1/48 Hasegawa Nakajima Ki-84 of 50th Sentai...WIP/Finished.

Hello, I decided to post some work in progress/finished pics of my 1/48 Hasegawa Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate that I recently completed for the Imperial Japanese Group Build.  I figured not everyone follows the group build section and there would be considerable interest in this subject matter.  Anyways, I've had this kit in my stash for quite a while and have been itching to build it for quite some time. I bought Sky decals sheet #48041 and decided on a 50th Sentai scheme from April of 1945, specifically Major Kawamoto's mount who was an 8 kill ace. 

I started with the cockpit.  Its probably the second best I've seen so far out of the box (behind the Tamiya Jug series of course).  I did utilize an Ultracast seat though.  I decided to add all the levers and such before painting so they wouldn't get damaged or lost.  I preshaded the cockpit XF-1 Flat Black then mixed a custom shade of XF-71 Cockpit Green and a tad of XF-49 Khaki to come up with my interpretation of Nakajima Green.  I've read that sometimes the cockpit on these were left in natural metal too, so I opted to paint the seat in Alclad Aluminum to add contrast.   Once detail painted with a brush and a drybrushing with silver was done, it was Testor's gloss coated.  It then got a detailer wash and some minor postshading.   I used the kit decal for the instrument panel.  It worked well with Micro Sol. 

I then turned my attention to the Nakajima Ha 45 mill.  Hasegawa does a nice job here and its fairly detailed right out of the box.  To me, radial engines just don't look right without ignition wires, so I endeavored to add these.  I found a pic of a Ha 45 through a Google search and used it as reference.  I used .10 rod styrene as the ignition points around the ring then added fine stereo wire for the wires.

I then gave it a paint job with Alclad Aluminum and painted the gear box XF-19 Sky Grey.  The wires were then paint Floquil Grimy Black per the reference photo.

Then a Detailer wash was used, followed with a blast of Tamiya Smoke X-19.  Here's the finished product.

The Sky decal sheet has 20 options.  As I said, after some deliberation, I ultimately I decided on 8 kill Major Kawamoto's Hayate.  It carried a Dark Green over Light Grey scheme and didn't appear too beat up with paint flaking off, which is common on these.  I sourced an old bottle of Model Master Enamel IJA Light Grey that I had and custom mixed my own equivalent with Tamiya paint.  I came up with 3 parts XF-12 IJN Grey and 1 part Xf-19 Sky Grey.  I can't tell the difference between my mixture and the Model Master color.  Of course, I have since learned that Tamiya does make IJA Light Grey...whoops.

Back to the airframe, I sprayed the flap area and gear wells Alclad Duraluminum and taped them off.  I then preshaded the panel lines with XF-1 Flat Black then painted the yellow for wing ID bands, the red flap warning stripes, and then the white fuselage stripe.  The black anti-glare panel was sprayed too in XF-69 NATO Black.  I then taped all of these areas off and the IJA grey was sprayed.  This was then lighted with white XF-2 and streaked for weathering.  After the control surfaces were shaded, to add more contrast, I used a mix of diluted XF-69 NATO black and XF-64 Red Brown and sprayed it along select panel lines, into the intake, the flap area, pretty much all areas where the plane would get dirty. I think it just adds that extra touch of realism and make it less toy-like.

For the Nakajima Green upper, I went with Tamiya XF-13 IJA Green mixed with a touch of XF-49 Khaki to brown it up a bit (I prefer browner greens for some reason).  This was then lightened with XF-57 Buff and the upper surface was streaked with the airflow.  I do this to simulate condensation staining across the chord of the wing and it adds interest to an otherwise boring monochromatic finish.  I do this with the Olive Drab USAAF subjects I build too.  The color of the control surfaces were then altered so they stand out.  I've been told that on real aircraft these weren't necessarily lighter than the airframe, but to my eye it looks more realistic.  Sometimes I go lighter and sometimes darker, depending on the look I'm going for.  Once done, all taping was removed and a fine post shading was added in the same fashion as the lower surfaces, again,concentrating on areas that got the dirtiest.

A close up shot of the engine inside the cowl.  At least some of the detailing of the mill can be seen.  I will probably forego this addtion on my next FW 190 A.

For decaling, I used Alclad's clear gloss.  The nice thing about this product is that it dries rock hard and within a few hours you can start decaling.  The only cons are that its a tad expensive, about 9 bones a bottle, and it has a lighter fluid/ strong mineral spirit-like smell to it.  I'll never go back to Future a long as this stuff is available (personally I would just use Future on floors as intended).  As always in my decaling endeavors, its an adventure.  Its usually a mish mash of aftermarket and kit decals.  The Sky decals were fine with Micro Sol.  I put the lightning bolts down with water only then waited about an hour for them to dry a bit.  I then hit it with Micro Sol.  This worked great and they sucked right in without moving on me.  I wasn't sure if they were supposed to meet at the base of the fin.  The decals indicated they did since this concave groove in the decal was void the white outline.  I decided to join them as best as I could then paint in the gap.  In retrospect, I should have painted these in.....Oh well.  Also, when I originally painted in the yellow ID bands and red flap warning areas, I forgot to add the corresponding lines that branched off.  I had to improvise and use decal supplements. The color is not exact but I guess you'll have that.  I'm hoping I can disguise this with washes and weathering.

For efficiency, I painted the prop tips at the same time as the leading edge ID bands, only I added a tad more yellow.  After I taped them off, I took XF-61 Deep Green lightened it with XF-2 Flat White until it looked like the color of my Grandfather's old '73 Ford Maverick.  I have no idea what this lime green color is called but it appears consistent with other Ki-84 builds.  I've seen some in red brown too, but it seems most Ki-84's had this lime color.  The Sky sheet calls for a blue prop hub on Kawamoto's Hayate.  Again, I have no idea what color blue this was, so through deductive reasoning, I assumed this was painted with the same dark blue as the tail lightning bolts.  I went with XF-8 Flat Blue mixed with some XF-1 Flat Black until it looked right.  A midnight blue if you will.  If I'm wrong, please correct me.   After another coat of Gloss, its almost ready for a nice dirty wash.

With all these colors going on, I'm starting to this this Hayate should join the circus........

.....and here is the finished product.  Unfortunately my wing streaking weathering technique was mostly hidden by my normal process of gloss coat, decals, panel line wash, and dullcoat.  You have to really look for it.  I should have done it more pronounced.  Well, sometimes you get the bull...sometimes it gets you.  This is a touch and go technique, hence the reason I usually go overboard on initial application.  I'm still pleased with the way it turned out.  I used a silver pencil for some chipping at the wing root and some select panels.  Its not that I can't do the "silver undercoat/ tape rip off technique" to simulate paint peel of late Japanese subjects, I even tried it on a N1K1 George once and it worked.  The thing is, I just hate the way it looks!  I'll just stick with the light chipping in sporadic places. 

In closing, this Hasegawa kit is a gem and highly recommended for what I think is the most beautiful Japanese fighter of all (well...sans the Model 21 Zero).  Questions and comments are always welcome...thanks for looking.

Joe