After six year as a work in progress - some of this spent on the shelf of doom - I still don't know what made me finish this model in the end, but I can now say it's finally done. Additions included a Hawkeye Designs (#306) resin interior as well as an Eduard etch set (48 299), but as the canopy had been masked off for so long, I had no idea what the cockpit even looked like anymore, or if I'd even done a reasonable job on it.
What probably saved this model from the bin was the fact that I'd at least managed to get the primary colours down - Gunze H336 Hemp, H61 IJN Gray and H65 Midnight Blue - and also that it was a Japanese WWII aircraft, which is my main area of interest. Having Daniel Zamarbide's book - 'Aircraft Scale Modelling FAQ' - at hand also inspired me to try out some new techniques, with the view that if they didn't work out then I'd just discard the model anyway. After applying the decals and a good coat of Future to seal them all in, I was now ready to move onto the final stages of weathering.
As I'd decided to depict this model as an aircraft found on an airfield at the end of hostilities, I wanted it to have a slightly faded and weathered look, but not to the extent of overdoing it. I started with a very dilute and lightened mix of the base colour - 50% H336 Hemp and 50% H325 Gray - which was sprayed on panel by panel on those areas likely to be affected by sunlight, giving the paint a slightly oxidised look and moving towards a light grey. The undersides - wings, tail-planes and floats - were then given an overall misting of the lightened base colour, just to reduce the contrast between the upper and lower surfaces. The same method was also used on the engine cowl but with a mix of 50% H65 Midnight Blue and 50% H325 Gray.
I then added paint chips using the sponge technique and Vallejo's Model Air Steel (71.065) and enhanced these further with a Prismacolor Silver pencil. I then went around the edges of these chips with Vallejo's Red Leather (808) and a Prismacolor Terra Cotta pencil, to depict some of the underling primer. I was then in two minds about what to do next as the model still wasn't depicting the look I was after and it was then that I decided to experiment with Mig's Rainmarks Streaking Effects. I dabbed this on as spot on the upper surfaces of the wings, tailplanes and fuselage and using a brush lightly moistened with white spirits, dragged these in the direction that water would flow to create rain marks in the paintwork. To further accentuate this effect I then stippled it onto panels where water may have pooled, leaving a mottled type of stain. I then added a panel line wash using Mig's PLW Sky Grey (A.MIG-1607) and exhaust, oil and fuel stains using AK Interactive's Air Series of products.
With the weathering completed the model was then sprayed with Vallejo's Satin Acrylic Varnish (26.519), the aerial lead and propeller fitted, the masks removed and all the glazing given a coat of Future. To my surprise the cockpit looked even better than I remembered it - although I do things a little differently now - and in the end I was more than happy with how the model turned out.
The base consisted of a recycled trophy plaque onto which was glued a printed airfield base from Scale Model Scenery (http://www.scalemodelscenery.com/) with the Marine figure coming from a Total War Miniatures set (http://www.totalwarminiatures.com/). I enhanced the base with some AK Interactive washes and pigments, static grass from Mininatur and some chocks and oil drums, which were cast from the set supplied in the Hasegawa Isuzu TX40 Fuel Truck kit.
Although a long time in the making I'm really glad I held off on this model for as long as I did, as I know I would not have finished it in the manner that I now have, as my modelling techniques have changed significantly over the ensuing years.
With the weathering completed the model was then sprayed with Vallejo's Satin Acrylic Varnish (26.519), the aerial lead and propeller fitted, the masks removed and all the glazing given a coat of Future. To my surprise the cockpit looked even better than I remembered it - although I do things a little differently now - and in the end I was more than happy with how the model turned out.
The base consisted of a recycled trophy plaque onto which was glued a printed airfield base from Scale Model Scenery (http://www.scalemodelscenery.com/) with the Marine figure coming from a Total War Miniatures set (http://www.totalwarminiatures.com/). I enhanced the base with some AK Interactive washes and pigments, static grass from Mininatur and some chocks and oil drums, which were cast from the set supplied in the Hasegawa Isuzu TX40 Fuel Truck kit.
Although a long time in the making I'm really glad I held off on this model for as long as I did, as I know I would not have finished it in the manner that I now have, as my modelling techniques have changed significantly over the ensuing years.
