* 1/48 ' Fine Molds ' of Japan Ki-43 III Koh Hayabusa Oscar Japanese Fighter *

[73north]

This is the very start of my latest build

Vector Resin Engine for the Ki-43 by ‘ Fine Molds ‘ of japan

as the single engine part , is not detailed enough for my plans !

Ki-43 III Koh Model in 1/48 Scale

The Model will have the Markings of the 64th Sentai ( Squadron )

of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in Burma , 1945

I intend to also use the Fukuya Brass Pitot Tube instead of the plastic kit part

and 2 sets of eduard Photo-etch etch , one for the Ki-43 ( Hasegawa ) and extra set from Ki-100

as the cockpit will be super-detailed as the interior needs to be enhanced

This is a lovely Kit

but I am shocked that apart from a single Kit review , this particular aircraft Model

appears to have never been built and the completed Model displayed on the Internet Modelling Websites !

there are plenty Ki-43 I ( 2 blade propeller ) and II

( distinguishing feature is 3 blade propeller and single exhaust at both sides )

The Ki-43 III ( mark 3 if you prefer ) however has the water / methanol filler at the back of the headrest

but the main feature is the multiple exhaust pipes which are clustered to provide thrust augmentation

I will post more pics as the build progresses ..........

any questions ?

 

[isseychanel]

excellent!

 

[Saul Sheldon]

Hi 73..

The link to your photos appears to have been deleted, or not working, at least on my machineit doesn't

Any chance of posting them again? I would love to see those 1/48 peices!

Sounds like it's going to be good

cheers, Saul

 

[73north]

Hi 73..The link to your photos appears to have been deleted, or not working, at least on my machine it doesn't

Any chance of posting them again? I would love to see those 1/48 pieces!

Sounds like it's going to be good

cheers, Saul

apologies - I deleted the Pics a while ago as i thought no-one was that interested

here are the pics -





I should note this is IMAGEVENUE which has an annoying ' adult '

site which emerges over the picture once you have clicked on the thumbnail , once you click the red cross at the top right hand corner , to delete the ' adult ' offer you will see the image perfectly -

you don't have to do it twice

the image website is perfectly safe , however

the only reason i use this site is that if i delete the picture in later times

the thumbnail image is intact ( but you can't view it larger obviously )

anyway this is the Vector Russian Resin Engine in 1/48

( supplied by Parade Figures in the UK )

I had to trim the engine ends to get it to fit inside the cowling

this is a million times better than the single kit part

I also plan to use masking tape for the first white fuselage band

but decals for the rest of the Model

plus use the Brass Fukuya Japanese made Aftermarket Pitot Tube

( million times better than plastic kit example ) -

order from Hobbylink Japan

anyway enjoy

DW

 

[stona]

I've only just noticed this, keep it going. Japanese stuff is ,well, Japanese to me but great to see!

Maybe you could give Spitfiregirl a more authoratative answer to her seaplane cockpit question.

Cheers

Steve

 

[73north]

I've only just noticed this, keep it going. Japanese stuff is ,well, Japanese to me but great to see!Maybe you could give Spitfiregirl a more authoratative answer to her seaplane cockpit question.

Cheers

Steve

what was she asking ?

 

[stona]

"Have just started the Tamiya 1/50 scale of the Type-0 (Pete). The instructions say that the interior of the cockpit must be metallic blue ?? This doesn't sound right to me ....but what do I know... can anyone confirm ?"

I'm guessing this implies some version of aotake.

Steve

 

[73north]

I have posted an answer

aotake - light blue is what she needs -

 

[73north]

Fine Molds Ki-43-III Koh

in 1/48 scale

This is the latest pictures I took tonight

( as ever , a dull day when i try to take pics )

so apologies if they are not quite crisp ............







The model benefits from the VECTOR Resin Engine ,

which is far superior to the single kit part ( as you can see from my picture )

I also have fitted mesh to the front part of the oil cooler

( and removed the plastic from both ends ) and plan to add it to the rear later

you can see light through it

i have drilled a hole in the fuel cooler both ends ( not shown here ) and added

mesh to the rear end , as per the real thing

I have also found a few areas which needed filler and rubbing down , the area above the wings , and where the two tail planes emerge -

I will also need to rescribe the panel lines for the butterfly flaps which are on the rear underside of the trailing edge - see red dotted line .........

I have added all the etch to the cockpit , which swallowed the extra etch

( which belongs to the Ki-61 ) so a worthwhile investment .

this is a model , not built very often as the Fine Molds kits are a little hard to track down - and also the early examples by hasegawa ( ki-43 type 1 and 2 )

- or Ki-43-I & II are the most built - in fact neither Hasegawa no Tamiya build the 1/48 Mark 3 version shown here ........so the only game in town

I have been really held up with work taking a lot of my time

so progress has been painfully slow

I am really pleased with the resin aftermarket engine, it needed a little trimming to fit

but the results speak for themselves _ I think ...............:cool2:

 

[73north]

complete at last ...................

