Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, Arma Hobby, 1/72

[2996 Victor]

My first thread on the forum isn't quite start to finish, as the build is already quite advanced. However, I'll post photos I've taken along the way as it was begun on Britmodeller in last year's Turning Japanese group build. Its the Arma Hobby Expert boxing, so it comes with additional markings options and a small sheet of etched brass. Its a lovely kit, typical Arma, it goes together nicely and the parts fit is great, although care is still needed of course. The level of detail is excellent.

Box and sprue shots:


I tend to use Tamiya acrylic rattle cans for primer, so here the fuselage halves are primed and I've started putting together the cockpit and engine:

The interior green I've used is Mr Hobby Aqueous H320 Dark Green, which I used for my Nakajima-built aircraft.

And there things rested for a good while.....until recently when I chanced to unearth the sprues! First thing to do was add the little separately-moulded controls and the etched levers and bits-and-bobs, and then paint the fuselage interior green:

A bit of detail painting followed, picking out the handles on the levers and suchlike.

And the cockpit assembly was finished:

There are a number of small/tiny decals to be used in the cockpit area, for instance a compass on the portside floor, and the switch panel on the starboard side. The decals settle down pretty well, but they do have a fair bit of carrier film, so need a few treatments with setting solution to get them to sit properly. Once under a waft of matt lacquer, though they look pretty good!

Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[2996 Victor]

The next job was to close up the fuselage. You don't need to fit the cockpit beforehand, it can be added from underneath, which is good because that helps to avoid getting it glued lop-sided.

Here's the underneath after the tub has been put in its place:


And looking in from the top:

I think the cockpit looks suitably busy and effective! I've added the IP as well - I used the moulded one as there didn't seem to be an advantage to the etched version. It has a decal over it containing the dials etc, which again needed several applications of setting solution but settled down nicely. Once dry, I matt-coated it and then picked out the dial glasses with gloss varnish. I've since managed to knock it off.....

The upper coaming is a separate piece, which also has decals representing controls to go on it - I haven't painted it yet so that's on the "to-do" list. Another thing I forgot was to add the tail-wheel into the lower rear fuselage before I closed it up. Hopefully, a bit of wiggling should get it into place.

The wing panels consist on a one-piece lower panel and two separate uppers. Where possible, I like to fit the lower panel first and then add the uppers, but in this case the wheel wells sit below the fuselage and are included in the wing upper panels. I'm using Tamiya's AS-29 Grey Green IJN for the lower surfaces (yes, I know that's a Navy colour and this is an Army plane!), so the wheel wells were treated to a blast of that and the wings assembled:

The section below the cockpit has since had a brush coat of the interior green colour!

The wings have lovely, fine trailing edges, but even so I think its worth spending a little time with a sanding stick making sure that the mating edges are flat and also as thin as possible.

A quick word about how I bodge stuff together. I use a combination of medium-viscosity CA and MEK solvent. The initial assembly is done with spots of CA, usually starting at the wing-tip or tail fin, obviously taking great care with alignment, then somewhere around mid-span or near the cockpit opening, then finally wing-root or cowling. Once that's cured, I seal the joints with a small quantity of MEK solvent - not too much on thin areas like the wings' trailing edges as it causes sinkage.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[2996 Victor]

Which brings us up to date!

Yesterday, I got the wings and tailplanes on. For attaching the wings I again used CA, tailplanes with small quantities of MEK. The port side tailplane needed a bit of support while the joint hardened, but the flying surfaces seem nice and true to my aging eyes


The upper wing-to-fuselage joints are pretty much the best I've ever achieved, so I'm quite chuffed! Small quantities of Mr Surfacer have been used on the fuselage seams, and a little more is needed here and there. Depending on the seam and the adjacent surface detail, I either clean and polish with MicroMesh or use a cotton bud dampened with Mr Thinner to wipe away the excess, and then polish with fine MicroMesh. The seams on this kit are minimal and any issues are of my own making!

You can see that the engine slides in which is very useful for detailing it and painting the airframe as a whole.

Thanks for looking in - hopefully more soon!

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Wurger]

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Looks good and it's nice to see new entrants on the books.

 

[fubar57]

Those Arma kits sure have a lot of good cockpit detail

 

[2996 Victor]

Looks good and it's nice to see new entrants on the books.

Those Arma kits sure have a lot of good cockpit detail

Thanks, chaps! Vic - thanks, it's good to be here!

This is another great kit - Arma do provide lovely detail straight out of the box: they seem to have taken a leaf out of Tamiya's book in that respect. The etch in the Expert Set is just guilding the lily, really.

I'm planning to get the Special Attack boxing of this kit as well as it has some interesting schemes.

All the best,
Mark

 

[Crimea_River]

Wonderful work Mark and nice to see you jump over here from BM. Great site with knowledgeable folks but I found it much too large for me. I couldn't keep up with all the builds going on there. The community here is much smaller and therefore very close-knit. You'll fit in nicely and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

When you get settled have a look in the Group Build section and join us if you like. We're launching a new traunch of themes in June.

 

[36feet10inches]

Wonderful work Mark and nice to see you jump over here from BM. Great site with knowledgeable folks but I found it much too large for me. I couldn't keep up with all the builds going on there. The community here is much smaller and therefore very close-knit. You'll fit in nicely and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

When you get settled have a look in the Group Build section and join us if you like. We're launching a new traunch of themes in June.

Without going into too much detail... it's one of the reasons I've been drawn back to WW2A. I feel a lot more comfortable back here already.

 

[2996 Victor]

Wonderful work Mark and nice to see you jump over here from BM. Great site with knowledgeable folks but I found it much too large for me. I couldn't keep up with all the builds going on there. The community here is much smaller and therefore very close-knit. You'll fit in nicely and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

When you get settled have a look in the Group Build section and join us if you like. We're launching a new traunch of themes in June.

Many thanks for your kind words, its hugely appreciated! The Ki-84 is another cracker from Arma - the way they're expanding their catalogue I could easily see myself building not much else! Not really, as there are too many great manufacturers out there, but Frankly (see what I did there?) it is superb.

I know exactly what you mean about BM - even though there are many great and knowledgeable members it is a bit of a leviathan. It was Tony 36feet10inches who prompted me to have a dabble over here, and in short order I'm feeling right at home - thanks, Tony!

I've noticed a few Group Builds on the calendar: I've already got several projects planned that would fit some of them so it would be rude not to! What's the protocol - do prospective participants need to sign up or anything?

Thanks again and best regards,
Mark

 

[Crimea_River]

Hi Mark, I DID see what you did there and we have ZERO tolerance for puns, he, he.

Protocol for GBs? Go here and it should have all the info you need: Modellers Wanted! Group Build Invitation

We just started the "Foreign Service" GB which runs until June 4 so if you feel so inclined, you can pop in with an entry

 

[36feet10inches]

We just started the "Foreign Service" GB which runs until June 4 so if you feel so inclined, you can pop in with an entry

Soooo many possibilities... but let me finish what I've got on the bench first, eh... don't want to be overreaching myself (again!)

 

[2996 Victor]

Hi Mark, I DID see what you did there and we have ZERO tolerance for puns, he, he.

Protocol for GBs? Go here and it should have all the info you need: Modellers Wanted! Group Build Invitation

We just started the "Foreign Service" GB which runs until June 4 so if you feel so inclined, you can pop in with an entry

Excellent, thanks - I'll have a look-see and maybe, just maybe, I'll join in I've certainly got some possibles for foreign service.....

Cheers,
Mark
(Pun tolerance noted )

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far!