Shoki II-otsu 4

6/Feb/2009

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The metal primer

 From the builder of P-51D I learned about the suitable primer. He used the clear varnish from the spray can for aluminum construction materials (available at the local hardware store). He sprayed it over the whole aluminum surface prior painting the markings. This clear paint contains metal primer. It was difficult to use it directly from the spray can so it was discharged to a small bottle, thinned and sprayed through the airbrush. Especially in winter the coat becomes foggy so the model has to be heated with a hair drier.



I used this spray paint for aluminum construction materials.



Painting

 The aluminum clear paint was airbrushed on whole surface. Then the antiglare was masked and painted. But!! When I removed the masking tape, black (and also clear) paint layer was peeled off together with the tape. Grease of hands might be the cause. Anyway, painting on the aluminum surface was very difficult.



After clear paint was sprayed, the anti glare was masked.
Dark gray (black 80% + white 20%) was painted. The edge was not smooth due to the peeling off.



How to prevent peeling off the paint
  • Remove grease well.
  • The clear primer should be applied as a thick coat. The thin layer of paint will not be durable.
  • Reduce the masking tape adhesiveness with hand grease or something similar.
  • Remove the masking tape very carefully.


The rudder, elevator and aileron



The fixed tub was from the 0.2mm aluminum sheet. The edge was excavated 0.5mm and the aluminum piece glued on.
Ribs were represented by brushing Mr.Surfacer.

Mr. hobby #8 clear + #46 clear was airbrushed.
The rudder and elevators received the same treatment.



Chipping



The paint surface was scratched with the some stiff and sharp object (for example tweezers). This process of chipping was exactly same as the actual A/C.



Markings

 I sprayed clear paint all over again for repair of peeling off. Then the national insignia on the white band and orange-yellow IFF band were painted. Vivid colors of red, white and yellow look too artificial so I added chipping and paint weathering effects with fine brush.



The white air defense band and hinomaru ( = the circle of the sun ) were painted. The paint peeled off again. orz
IFF band was painted on. This time I used paper masks.

There was peeling again. orz
Gear covers were painted. The IFF bands didn't match. It was probably caused by the position of wing bulge and wheel wells.

During the paint peeling off repair the paint coat built up and almost concealed the rivets.
Here is the result after chipping and weathering.


For the home defense bands I added a few drops of black to pure white. Red was a mix of #GX3 red, #114 RLM23, #15 dark green in the ratio 75:20:5. For IFF bands I used #58 orange yellow with a few drops of red.


Painting the details



Aotake ( clear blue ) was achieved by airbrushing #50 clear blue ( + small quantity of clear yellow ) on the dark silver base coat.
The inside of the gear cover and gear leg were painted with #SM01 super fine silver followed by flat clear top coat.

I adjusted the shape of propeller blades and painted them in super fine silver as a base of chipping.
The propeller was painted with #131 red brown to which I added 30% of #13 neutral gray.



Details



The pilot seat was basically kit part. The frame behind the seat was from kit too.
Seat belts came from Finemolds photo-etched set.

The type 100 gunsight found in Shoki II-otsu and -hei was completely scratchbuilt. For reflectors I used Evergreen 0.13mm clear plastic sheet.
The bases of reflectors were made from 0.14mm plastic sheet. The opening was drilled out first and final shape cut.



Sentai markings



Masking tape was laid on the drawings and cut.
Tape was cut into small sections.

The markings of 70th sentai ware airbrushed. The edges of the markings are to be sanded down.
I used the same procedure to paint the aircraft number. While removing the masking tape the clear coat peeled off again.








Details



The exhaust pipe was hollowed and the edges thinned. The kit part is on the top.
The exhaust was painted and glued.

The antenna mast was scratchbuilt from the brass rod.
The hinge cover was made from the aluminum rod and 0.1mm sheet.


The "butterfly" flaps were glued on the wing.
The upper side of the flap trailing edge was painted red but only the portion visible when flap was retracted. It was confirmed by original photos. The painting guide in the new 1/32 Ki-44 kit is wrong.

The tail wheel covers were made from 0.3mm aluminum sheet.
Oops, I didn't notice that this small cover popped off.



