First model in over 20 years. Tamiya KI-84 1/48 scale

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jamesrwjim

Airman
14
0
Oct 27, 2012
Washington state
I bought this kit off ebay , it had some fit and decal issues. First for me on this kit ,airbrushing ,weathering and pre-shading. Overall I am not unhappy with the way it went all things considered. Now I leave it up to you fine people on what I could have done differently. I do apologize for the photography hopefully that will improve as well. Thank you for looking . Jim
 
I think it's a great effort after the long hiatus. A fine model but some things to address for future would be a little more attention to seams (wing to fuselage and the nose ring), decal silvering (meatballs on the wings have some on the edges - apply decals over a gloss coat and use a setting compound), and maybe see if you can find a finer thread for the antenna wire. I use "invisible" nylon mending thread or stretched sprue.

Looks pretty good though Jim.
 
Jim, I think you have done fine. Good chipping, the Japanese paints from that period were sure prone to it. The decals were probably a little old and probably could have used a coat of liquid decal restorer. I know you might not have any of that yet, but I find it very useful, especially if you get kits off the net, or (like many of mine) from a thrift store. Trim as closely as possible to the design, then, as Andy suggested, apply over a coat of gloss. This will make them adhere to the surface much better. Alot of us use Future floor polish, it is a very tough acrylic useful for making canopies look like glass as well as a good first coat for decaling.
Over-all though, a great beginning!
 
I think its great, don't worry even when you get to more models, theres always something you might feel a little "unhappy" about
 
Agree with all the above.
A fine effort for being away, like most of us in here, for such a long time.

Seams are the first concern, filling and sanding smooth. One trick I use you might try. If you are familiar with "lapping", not like a cat drinking. I have a rat file, sturdy in thickness and very flat. On the fuselage halves I file right across each. I even take off the locating tabs just to make sure everything is flat and true. All I take off is enough to see the gloss of the molding process disappear. Even a brand new sheet of fairly fine grade sandpaper, no fold marks, laid flat on a flat table and the piece just moved slowly around the sheet checking often to see the gloss of the mold go away. Doing this almost eliminates the use of filler.

But it looks like you are on your way to doing some fine work. Kudos for getting such great results with the airbrush, pre-shading and weathering.
I haven't the nerve for the weathering yet.

Bill
 
I just wanted to thank everyone for your comments it really means a lot I will be posting another build this weekend and I believe it addresses some of your thoughts on what I could have done to this build, again thank you.
 
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