1/48 Nakajima Ki-27 by Hasegawa
This is an early Hasegawa boxing of the Mania Models Ki-27 from about 1977...I think. I put some Eduard details in the cockpit including a seat, belts, and instrument panel but since its so small I really didn't do much more there. The kit canopy was totally unusable so I used a Squadron replacement. The pilot is from CMK with a new head and feet. Lots of discussion on the correct color...I went with faded Tamiya Japanese Army grey-green... best guess. All markings are painted on with the exception of the kill markings which were from Aeromaster. This aircraft was flown by Hiromichi Shinohara during the Nomanhan Incident against the Soviets in 1939. Shinohara claimed 58 kills before he was killed in action...this might be inflated just a bit I am thinking.
John, what a gem of a model! It looks terrific. No idea what the real color of the aircraft was (does anyone?) but it sure looks credible to my eye.
The pilot is also very nice, though the arms proportions seems exaggerated, a feature I found also on several other 1/48 pilot figures of their range.
Thank you, Pedro, and you win the prize. I was wondering who would be first to mention the Gorilla arms. I hate using CMK figures but it seems nearly all I had were Japanese navy ones and I was stuck.
Nicely done John, good to see another presentation from you. Really like the pilot figure, as I'm still trying to master the art painting them.
Thank you , Tom. I see your P-40 collection is growing. Looking good.
Nice one.
Thank you, Anthony.
As Tom stated, a nice presentation and an outstanding figure as well. I like it.
Thank you, Craig.
John this is an excellent build, and I like it !
I currently have two of these planes under construction with a build log here on Imodeler under the "Work in Progress-Aircraft" section. They are the later Hasegawa released but the fit of the parts have not suffered any and there was not hardly any flash present at all. Overall I think the Mania kit molds have held up rather well.
http://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/hasegawa-148-nakajima-ki-27-nate-two-builds-in-one/
They are almost completed now. Hopefully in a few days I can post them up.
I'm very impressed with your work (as always). "Gorilla arms" and all :)... Your figure painting skills are also outstanding, which is an area that I have never mastered...
Looks great, two thumbs up my friend. Merry Christmas.
Thank you, Louis. I checked out your in-progress article and they are looking good. Looks like you attacked this bird just like I did. Oddly enough my paint choices for the interior were exactly the same as yours but I went with Model Master intermediate blue. Looking forward to seeing yours finished up. I was informed that the gun sight on mine is backwards and it's backwards on the Hasegawa instructions as well.
Intermediate blue was the color I almost went with too. They are very close in shade. But then I read on J-aircraft that the IJA had a doctrine about using a color very close to Gunship Gray on the cockpit interiors of most fighters up until 1943. This is what prompted me to choose the gray.
Thanks for the tips on the gun sight, and the compliments on the builds. We both went with the same choice of exterior color. Tamiya IJA green, but I didn't lighten the color any. Looking back, I probably should have just like you did.
Take care my friend, and have a Merry Christmas.
Lol, meant this as a response to you, Louis.
I think my cockpit is a little too dark. I put a wash in it and dry brushed but it was still dark but fortunately you really can’t see anything in there. It was a fun little kit. If you are using the kit canopy I sure hope yours fit better than mine. Mine were awful.
Excellent build, John. Love the subtle shading and detail work.
Thank you, Greg.
I think my cockpit is a little too dark. I put a wash in it and dry brushed but it was still dark but fortunately you really can't see anything in there. It was a fun little kit. If you are using the kit canopy I sure hope yours fit better than mine. Mine were awful.
It looks like my canopies are not very nice either...
🙁 🙁 🙁
The cockpit on these planes are so tiny, so it's hard to see the details. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about seeing what's in there just like you stated.
I have several A5M Claude's in the stash and hope to build one (or two) sometime during this New Year. It's also a cool looking plane that you don't normally see built up to often.
Lol, have a Claude in the stash too. I like the Art Deco look of them. I have a goof photo of Saburo Sakai in a Claude cockpit. I have a good seated naval pilot figure now I just need a a good photo 12th Kokutai Claude in Hankow...any would work since they did not have assigned planes.
John, a very well done model of an interesting airplane, I think one that's greatly overlooked by many of us model guys (including me). I really like the old style look of this era, not quite up to par with sexy hot stuff yet to come. Great choice of color and detail giving this a very realistic look. Well done !
Thank you, Terry. I have a Claude in the stack too. It has a kind of Art Deco look.
A great job! And a little piece of history I wasn't too familiar with, nice.
Thank you, Robert. I didn't know about this incident either. Truth is that I chose this aircraft simply because I found a picture of the pilot and plane AND a figure that roughly matched the photo, well, sans the parachute. Knowledge came later.
Always loved this little beast, well done
Thank you, George.