Andy T's 1/72 Tamiya Ki-61 "Tony"

[Andy T]

Or Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien to give it its Sunday name.

Thanks for letting me join in with this group build at the last minute. It's been a while since I built a wingy thing so I didn't take much persuading. I've chosen this baby Tamiya kit to ease me back into the skies gently and I must admit to knowing very little about the subject so please forgive any discrepancies, especially on the colours which be as close as I can get with what I have.

Enough rambling, here she is:



There aren't many parts in the kit but what there are seem very crisply moulded and well detailed









There are plenty of decals to choose from, although inspired by some recent builds, especially by Tony / Yak Face, I'm going to attempt to paint as many as I can.



Talking of painting this will be my first bare metal finish, and just to make it a bit more spicy I'm having a go at the field applied camouflage too.



Now I have purchased the Tamiya detail up decal set for this camo but it will be a last resort. I'm hoping I can freehand it with a brush or hissy thing. Fingers crossed!




That's the (overly long) intro out of the way, time to start snipping.

 

[Waspie]

Some nice detail on the under wing surfaces!! Looks an interesting build!

 

[Ian M]

So this was when the Japanese started to copy Western design.... That looks rather Me 109 ish to me... lol

I am sure you can manage that camo without resorting to the decals Andy.

 

[papa 695]

That looks a very nice kit Andy.

 

[Mickc1440]

Nice looking kit Andy

 

[Andy T]

Cheers everyone, it does seem nice so far.

I got the cockpit started and have found a colour that looks near enough to all the various shades I've seen these painted in. The evident ejector marks are hidden once assembled so I left them be. Hairy sticks out tomorrow for some detail painting.

 

[adt70hk]

Cool.....as Ian said it does look a bit 109 ish!

 

[Andy T]

Cool.....as Ian said it does look a bit 109 ish!

I agree. Hardly surprising as I watched a video about this 'plane tonight. Apparently the designer was trained by a well known german designer, then went to Europe to study aircraft design, and later produced this

On behalf of Dornier, Vogt was briefly sent to Italy, then in 1923, to the Kawasaki in Kobe, Japan, which was a licensed manufacturer of Dornier aircraft. In Japan he was appointed as chief designer, and he trained the young Japanese engineer Takeo Doi to be his successor. Doi later designed the Ki-61 Hien.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks interesting Andy. Strikes me that you could use that decal set to produce paint masks. After all, if they are like the usual Tamiya decals it will be like covering the plane in vinyl stickers…..

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Tim.

The idea is to use the decals as a guide if I can manage it. The few images I've seen that are detailed enough seem to suggest it was slapped on in the field with brushes, so I doubt any 2 were the same,or even similar.

Perfect as it gives me scope for cock ups

But yes, I suppose scanning & printing on to tape would work rather well, I just fancy the challenge of free hand.

 

[Geoffers]

Good start Andy, looks a nice kit

I think you meant to say “artistic licence” rather than “cock ups”

Geoff.

 

[Andy T]

Either way Geoff it'll give me a handy excuse lol


So I finished the 'pit this afternoon. OOB apart from some rudimentary lap belts, so not amazing detail but I think it'll suffice







Unlike any other aircraft I've built the cockpit slots in after the fuselage halves are brought together rather than being sandwiched. That should allow me to fix any seams without worrying about sanding dust, although with the way it's been engineered there won't be a lot to do, and the visible seams won't need any sort of re-scribing after sanding.

Clamps weren't really needed but should help give a bit of squeeze out in the joint.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Blimey Charlie!!
That cockpit is putting mine to shame!!.... Superb stuff mate,it looks fantastic
P.S. I know you ain't called "Charlie"!!

 

[adt70hk]

Looking very good indeed!

 

[stillp]

Looking at your cockpit, I thought this must be a 1/48 build!
Pete

 

[davecov]

Nice work. It looks like a lovely kit.

Dave

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Dave, Pete, Andrew and George

Had to get the little brushes out for this one!

 

[papa 695]

Some very nice work Andy, great work with the cockpit.

 

[Jim R]

Typical Tamiya by the look of it. Decent detail and a great fit. That cockpit is stunning, especially for 1/72. I reckon freehand brush painted camo will be just right for this. As you say it was field applied so not really neat or to a standard pattern.

 

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Your off to a great start, I will follow along.