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Steve Oakson
31 articles

KI-45 tei hei. ZoukeiMura

May 22, 2021 · in Aviation · · 16 · 1.9K

This is the ZoukeiMura kit SOB-except for the tail wheel. The story here is that I had built the ID vac kit years ago. I was working on the ZM kit. My 2 cats found the ZM tail wheel in the box- never to be seen again?. The very nicely done vac kit tail wheel is , therefore, now part of the ZM kit now! - This is a wonderful kit! Take your time building it! Do not rush. Read instructions multiple times to make you are using the correct parts for each stage- ask me how I know this. -the color scheme is from the 53rd Sentai at Matsudo airbase in 1944. I used a mixed interior color from AK. The outer color scheme is Tamiya Japanese colors. The mottling was done over 3 days. Reason being, after looking at several pictures of this plane, there was definitely multiple sizes of mottled applied. To me this would indicate either several different people painting the same day or same person painting over several episodes. Stripes on the spinners was about to drive me crazy. I put the kit away for several months and finally arrived at a method in my mind. - the kit decals were used with some trepidation. I was worried that the white bandages would be translucent to some degree. Again, kit quality showed its face. These was no translucency and they and the other decals went down like a dream with MicroSet/ Sol. Use plenty of water to help float decals into position. -I think you get the gist that I was completely enamored with this kit. YOU WOULD BE CORRECT!

Reader reactions:
17  Awesome

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. Really nice result with this. Excellent attention to detail.

  2. You fink, you beat me to it! Ah, it's good you did at my glacial pace, it'll never get there. Eventually. Now that I is retired...At least I got the struts on the Fiat.
    That's the color scheme I settled on, too. You did a great job on that beautiful bird. Your mottling looks spot on. I also noticed on many Japanese A/C, different parts have different patterns. See that alot on Ki-21 bombers.What brush are you using?
    Kudos on a great model.

  3. Steve, Very nice work all around, Your model is a real beauty !

  4. Very impressive build.

  5. Nicely done, the scheme is great.

  6. I have not heard the word β€œfink” in quite a while. I like this site!

  7. That's amazing job on a wonderful kit, Steve!
    Upon building my Nichimo quarter scale Nick, I used this kit extremely detailed instructions as a guide.
    Congratulations on your Nick!

  8. Oh, that is just incredible scale modeling Steve! I've been marveling at the fantastic "crispness" of your canopy masking and paint. Man, how do you do that?!? Great model sir and a work of art! πŸ™‚

    • I use Tamiya tape. Burnish down around the frames and use a sharp knife blade to cut along the frame lines. Painting is done off the model for underlying interior frame color and the base camo color. Then mounted on the model and seams sealed with MicroClear or filler. Base color touched up followed by the mottle color. Hope that helps. Thank you

  9. Great result indeed, Steve.
    The scheme looks fantastic and the mottling just looks perfect.

  10. Beauty. Especially in 1/32!

  11. This is an amazing build, really looks nice especially in 1/32 scale!

  12. Good looking build! Scheme looks great, and I can see why you put off those spinners!

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