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This is my latest completion. Tamiya's 1975 vintage classic kit of the Type 97 Chi Ha tank. Building it was exceptionally easy. The only thing that Tamiya lagged on with this kit was the inner surfaces of the TC hatch. The are just flat surfaces. I had to research and scratch on a little detail there. It is not 100% accurate but better than before. The only other changes that I did to the kit was add some sheet styrene pieces to close off the lower sponsons, and add some brass pins to give the track some sag. Colors used were Gunze Mr Color IJA Armor colors. Weathering with Tamiya compact stuff. Markings are for the IJA 1st Independant Tank Company which saw action at Guadalcanal in October 1942.this last photo is posed with a 1/35 RPM kit of a Tashio 7.7mm "woodpecker" machine gun used by the IJA that I completed at the same time. A theoretical "quick & easy" build that was not... The latest additions to my slowly growing IJA 1/35 collection
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM
Nice build stick .
A question: when I clicked on the picture it took me to your photo gallery and there was a model of a very dusty T-34. I loved it so I thought to ask how did you do the dust?
Cheers...
Looks great, this was definitely the best of their 1970s era kits.
As usual Stik another fine build. It is always nice to see some classic kits getting new life. High tech Dragons and Hobby Boss' sure make pretty showpieces, but it is the 'old dogs' that really test a modelers skill and patience.
Brian
Tamiya's Chi Ha was never a dog and is still a solid kit even when compared to Fine Molds' outstanding IJA tanks.
Very nice. I hope the Tamiya Type1 SPG is this good. I plan to start that pretty soon.
Anyone with a good car don't need to be justified - Hazel Motes
Thank you guys. I am glad to hear that you like this one. Rob's assessment of this one is dead on. Even today this kit still stands up well against any new kit in my eye. The only place that Tamiya can be gigged is on the inner faces of the hatches- just flat surfaces with no molded on detail that should be there. But not too hard to improvise as you can see. Like Rob says, this is no dog. Not by a long shot.
Sprue, the Ho Ni kit is every bit as good. I built that one about 25 years ago and love it. The Tamiya Shinhoto Chi Ha is very nice as well. Tamiya takes pride in Japanese subjects and it shows.
Castel, Most of that dust effect was done with my airbrush as final weathering. The texturing beneath is finely sifted dirt applied with Future. If you look in the 1943 GB, I have my step by step work in there.
stikpusher Sprue, the Ho Ni kit is every bit as good. I built that one about 25 years ago and love it. The Tamiya Shinhoto Chi Ha is very nice as well. Tamiya takes pride in Japanese subjects and it shows.
Excellent. Looking forward to it then
stikpusher Castel, Most of that dust effect was done with my airbrush as final weathering. The texturing beneath is finely sifted dirt applied with Future. If you look in the 1943 GB, I have my step by step work in there.
What page? There are 39 pages…
Pages 28-31 for my T-34 build. But all the weathering is on 31.
cool, I'll check it out
The only downside to the Ho Ni is that the fighting compartment was rather bare. But it may not have had a lot of stuff inside to begin with.
When Fine Molds released the Shinhoto turret Type 97 in 2006, it was immediately compared to the Tamiya kit of the same subject they released in 1987. Of course, the Fine Molds kit benefited from nearly 20 years of industry improvements with finer detail and engineering because of consumer expectations.
Bottom line, the FM Shinhoto is better than the Tamiya kit, but not 20 years better. Here's a comparison review of the two kits: http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/finemolds/fm21.htm
Nice build Stik. Enjoyed this one. Thanks for sharing.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional"
" A hobby should pass the time - not fill it" -Norman Bates
That really IS a sweet-looking build, Lee! Nice to see something rather different here!
lol, it just struck me that the hatch on the turret looks rather like you left an open-ended wrench in the hole!
Thanks Karl! I scratched the inner hatch face details based off of photos, but yes, it does have a resemblence to an open end wrench there...
I dont know if any of you remember this Tamiya 1/35 Type 97 Chi Ha that I built last year, but I had not taken it to an IPMS meeting/contest yet because I did not have a proper commander figure for it. Well I finished one from a Mini Art set, put him in place, took it to the August meet for entry into the contest and took 3rd place in Master Division. It's been a good year for me there when I can attend.
Hope you don't mind a guy with no armor experience jumping in here.
Looks great to me, Stik!
LOL! Not at all Greg! And thank you!
Congratulations on the recognition
Yeah, you did a great job there SP, congrads on your award!
"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen
Thank you guys
No Bull
I really like the finish on the turret antenna (which is normally painted over in the builds that I have seen).
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