dmthamade Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since i finished my last build, will get back into it with the Tony. This is the Hasegawa kit of the short nose Tony. From what i've read, the Tony was the only inline liquid cooled engine fighter ever used by the Japanese Army or Navy. The engine was a copy of the Daimler Benz engine found in the Luftwaffe ME109 Messerschmitts. The kit looks good in the box, reviews indicate it should be a simple build. I like the newer 1/32 Hasegawa kits, very simple with no open panels or complex engine assemblies but well moulded scribed details and Leggo like assembly. I have some aftermarket inbound, Wolfpack decals and Finemold belts are coming from Sprue Bros. I don't know which decal option i will choose, there are lots of colorful schemes for the Tony, though most seem to be for the Tei longnose version. Still fondling the plastic, will start the build during the week. Obligatory box top shot. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Time for an update. Haven't spent a lot of time on the build but managed to get most of the main parts done. The quality of Hasegawa kits makes a fast build possible. I did have to add some fill with MR. Surfacer on some of the fuselage seams. Painted the pit using Tamiya #78 Wood Deck Tan. Didn't really do a lot here as i tried to add a pilot figure. Results were mixed, looks OK but figure painting is just one of my many weak areas. Some pics. Finally chose the markings, this bird is on the Wolfpack sheet. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Well, i've been progressing on the build. I did a little here and there and finished all subassemblies. There really aren't a lot of parts involved in the kit, something i like. I have given the build a primer coat of Tamiya primer in a can, stuff works great!! Tomorrow i hope to spray the main color coat, Tamiya AS-12 Bare-Metal Silver in a spray bomb. After that will be secondary colors, decals, weathering.... Couple of pics for the night. I see i forgot to mask the landing light in the left wing leading edge, darn!! Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 Did manage to spray on the color coat. The Tamiya spray bombs are the best!!! Stuff sprays and lays down great!! Next i'll be painting some panels with different shades of aluminum and painting on the white panels. The decals do include a red fuselage stripe but i think i'll paint that too. Yellow leading edge ID panels... lots to do. The lightning bolt i'll use the decal along with the tail marking. I did buy some masks made by Scale Precision paint masks for the Hinamaru, think i'll give these a try as well. Progress will be slow, busy as heck at work and coming home dead tired so i'll post when i can. One pic for the night. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aaronw Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 The Tony was a good looking fighter, and the scheme you picked is sharp. Nice job so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 OK, had time on the weekend to paint most of the stripes etc. I masked and painted the fuselage and wing panels and stripes in white and red. The control surfaces i debated about. Several builds i've seen do have these painted Kawasaki grey, some are silver. The decal sheet instructions said to paint them grey green so to add some color to the build i painted them with Tamiya XF-21 Sky. The leading edges are supposed to be Orange/Yellow, so i added some Tamiya red to Model Master Acryl yellow. Looks much better than a bright yellow. The Hinamaru were masked with Scale Precision Paint Masks. At first i was worried how to place them as i thought they were opaque, turns out they are translucent so placement was super easy. They were probably the simplest insignia to do, the masks worked great and i'll probably use them again. I have everything painted and clearcoated now, will start with the decals tomorrow. Then it's on to weathering. Some pics below. No decals on this yet, this is all paint. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aaronw Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Looking good, I'm liking your choice of the grey / green on the control surfaces. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Looking good, I'm liking your choice of the grey / green on the control surfaces. The grey/green i wasn't too sure about. Read a few color suggestions about what to use, in the end i flipped a coin. Decals went on tonight, the majority came from Wolfpack and they were printed by Cartograph. They worked great, settling down well. The walkways had to come from the kit, they did not work well, balling up. Leaving them on would be a mistake so i left/took them off, lesser of two evils. I do have a different release of the same kit, it doesn't have walkways and now looking at the Wolfpack instructions walkways aren't used. Yay!! Anyway, will let them dry and clearcoat tomorrow night. Some pics for the night. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 wow looks really good Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I love this finish on the tony - the lightning bolt says it all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 Thanks for the encouragement, guys!! Home today due to feeling ill(note to self, stay away from cheep buffets) but did manage to wash the panel lines and small parts. Bormally i use Phil Flory Pro Modeller Wash but am low right now. Made my own using Tamiya Acrylic black, Brown, water and dishwashing soap. I enjoy this part, starts to less like a toy. Before After Next dullcoat then more weathering. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 Last night i added different shades of oil paint to the build. This added different tones to the paint. I know the usual way of doing this is to add small dabs of oil paint to the finish then to blend with a wide brush with turpentine. What i did was add the small dabs of paint but i blended with a small cloth wet with turpentine. I used Acrylic clears so the turpentine did not affect the clear coat. I think if i used enamels it would have made a huge mess. The results are very subtle, my photo skills aren't enough to show the results but they add a patina to the finish that looks like a very fine film of grime and dirt to the build. Some pics, they don't show the effect properly but there is a difference from the previous pics. Next step will be MiG Pigments. I've started final assembly, should have this done this weekend. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 OK, went ahead and hit the tops of the wings, fuselage sides and exhaust areas with MiG Pigments. Starting final build, just hace antenna, pitot tube and prop to install. Have to let main gear dry overnight. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Decided the MiG weathering was a little heavy so i removed it and went lighter with a different color, not as orange now. Did finish the build, some pics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Just a few more. This is a small aircraft, will post some pics with it beside the T-bolt i did. Size difference is surprising. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Couple of pics to show size difference between the P-47 and the Tony. Wingspans are comparable but the T-bolt is a much longer and fatter aircraft. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aaronw Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Very nice job on the 61. As a kid I primarily built WW2 US aircraft (mostly the 1/48 Monogram kits). Since I got back into the hobby as an adult I have really branched out, and I really like seeing the aircraft beside others of the same scale. I have been amazed to see how much larger the US fighters were compared to most others. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.