The flap rail cover

 Initially I wanted to use the aluminum rod to make the cover of the flap rail but it's difficult to work with this material. So I made it by forming 0.1mm aluminum sheet. The rail itself was made from 0.7mm brass rod sanded to rectangular shape.



The aluminum sheet was pressed on the original kit's part.
The rail was bent into a pre-drilled hole to strengthen the joint.



Flat clear coating

 Clear varnish was sprayed once again to restore the overall finish, the edges of the markings were sanded down with 1200-grit sandpaper and the all other surfaces polished with Mr. Laplos #6000 ( same as the 2000-grit sandpaper ). After that, flat clear was airbrushed all over the surface. This coat did not subdue the appearance of natural aluminum metal surface. It was remarkable how different it was from silver-painted finish.


The main gear and gear cover

 The wheel cover and gear bay were painted Aotake and gear cover was left in the same finish as under surfaces. This is the same painting practice as for Nakajima-built Zero fighter.



The bar on the wheel was made of 0.3mm metal rod.
The brake line was annealed 0.35mm brass rod.

Bases of the wheel cover link were cut from triangle shape rod.
The link was 0.35mm brass rod.

The cover and link were installed on the lower wing.
The tail. I did not find out what the color of inside cover was.



The landing light



The transparent light cover was made from the heat-pressed 0.2mm clear styrene sheet.
The landing light was sourced from the aftermarket parts for 1/43 car models.




The canopy final assembly



The windshield and gun sight were glued on the fuselage.
The inner frame was made from the stretched sprue.

The frame looks distorted due to the thickness of canopy clear styrene.
The handle was also made from the stretched sprue. Application of yellow color is conjectural.



Other details



The small doors were made from 0.3mm aluminum sheet and for the inner plates I used 0.2mm aluminum.
These parts were also installed on the wing.

Yellow caution lines are custom-made dry decals.
The navigation lights came from Hasegawa 1/48 P-40 and were glued on using Dufix.














Completion

 After 6 month of hard work, "all-aluminum Shoki" was completed. The total construction time was more than 150 hours. But after I finished it I was very satisfied with the result. It can never be achieved by painting. Please check out the results on the photo page.








The antenna mast

 This is the original antenna mast from Nakajima Type 97 fighter. My friend told me that it is made from steel. I assume it was the same on Shoki (? )



The antenna mast of Type 97 fighter



Outdoor photography



This was the set up for the outdoor photography.
This is the shot of the left location.



Review of the new Hasegawa 1/32 Ki-44 kit

 The fuselage shape was improved according to the most recent research and is very good. Especially the plan shape is good. The representation of rib tapes excellent. The shape of the canopy has been improved as well. But the airfoil shape of the wing may be still a little thin.
I noticed some minor errors. The cross section shape of tail fuselage near tail fin is not perfect. The gear cover is flat. It should be curved to follow the curvature of the wing and lower fuselage. But these things are easy to correct.
Anyway, any flaws are minor and this new kit is the best Ki-44 in any scale.


References

 References are as follows. I couldn't obtain "Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki in Japanese Army Air Force Service / Schiffer", "Japanese Cockpit Interiors / Monogram Aviation Publications" and "Shoki Fighter Group 2 / Dainippon-kaiga ISBNF9784499229968".



1 The famous aircraft in the world No.16 Army Type 2 Fighter Shoki (new edition) Bunrindo
2 The famous aircraft in the world "Shoki" (old edition) Bunrindo
3 Shoki Fighter Group
ISBN978-4-499-22982-1 		Dainippon-kaiga
4 Mechanism of Military Aircraft No.12 "Hayabusa"/"Shoki"/Type 97 fighter
ISBN4-7698-0921-2 		Kojinsha
5 Koku-fun illustrated No.79 The record of IJA airwings vol.1 Bunrindo
6 Koku-fun illustrated No.80 The record of IJA airwings vol.2 Bunrindo
7 Koku-fun March 1995 Bunrindo
8 Model Art separate volume No.329 Marking of IJA fighter Model Art
9 Model Art separate volume No.416 IJA fighter Aces Model Art
10 Type 1 fighter Hayabusa
ISBN4-05-604181-4 		Gakken
11 Type 3 fighter Hien and Type 5 fighter
ISBN978-4-05-604930-5 		Gakken





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