Summer project Kawasaki KI-61, Tamiya 1/48

[GusMac]

Very nice Rob. Very colourful and a nice different subject. 

[Kaireckstadt]

This is really an eyecatcher Rob! Beautiful build so far and I learned a lot.

Can you also post some pictures of the landing gear and tyres ? I‘m quite interested how they look like after your special treatment. 

Good idea how to rework the canopy! What you can also try is careful cleaning of the glass surface with a cotton swab and Mr. Color thinner (not the Leveling thinner!). This will not react with the plastic. It will stay clear. 

Looking forward to seeing her finished! 

[belugawhaleman]

Well done.A great a looking model of an interesting subject! I remember I

built the Otaki  model kit of this aircraft years ago while I was on break from

college. I always thought it was a cool plane.

[GazzaS]

Looks beautiful, Rob!

[Peterpools]

Hi Rob

Looking so good and somehow, these gremlins have a nasty habit of popping up when we least expect it. I’m thinking that going with Pledge for the canopy fix would be the best path to take, as it can’t damage any of the canopy framing. Not sure about the spot on the underside of the wings - still trying to understand what caused it.

Keep - em comin

Peter

[GazzaS]

...and sometimes...   we just try too hard.

[DocRob]

14 hours ago, GusMac said:

Very nice Rob. Very colourful and a nice different subject. 

Muchas gracias Gus, it looks indeed a bit like a parrot, no real camo effect here.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

13 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

This is really an eyecatcher Rob! Beautiful build so far and I learned a lot.

Can you also post some pictures of the landing gear and tyres ? I‘m quite interested how they look like after your special treatment. 

Good idea how to rework the canopy! What you can also try is careful cleaning of the glass surface with a cotton swab and Mr. Color thinner (not the Leveling thinner!). This will not react with the plastic. It will stay clear. 

Looking forward to seeing her finished! 

Dankeschön Kai, I will not clean the canopy with thinners, because I'm afraid, to smear the color while doing so. I have no idea, what caused the slight fogging, maybe it's residues of the HGW Kabuki masks, maybe it's caused by hot paint, in this case Exteme Metals or a combination.
Concerning the wheels, I will post some pics later, which in this case are not very spectacular, as I used the simple kit wheels, but I show the effect on the wheels of my Mig 31 build. The flanks of the tires are sprayed in a bluish black, the contact area with a grey brown black. Then I apply rubble Pigments from MIG. The tire colors I use are from a Life Color set with six different near blacks, which is really handy, because I rarely use pure black in my builds.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

9 hours ago, belugawhaleman said:

Well done.A great a looking model of an interesting subject! I remember I

built the Otaki  model kit of this aircraft years ago while I was on break from

college. I always thought it was a cool plane.

Thank you, I guess the Otaki build experience was quite different from the Tamiya one. Building was a breeze with absolutely no issues.

5 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Looks beautiful, Rob!

Muchas Grazias Gaz

4 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Looking so good and somehow, these gremlins have a nasty habit of popping up when we least expect it. I’m thinking that going with Pledge for the canopy fix would be the best path to take, as it can’t damage any of the canopy framing. Not sure about the spot on the underside of the wings - still trying to understand what caused it.

Thank you Peter, I will evaluate the canopy prob today and decide then what to do  about it. The spot on the underside was caused by me, while cleaning away a tacky spot with a cotton swab dabbed in a hint of alcohol. It worked without problems on the extra tanks, but here, the aluminum color darkened. Repared with the True Metal wax, it looks like new.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, GazzaS said:

...and sometimes...   we just try too hard.

Haha, great one Gaz. Would the Japanese have known about HGW's wet transfers, they would have invaded the Czech Republic instead of fighting against China, only to get a bad batch of copycat airbrushes.

