1/32 Hasegawa Ki-61 Tei Hien

[Thunnus]

14 hours ago, mc65 said:

magnificent.

so far I had not found any profile that made me snap the spring to start this kit, a gift from a friend.
but the one you're going to do, the 55 Sentai one, I find it beautiful.
sure, it's a Tei... so I searched for the Wolf Pack set, but without success.
do you have any idea where to find it? looking on the web it seems unobtainable.

 

TIA, Paolo

Hello Paolo!  I bought Wolfpack Tei conversion last year and had a hard time finding it.  I think I bought the last one in stock at Modeling Planet.

 

 

10 hours ago, dodgem37 said:

Good show.  Nice-looking I.P.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

Thanks Mark!

 

 

4 hours ago, Kahunaminor said:

Hello John,

Good to see another project on the go. You mentioned back on page 1 your wish for raised bezels on the Aires IP. Whilst not relevant now, are you aware of the below listed products from Airscale? Probably already on your radar (so to speak), but I thought I would point them out regardless as they may be of use at some later date.
 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airscale-pe32-bez-instrument-bezels--158773

 

Regards,

 

Kent

Ahhh... thanks for the heads up, Kent!  

[Steve Eagle]

Alley-cat did a conversion set for the -Tei. Look for that site or maybe look on ebay

[themongoose]

Thunnus if you need anything for the mask let me know. I’ve gotten pretty good with making patterns for my Silhouette. Happy to help out if you want a set. Love those markings!

[Thunnus]

4 hours ago, themongoose said:

Thunnus if you need anything for the mask let me know. I’ve gotten pretty good with making patterns for my Silhouette. Happy to help out if you want a set. Love those markings!

 

Thank you sir!  I use AutoCAD to create my masks for the Silhouette Portrait.  I've already drawn up a preliminary mask for the tail markings and will scan the Wolfpack decals for the hinomarus.  I might do a test run on the unpainted tail just to see if it is workable.

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  The D-9 is my priority one project and as long as I can keep that one moving, I'll be letting the Hien wait.  I've slowed on the Dora build as I contemplate the wiring additions in the engine compartment so I've tinkered a bit more with the Hien.

 

The cockpit sill and bulkhead behind the pilot is offered as part of the Aires photoetch fret.  It is thinner and has rivet detail that the kit plastic lacks. And yes, I have been running a mask test on the tail markings!

 

 

There is a fuel regulator nestled between the vertical walls that I am going to add.  

 

 

I've made some modifications to the starboard cockpit wall. I've added some wiring and an oxygen regulator.

 

 

The regulator was cannibalized/modified from the Revell Bf109G-6 kit and based on drawings found in the Japanese language book on the K-61/Ki-100, Model Art #428. The oxygen line was made by winding copper wire over wire and will be trimmed to length after the cockpit has been assembled.

 

[duke_]

this is very interesting John!

a very nice subject and an absolute fantastic start.. as always..

i think all IJN and IJA aircrafts are a real challenge to build especially when it comes to painting

 

keep up the good work!

 

Spyros

[Thunnus]

Thank you Spyros!  Hopefully, this build will be as entertaining for you as it will be educational for me!

 

Additional futzing around the cockpit prior to the painting stage... the lap harnesses are from the Aires PE fret.  I heated them with a lighter to get them to be a little more pliable.  The pad under the buckle end was replaced with a piece of foil as the brass was too stiff to manipulate within the confines of the seat.

 

 

The port sidewall was slightly enhanced with some wiring and a throttle linkage rod.

 

 

This is the resin cockpit floor. The control stick and the larger lever have not been glued into place yet.

 

 

Some of the resin+brass components have been sprayed with a primer (Mr Primer Surfacer 1000).

 

 

The I fabbed a couple of canopy release levers because I thought the PE versions were a bit overscale and awkwardly flat.

 

 

That color illustration I posted earlier made me think about the oxygen tube.  It is shown to be attached to the mask.  Would it more interesting to have the oxygen tube connected to the mask instead of the regulator?  I didn't have a mask but I did have this head...

 

 

So I snipped and carved the rest of the head away, leaving just the mask.  So now I have a few more options when it comes to posing the oxygen tube.

