Great job. It's coming together very nicely! The Geisha girl looks cool. Look forward to seeing the final scene. 

Could you imagine if they put this thing into production? It looks menacing but it doesn't look very practical. That profile and armor slope is just begging for an AP round to rattle around inside! 

I'm addicted to Red Orchestra BTW. It actually stresses me out when I think about playing and I can't sleep after playing it!

Thanks Griffin! 

Well, considering Japan's industrial base at the time I can't imagine they could have produced more than a handful of these. 

And by 1946-47 the Allies would have: 

US: M26 Pershing, possibly the T29, T30, T34 series heavy tanks that were canciled due to the end of the war

UK: Comet, Centurian

USSR: IS-III, T-44, T-54 tested in '45, entered production in '49- could have been rushed?

Anyone of these had better armour, a much better gun, and would have been available in much greater numbers. Frankly, seems the Japanese had finally designed a tank that would have been halfway decent in '44 but by now it was '46 and it was once again an obsolete design. 

Gee friggin' whiz, two months since my last update and back to page four.....

Well, after ten and a half months I think it's time to stick a fork in this. Again I'm going with outside photos, I do need to set up some sort of photo booth whenever I get around to it.

Nice composition and story.

Hey,

How did this get here! 

Sorry, but I totally missed it.

 This is an interesting yet imaginative

grouping of collective efforts. Very good job

on a rarely seen subject(s).

Thanks guys!

Assuming that if the Japanese did build any Type 5s they'd have been kept there for home defence I was thinking what I think of when I think of Japan- torii gates, cherry blossoms, and geisha were three of the first things to come to mind.

I like it!  The Geisha is an interesting addition.  I'll assume she's there to honor the tank crew with a relaxing cup of tea before a great struggle.  It looks to me that they're moving into a defensive position.  The light weathering suggests that the tank hadn't seen combat, yet.  

Great Work,

Chris 

Cool dio Cliff. It all ties together so well. I love the addition of the geisha figure.

Just great work, I like how all the elements work togather. 

Robert

Hey thanks bunches guys!!!

Chris: I didn't come up with any real story behind this just a kinda 'calm before the storm' idea. Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese home islands, was scheduled to be launched in the spring of '46. This was intended to be just before the Allied forces hit.

I didn't do much weathering on the Type 5 since if the Imperial Army had gotten any built they wouldn'd have lasted long against the sort of firepower the Allies were bringing to the fight. So she's pretty much fresh from the factory.

The geisha, well she was supposed to be on the other side being chatted up by the enlisted men in the staff car. But I think I said somewhere the figures provided by Pit Road with the car are 1/35th and molded pretty close to what '40s Japanese men would have been- about 5'3-5'5 / 1.65m tall. The geisha is 1/32nd scale and would come out to about 6 foot plus/ 2 metres tall. I thought putting her beside the car standing and with the smaller figures sitting the difference wouldn't be noticable. I was dead wrong. I didn't want to dump her since it is a nice figure so I moved her away from the 1/35th figures where I think the size difference is a little less in your face. I figured she was just out on a stroll but I like your explanation better Chris.

BTW: Actually there were no geisha from '44 to the end of the war. The imperial government shut down all the tea houses and geisha parlors and drafted them to work in munitions factories. One of the first things the Allied occupation forces under MacArthur did to get Japan back under a peacetime civil attitude was to get tea houses back open and the geisha back to work. I figured here some big shot general or admiral pulled strings to keep his favorite geisha out of the ammo plants.

Gamera, that is some really nice work. Gotta say I love those figures.

Thanks! I love figures, I think they add life to any model. 

I don't know much about tanks but I do know exceptional work. Great job I love the cherry blossoms and your fantastic figure painting. The last pilot figures I painted ended up with Vulcan skin tones and when I tried to correct they now have jaundice. Someday if I manage to get all my planes done. I would like to try a tank or two

Thanks, very kind of you!

Check Youtube, there's loads of figure painting videos there. And Highlanders stuff here on the figure forum. Took me years to reach this point and I'm nothing compared to him.