Ki-51 Sonia
Here's my recently completed Ki-51 from Wingsy Kits in 1:48. I was inspired by Wingsy Kits when I did a couple of A5M Claudes a while back. The kit did not disappoint, the surface detail is excellent. My only problem encountered during the build was the cockpit area. It's nicely detailed, but during dry-fitting I found the sidewalls had tabs that did not line up with their slots, so a little filing was necessary to get the cockpit tub together, Then the finished cockpit assembly was too wide for the fuselage, so some very aggressive filing and sanding on the outside of the sidewalls was required to get it to fit in the fuselage. I try to dry-fit several steps ahead to see if there will be problems before anything gets glue. Once the cockpit problems were resolved, everything else fit perfectly. I used Eduard IJAAF belts, no other aftermarket stuff required. The Hinomarus and white fuselage stripe were masked and painted. I used Tamiya XF14 IJA Grey-Green and MM IJA green for the mottling to represent a Sonia of 6th Hikosentai, Southern China in 1942.
Back in 2018 I built Nichimo's Sonia. That old kit still looks pretty good next to the Wingsy kits version.
I've a Sonia stashed,
But she'll never see the light of day because It will never get even close your triumph.
Thank you Celtic98!
Inspiring build Chas.
Thank you, Raif.
Nice, no challenge too small.
Nothing fit in my cockpit, not even the smallest piece, so there it sits on the Shelf Of Doom
Thanks, Kyle.
Very sharp.
Thanks, Joe,
Nice work, particularly the oversize cockpit.
Thanks, Tom. I wasn't expecting any problems given the good experience I had with previous Wingsy builds. Can't judge a book by it's cover.
Beauty
Thanks, George.
Nice work! There is nothing more frustrating that getting a whole assembly together and finding out it doesn't fit, especially after dry fitting! It happens to all of us! That's what makes modeling fun, solving the problems that pop up and making it look good. You've done that in spades!
Thanks, Clint. Yup, it's just a hobby and I like the occasional challenge.
Excellent job and awesome result, Chas! Great dealing of the too wide cockpit.
Congratulations!
Thanks, Spiros. I must say, the old Nichimo kit gave me much less trouble.
Job well done. Love the way the mottling looks.
Thanks, John.
G’day Chas (@chasbunch),
I remember building a 1/72 Hasegawa Sonia back in my youth.
I thought it was a rather exotic aircraft back then and never would have thought there would be a modern 1/48 version.
You have done a wonderful job on this one.
Liked!
Thanks, Michael.
Looks great, glad you overcame the cockpit fit problem.
Thanks, George.
Some strong work in making this kit Chas. The paint job really stands out and the photos compliment your time and energy that went into making this stand out. It all works. Looking forward to seeing more of your gifts and talents.
Thanks, Stephen.
That looks really good. Did you use a mask for the mottling? They’re all tight and consistent.
Thanks, John. I cheated on the mottling, my airbrush skill with my Paasche H isn't that good. I painted the top and side surfaces with IJA green, then used tiny globs of poster putty manipulated into random shapes with a tooth pick, then shot the grey-green over that. Time consuming, but so was the cockpit! Worked good enough for me.
A perfect finish on this Sonia, Chas @chasbunch
Especially the mottling camouflage is amazing.
Well done.
Love it! Must get that Wingsy kit for myself. I built the Nichimo kit back in the mid-80s, an excellent kit, as is the Oscar I. Like the paint job very much!
A real beauty - I really like that scheme and you pulled it off nicely!