1/48 Tamiya Ki-61-I Tei

Started by Woody Kubacki · 26 · 3 years ago
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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Finally catching up to may latest build, this was completed last week. I chose to build a 19 Sentai plane as based in the Philippines. There are some really good photos of this and 4 other Ki-61 when they were captured by the Americans. I'm not sure how long the planes were abandoned, but they do seem to have a lot of weathering of the field applied camouflage and the aluminum skin looks to be heavily oxidised. my plan was to paint the plane as it would have looked when it was operational, so I would have to make educated guesses as to how the camo would look like based on the other Ki-61 captured there and other photos of Ki-61 in New Guinea.

    In discussions with Ronnie Olsthoorn and Nick Millman, I determined that the interior would be the sandy colour (more on the exact colour later) and the green camo would be more likely IJA #27 AO Midori Iro (a blue-green colour AK RC332)

    20 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    As mentioned in the last post, I decided upon a custom mix of AK RC060 Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 4 parts and 1 part AK RC058 RAL 7027 Grau. This was due to the fact that this was an early Tei that left the factory in NMF. This gave a lighter colour than the RLM 79 called out in the instructions.

    Not much can be said about this kit that hasn't been said before. I added scratch built belts and instrument wires

    18 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    As usual, the plane was primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 and then sprayed with a gloss coat of GX2, and then sprayed with Mr Color SM206. Anti glare panel was painted with C125 and then shipped with the hairspray technique. Masks for the wings were cut and sprayed, control surfaces sprayed grey-green

    19 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    For the green camo I went with a mix of IJA #21 Midori Iro (AK RC331) and IJA #27 Ao Midori Iro (AK RC 332) to create a weathered look to it.

    9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    I sanded down and chipped the paint (I actually did this as soon as I painted each top coat colour so that chipping would be easier). Finally I weathered with Tamiya Panel liner and oils (oil/dirt stains) and a light buff/light grey oil wash to tone down the shine of the NMF.

    10 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    A masterpiece, Woody @wkubacki!
    Looks 1:1 scale!

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Very nice '61 Woody!

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Woody, @wkubacki
    This is a very nice looking Ki-61 build. I like how you have posted the original pictures of various machines after they were captured. I have seen the fuselage of the Ki-61 plane that Kermit Weeks owns. The Hien is my favorite Japanese fighter. It looks so sleek and elegant.

    One of the articles I posted here several years ago was a kit review of the new tool Tamiya Ki-61. It is a beautiful building plane, and is one of the most enjoyable builds I have ever done. I covered mine with bare metal foil, and then sprayed on some green camouflage. I did a lot of research on the interior color and even found some cool pictures of some relic Ki-61 parts that were found in an attic in Japan several years ago. The colors were remarkably preserved. This is all covered in the build journal. Check it out, I think you will like it.

    Here's a link to the build journal
    https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/1-48-tamiya-ki-61-build-review-kit-61115/

    and another link to the completed plane in the headlines section.

    Tamiya 1/48 Ki-61 Hien “Tony” 244th Sentai 1945, covered using Bare Metal Foil
    I corresponded with Nick Millman about this plane on several occasions. He is a very good fellow. He was kind enough to post this build on his website once it was completed. http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2019/07/louis-gardners-148-tamiya-ki-61-i-tei.html So that everyone can see how nice your planes are, why don't you also post an article for them in the headlines section ? Thanks for joining us, and I look forward to seeing more of your work soon.
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    Ronnie Olsthoorn said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    If you can read this then my registration here might have worked in the end! 😀
    Splendid build, it looks stunning! It takes guts to cover your model in a beautiful NMF scheme and then to camouflage it. You only really get one shot at it. Great stuff and excellent result.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Welcome aboard, Ronnie @skyraider3d!

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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    @lgardner Thanks Louis, I will consider posting articles of my better models.

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Ronnie, @skyraider3d
    Welcome to Imodeler ! I hope that you will find this a user friendly place. It is very easy to post pictures and or articles of your work here. I thank you for the compliments on my Ki-61 build. I currently have two of the 1/32 scale Hasegawa Ki-61's on my work bench... One is destined to get the full bare metal foil treatment and left "as is" with markings most likely coming from the Akeno Flying School. The other 1/32 Hien is going to be a plane from the 68th (or 78th) Sentai, based in New Guinea with the squiggly lines airbrushed over the foil.

    Woody, @wkubacki
    I think that these splendid models of yours will get the full attention they so deserve it you did post them in the headlines. You can "copy and paste" what you have written and post it there on the Imodeler home page. There's a red square tab marked "Add New Article" there. Simply follow the instructions and you will be good to go. I would post individual articles for each of your planes. You can "tag" them by adding names at the bottom. This one could have tags like "Ki-61", "Tony", "Empire of Japan", "Tamiya" and so on... That way it will be added to the existing planes that have been posted in these individual categories.

    Just a suggestion... Thanks for posting these for us.

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Hear hear - go for the headlines Woody @wkubacki. When I started out in here I was also a bit reluctant to go for the headlines (after I found out how to use groups), but it really is rather rewarding - lots of nice and kind people on this site!

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    Woody Kubacki said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    @airbum Erik, she's posted and getting eyeballs. My goal is to convert as many people to the sushi planes as possible (I've already converted my friend The Model Guy on YouTube). I see you're as addicted to 109's as I am to Japanese planes , and Ihave to admit that I like the 109 as well, as long as it has a 2 bladed prop or a huge chin scoop.

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Woody, @wkubacki
    Thank you again for posting your models in the headlines section. They are now getting a lot more attention, that they rightfully deserve. I am the moderator / host for the Empire of Japan group build. I can make additions to the group as needed. If you have more kits, and the desire to start a dedicated work journal, please do so. I can adjust the ending date as needed. In fact, I have several more planes that I want to build, and there are some others that have been started here that will need more time. The deadline is a fictional date in time...

    I also see that you have met Erik...@airbum
    He is our resident Experten on anything Bf-109 related. He is my "Go to" guy when I have a question about the 109. Erik is a kind gentleman, and his presence on Imodeler is greatly appreciated by all. There's not another person I know of that comes close with his knowledge on the type, with the exception of one more man. I will introduce you to him now.

    We have another resident Luftwaffe experten... His name is Pedro Rocha, @holzhamer
    Pedro is well versed and extremely knowledgeable in most, (if not all) of the Luftwaffe aircraft. He too has helped me out on numerous occasions.

    So we members here at Imodeler have been blessed to have these two fine fellows present and accounted for. You should take a closer look at their work... They build models that are exemplary, and carry over their knowledge into their work. You will be hard pressed to find someone who can build a better looking Luftwaffe plane than these two.