Ki-43 III Koh

Model has the FUKUYA Brass Pitot Tube and Vector resin engine









The Unit depicted is the Imperial Japanese Army 64th Sentai ( Squadron )

It might not show , but a huge amount of work and planning went into this -

I am especially pleased ( although you can't see it in my photos ) with the fuel cooler

which has an open hole drilled at the front

and mesh fitted at the rear ,

plus the oil cooler at the underside of the nose is mesh front and back and looks superb

( even if I say it myself ) - the cockpit needed a huge amount of extra detailing

The Vector Resin Engine was well worth the extra hassle fitting ( it needed trimmed to fit the

kit cowling ) and is now three dimensional with push rods and wiring ..........

one thing not widely known is there are few plans or photos of the interior of the Ki-43-III version

so the model relies heavily on what Fine Molds portrays , I replaced the throttle control which was

just molded to the surface on the cockpit wall , with an Eduard Photo-etch part

I used the Aero-Detail Book to provide extra detail for the wiring for the water-methanol filler ( behind headrest ) and fuel warning buzzer ( fitted to the headrest on right side ) which the real aircraft had fitted -

 

[Fenlander]

That does look very nice, I would have liked some bigger pictures to really get to appreciate it more. You have obviously worked a great deal to get this build as you want it and all credit for that. What I don't understand is why I have never seen these posts before today and from the lack of comments in the last few weeks, neither has anyone else. Apologies for missing it but I am glad tat I have found it now. Great work.

 

[73north]

ask and you have -

new photo -

sorry the first pics are so small , Imagevenue is usually much better !

These are from Photobucket

maybe the lack of comments is due to the fact that Japanese WW2 Aircraft are a niche subject

but the camouflage schemes they had can be so varied............. :emo6:

anyway thanks for the kind comments , I am really proud of the Vector Engine

it makes a huge difference , and I have used it for the Ki-100 & N1K2-J ( George )

to great effect

 

[Fenlander]

Thanks for the bigger pics. There does indeed seem to be less Japanese aircraft on here, no idea why. generally they are modelled as very heavily weathered, it is good to see that you have not gone over the top with it. Think I am going to have a go at one possibly a Zero as they are easy to get hold of. Very nice looking aircraft. Well done on the build and the finish, very nicely done. Can I ask what paint you use for the green main paint? It is quite a distinctive colour but I have never seen the name of it.

 

[73north]

Hi

The Colour is deceptive , for some reason when I took the pics

it turned from Olive Drab ( Light Brown ) to this ' green ' which it is not !!

the Gunze Mr Color Number 12 from JAPAN's HOBBY LINK

This website store was where i sourced the

paint as Hasegawa use these as its colour paint reference for all its kits !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this is the only Kit review I have ever seen for the kit

AeroScale :: In-Box Review: Nakajima Ki 43 III Koh by Rowan Baylis

which I have found to be Very accurate apart from the criticism of the ' too shallow ' wheel wells '

the online reviewer said that

" The wheel wells are a bit disappointing because they are very shallow

but these will be hidden for the most part on the finished model "

trouble is that the Hayabusa wheels were designed to fit snugly into the undercarriage bay

and had no wheel cover that closed over it , so

they made the wheel outsides as aerodynamic as possible -

so the wheel wells didn't need to be deep - ( source Aerodetail Book on Oscar )

The aircraft was the Ki 43 III Koh flown by Maj. Hideo Miyabe, Hiko Sentai Commander,

64th Sentai, Krakor, Indo-China, May 1945.

 

[Fenlander]

I can see in one of the pics that it is indeed a brown colour. I have to say that most pics of Japanese appear to be a definite green, could be a common lighting/photographic issue. Thanks again for the information, appreciated.

 

[73north]

Hi

Yes only the second top photo really shows the true colour

it is in real life on my model like the Kit Illustration on the kit box side

I was determined to have something not green and boring .........

recommend the QuickBoost Exhausts or Moskit Exhausts ( if you can find any ) for the zero Kit

another essential addition is the Polish AIR MASTER Brass barrels from White Ensign Models

which make a big difference - which version will you model A6M5 or A6M5c ?

or earlier versions

[ I plan to make the late war version of the A6M8 SUPER ZERO ON STEROIDS

which only 2 prototypes were made

this had the better KINSEI Engine for greater power ]

 

[Fenlander]

I did have my eye on a A6M5a, maybe in a month or so as I have a lot on at the moment.