-dazzle panel.  These will be masked off and the aircraft will get an overall spray of aluminium.

 

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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Aluminium on.  The aircraft is now in the finish it left the factory in, minus the hinomarus.

 

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The bright spots are reflections from my desk lamp.

 

The palm camouflage is next.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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20 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Looking really good AW, I can relate to your comment about a kit that goes together easily, much what I'm finding with the N1K2-J I've just got going on.

Steve.

They certainly are nice little kits when you want a break from more complex builds.  I have an Oscar lined for a second entry in this GB.

 

23 hours ago, trickyrich said:

gee that finish look nice!

 

4 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

 

Agreed, smooth with a capital "Smoooo" B) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

Thanks guys.  Now, how can I mess it up?

 

So, on to the the Palm Frond camouflage.  This was applied, quite crudely, in the field, or in the case of the Ki-61s destined for New Guinea, hurridly applied before being ferried out.  Photos show that it was applied after the hinomarus as these were carefully painted around but before the unit insignia and other tactical markings, which were clearly painted over the camo.  So firstly I cut circles of tape to mask the position of the hinomarus:

 

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Then the dark green was freehanded in random squiggles over the upper surfaces and around the tape circles.  I used quite thin paint (Mig Kawasaki green) sprayed at very low pressure in nice and close to get thin lines.  I also had the airbrush screwed right down to avoid pulling the trigger too far back.  I practised first on a mule, then took a deep breath and went for it.  Certainly a first for me and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out:

 

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If anything its possibly a bit too light on.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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22 hours ago, PeterB said:

That has certainly worked very well. I have never been brave enough to try that with an airbrush.

 

Pete

Give it a try Pete, if I can do it anyone can!

 

Now the subject of my model is a Tony of the 68th Sentai that was captured more or less intact in New Guinea and subsequently restored to flying condition and evaluated by the Americans.  The aircraft has been attributed to 68th Sentai ace, Capt. Shogo Takeuchi.  The markings are conjectural, as when captured it had a white band behind the cockpit with a narrow border, depicted in some profiles as red and by Rising decals in cobalt blue.  Nick Millman in his Osprey book on Ki-61 aces suggests that the white was painted over a darker colour leaving the narrow border, perhaps when the plane was passed on by Takeuchi to another pilot and that as commander of the 2nd Chutai the band was a command band in the chutai colour of red.  So I have followed this suggestion and masked off and sprayed a red band.  Here is the model unmasked and ready for decals, only a little bleed of the red to touch up.

 

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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Earlier today I tidied up the red paint bleed did some light chipping on the anti glare panel and only just remembered  to paint the tail wheel.  This evening I applied the decals.

 

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Not much more to do on this one.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

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Undercarriage fitted and a matt finish sprayed  on today.

 

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Still have the navigation lights and  exhaust staining to do.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

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