 

[Alex]

Those photoetch bulkheads are a definite upgrade!  This is going great places - excited to follow along...

[Kaeone57]

NICE, John, F-ing NICE!!

 

 

Alfonso

[Ebf2K]

From that illustration of the pilot and the drawing from the book it looks like the oxygen hose should come out of the front of the mask around the chin area and not out of the bottom?

Edited June 23, 2022 by Ebf2K
typo

[Thunnus]

18 hours ago, Alex said:

Those photoetch bulkheads are a definite upgrade!  This is going great places - excited to follow along...

Thank you Alex! Some pieces, like the bulkheads are great upgrades but others, like the canopy release latches, are not.  I usually take a look at the aftermarket stuff before putting it in and asking if it improves the model or not and there many instances where I have elected not to use.

 

 

3 hours ago, Kaeone57 said:

NICE, John, F-ing NICE!!

 

 

Alfonso

Thank you as always for checking in, Alfonso!

 

 

2 hours ago, Ebf2K said:

From that illustration of the pilot and the drawing from the book it looks like the oxygen hose should come out of the front of the mask around the chin area and not out of the bottom?

Hmmm... I actually inferred from the drawings that the hose was coming from the bottom and not the front but I could be wrong!

 

[MikeMaben]

Help ?

 

 

 

[dodgem37]

Well done!

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Hartmann52]

Another visual aId how to build Ki-61. I love this! 

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the comments!

 

15 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Help ?

 

 

 

 

Yes, that is VERY helpful and confirms my guess that the hose was connected from the bottom and not the top.  I also found this image...

 

Not sure if I'm going to attempt to replicate the straps... people might think I've placed an Alien face-hugger in the cockpit!

 

The cockpit painting has started.  I started very small and painted three small levers and installed them on the instrument panel. You can't see it here but I took the time to putty the top edges of the panel to hide the obvious joint between the photoetch face and the resin backing.

 

 

My knowledge of Japanese WW2 aircraft is very minimal.  Colors on these aircraft is not straightforward and I'm relying on information that I was able to mine from the internet, right or wrong.  My research pointed to what I think is a credible source named Nick Millman.  He writes the blog "Aviation of Japan" and has some very in-depth and interesting color analyses of WW2 Japanese aircraft, inside and out.  On the subject of the interior color of the Ki-61, I found some recommendations by Mr. Millman in 2017 which, in essence, said to avoid the sandy brown (RLM 79) convention that many modelers assume is valid and go with grey-green. Mr Color C128 (IJA Grey Green) or Mr Hobby Aqueous H62 (IJA Grey) preferable over Tamiya XF-14 (IJA Grey). 

 

But my first choice was AK Real Colors RC328 (Hai-ryokushoku Grey Green).  AK Real Colors was recently introduced and Mr. Millman was involved in the development of some colors (presumably the Japanese WW2 stuff) so I started with this color. I don't know if there is variability in batches but this color looked very cool, almost bluish grey.  Didn't like it.  

 

 

After spraying some samples of Mr Hobby Aqueous H62 and Tamiya XF-14, I settled on a 1:1 mixture of the two.

 

 

After the base color is established, I start doing the detail painting of the cockpit. I'm very random when it comes to this and jump all around the place with the detail painting.  Just whatever jumps out at me or if I see something in my references that I want to replicate. Slowly but surely, things get done.

 

 

The cockpit floor and seat got a slightly different treatment and a metal color was laid down prior the Grey-Green to incorporate some hairspray chipping.

 

 

The photoetch lap harnesses hold a pose nicely, so I'm able to paint them apart from the seat.

 

 

Here are the side panels with some details picked out by brush painting.

 

 

Some more progress on the side panels.  The floor is a bit further along and has received a brown pastel wash.

 

 

Other cockpit components at various stages in the painting/weathering process.

 

 

 

After painting, the gun sight received a flat coat and a drop of UV-activated clear epoxy to serve as the optical element.  The glass reflectors are cut from clear acetate and the edge of the rear reflector is enhanced with clear blue-green to give the appearance of thick glass.