Hello all, there’s some great work in here so far. I’m in the midst of trying to remodel my basement to make a playroom for my daughter so and I have relocated “Ye Olde Model Bench” to another part of the basement. I’m still trying to get used to my new digs. That aside, I have been making some progress on the Hayate. The airframe went together nice and needed no filler. The normal wing root issues that are common to this brand were absent on this kit and they fit like a glove.
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I then turned my attention to the Nakajima Ha 45 mill. Hasegawa does a nice job here and its fairly detailed right out of the box. To me, radial engines just don’t look right without ignition wires, so I endeavored to add them. I found a pic of Ha 45 through a Google search and used it as reference. I used .10 rod styrene as the ignition points around the ring then added fine stereo wire for the wires.
I gave it a paint job with Alclad Aluminum and painted the gear box XF-19 Sky Grey. The wires were then paint Floquil Grimy Black per the reference photo.
Then a Detailer wash was used then followed with a blast of Tamiya Smoke X-19. The finished product.
I have the Sky decal sheet 48041, which supplies 20 options. I ultimately I decided on 8 kill Major Kawamoto’s Hayate of the 50th Sentai from April of 1945. It carried a Dark Green over Light Grey scheme and didn’t appear too beat up with paint flaking off, which is common on these. I sourced an old bottle of Model Master Enamel IJA Light Grey that I had and custom mixed my own equivalent with Tamiya paint. I came up with 3 parts XF-12 IJN Grey and 1 part Xf-19 Sky Grey. I can’t tell the difference between my mixture and the Model Master color.
Back to the airframe, I sprayed the flap area and gear wells Alclad Duraluminum and taped them off. I then preshaded the panel lines with XF-1 Flat Black then painted the yellow for wing ID bands, the red flap warning stripes, and then the white fuselage stripe. The black anti-glare panel was sprayed too in XF-69 NATO Black. I then taped all of these areas off and the IJA grey was sprayed. This was then lighted with white XF-2 and streaked for weathering. After the control surfaces were shaded, to add more contrast, I used a mix of diluted XF-69 NATO black and XF-64 Red Brown and sprayed it along select panel lines, into the intake, the flap area, pretty much all areas where the plane would get dirty. I think it just adds that extra touch of realism and make it less toy-like.
The Nakajima Dark Green upper will be next. I don’t believe Tamiya makes this shade either so I’m sure I’ll have to custom mix this color as well. Stay tune for this . Thanks for looking.
Joe - That is exceptional work on the Frank. I particularly like your work on the engine, and it should sound realistic with all that stereo wire too, far better than mono…
The underside looks great too, one of those photos I keep for when I want to visualise how mine should look.
I’ve also noted your mix for IJA light grey, thanks a lot.
BTW: Squadron has the new Tamiya 1/48th Zero on sale- $58.00 US reduced to $27.00!!! This is their one day super sale and I don’t know when it starts so I’m not sure when the sale ends! I assume sometime Monday. But it’s on sale now Sunday the 3rd at 7:30pm EST.
Hello to everyone. This is my first post in this magnificent forum.
I was always fascinated by the WWII planes that came out of the land of the rising sun, so I would like to join with a theme, probably related to Japan’s homeland defense of that time. I am a bit late and I would like to ask if I can participate at this stage. If yes, I will conclude on a kit (probably a Ki-46 or/and a Ki-100)
Zvesda1980: We’d love to have you! You’re not really late- the GB has only been running a little over a month with eleven more to go! So just let me know which one you decide on, scale, and company and I’ll put you down.
Paul: I set the cut-off at 50% or more complete so you’re fine at 35%. Welcome aboard- I’m really looking forward to seeing your photos of that monster!