Cheers Rob 

[Kaireckstadt]

51 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Dankeschön Kai, I will not clean the canopy with thinners, because I'm afraid, to smear the color while doing so. I have no idea, what caused the slight fogging, maybe it's residues of the HGW Kabuki masks, maybe it's caused by hot paint, in this case Exteme Metals or a combination.
Concerning the wheels, I will post some pics later, which in this case are not very spectacular, as I used the simple kit wheels, but I show the effect on the wheels of my Mig 31 build. The flanks of the tires are sprayed in a bluish black, the contact area with a grey brown black. Then I apply rubble Pigments from MIG. The tire colors I use are from a Life Color set with six different near blacks, which is really handy, because I rarely use pure black in my builds.

Cheers Rob

Thanks for the description and the fotos Rob!

Absolutely realistic looking tires! I‘ll try this on one of my next builds.

 

Up to now I used AK or Tamiya tire black which looks like rubber when dried. 

For the contact-area I either spray a mixture of own mixed brown colors (e.g. WWII aircraft):

or use the colors of the Tamiya Weatherine Sets.

[Peterpools]

Rob

Thank you for the explanations - just glad the NMF was 'cleaned up' and fingers crossed the canopy issues will be a thing of the past later today.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

My frustration is starting to rise, the canopy fogging or smearing isn't solved easily. First I tried to clean with a cotton swab, to no avail, then  brushed on some Pledge onto one pane, the one on the left in the pic, nothing. After further inspecting, it almost seems, the distortions are in the clear plastic or inside, for whatever reason. I tried to dismount the main canopy part with the help of a blade, but couldn't get it loose without fearing to destroy it, which enhanced my confidence into Revell Contacta glue, which I hadn't before.
I'm running out of options, is this really the point, where I have to accept the distortions, or to put a putty made tarp on the canopy, brrrrr.
The middle and aft part of the clears is supplied for an open representation of the KI-61, but to install them, you have to change the fuselage mounted railings, which are different for open and closed canopies.

Oh, by the way, the distortions are definitely not scratches and they are visible on nearly every pane, on some barely noticeable on others more. Gaz, I would appreciate a pic of the real thing having distortions on the canopy, for whatever reason.

Cheers Rob

[harv]

Chalk it up to weathering. BTW, she is beautiful.......harv 

[Bomber_County]

Rob, it’s time to walk away, can they be seen from a metre away……..You know it’s there…….gets me toooooo……beautiful model congrats……the camo is well above my pay grade…….I’ve a mark on the front windscreen of my ZM 51…….that’s why I picked up the P38…….

 

[Peterpools]

Rob

Glad you backed off the idea of prying off the canopy which never seems to work without causing issues of it's own. Looking at your closeup photo, the rear canopy blemishes almost appears to be stress marks in the plastic itself and maybe the Revell Contacta Glue released some fumes when drying which reacted with the clear plastic. I'm with Phil, your build is awesome and I would leave things as they are. 

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[GazzaS]

2 hours ago, DocRob said:

Gaz, I would appreciate a pic of the real thing having distortions on the canopy, for whatever reason.

You know...  I bought the Hasegawa Ki-61 a few years ago.  Much to my disgust, both wings were warped badly.   I went looking online and found I wasn't the only one to have that problem.  They're relatively thin, and I couldn't imagine how I'd separate them cleanly and insert something thin enough, yet rigid enough to take care of the warp.

 

Canopy - wings...   you're wondering where I'm going.  Mainly what I'm talking about are things that could be managed easier in larger scale.  !/48 canopies are much thicker in scale compared to larger scales.  There's really no room to work.  Even if you did get it separated, you would struggle thinning it, and really struggle trying to get the inner surfaces smooth enough because your fingertips just wont fit.  And...  being brittle. even if you did put in the effort...   it would probably crack just as you thought your were almost there.

 

Sorry buddy.

 

[Kaireckstadt]

Do you have some maintenance figures which you could place in front of the distorted windows as if they were working on the canopy ?  Maybe this could hide some of the distortions. 

