|
I have always wanted to build this Japanese Fighter aircraft as it’s my favourite Japanese aircraft. It is a very sleek and very colourful aircraft for sometimes very uninteresting Japanese Army paint
schemes. The Model Kit which I bought was the Hasegawa JT-87 for the Ki.61 in 1/48 Scale and
I added the Eduard Ki.61 photoetch set (FE160) and the superb aftermarket Resin Ki.61 Cannon and Machine Guns by Quickboost.
I also purchased from eBay, the 1/48 Scale Moskit Ki.61 Exhausts (which are no longer made).
These are Highly Recommended as they are very realistic and hollow ended - far superior to the Kit exhausts supplied .
I finally bought the Squadron VacForm Canopy for the Ki.61 to allow the cockpit to be
fitted in the open position and be much more easily viewed.
This is an essential addition as the Kit canopy by Hasegawa is one-piece.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The Hasegawa Ki.61 kit is moulded in a dark gray high quality plastic with no flash. The decals and single piece canopy are wrapped in their own bag.
Very well packed but you would not expect anything less from Hasegawa. The box art is terrific as usual.
I started the Model by fitting the etch to the aircraft and the cockpit. This makes a huge difference especially to the undercarriage areas which really needed it . I added a putty seat cushion to the
seat as the actual aircraft had one, and fitted Eduard seat-belts for added realism.
I also spotted something which to my certain knowledge no other rmodeler has, namely that the forward aerodynamic cowling over the first exhaust pipe has a small duct to allow cooling air to pass through, which I added to the Model with a micro-drill (see red arrow on picture)
The interior was painted as Kawasaki Interior Tan.
The best equivalent I found was Model Masters Acryl RLM 79 with a soft black wash to bring out highlights and detail in the cockpit.
I like to use Alclad II for all my silvers now. I picked up a new bottle of Alclad Primer Black and shot the plane completely.
This is required for the very shiny colours such as bright chrome or polished aluminium.
I then painted the entire aircraft and fuselage with Duralum Silver. Don’t forget to paint the wheel spats and the small wheel covers while you have the airbrush loaded up.
While the silver was drying I moved to the propellor and spinner. They were painted matt black.
Remove the masking tape from all control surfaces. After the plane was completely dry I masked off all flight controls then sprayed all the control surfacesTamiya IJN Gray.
You can tape right over the silver without worrying about damaging the paint.
Alclad surfaces are very durable.
I then added the overspray camouflage to the Model .
I chose the Kit Decals as I have always loved the look of the 244th Sentai Aircraft which was numbered “ 295 “ and was flown by Captain Teruhiko Kobayashi in January 1945 from Chofu Air Base,
Japan. One thing to remember when painting this model is that this aircraft was brand-new and was able to be carefully serviced as it was not in action continuously, and was based in Japan where facilities were better.
Original photos of this aircraft prove how well maintained it looked.
I am really delighted with the Model - I recommend this Model to anyone.
Sources used -
David Walker
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
