I had the intentions lf getting one in my several trips to Mirax Hobbies in Santiago de Chile, but always left it on the shelf because other stuff caught my attention. With your words, I can’t wait to make a start on it.
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Outstanding job on the cockpit sir… looks fantastic 
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That’s funny 
I know how that goes. Once you get to those decal seat belts, all bets are off. I approve of your fix for the situation. Outstanding looking cockpit.
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I’m really enjoying the updates. The Tamiya A6M5 looks fantastic! The details on the Arma Hayate are really good for any scale, let alone 1/72! When my skills get better, I’m going to have to try one of their kits.
I finished the F-2A over the weekend, so I suppose I should add a couple of pictures. I made a few mistakes along the way, but I think it was good for the skills.
Thanks,
Greg
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Well done Greg. I really like the camo - and man, she’s loaded for bear.
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I love that Japanese two-tone blue scheme. It’s one of my favorite aircraft camouflage schemes.
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Basic assembly was completed on the Zeke. A little filler on the wing root joins, probably due to me being sloppy.
I also attempted some riveting, but when I then lightly sanded with 2000 grit and sprayed a (not so thick) coat of Tamiya flat black for priming, rivets unfortunately almost vanished (too subtly made perhaps !?).
Recognition yellow orange color sprayed on leading edges and left to dry for masking. (mix of Gunze RLM-04 + half a teardrop of clear red). Lesson learnt = Next time I will prime with white or light gray.
Gunze Aotake H-63 was sprayed on the wheel wells.
Finally the nose guns molded on the kit were cut-off, the ballistic trenches refined and replacement barrels will be used (when I find some).
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Nice progress on the Zeke! I hope to build that kit soon as well. I have one in the stash and 2 in the mail. The Zero is one of my favorite a/c to model (well, except for masking the canopy!). IMO it’s also the best looking Axis fighter from WW2 IMO. I remember seeing these two pictures in a book when I was a teenager and they made a huge impression on me. It was a very ominous looking aircraft I thought. Those two openings in the cowling for the guns grabbed my attention right away and those huge meatballs said – I am not your friend!
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Excellent job on your F2A @Gregbbear ! I think it looks just great. Nice paint job. Shall I use the first photo for the wall?
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Beautiful build! That blue camo is stunning. Great job Greg!
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I am calling this one as finished!
Hasegawa, 1:48 scale, Nakajima Ki-44II Ko, Army Type 2 Fighter, “Shoki”, Reporting Name, “Tojo”. 85th Hiko Sentai, 2nd Chutai CO, Capt Wakamatsu Yukiyoshi, Jogai Airfield, Nanking China 1943. Capt. Wakamatsu was KIA on 18 December 1944.
Great little model which is starting to show it’s age when compared to other more recent Hasegawa releases like the F1M2 “Pete”. Fit is good and the detail is enough.
Paint is a combination of Tamiya LP-11, MRP and Alclad II. Decals are from the kit and the spares box. I was NOT a fan of the decals used for the ID bands and the next one I’m going to paint. They are the things I don’t like about this model. However the kit was an original 2005 release and I guess the decals soured over time. Still in all it was a nice little model and I enjoyed the build.
(I am thinking the first pic, 8793 is the best one to use.)
Thanks for looking and I hope y’all are building away!
Cheers,
Freddie
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Great finish Greg. I like the fully loaded look.
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Looks great Freddie. It might be me, but Hasegawa did everything right with most of their Japanese subjects.
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Excellent work everyone. The roster page has been updated with @fjs3 's and @Gregbbear 's recent completions.
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Two stunning builds! The f2 scheme is really striking. The ki-44 squiggly work is very nice, I am often intimidated by the airbrush work required for that finish.
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Beautiful work on the F2A Greg. Great painting, the loading is impressive (that’s one happy jet:). Also the canopy is pure crystal!
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Freddie the Shoki is excellent. If these ID bands are decals, then you did a great job (last time I used such decals, I ended up using PVA to make them conform - and during the process, they disintegrated to bits. That went well… ). Thus, you have my respects. A very nice build and paint job overall.
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It’s nice to know there are other Zero enthusiasts out there. My initial hook-up was from the ‘Final Countdown’ film (kinda silly, I know, one has to start from somewhere :)). TAMIYA’s creation is very good. I would appreciate some more cockpit decals for the side instrument panels, gauges, etc, but nevertheless I believe you will have a great time building these kits.
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Greg,
That F2 is freaking awesome!
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Some more progress on the Zeke.
Canopy was masked with Eduard pre-cuts and camo colors used were Gunze H-325 (under) and Tamiya XF-70 (upper) acrylics. Some color variation was applied after the base coat, by mixing it with lighter green, gray and yellow. This will be toned down after clear coats have been applied (I hope).
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