This
entry details the build of the Hasegawa 1:48 scale Nakajima Ki43-I HAYABUSA
(OSCAR) of the Japanese Army in World War 2 donning the colours of the 64th
Sentai, 1st Chutai plane piloted by Major Tateo Kato in the early days of the
Malaya
invasion campaign.
The
Hasegawa kit no 51944 is a special motorised version of the Hasegawa kit of the
Ki43-I ( kit JT80 and kit 09589 ) which shares a common sprue B and T with the
Ki43-II kit.
The
80 part kit ( 8 pieces more than the static kit due to the inclusion of
the PE fret and motor ) builds to complete a 184mm x 238mm wide model and the
marking options are for the 64th Sentai plane in Burma
1942 or that of the 1st Flight Regiment in Oct 1942. As this was to be an
addition to the Merdeka09 collection, the 64th Sentai option was the obvious
choice.
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images below to see larger images
The
build was rather straight forward except that with the inclusion of the Eduard
detailing photoetched parts, a bit of finesse was possible at the cockpit walls,
seat, landing gears, butterfly flaps and radial engine sections.
The
construction sequence and build quality was only delayed by the minor sanding and
putty required at the fuselage halves and the drop tanks plus the odd ejector
pin mark on the landing gears which I absolutely hated cleaning up. Some part by
part joining of the wing halves are also advised as they will not join to a
razor sharp edge due to so irregular fittings at the back of the wings near the
flaps. Nothing that a bit of patience cannot overcome. The only over-engineered
part of the kit is at the landing gears which were designed in sections
requiring a very fiddly connection and one which is quite fragile. A bit of care
there is necessary.
The
cockpit was finished off with detailed painting using Vallejo
acrylics and a turpentine oil paint raw umber/lamp black mix.
It
was a shame that the details are a bit hard to see after fitting the tub into
the fuselage halves.
The
overall painting was done with a mixture of Tamiya acrylics and Gunze Mr Color
over a layer of metallic Aluminium/Silver base with a layer of hair gel in
between. The gel was necessary to simulate the chipped paint effect of the
inferior field camo of brown and green. The only areas spared of this patchy
look was the Hinomaru red and the antiglare black areas. As there were no
marking drawings available from the net resource, a hint of the scheme can be
seen in the KAJERO book titled 64 Sentai.
After
the chipping was done and decals were applied in the traditional and compulsory
gloss coat underlay, the entire plane was reapplied with an additional coat of
Futures and panelled with the oil wash again. Some streaking of the wash was
done with dry cotton buds and a fine brush before the entire model was protected
with a coat of Gunze UV flat coat.
This
project was entirely enjoyable and I am now looking forward to opening up the
Betty kit!
Merdeka!!!
Please visit Malaysia Scale Modelling .com at
http://malaysiascalemodelling.com/index.php
CK Loo
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