Thanks, Brandon!

I just saw yours and it's beautiful. I can't tell it's 1/72 at all. The 1/48 is a spectacular kit and if you find one you'll love it. 

Wow, Mike. That camo is super sick. Very nice.

I just finished this in 1/72 and love the plane, I just need to locate one in a real scale like 1/48.

BK

Thank you, Gam. I haven't been doing much lately, but I had the urge to dig this kit out and clean up the AB. Honestly it felt like I was a bit out of practice. 

I'm not sure how far I'll get, but we shall see. I'd love to finish this and my Airfix P-40 which has some decals on it now and I'm not sure why I'm not just finishing up the final bits. 

Oh wow that's beautiful Mike!

Somehow I missed this when you posted before, mores the pity- amazing work.

Fantastic work on the camo! I used to be able to paint stuff like that, not sure my hands would be steady enough these days though.

Geez, looks like I haven't done anything since January. 

I think I've conquered my fear of NMF schemes. I added a light sanding before and after and I didn't end up with the usual grainey finish. The part that took me the most time was the camo pattern over the top of it that coincidentally wiped out all of my preshading on the fuselage.

As you can see in the picture I've chosen to paint the entire tail red instead of just the horizontal and vertical stabilizer alone. I'm going to do my own thing here and modify the scheme a bit just to make this my own version. This won't be historically accurate anymore, but I want this one to stand out in my collection. Big red tail and all.

That pattern was made with my airbrush, minus the tip cap which allowed me to get some seriously small and crazy designs. I had intermittent issues with the brush spitting and the paint would thin out and start blowing little trickles of paint out of the camo shapes. Some of them I cleaned up but some I left as is. I thought a bit of ameture looking applied spray pattern would help the realism a bit. 

Ooo... maybe another time. I haven't had a lot of luck with BMF staying put lol. I can't imagine trying to mask over it without it being peeled up. 

Perhaps some small applications on another project.

I love NMF. Why don't you have some real fun and try using Bare Metal Foil instead of paint. I've used it on about a dozen aircraft, including a 1/48, B-29. Looks great.

Yeah. I do have a small fear of NMF finishes. So far I've not found a shortcut that works the way I expect and my finishes end up dull and monotonous. 

I'm going a different route this time and I've got a plan that doesn't include any shortcuts. Hopefully I can iron out my issues with this kit.

Time for an update.

You wouldn't believe what I have used as a primer lol!

Light coats was the trick. I got a little heavy handed on the bottom, but a little light sanding got rid of it.

I'm going to try a preshading method I've never tried with a NMF finish before. Typically I just try to shoot aluminum over black and I haven't reached the results I'm looking for with that method. This time I'm going to give preshading a try. I've already sprayed the entire plane flat black and shot some Tamiya NATO Black over the anti glare panel on the nose so I won't have to go back and mask that off after I get the Vallejo Metal Series Chrome on it. I'll mask some selective panels later and spray them a dull aluminum and see what I get.

I'm hoping this gets me past my fear of doing NMF finishes, finally.

ridleusmc

Oh yeah!  It all looks great!  

The pilot is outstanding!

 

 

Thank you VERY much!  :D

Greatmaker

 

 

M. Brindos

I don't think you'll regret it if you do.  :D

 

 

 

 

Well put my order in today. Did you use custom masks or make your own?

Thanks

 

the masks are provided. Uncut. You're going to love this kit.

Oh yeah!  It all looks great!  

The pilot is outstanding!

M. Brindos

I don't think you'll regret it if you do.  :D

 

Well put my order in today. Did you use custom masks or make your own?

Thanks

Thank you, Grant. :D. That's one of my favorite parts!  :)

Awesome paintwork on the pilot Mike!

I don't think you'll regret it if you do.  :D

Looks fantastic!  Can't wait to get my little grubbies on this kit

Thank you, Salty!!

in comparison to your Corsair I have quite a bit to learn still. That thing is a work of art!

Coming along nicely Brindos!

Thank you, Hunter. :)

I haven't built any modern Tamiya kits in ages, and most of them have been armor. So this kit is a bit of a shock lol!

And further more on the subject of them practically falling together, I was just going to test fit a few more parts... and I kinda got a lot more done then I expected to.

It just started going together with such little effort. I think I'll put it away now...

Great job Mike...I have become a big fan of Tamiya kits. You are absolutely right on how well they just fall together. Also, you did a great job bringing that pilot to life.

Thanks, Gamera! If it wasn't for the arms, this would be a great figure. It would've been awesome to have had those separate so they could be posed on the controls.

I did my usual work on him and he did end up acceptable lol.

Despite the molding you did a great job painting him up.

I finished painting the pilot; Lieutenant  Shunzo Takashima.

Lots of Browns.

 

I like the way he's turned out. :)

Very "Ninja"-like.  ;)

Since most people don't use them, you're probably right. I'm okay with this fig, Gamera. He's going to look just fine when I'm finished with him, but thank you for the offer.

My oldest got the Hasegawa Ki-61-I Tei double pack in 1/72 for Christmas. I've been eyeballing it for weeks lol. There are six sets of markings in that box! 

Resistance is futile. ;)

Wow, looks awesome! Guess they skimped on the pilot since most people don't use them. I could probably dig out a IJA pilot if you do want a replacement one Mike. 

I want one now but I already own a couple of the Hasegawa kits so I'm going to try to resist! 

Thanks. This is what everyone would call a "Shake and Bake" kit, I assume lol!

 

 

Nice progress!