Jump to content

1/32 Nakajima Ki-27 - 77th Sentai - Burma 1942


Alex

Recommended Posts

OK, after a couple work days when there wasn't time/energy afterwards to do anything model, I got some work in today.  Here's the piebald look of three different gray tones applied in randomish chunks over the base plastic.

 

104606326_10217676753819772_813768600212

 

104383138_10217676753899774_889354296601

 

And then with all of the panel lines shaded.  I REALLY need to practice my freehand airbrush technique more.  Having the paint flow control on the new 0.2 mm Mr Hobby airbrush helps with this task, but I still have trouble getting model + hand into an orientation where I can consistently paint straightish lines.

 

104431719_10217676754419787_383911238058

 

104489583_10217676754379786_747378845845

 

So as intended the control surfaces are the lightest tone of all, so should end up that way after the topcoat too.  I do worry that the fabric "shadow effect" on the control surfaces is too faint as-is under the white and will be completely lost once the top color goes down.  I really should have done it *over* the white.  Live and learn.  I'm not re-taping that at this point.

 

Not much left to do now.  I need to decant my Tamiya rattle can IJA Gray and *carefully* build just the right amount of color over that patchwork of pre-painting.  Also I should probably put the antenna mast and pitot tube on now so the get the topcoat along with everything else.  Then it's just messing with getting that gunsight on...

 

I had originally thought that I'd do panel line wash now, but I think the shading will hide it too much.  I will either do the usual and put it on after the topcoat OR I may try to paint MOST of the top color on, lay down a coat of gloss clear lacquer, then panel line wash before finishing the top coat and painting the insignia.  I really like the way it looks when the PL wash is sunk under a little bit of paint, like under the oil dot filter layer on my Warhawk - blends in really nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Troy Molitor said:

Ok, let’s see the magic turn out here.  :popcorn:

Fingers crossed.  I’m staying focused on the fact that I have a bailout option - just hide it all under the topcoat if it doesn’t look good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool Alex, be good to see how that pre-shading turns out!

 

3 hours ago, Alex said:

And then with all of the panel lines shaded.  I REALLY need to practice my freehand airbrush technique more.  Having the paint flow control on the new 0.2 mm Mr Hobby airbrush helps with this task, but I still have trouble getting model + hand into an orientation where I can consistently paint straightish lines.

 

Don't stress it Alex, I intentionally make my pre-shade lines rough and irregular which I believe gives a superior result to neat straight lines which result in a geometric pattern which, in my humble opinion, simply doesn't look real.

 

3 hours ago, Alex said:

I do worry that the fabric "shadow effect" on the control surfaces is too faint as-is under the white and will be completely lost once the top color goes down.  I really should have done it *over* the white. 

 

This is sometimes best done as a post-shade too, using a darker shade of the topcoat or Tamiya Smoke.

 

Look forward to seeing how it turns out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So this is not yet at the final color density I want, obviously, but I'm thinking it may be the right stopping point to gloss it, do the panel line + rivet wash, and then build the rest of the topcoat color.  I put this layer down with the airbrush (paint decanted from the spraycan you see there), and shot it pretty wet, about 40% thinner, so I could build density slowly.  Even still I would up with a bit of a dusty surface, especially in the wing roots where that happens easily.  I then went and sprayed it down heavily with Mr Leveling Thinner, and voila it smoothed right out (lacquer's secret superpower).  I'm now a bit concerned that the dense white underlayer on the control surfaces is going to leave them too stark in contrast to the rest of the plane.  If necessary I may try to mask them and apply more paint just to them to bring them closer to the overall color.  We'll see.  So far it's not a disaster, but we're not done yet...

 

104876651_10217684148004622_517301831545 

Edited by Alex
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, in the future, I need to do this panel line pre-shading with lighter colors.  I used extra-dark sea gray this time and it might as well be black.  Everything is a learning experience...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is after a coat of Alclad Gloss Clear and a black enamel PL wash.  The panel lines are too stark here, but there's still more IJA Gray to come over them to tone it down and blend it in.  This exercise also revealed that some of my rivet repair was sub-par (mostly on the underside of the nose) so I need to redo that and PL wash them again before proceeding.  I've struggled to make a tool that impresses good replacement rivets that look like the molded-in ones.  My needle tool makes them too narrow and deep.  I can go over those with a tiny drill bit, but it takes an eternity.  Maybe a blunter, carpet-type needle?  I need to keep after this (suggestions are of course welcome!).

 

104462087_10217700692298219_607274208592

 

Also noted that the Alclad Gloss got ever so slightly tacky in response to the white spirit that I used with the PL wash.  Next time I need to do this I will try Mr Color Gloss Clear.  Normally I would use Future but did not like the idea of inserting an acrylic layer between lacquer coats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, dennismcc said:

That should look great with a top coat toning it down, the lines and rivets look really crisp and should peep through the top coat nicely.

The rivet tool that I use is made by MDC https://www.modeldesignconstruction.co.uk/54282-tools

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

I’ll have a look at it - thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ready to start painting insignia...

 

104939158_10217736588475601_723347646032

 

I feel like the hinomaru color is off in some way - it's just too strong.  I mixed primary red with gray to get it, and I think I used too dark a gray.  This is actually very close to the red of the kit decals, but I really need to get something that's more "scale grayed" to be completely satisfied with it.  My next model is also a Japanese subject, so I'm going to do some more work on this color before then.  Also, as you can see in the foreground, I ran into a tiny problem when painting one of the hinomarus, and then committed the cardinal sin of trying to fix it quickly, rather than stopping and coming back to the situation after the paint was dry.  As a consequence, I turned a small problem into a big problem that I then had to fix...

 

105966252_10217736588515602_397220237320

 

Here's partially fixed, but still needing some little cleanups and fixes to the shading.  I ended up also repairing a few small chips to the paint that got pulled off by my masks.  I am not super-happy with the adhesion of the Tamiya spray lacquer, at least as I applied it via airbrush.  Perhaps I over-thinned it and that's to blame.  I know for sure that Mr Color lacquer would not have come up like that.  It was a few tiny spots, but still.  Live and learn.

 

105923899_10217736588955613_254036822242

 

At a minimum the hinomarus, if loud, are distinctive.  Even my wife, who has no interest in this stuff at all, asked in passing "Is this one Japanese?"

 

Now I just have the blue chevrons of the Sentai insignia to paint, and it's on to the endgame.  There are a few stencil decals from the kit that I will use, and I need to install a few last parts (note the funky pitot tube is on already) and then try to rig the antenna wire in a way that doesn't look awful. 

 

Then it's on to the next kit(!)  I was thinking for a while that it might be the 1:48 Loire Colonial flying boat that I've had in the stash for a while, but I don't think I can segue straight into another Special Hobby build.  So I'm going to do the 1:32 Tamiya A6M2 Zero that I've got, done up as a plane from one of the carrier air groups that attacked Pearl Harbor.  Looking forward to fewer fit issues on that one, I hope...

 

Edited by Alex
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...