70’s vintage Hasegawa 1/32 Ki-43 Hayabusa
Finished 15 years after her purchase is this 1/32 Hasegawa Ki-43-II Hayabusa. The old Hase kit is really showing it's age, but now that I did all this work to this one, i'm sure a new tool release is not far off. It came with an Eduard photo etch set, I used a bunch of it on the interior and detailed that. Alclad II white aluminum base, Tamiya JAAF Green camo. Finished as an airplane represented in the Japanese 1944 film, "Kato Hayabusa Sentai". NO decals were harmed in the making of this kit, all markings were sprayed on. In progress pics and the whole story can be seen in the "EMPIRE OF Japan" group build.
12 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Robert Royes said on May 16, 2020
Impressive build! Nice touch with the ox and farmer.
Michel Verschuere said on May 16, 2020
Impressive build, I like the water buffalo and the girl for size reference
Pedro L. Rocha said on May 16, 2020
It’s a downright beauty Bill, one of the best Hayabusa I recall. Congrats!
Spiros Pendedekas said on May 16, 2020
Having followed your build from the start of the GB, all I can say is that it is a superb model, Bill!
All the best!
Richard Bungay said on May 17, 2020
Very nice. I have a question though: you applied a wash, which I assume flowed well over the natural metal but I'm wondering about the green squiggles - did you use gloss, semi-gloss or flat? If flat, how did you get the wash to flow?
Thanks
Bill Koppos said on May 17, 2020
Richard I use homemade water based wash-acrylic flat black (not Tamiya), water and dish soap. This needs to be applied over an overall gloss finish. A flat finish absorbs the wash and does not allow removal of it from the areas you don't want it on. In this case I used Alclad's glosscoat over everything, it did darken the green a bit but that's par for the course. I just brush the wash along the panel lines I want to emphasize. It has some capillary action, but not as much as oils. Then after frying wipe off the excess with damp cloth or Q-tip. In the case of this model there are not a lot of recessed panel lines. Where I want to leave a hint of shading along a non-recessed line, I just paint a light line, and knock it back with light dry scrubbing. See the fuselage hinomarus and tail arrows.
Hope this helps.
Richard Bungay said on May 17, 2020
Yeah, thanks! Once again, great job.
Mike Licari said on May 17, 2020
Very nice job on that old kit! I built one in the 1980s, and remember having a lot of fun with it. Plus, the Oscar is such a great looking airplane.
Nice to see this one!
Paul Barber said on May 17, 2020
Absolutely stunning Bill - what a save! Who’d have thought any ’shelf of doom’ could yield up something this great. Actually, magnificent!
Haslam Yeoman said on May 17, 2020
Very impressive build.
Rick Reinbott said on May 17, 2020
Great-looking Oscar, Bill!
John Healy said on May 17, 2020
Great work, Bill! Love the water buffalo.
Dan Lee said on May 17, 2020
Beautiful work. Especially the painted markings.
Reinhard Spreitzhofer said on May 17, 2020
Lovely metal finish and camo job!
Tom Cleaver said on May 17, 2020
That kit's better than people give it credit for, and with someone like you on the job, a great result is definite. That really looks nice!
Tom
Louis Gardner said on May 18, 2020
Hey Bill, @billkoppos
Nice job with saving another shelf of doom "Girl from Nakajima"...and I thoroughly enjoyed following your build journal on this one. Thanks for participating in our ever growing EoJ group. This is build number two for you now isn't it ? Plenty of time for more should you decide to have another go of it...
It's very impressive with how you did the squiggly lines for the camouflage, and even more so because you painted on all of the markings. Building a good looking model in a bare metal finish is hard to pull off, and you did a fine job of it.
Well done my friend, and a great big "liked".
Bill Koppos said on May 18, 2020
Tank you, Fearless Leader. Got at least two more coming. If I can maintain energy levels (and I don't get called back to full time) I might even finish IJN "Haguro" the shelf of doomer of shelf of doomers!
Andrew Alexander said on May 18, 2020
Beautiful job on what may be the most elegant radial-engined fighter of WWII.
Bill Koppos said on June 9, 2020
No doubt on that one, it sure is.
Greg Kittinger said on May 18, 2020
Great looking build - nicely done!
Bill Koppos said on May 18, 2020
Thank you, me talented colleagues, for the compliments! They are highly valued.