Otherwise I would leave it as it is or you order a new one from Tamiya and replace it. 

Like Peter said: awesome build nevertheless! 

[DocRob]

16 hours ago, harv said:

Chalk it up to weathering. BTW, she is beautiful.......harv 

 

16 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Rob, it’s time to walk away, can they be seen from a metre away……..You know it’s there…….gets me toooooo……beautiful model congrats……the camo is well above my pay grade…….I’ve a mark on the front windscreen of my ZM 51…….that’s why I picked up the P38…….

 

14 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Glad you backed off the idea of prying off the canopy which never seems to work without causing issues of it's own. Looking at your closeup photo, the rear canopy blemishes almost appears to be stress marks in the plastic itself and maybe the Revell Contacta Glue released some fumes when drying which reacted with the clear plastic. I'm with Phil, your build is awesome and I would leave things as they are. 

 

14 hours ago, GazzaS said:

You know...  I bought the Hasegawa Ki-61 a few years ago.  Much to my disgust, both wings were warped badly.   I went looking online and found I wasn't the only one to have that problem.  They're relatively thin, and I couldn't imagine how I'd separate them cleanly and insert something thin enough, yet rigid enough to take care of the warp.

 

Canopy - wings...   you're wondering where I'm going.  Mainly what I'm talking about are things that could be managed easier in larger scale.  !/48 canopies are much thicker in scale compared to larger scales.  There's really no room to work.  Even if you did get it separated, you would struggle thinning it, and really struggle trying to get the inner surfaces smooth enough because your fingertips just wont fit.  And...  being brittle. even if you did put in the effort...   it would probably crack just as you thought your were almost there.

 

10 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Do you have some maintenance figures which you could place in front of the distorted windows as if they were working on the canopy ?  Maybe this could hide some of the distortions. 

Otherwise I would leave it as it is or you order a new one from Tamiya and replace it. 

Muchas gracias Amigos, for your input and reasoning. I will change my approach . The KI-61 just made it back from intercepting B-29's at high altitude and there is still some ice from condensation onto the canopy, that easy .
Nope, it's not and I'm wondering about myself. I don't display my builds and you are the only bunch, I'm showing what I do, so why do I care? I cant explain it, but I do.
For this build, which was more planned as an easy summer distraction and a camo experiment, I will leave it now as it is, but I'd like to understand what happened, to be prepared for the future. Normally I dip my canopies in Pledge, but didn't do it this time, because the parts were crystal clear and distortion free. It was the first time, I used HGW's Kabuki masks, but nothing ran under the masks and the distortions seem to be no glue residue. I used Revell Contacta Clear for all my canopy works and never had issues. I think, it's very similar to thinned white glue for wood and not very aggressive or fuming.
As I said in the beginning, I will try another approach, it's a summer build, it's a cool plane, juuuuust relax and have fun. What was that all about...?

Cheers Rob 

[Peterpools]

Rob

Looking at all the possibilities from the guys as to he whys and possible fixes, I'm glad you decided to leave it as is. Of course wanting a definitive answer to what caused the canopy issues, is something we may never know and that's a shame, as we all would learn from it.

I am a bit surprised you don't display your models at home, as they are surely a work of art.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

[GazzaS]

[DocRob]

12 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Looking at all the possibilities from the guys as to he whys and possible fixes, I'm glad you decided to leave it as is. Of course wanting a definitive answer to what caused the canopy issues, is something we may never know and that's a shame, as we all would learn from it.

I am a bit surprised you don't display your models at home, as they are surely a work of art.

Thanks Peter, I don't like unsolved mysteries, at least with modelling. It's an error prone hobby and a lot is about fixing the errors. That puts understanding of the situation in focus and mostly, through analyze a problem, you will conclude and find ways to solve the problem. Not in this case, because I can't find the possible source of the problem, but as I have written, so be it.

