Thanks gents for the kind words... Last night I applied all of the small stencils on the "Tony"

I was really hesitant to start spraying on the green squiggles... I really like this shiny foil look. But it wasn't how these planes are supposed to look.

I'll have to build a nice P-51 Mustang now since I can't get this out of my mind. 🙂

I started out by spraying on the green squiggles in an area that was easy to do. The upper portion of the wing was the perfect place to start. I made sure not to completely cover the stencils if possible. Here this looked a little too thin...

So I went back and added some more green on the wing tip. This is more like it... I wanted a little bit of green overspray on the white "bandages" as I'm sure they didn't take the time to mask everything off and some green would have ended up accidentally getting on the white.

Here you can see the evolution underway. No green and bare metal on one side. The other side has green that is too thin, and the tip is just right... Goldie Locks Green.

The same thing was done to the other side:

Here's how it looked after I finished the green.

I left a decent amount of bare foil next to the fuselage bandages and unit insignia on the tail. This is most likely how the real planes would have been painted.

This close up shows how the stenciling was painted around, or lightly over sprayed if you look closely at the gun bay door panels. This had an added benefit by hiding the little bit of decal carrier film.

The tail surfaces turned out nice ! Check out the bare metal next to the red fuselage band and side "arrow".


Then I had to do something to tone down the bare metal on the underside. I used Tom Bebout's suggestion and went with the "Semi-Gloss" clear first. This knocked down some of the shine, but it still wasn't quite what I was looking for. Close, but no cigar.


So I decided to pull out all stops, and sprayed on a coat of Flat Clear. This knocked down the shine in a hurry. If you're not careful and use too much, it could make things too dull...


The main landing gear doors received a coat of Flat Clear too.

Next I added the propeller assembly...

and the upper engine cover...

This is how the Ki-61 looks at the moment. I think I'm getting closer to calling this one done.

What really amazed me is just how little paint this took and how much the green toned down the brilliance of the bare metal. There had to be a similar experience when the ground crews were doing this same thing on the real ones...

I'm calling it a night.

As usual,
Comments are encouraged.

Thanks for looking.

Wow, my friend I would never thought that a bit of overspray on those blotches would be so realistic, because looking at the photos, those green blotches that were sprayed (and not brushed by some sort, like other Ki-61 seemed to have been), look exactly like you achieved. Thumbs up!

Over the last few days I have not had much time at the work bench. But I did manage to make some progress.

The landing gear and the exhaust have been added, as have the inner landing gear doors and the small oil cooler under the fuselage.

I used the Tamiya weathering deck to replicate exhaust staining.

I added the stains before I actually installed the exhaust parts. It's easier this way for me since it allows you to get right next to the exhaust. Otherwise there's a small gap present that's hard to take care of.

The kit instructions have you paint the aileron hinge where the lower wing "Meatball" decal doesn't cover this area.

I'm sure that it was done this way to help prevent the decals from wrinkling since the ailerons hinge cover is fairly big and is a compound shape. The color called for doing this is listed as Tamiya XF-7 on the instructions. It's a pretty good match too. You can see how it looks in this picture.

You can also see how the Bare Metal Foil looks after I toned it down with the flat clear. I'm very happy with this. You can see the various shades of metal here.

This larger picture will give a better impression on how it turned out. It looks exactly how I hoped it would.

This next picture shows the Tony from the top side. It's really starting to shape up now that some more little parts have been installed.

Lastly I used the canopy masks that were included in the kit. You have to cut them out. I used a brand new #11 exacto blade and this stuff fit the frames pretty good.

I gave the canopy a coat of flat black. Once it dries sufficiently I will cover the framework using the Matt Aluminum Bare Metal Foil.

This should give the illusion that the inner frames have been painted with black.

Then I'll add the canopy parts and I'll be another step closer to getting it done.

I still have a few more little things to add. Parts like the landing light, pitot tube, tail wheel assembly and I might even add the drop tanks. I'm still not sure about adding the tanks though.

As usual comments are encouraged.

Thanks for following along so far ...

Really nice. This shows what great work mixed with some patience can do.

Thanks Robert ! @beauslx

It's always good to hear from you my friend.

Hello George, @gblair
I appreciate the kind response. Luckily this one has been a dream to build, and no problems worth mentioning were encountered. I am very happy with how it turned out. Thanks !

Hey Tom ! @tom-bebout

I have often wondered "what if" too when it comes to different planes. This is one of them. But I believe things would have been worse for the Allies had Japan used the Ki-61 as a stepping stone to the Ki-100. The Tony suffered from lack of mechanical experience with liquid cooled engines in A/C. The Ki-100 used the Tony's airframe and was coupled with a radial engine. It out performed the Tony in many ways.

What the Germans did with the Bf-109, the Japanese couldn't with this one. Their "expertise" was with radial engines.

Late last night and earlier this morning I worked on the Ki-61. Now it's done !

I installed the venturi tube. This particular plane had the venturi. Some Ki-61's did not.

The canopy was completed and added. With the black paint under the Bare Metal Foil, it looks decent from the inside.

The pitot tube was added.

I used Ultra Bright Bare Metal Foil on the landing light. The remaining surrounding area was painted using Aluminum color. Then the clear lens was installed.

The tail wheel was painted and once it dried, glued in position.

The landing gear wells are better detailed than those in the Hasegawa kit. These look to be deeper as well.

The "Tony" is done... and it should really "Pop" under brighter / better lighting.

Here's how it looks once finished.

I'll post up a lot more and better quality pictures on the reveal. I hope to post the reveal article in a day or so.

Please stay tuned for the article, and many thanks to you for following along on this build.

It has been a very enjoyable model and was practically trouble free.

"As always, Comments are encouraged".

Thanks !

Thank you David ! @davem

I like to use BMF when I can. To me it looks fantastic as a substitute for actual metal finishes on aircraft models, because it is really metal, but on a much thinner scale. I toned the overall polished look on this one down considerably, since most of the Ki-61 photos show these planes with considerable oxidation on them. It wouldn't look correct (at least to me), with an ultra highly polished finish on one of these types.

I have several more upcoming builds in the pipeline that are good candidates for using some more of it. Specifically, a Revell 1/32 scale P-51D, and a 1/48 Tamiya P-47D "Razorback" are inching their way closer to the work bench.

Hopefully tomorrow evening I can post up an article on this plane. If not, then posting it may have to wait until the following night.

I have had a request to build up some Corsairs, so guess what is next... There's even a rumor about a Bf-109 in Condor legion markings... so please stay tuned. 🙂

Thanks again !

Hello Erik, @airbum

I'm thinking about doing a quick build of a Spanish Civil War Bf-109 using a 1/48 scale Tamiya E-3 Emil. I might post it in the "Nose Art" GB if I do this one, as it has a cool looking beer mug and character on the side of the fuselage as "Art". I'll post up a link here if it goes...

Meanwhile I did start a build log on the F4U's. Here's a link to that journal if you are interested.

https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/1-48-tamiya-f4u-1-birdcage-corsairs/

Thanks again !

I took some pictures of the Ki-61 today outside. The natural sunlight really brings out the look of the foil much better than the artificial lighting. I'll add these pictures here since the original article has the maximum number of pictures attached to it...

Enjoy !