Having
committed myself a couple of years ago to building only modern jet fighters, I
bought this kit on a whim due to a really low price at the local hobby shop.
Upon opening the box one is presented by a beautifully moulded set of sprues
typical of the recent Hasegawa quality. There’s not much to say about the kit
which has not already been written in the various modeling websites. The
assembly is straightforward and the fit excellent.
I
decided to try my hand at a natural metal finish and read somewhere on ARC that
the best way to fill the fuselage seams is with super glue. I was very happy
with the result with no visible seam visible after painting.
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images below to see larger images
The
only parts I added to the kit were :
-
Some
wiring inside the cockpit and behind the instrument panel associated with
the gun breeches. Not really necessary as this is all lost once everything
is put together.
-
Seat
harnesses using wine bottle foil.
-
Ignition
harnesses to the engine – this is a must as the engine detail is very
visible.
-
Some
structural detail inside the engine cowling.
-
Some
piping and electrical cables to the undercarriage bays.
Apart
from that, the kit was assembled straight out of the box.
Cockpit
interior was painted in a mix of 3 parts Pactra IJ20 and 1 part Tamiya X1 white.
Exterior painting was preceded with pre-shading using Tamiya X-18 black. All six
Hinamarus were painted using Tamiya X2 red and then masked before application of
natural metal. Basically all the red makings were airbrushed instead of using
the kit decals (I’ve never been too successful at applying decals to natural
metal base coats). The antiglare panel and wing walkway were painted natural
metal, random areas masked using liquid latex, over sprayed with a dark grey and
then the latex mask removed to simulate paint chipping. The natural metal base
coat was airbrushed using a mix of Xtracolour X-602 Flanker Blue (30%) and
Tamiya X-11 silver (70%). Ad hoc panels were shaded using various mixes of
Tamiya X-11 / X-16 Aluminium. Final weathering was done using pastels (grey and
black).
The
final result is an aesthetically pleasing airplane and a nice addition to my
collection. I enjoyed this build so much that I ended up buying the Hasegawa
32nd scale Ki-61 (and I’m sure I’ll soon be getting the 109 as well).
Malcolm Reid
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