Nice looking builds here. I see Edwin has let the Zero bring out the itch to chip. I did an old Tamiya A6M2 in full Kamikaze mode (even tracked down 250KG bomb with release - one of my rare after market forays) and based it on the plane that starred in "Eternal Zero" - chipping paradise. A lot of fun and it looks good. But you've got the new kit - lovely build. If I didn't need to try Vallejo NMF I would have built it too. (This one is also going in the 1944 GB).
As threatened I'm building the new Tamiya 1/48 Ki-61d. This is a 1944 rendition of the Tony with twin canon - one of the few planes that had some success against B-29s (until Mustangs started flying from Iwo anyway). It's new Tamiya - Tamiya makes the world's best models - I like it. It's not a simple build though and I've found you have to watch what you're doing and not expect everything to build itself. (Andy at Andy's Hobby Shop on YouTube got his mits on the spanking new Tamiya 1/48 P-38F/G: he says he often wouldn't need glue. About time someone made a good P-38 - a real challenge for a model maker.)
This proves that I bought the kit - doubt that's needed although I've been on GBs that required it.
kit by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
I've spent a week or so building the cockpit - it wouldn't take that long but there's a lot of small parts and a lot of painting to do. Should note that I obsessed over the interior color and leaned on uber-meister Japanese color guru Nick Millman who runs the terrific web site "Aviation of Japan." Tamiya calls for an interior of "Desert Yellow" - Millman say that's out. He forwarded color chips of the three candidates (all would have been used in 1944). One looks a lot like Olive Drab. A second is kind of a dark green/yellow: I'm sure this was the color Tamiya hinted at. I had what Millman thought was a perfect match - Vallejo Dark Yellow: okay, but it's a dorky color. The third choice is a kind of light green gray with just a hint of blue. Nick was an advisor to the AK Real Color project and claims their paint Hairyokushoku (Grey-Green) Real Color RC238 is "spot on." (Look up this color or any of the other AK Real Color line on Scale Hobbyist - the best online site in the US. The colors are very good) The problem is that AK Real Color are lacquers and I don't use lacquers. However I was able to use Vallejo's rendition (they call it Interior Grey Green) and cut it with Vallejo Model Color Green Gray (much darker and less blue/green) and some Golden High Flow White. My brew will do just nicely, and I do like the color.
Interiors bore me: this pic is the done deal (minus a wash) under strong light.
cockpit by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
I took another couple of pics under a lesser but cool light and got a much better rendition of the color - although not perfect. I'll do better when the kit nears completion. The other pic shows the interior color sprayed onto the fuselage halves:
cockpit2 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
color by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
More later
Eric