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Kawasaki Ki-100-I Koh Tony (1/48 Hasegawa)


Ol' Scrapiron

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It has been a long (long, long) time since I have had the opportunity to cement any plastic, but with much inspiration for the WIP threads here on LSP I headed out to the stash and grabbed whatever box was on top. In this case it was the Hasegawa 1/48 Kawasaki Ki-100-I Koh Tony Fastback kit from many years ago.

 

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After seeing so much great detail work on the 1/32 kits, I was stunned by just how small a 1/48 fighter seems. It was a little depressing to see how tiny the cockpit is, and I actually set it back on the stack for a couple hours before making up my mind that it was now or never and committing to the kit.

 

It's really nice and the detailing is sharp and fine, so I have decided to do it straight out of the box. It won't be the same level as so many of the projects I have been seeing from the real masters... but it will be a good way to ease back into model building.

 

First up, this afternoon I broke out the glue and actually put pieces together. Started roughing out the paint in the cockpit, but it is clear these eyes will need some magnifying help to do some cleanup of the details.

I'm posting this warts and all. Funny how seeing it large and digital makes the gaffs just pop out.

 

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Like I said, warts and all.

I'll be trimming these up and adding a wash, so they'll hopefully look better in future updates.

 

Funny how big the 1/48 kits seemed when I was building 1/72 back in college. Those were the days.

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Day 2: A little touchup and some wash for the cockpit. Took the pics while waiting for wash to dry, so I hope that will tone down just a bit when the thinner dries off. 

 

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And a first bit of color on the panel (will be cleaning this up.)

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As I mentioned, will be keeping the kit as is this time -- no added details, just painting what comes in the box. 

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Welcome back to the hobby!  I think ALOT of us are returnees after a long period of absence.  It's a treat for me to see how far the hobby has gone since I left... photoetch, resin, advanced weathering... so much to see and learn.

 

The Ki-100 is such a cool aircraft and I'm looking forward to seeing this build unfold.  I see a lot of similarities between the Ki-61 and Ki-100, especially the cockpit components.  Keep it coming!

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Day 2.5: I couldn't wait to see what the cockpit and walls looked like all together, and next thing I knew the exhaust  pipes were installed and the fuselage was closed up. By the time I thought to snap some pics the wings were attached. Sticking to the basic kit goes faster than I remember LOL

 

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I just painted the engine and picked out some detail on the pushrod ends. A wash followed by some drybrush... not much knowing it was going to be less visible with the tapered cowling (especially when the prop hub gets put on). Next project I'll add wiring and work more on the details. 

 

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Obviously some putty and sanding will be needed before I prime and paint, but I have to say that the fit on this kit has been spectacular and that any tiny gaps like on the leading edge here (I could hardly see these until I saw the enlarged photos) are because I was impatient and released my grip (rather than using clothespins and letting it set like I should have) or a case where I have not trimmed the sprue attachment stubs as well as I should have.

 

The instructions have a copyright 1996 and I am amazed by the perfect tooling. I'm looking forward to opening up a few more Hasegawa kits in the stash that I bought back then, but not until I finish this one up. One kit at a time... at least for now!

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Guest Peterpools

Very nice progress on the Tony and the import point is you're back to building and enjoying the journey.

Looking real good

Keep 'em comin

Peter

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re Thunnus: John, I don't even pretend to compare my quickie build with what I have seen on your Hein build. I'm glad I started on my kit before I saw your thread, but be assured I have been checking in on your progress and how the Tamiya cockpit breakdown compares to the Hasegawa cockpit. When I first saw what you had been able to do I had to doublecheck my box to make sure I didn't accidentally have the 1/72 kit.

 

I've been doing some filling and sanding, so next up for me is to get some airbrush lessons from the neighbor friend so I can throw some primer on it. I am a little leary of the airbrush, but after watching so many great projects between here, Britmodeller and hyperscale I understand that it is the way to go. I'll try and put my old brush-painted kits to shame.

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Finally have something to show for the last few days...

While waiting for the opportunity to try out an airbrush I did a little work on some of the bits that I could - but I confess I spent a bit of time watching the updates on the stunning Hein by Thunnus. WOW. I look at my parts, then his, then mine again and am perplexed that these could be the same scale.

 

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No brake lines or anything, as I am keeping this straight from the box. Not sure if I am going to paint the inside of the gear doors in the sandy brown. I think I'll leave them and the gear in gray. Anyway, some small touch up before any of this will be ready to install.

 

After a couple days of filling and sanding I masked the cockpit and engine and sprayed some rattlecan silver on the bottom. It looked terrific (no pictures in my excitement) so I went back and shot a bit on the wing roots and surrounding areas in case I wanted to do some chipping after the main color went on.

 

That was a mistake.

 

When I got the airbrush and compressor ready I shot some thinned Tamiya JA Green over it... which immediately formed droplets like rain on a well-waxed car hood. The silver was repelling the new paint. Worse part was that there were some areas where there was no silver paint and the green went on smooth. When that dried I shot a second coat which started to fill in the exposed silver. Then a third coat, which essentially became the primer layer that I should have applied in the first place. A fourth coat seems to be enough to call the plane green.

 

(Still drying when I took these)

 

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When that is completely dry I may shoot one last coat on it before I take the tape off, but I know I am going to do some weathering so I may call it good. We'll see.

 

I am pretty impressed that four layers sprayed on is still smooth and shows the panels that probably would have been more covered by brush. I had to dodge some light rain breaks to use the airbrush outdoors. I guess some garage cleaning to find a permanent spray booth area is in order.

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re: Gazzas

I don't know, I wish I had thought to snap a pic of it at that stage but I was fighting the urge to fling it across the yard.

 

The silver is Nybco brand "Silver Touch" and has a really nice shine. By the time the first layer of green dried over top of it it looked like I had tried the salt technique in reverse  :doh: mostly silver with a few blotchy spots of green.

Looking at the plane now after the fourth coat has completely dried, it looks like the green had settled down smooth so I think one light coat in the morning will finish that up (whew!)

 

My takeaways -- A) don't skip the primer step... B) only put the silver where you actually want silver.

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