Thanks for the kind words so far, and welcome aboard to the recently joined. I was able to get the IJA scheme completed last night. For the Nakajima Green upper, I went with Tamiya XF-13 IJA Green mixed with a touch of XF-49 Khaki to brown it up a bit (I prefer browner greens for some reason). This was then lightened with XF-57 Buff and the upper surface was streaked with the airflow. I do this to simulate condensation staining across the chord of the wing and it adds interest to an otherwise boring monochromatic finish. I do this with the Olive Drab USAAF subjects I build too. The color of the control surfaces were then altered so they stand out. I’ve been told that on real aircraft these weren’t necessarily lighter than the airframe, but to my eye it looks more realistic. Sometimes I go lighter and sometimes darker, depending on the look I’m going for. Once done, all taping was removed and a fine post shading was added in the same fashion as the lower surfaces, again,concentrating on areas that got the dirtiest.
A close up shot of the engine inside the cowl. At least some of the detailing of the mill can be seen. I will probably forego this addtion on my next FW 190 A.
Next it will be gloss coated and decaled…thanks for looking.
Thanks Gamera. I’m moving right along now. I did get it gloss coated and then decaled this morning. I used Alclad’s clear gloss. The nice thing about this product is that it dries rock hard and within a few hours you can start decaling. The only cons are that its a tad expensive, about 9 bones a bottle, and it has a lighter fluid/ strong mineral spirit-like smell to it. I’ll never go back to Future a long as this stuff is available (personally I would just use Future on floors as intended). As I said earlier, I ultimately decided on ace Major Kawamoto’s Ki-84 of the 50th Sentai from April of 1945 from Sky Decals sheet 48041. As always in my decaling endeavors, its an adventure. Its usually a mish mash of aftermarket and kit decals. The Sky decals were fine with Micro Sol. I put the lightning bolts down with water only then waited about an hour for them to dry a bit. I then hit it with Micro Sol. This worked great and they sucked right in without moving on me. I wasn’t sure if they were supposed to meet at the base of the fin. The decals indicated they did since this concave groove in the decal was void the white outline. I decided to join them as best as I could then paint in the gap. In retrospect, I should have painted these in…Oh well. Also, when I originally painted in the yellow ID bands and red flap warning areas, I forgot to add the coresponding lines that branched off. I had to improvise and use decal supplements. The color is not exact but I guess you’ll have that. I’m hoping I can disguise this with washes and weathering.
For efficiency, I painted the prop tips at the same time as the leading edge ID bands, only I added a tad more yellow. After I taped them off, I took XF-61 Deep Green lightened it with XF-2 Flat White until it looked like the color of my Grandfather’s old '73 Ford Maverick. I have no idea what this lime green color is called but it appears consistent with other Ki-84 builds. The Sky sheet calls for a blue prop hub on Kawamoto’s Hayate. Again, I have no idea what color blue so through deductive reasoning, I assumed this was painted with the same dark blue as the tail lightning bolts. I went with XF-8 Flat Blue mixed with some XF-1 Flat Black until it looked right. A midnight blue if you will. If I’m wrong, please correct me. After another coat of Gloss, its almost ready for a nice dirty wash.
With all these colors going on, I’m starting to this this Hayate should join the circus…
Nice work Joe. So this gloss is Alcad’s Clear Kote, enamel? Looks like it sprays beautifully. I think the prop blades should be a red/brown color, but nice job anyway.
Thanks guys. Nathan, I believe the Alclad is old based. I’m guessing its main carrier ingredient is mineral spirits…it certainly smells like it. It sprays like a dream at about 15 or 20 psi. Reference the prop color, I was originally thinking XF-64 Red Brown too and it was a toss up. Then I looked at the kit instructions and it called for this green color (name escapes me…want to say Nakajima Light Green or something). Most of the Ki-84 builds I’ve seen online have the '73 Maverick colored prop, so I went with the majority. Also, I think the blue is too dark for this subject but I won’t sweat it. Its too late now. Darn these Japanese planes…
Not sure about the prop, I’ve seen instructions that call for the light green too.
I just may have to check out the Alclad gloss finish. May luck with Future has been awful, I use for dipping canopies in but never spray it, if I put it on too light it orange peels, too heavy and I get runs and drips on the bottom of the model. I’ve been using Model Master acrylic gloss but not totally happy with it.
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