1/48 Arii (Otaki) Ki-43 Hayabusa (Finished!!)

I've been making progress on the model but am falling behind on my updates. Here's some of what's already been done and I will try to get more up tomorrow.


I finished up the Ho-103 canons and installed them in the cockpit. I painted them Model Master enamel gunmetal, then a quick drybrush of steel followed by an oil wash mix of black and raw umber. I have had this particular bottle for about 20 years and haven't used it since I primarily use acrylics. When I couldn't get my bottle of acrylic gunmetal opened I resolved to use the enamel instead. I actually really like this color and it looks just right to use for the blue-black anti glare on the nose later on.


This is the oil cooler that goes under belly between the wheel wells. It has no internal detail would be completely see-through as is. Can't have that now can we?

I removed the locating pin and blanked off the front with styrene. I added brass mesh to the front and rear mounted on pieces of styrene as well. I painted the inside flat black followed by aluminum. The screens were dry brushed chrome silver. Though not pictured here I also boxed in the front with styrene and added the louvers in front of the rear screen.


Finally the main assemblies were glued together.

I will have more tomorrow. She is in the early painting stages now and I will bring this thread current then with more pictures.

See you guys soon

Chad

Good work so far!

Looking good Chad. Mental note made to add mesh. I really need to get my butt in gear and order the clear replacement parts from Tamiya or search every nook and cranny in my room again

fubar57 said:

Looking good Chad. Mental note made to add mesh. I really need to get my butt in gear and order the clear replacement parts from Tamiya or search every nook and cranny in my room again

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I could send you pics of the radiator of the restored EAA oscar if you'd like. Also, I will be posting a pic of it soon, but I got a vac canopy by Taurus for this build (It's actually for the Hasegawa kit) and it is superb. The framing is the best defined I have ever seen in a vac-form, better than some kit parts even, which should make masking sharp edges very easy. And you could always use clear sprue to replace the landing light.

My error, its a Hasegawa kit. Have Tamiya on the brain with my GB. A quick check on various sites show most are sold out of Taurus. I found one in Germany. $2.27CAN for the part, $11.35CAN for shipping .

fubar57 said:

My error, its a Hasegawa kit. Have Tamiya on the brain with my GB. A quick check on various sites show most are sold out of Taurus. I found one in Germany. $2.27CAN for the part, $11.35CAN for shipping .

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Yeah, I ran into the same thing, got mine from the UK shipped to the USA for about $11 USD. Got it off eBay. Decided it wasn't too bad when I got to looking at other vac canopies by other companies that were going for $8-10 before shipping charges. I just closed my eyes and clicked "buy it now", lol.

Ok, time to bring this build current.


I blanked off the front of the fuselage with sheet styrene just in case the gaping hole would be visible once the engine was installed. Also to note here is the holes in front of the wing at the fuselage joint as a result of thinning to accommodate the deepening of the wheel wells. This was made short work of by applying milliput and a light sanding afterwards.


I filled in the mounting hole for the oil cooler with a piece of stretched sprue and trimmed flush after it was dried. Also the wheel wells were faired in with milliput and a wet cotton swab to to make a rounded contour to match reference pictures.


There is a prominent seam at the aft wing/fuselage joint. Unfortunately this runs through the butterfly flaps as well and needs to be dealt with. The flaps on the Oscar were fabric covered. The kit implies them as being metal covered with the rivet detail molded on them.

Correction: The interior of the flaps were fabric, the exterior was metal skinned.

The seams and flap rivets were addressed with Mr. Surfacer 500 and sanded flush.


The entire aircraft has been painted Model Master enamel gloss black in preparation for the Alclad finish to follow. This is currently curing for 48 hours and will not be ready to handle until tomorrow night.


Not the best picture for showing this due to not being able to handle the model at this time but I am attempting to show the louvers at the back of the oil cooler made from an aluminum can. I will be able to show this better later on.

Finally, since I have not revealed the paint scheme I plan to paint this aircraft I now present it here.


Ki-43 II 2nd Chutai, 63rd Sentai
Papua New Guinea 1944


The only picture I can find of this particular plane. The 63rd Sentai had a very short operational history of barely 4 months from late December 1943 to April 1944. It seems the unit was formed specifically to be deployed to the New Guinea theatre but was completely wiped out while deployed there and scrubbed from the IJAAF permanently, never to be reestablished for the duration of the war. Many of the Ki-43s that made up this sentai were victims of take off and landing accidents due to incompetence of the very hastily trained pilots plucked from several flying schools to fill out the ranks. There were only a handful of veterans placed into the unit when it was formed and promptly sent overseas to help plug the hemorrhage of planes and pilots in New Guinea. The survivors were forced to retreat into the jungles acting as infantry and many succumbing to starvation and disease. I believe only three members of the 63rd survived the war and information on this unit is very very scarce.

Profile copyright Rising Decals

Photo found at AviationofJapan.com

Also thanks to Nicholas Millman
at Aviation of Japan whom graciously answered my questions and provided me with the little information currently known about the 63rd Sentai.

More soon guys, its getting really close for some color.

Looking forward to the paint

Good progress Chad and interesting but dramatic story about that 63rd Sentai.
The painting process will be very interesting, I like that scheme.

Saludos

SANCER said:

Good progress Chad.
The painting process will be very interesting, I like that scheme.

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+1

Not much yet but I do have the Alclad airframe aluminum on and the first acrylic gloss coat.


I ordered a fancy circle cutter and it should be any day now. Once I get all the meatballs masked and painted on I can tackle the camouflage. Not exciting, I know, but I appreciate everyone who are tagging along with me on this.

Chad

Shiny. Which cutter Chad? I'm thinking about getting the Shadow Hobby Thinnerline version. I've stopped buying kits(for now) and concentrating on tools.

fubar57 said:

Shiny. Which cutter Chad? I'm thinking about getting the Shadow Hobby Thinnerline version. I've stopped buying kits(for now) and concentrating on tools.

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It is the Thinnerline. By the looks of it it now comes all inclusive with the centering jig as I could not find any options to buy either the cutter or jig separately. I will know for sure in a day or two. I'm really excited that it will be able to cut circles down to 1mm. That means my punch set might not see as much use as it has in the past.

Beauty....awaiting a lavish review

Nice progress Chad.

Thanks Geo and Andy!

Might be a few days for another update, just ordered some Colourcoat IJA paints since the Tamiya and Polly Scale ones I have I am displeased with. The colors are just too far off from what they should look like. Research is a blessing and a curse, lol.