Hasagawa 1/48 Ki- 43 Oscar
I had wanted to try a very distressed paint job and saw this kit online. I wanted to try Vallejo chopping medium.
This is a very nice kit. Fit is as good as you want. A few things to work on but mostly good.
Using the chipping medium entails a lot of extra steps. But it was fun. I learned a lot.
My second and maybe last wheels up kit to go along with the P 40 I recently finished.
I realized I forgot the tail wheel.
The decals were fragile and I had to touch up some with paint. All together I am pleased.
That looks very good… it looks very distressing! Like it’s been out in the tropical environment with no up keep.
Looks very good, Mark!
Very good representation of the weathered-out paint.
Very nice result, Mark @markhedrick
You clearly mastered the chipping technique, it looks very realistic.
That looks very realistic, Mark @markhedrick! 👍 Your paint chipping work looks great. 👏 I've had some of that Vallejo chipping medium for a while and have wanted to give it a try. Do you have any tips or suggestions for getting such a nice result as seen here? 🙂
There are excellent YouTube videos on using the Vallejo chipping medium. What I learned- when you apply the base paint coat, here aluminum, completely seal it with varnish or Future as I did. That protects the base paint so you don’t chip through it down to the plastic. And do not spray on too-thick a coat of the chipping medium. Again, the YouTube videos are very good.
Hardest thing here was that the kit was not made for wheels up build. The doors don’t fit the openings and the gear don’t fit in the wells. So a lot to cutting filling and sanding. But on the stand you really can’t see underneath so its ok. I realize I forgot the tail wheel. I’ll have to fix that.
Thanks! 👍
Also, this kit did not include a pilot so I took some from my spares box and used the smallest one and still had to do major surgery for him to fit in this cockpit. I had imagined that all 1/48th pilots would be about the same but obviously not.
Excellent build! I feel your pain with the wheels-up fit issues, since every build I do is wheels up and for most kits, they are never designed to be built wheels-up and the fit is rarely easy. Lots of scratch-building, puttying, etc.