It's been a while since I completed a Japanese aircraft subject and this pair of hangar queens had been sitting on my shelf of doom for over 3 years. However, a recent period of long term convalescence enabled me to reacquaint myself with them and as a consequence I was able to finally finish them off.
Despite their age the kits were a straight forward build and presented no major problems whatsoever, with the only real challenge being the painting. As I wanted to display these aircraft in a flying pose I also needed to find some suitable pilot figures for the cockpits and managed to source some white metal figures from Eureka Miniatures (http://eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=1361). Although these represent a WWII American pilot, as only their heads would be visible through the canopies it really didn't matter so much and they served their purpose perfectly.
Another issue I had to deal with was how to replicate the spinning propellers and although I looked at a number of commercially available options, I really didn't like them. In the end I opted to make my own, using a compass fitted with steel points to cut circles from a sheet of OHP (overhead projector) film, which worked out surprisingly well.
After priming the models I then sprayed them with Gloss Aluminium (TS-17) using a Tamiya rattle can and the Bright Blue (65) using Gunze Mr Hobby color. The decals were then applied and the models sprayed with two coats of Future to give them an even high gloss finish. I choose not to weather the models in any way as I wanted to them to look like a pair display models as you often find in antique stores and am happy with the final result.
Despite their age the kits were a straight forward build and presented no major problems whatsoever, with the only real challenge being the painting. As I wanted to display these aircraft in a flying pose I also needed to find some suitable pilot figures for the cockpits and managed to source some white metal figures from Eureka Miniatures (http://eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=1361). Although these represent a WWII American pilot, as only their heads would be visible through the canopies it really didn't matter so much and they served their purpose perfectly.
Another issue I had to deal with was how to replicate the spinning propellers and although I looked at a number of commercially available options, I really didn't like them. In the end I opted to make my own, using a compass fitted with steel points to cut circles from a sheet of OHP (overhead projector) film, which worked out surprisingly well.
After priming the models I then sprayed them with Gloss Aluminium (TS-17) using a Tamiya rattle can and the Bright Blue (65) using Gunze Mr Hobby color. The decals were then applied and the models sprayed with two coats of Future to give them an even high gloss finish. I choose not to weather the models in any way as I wanted to them to look like a pair display models as you often find in antique stores and am happy with the final result.
