SUPERB painting, my friend @wkubacki!

Well, after a brief interlude which involved me removing the intake and exhaust side of an old Toyota motor in my 1985 Pickup (22R if anyone cares) and fixing a bunch of oil leaks and removing old emissions components AND making it all run again, I am back to the modeling world. I'm not sure if I have mentioned it, but I have a Model show that I would like to enter this plane in on September 10th. So now it's crunch time.

Last week I added the 8 or so stencil decals to the plane after I cut them off the sheet as close to the stencil as possible to minimize the size of the backing film. I used Tamiya Mark Fit Strong to get the decals to conform to the surface as best I could. Then I mixed some Aotake from clear blue and green and painted the gear bays and clamshell doors. I have a photo that shows the landing gear doors very clearly and it is obvious that only the clam shell doors were painted in aotake, and not the main gear doors (which is a neat detail, but could be specific to that particular aircraft only). Then I painted various panels different shades of metallic paint.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

You are really on a tight time frame, but you are proceeding really effectively, my friend @wkubacki!
Looking superb!
P.S. Congratulations on the Toyota fixing!

And Finally that brings us to yesterday, when I started on the oil weathering. I used a variety of oils (carbon black, burnt umber and sienna) and thinned them and applied them to the surface with a brush and then used another brush to blend them in or used a brush wetted in thinner to move the oils around some more.

Applying oils on a shiny surface is a challenge, and sometimes the oils seem to cover an entire panel where I only wanted a portion of it covered. to combat this and get a more random finish, I used a technique I discovered when weathering my Raiden, and that was to flick thinner onto the model from a small brush. When the thinner lands on the model it is random and it creates a flat finish when it flashes off (tide marks is what these are called). I then take a another small stiff brush and blend in the edges.

I'm pleased with the results of only one night of weathering. I have yet to do the undersides and gear doors, and I will add some oil leaks/streaks that I have seen in my photo collections as well as inks applied with a sponge as I did with my last Raiden. Only 3 more nights left, But I think I can do it. I need to leave the last night for final assembly, canopy, antenna wire, and creating 4 transport boxes for my models (J2M3, J2M5, A6M2 and the Ki-44).

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great work done on both, Woody @wkubacki
The Toyota engine looking nice and clean while the Ki-44 looks nicely worn.
Nice oxidation result.

Finito! Panel wash, oils, and inks and it’s done. Actually I finished this last Saturday morning, just in time for a local show. Photos were taken with my phone as I wanted pictures before this kit was broken or too dusty. There’s another show I’m attending October 1 and I’m bound to break something in the move.

Thanks for following, and on to the next model.

15 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Congratulations my friend @wkubacki! A superb result!