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RS Models recently issued a kit of something I've wanted to build for over 20 years - the Kawasaki Ki-60.

As has become usual with RS Models, the kit has very crisply molded parts, a finely detailed cockpit dressed with an Eduard color etch sheet, and a nice, but small decal sheet. The sheet for this kit has the markings for one fictionally flown in combat in Malaysia in 1942 as well as the markings for the first of three prototypes.

Ki60.jpg

I haven't as yet removed any parts from the sprue. I expect the wing trailing edges will need thinning. From past experiences with RS kits, I expect the fit will probably be pretty good for a short run kit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

RS Models provides a nice Eduard prepainted pe sheet. They also give an injected canopy. Some will probably like this. Unfortunately, while the plastic of the canopy is clear, it is very thick and things seen through are distorted. The distortion remained even after an evening polishing the canopy. I wish they had provided a vac canopy. The PE will be used for external details and for the radiator screen. Haven't decided about the instrument panel yet.

So, a short time spent with plastic card and wire provide details that should show through the canopy.

1-Ki-60.jpg

While dry fitting the fuselage, the joint of the nose intake looked like it could be difficult to fix. This was cut away. The inside seam was filled and polished. It will be added when the fuselage is joined. There is a NACA-like intake just aft of the prop that is missing.

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Decided to use the PE belts and instument panel.

3-Ki-60-1.jpg

The black boxy shroud was made from scrap plastic. There is a PE part included for it, but it is scaled to about 1/144. Way too small. In any case the carpet monster ate it during folding/fitting. No real loss as it really was way too small and photos show this fixture to be very prominent.

A bit of warning to anyone wishing to build this kit: the part numbers on the instruction sheet do not match the part numbers on the PE fret. The instructions do contain a fret map with incorrect numbers. So you can find the pertinent parts fairly easily. Just a minor annoyance.

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Most of the construction is complete. The canopy has been polished, but not masked. Dry fitting shows some work will be needed to fair it into the fuselage.

4-Ki-60.jpg

I'm working from about 9 photos of this plane. None show any appearance of gun troughs for the nose machine guns that appear in general aspect drawings. As the 3 planes built were all prototypes, it wouldn't surprise me that armament was not fitted. I've filled the troughs with putty and will scibe the trough outline.

4-Ki-60-1.jpg

The side air intake out of the box is a bit too square. This has been rounded. The fit of the scoop was really good.

4-Ki-60-2.jpg

4-Ki-60-3.jpg

The fit on this kit is really good, especially when one considers it is a short run kit.

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Looks great Johnsan. There was a kit a while back of a Ki-61 prototype that is similar in looks. Would like to get it to go with my stack of unbuilt Ki-61's.

I like the wingtip lights, I may have to get some colored plastic to do those as you have done.

Please keep posting your progress.

Warren

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Thank you for your comments thom, Jack-Swiss, and dixieflyer.

I'd reached the point where progress was hard to measure. The canopy was masked and glued to the fuselage. There was a noticable step that required fairing in. Then it was multiple turns of primer and sanding. Then it was painted with Alclad. It looked pretty good, but the Alclad never hardened. So it had to come off. Alclad can be removed using acetone. You just have to be careful you don't melt the kit. Then it was back to primer, sand, primer, sand. Finally, it got a coat of Mr Color Super Metallic Plate Silver. This is really, really good stuff. It's also much cheaper than Alclad in these parts.

Anyway, a couple of pictures:

6-Ki-60.jpg

6-Ki-60-1.jpg

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Johnsan,

Sounds like you got a hold of some of the bad batch of Alclad I heard about a while back. (I have some in the stash, but don't know if it's bad or not.) In any event, as Richard said, I may have to get some of that paint, your results look great.

Warren

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Thank you all for the comments.

Warren - I was aware of the bad batch when I bought the paint. I just figured that it probably had not made out to Japan. I was wrong. Oh, well. In any case the Mr Super Metallic paint is really good. It sprays well and dries quickly. The Plate Silver does seem to show fingerprints, but these wipe away with a polishing cloth.

I've made some more progress with the kit. It has had several panels painted with another color, had some panel lines accentuated with an acrylic wash, and had the prop rebuilt. The first prototype had a different prop than the remaining two prototypes. The kit provides the prop used by the other planes.

I did have an 'Oh, crap!' moment. While masking and painting the black exhaust shroud panels and wing walks, I noticed my thumb seemed to stick to the underside of one of the wings. Looking at the bottom I found I had left a large black thumb print. As the paint was lacquer, it ate through the paint layers. So more sanding, priming, and metal paint was in order. It looks ok now.

No photos as yet. But it is getting close. Stickers will go on today. The undercarriage has to be assembled and detailed. This was similar to that of the Tony, but different. The kit's provided legs looked pretty rough on the sprue, but cleaned up surprisingly well. The same is true of the wheels. The legs do need some detail work.

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Stickers on, clear coats on, and masking off.

7-Ki-60.jpg

7-Ki-60-1.jpg

7-Ki-60-2.jpg

7-Ki-60-3.jpg

The kit decals are very good. The only problem encountered was the tail stripe is too small if placed where the instructions suggest. I moved it back closer to the rudder. Looking at pictures later, I realize it should be even farther aft than I placed it. It did require some slicing and touch up paint work. The Mr Color is a very close match to the colors of the decal.

Edited by johnsan
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Done this morning!

9-Ki-60.jpg

9-Ki-60-1.jpg

9-Ki-60-2.jpg

9-Ki-60-3.jpg

9-Ki-60-4.jpg

9-Ki-60-5.jpg

I'm fairly happy with the results. RS Models put out a pretty decent kit here. It fit well, had decent detailing, a clear canopy, and very nice decals. The instruction sheet could stand improvement and PE numbers called for don't match numbers in the instructions.

Photos and other documentation can be found in Model Art Profile #733 on the Ki-61, FAOW #24 Army Experimental Fighters, and FAOW #17 Army Type 3 Fighter "Hien".

Now I can add a model that I've wanted for 20 years to my built shelf.

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