This is looking really nice, @lgardner. thanks for that drawing of the camo. That one's a candidate!

@lgardner - Here are two other color profiles of Sallys in interesting camouflage. I like the dappled green over the JAAF green-gray, which apparently is from the Battle of Rangoon period. That's the two 60th Sentai airplanes, one on each of the pages.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Awesome progress and ditto looks, my friend @lgardner! Looking forward to your next steps and, of course, your camo choice!

Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)

Thank you my friends for the kind words. This evening I have been looking for actual pictures of wartime Ki-21’s. There’s not too many of them out there.

But I have found some decent ones. I’m still unsure of exactly what camouflage scheme I will use on this model but I have options / details that I need to research better first.

Tom Cleaver (@tcinla)
Like Tom, I was thinking about building something that flew against the AVG in the China / Burma / India Theater.

I was listening to the TV while working on the Sally tonight. This is something I usually do while building models. It caught my attention when one television program ended on the Military History Channel, and I heard them announce that tonight's episode of "Dogfights" would be coming on next.

I didn't even realize this show was on the air tonight. Then topping it off, it was a very relevant episode.

Ironically tonight’s episode of the History Channel series named “Dogfights” was actually about the Flying Tigers, the same episode that I was talking about earlier with Tom.

I grabbed my cell phone and snapped these two pictures, showing the end of the line for two different Ki-21's, albeit in CGI.

Naturally I took this as a sign that I really should build a plane from one of these Japanese Army units.

So far I have discovered there were at least 4 different IJAAF units flying Ki-21Sally's that flew against the American pilots flying in the AVG. Now I’m much more inclined to build something that will work for this. I have done some research online, and determined which Japanese Army Sentai’s flew the Ki-21 Sally, and also fought against the AVG pilots.

The reason why this is special for me, is that one time I got to meet with Dick Rossi, who was a "Flying Tiger" pilot. But that's another story in itself... and plus I have a killer set of Eagle Cal decals for his P-40 (also in 1/48 scale), and one for "Pappy" Boyington is on the same set. You see where this is going ... two more Airfix P-40's coming up soon out of the Kindergarten.

I was not very impressed with the appearance of the landing lights located in the leading edge of the wings. There’s a big seam that runs through the molded in landing lights. It’s fairly noticeable.

So I decided to cover the whole thing with some very thin plastic sheeting. Then I painted it with my version of Aotake. Originally I had planned to use a set of leftover clear lenses for the lights.

A better option would be to use a pair of MV lenses because they look like tiny headlights. But I don’t have any available right now.

It turned out that the lights I chose to use were too thick and they would not allow the clear lens cover to be mounted correctly.

Instead of using these lights from the spares bin, I punched out a set of small round circles, then I glued them in place. I think it’s a little bit better looking now than it was before these alterations.

I was surprised at how much time it took to do this. Right now I don’t have much spare time for building stuff.

I'll have to let this glue dry overnight, and then try to polish the lenses out better tomorrow.

This makes masking things a whole lot easier. I have not made a photo copy of the supplied masking pattern yet. Time will tell if I do that or not now.

If I do end up building a plane from one of the Sentai's that fought against the AVG Flying Tigers, I will have to remove the Yellow stripes on the leading edges of both wings. Going from memory, these stripes began appearing on Japanese aircraft sometime around September of 1942. The Flying Tiger's were disbanded in July of the same year, so the aircraft they encountered would not have the Yellow LE stripes..

That's it for tonight. Please stop by again soon for another update.

As always, comments are encouraged. Good night.

Excellent job on the landing lights, my friend @lgardner! And yes, the Universe seems to guide you with you camo choice!

Some very good progress, Louis @lgardner
Glad to see that at least you have some luck with that Tamiya masking tape, reduces the amount of work a lot.
We do have History Channel here but not Military History, which does seem so have much better articles.

Carl Smoot (@clipper)
Thanks for the tips on the landing lights. I have never tried using acrylic rod before. I do regularly use a Molotow pen though. That's what I used on the home made punched out circular discs. I really wish I had a pair of MV lenses. They really look like a miniature headlight bulb. I used one on a 1/35 scale T-34 tank once, and the effects were outstanding.

Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
Thank you my friend. Yes it is funny how things work at times... it's almost like we get a gentle push towards doing something. The signs are always there, you just have to see it at the time. This one was rather obvious though. Please tell QC1 and QC2 that we said hello.

Tom Cleaver (@tcinla)
Hey Tom. Thanks for stopping by.

Yes what you said was exactly what I have read too. I am fairly certain that the 60th Sentai lost 5 bombers out of 15 on the December 23rd mission. The 60th, 62nd, and 98th Sentai's were all involved in the December 23 missions. They all suffered heavy loss rates due to the AVG and the RAF. A few days later on Christmas Day, the 12th Sentai was added into the mix. On this day alone, the Japanese lost 35 bombers and fighters.

Chances are I will use the kit supplied decals like you are for the 60th Sentai, since they are included it makes sense to keep things simple. Now I need to figure out which type of filed applied camouflage to use. Sounds like we are in the same boat.

John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
Hey John... Yes I have been lucky with the Tamiya tape. It is almost the identical width as some of the glass panels. I really like the Military History Channel. The regular History Channel is good too though. I really like how your Corsair turned out. You have done a magnificent job with it. I'm glad things have warmed up just enough over there for you to continue working on it. Paint doesn't dry well when it's cold...

Chuck A. Villanueva (@uscusn)
Hey Chuck, thanks for stopping by. I agree with you that ICM has really done a great job with this model. I like the choices they have made for new tool kits. It would be nice to see more Japanese twin engine bombers made by them, or any major main steam model company. I think they would sell like hot cakes if they did... If you decide to start building your Sally, you can post it here if you like.

I like to build before painting when I can. I think it makes a stronger glue joint. It is harder to paint this way though, so that's the draw back to this building method.

I have done some more color research online, and I'm going to post it up next, so everyone please stay tuned.

Color looks good, Louis (@lgardner). You are a lot more scrupulous than I would be. I usually just pick something close and fly with it. AK Real Colors has these individual colors, but I have never used this specific Japanese color. Model is really looking great.