Honestly, I have to admit, I have a display shelf in my  workshop, but the reason for that is not displaying my builds, but storing them more space efficient, than in boxes, where they eat a lot of space and are prone to damage. The shelf gets more and more crammed and sometimes, I give away a kit as a present for friends.
Mostly, after a  build is done, I loose interest in the kit, with only some exceptions. The only model, I will display somewhere in the living area will be a wooden sailing ship, when done. For me it's about building, painting weathering and challenge myself with new techniques, materials or processes, after finishing, the air is out.
Does it make sense? To me it does, because I really enjoy the building process as a calming and focusing time and in the end, there are some of my builds, I'm really proud off.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

2 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Great and atmospheric pic Gaz, but the canopy looks distortion free . Looks like it has Hasegawa origins.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

I feel as you and knowing the cause of a problem, leads to both a solution and avoiding it in the future.

About ten years ago, I purchased a beautiful display case we keep in the hallway of our home. The only models I have in my display case are those I've built over the past ten years and a chunk of that time, I wasn't even modeling at all, so I still have loads of display room. The display case is in the hallway and we treat it as a piece of furniture. Besides looking at my 'mini museum' when the mood strikes (very often to be truthful), the extra bonus of the display case is the models stay absolutely dust free and are never touched. I do have forum friends who do as you do and when their display shelves are full, give a few models away, making room for the newer builds. 

My motivation for modeling is mostly the same as yours, as it's a means of relaxation and enjoyment, where I can leave the outside world behind when need be. I just wish there were a selection of 1/24th scale civil aircraft that I can build models of the planes I've flown and always wanted to but never did. 

But in the end, I'm just so lucky my wife Diane was so happy about the display case and is my number one fan.

Keep 'em comin

Peter 

[DocRob]

Inter

29 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

I feel as you and knowing the cause of a problem, leads to both a solution and avoiding it in the future.

About ten years ago, I purchased a beautiful display case we keep in the hallway of our home. The only models I have in my display case are those I've built over the past ten years and a chunk of that time, I wasn't even modeling at all, so I still have loads of display room. The display case is in the hallway and we treat it as a piece of furniture. Besides looking at my 'mini museum' when the mood strikes (very often to be truthful), the extra bonus of the display case is the models stay absolutely dust free and are never touched. I do have forum friends who do as you do and when their display shelves are full, give a few models away, making room for the newer builds. 

My motivation for modeling is mostly the same as yours, as it's a means of relaxation and enjoyment, where I can leave the outside world behind when need be. I just wish there were a selection of 1/24th scale civil aircraft that I can build models of the planes I've flown and always wanted to but never did. 

But in the end, I'm just so lucky my wife Diane was so happy about the display case and is my number one fan.

It's always interesting to see the motivation of fellow modelers and what is driving them through the sometimes painful process of building a kit. You are very lucky Peter, that you have a wife, supporting you with your hobby and accepting the display shelf in the house. 
My situation is a bit different, my wife accepts my hobby, but would never support me. She likes to see me doing things with passion and dedication, but has no understanding for all the money, I spend on the hobby and has a general dislike of weapon thingies, which I can understand.
It's not only because of her, that there are no kits displayed in our houses, I wouldn't like that either. We have a very special shaped and decorated living area, where kits simply wouldn't fit in.
This status quo is ok for me and sometimes, I manage to get my wife involved into a specific model related subject, when I achieve to address her professional pride, being an engineer for technical risk management on a very experienced and advanced level . It takes some minutes then for her to mind, that she have been tricked in and we both have a laugh.

If I follow the lead, you are leaving with your avatar, for example a Piper Cub would be not too difficult to build from scratch or based on a wooden kit. With 3D-printing on demand, even the complicated sub assemblies like engine or interior are in reach. Obtaining scaled technical drawings of the better known types shouldn't be a big prob either.
C'mon Peter fulfill your dream and let us peek in.

Cheers Rob