What's up guys In this video you are going to see how this awesome kit turns into a cool little scale model. Stay tuned. As usual I started this build from the cockpit. There are quite a lot of details for the scale. The fit and the engineering are just what can be expected from tamiya. One of the modifications I did was to drill out the holes in the seat. I used slightly larger drill bit to taper the edges. I used mr. Cement S to smooth everything out. The rest of the assembly was done as the manual suggests. You can find links for most of the tools and materials I use in the description. After a minor clean up I assembled the wings making sure that the panel lines allign correctly. I prepared the parts and shot a layer of Mr. Surfacer. Next I applied the interior green in thin layers making sure lo leave some shadows. It is much easier to build this semy transparent colour on a light base…
I hope I wount forget that next time I have to use it. To pick out the raised details I used lighter version of the base paint. For me it is best to use relatively large brush with fine tip because the larger brush holds more paint… but the tip can be fine enough for detail work. If you enjoy my videos, consider becoming a patron, any help to keep the channel moving forward is greatly appreciated. Some details I painted in flat black. After a gloss coat I applied the instrument panel decals. Next I applied a panel line wash to force some shadows and to mess the cockpit a bit. I find these dental brushes very handy and use them a lot. What bothers me though is that some "modeling" companies sell them for astronomical prices. so PLEASE don't fall in their trap… this is a very cheep consumable and you can find it easily. If you have hard time finding post a comment and I'll tell you .
The second modification I did was to print a copy of the decal sheet. I cut ot the seat belts and glued them to the seat. Then I applied the decals over the paper, which resulted in nice looking and dimensional detail. I gave everything a flat varnish for protection and unification of the sheen. Then I assembled the cockpit and the fuselage. After I removed the seam line from the rear deck it was painted with the interior colour. After a few little touches here and there I was able to move to the next step. And the next step was to assemle the airplane. This was easy and straight forward thanks to tamiyas quality. The engine is reasonably well detailed for the scale. I gave it a dry brushing with steel enamel paint and some blue gray paint. I assembled the engine and the cawling and they were ready to meet the rest of the plane. I applied mr. surfacer 1500, filled some spots with surdacer 500 and then reapplied the 1500 surfacer I added rivets to make the surface more interesting Finally it was time to start painting, I chose to apply the marbling technique I use a inexpensive yet very good 0,2mm airbrush, you can find a link to my e-bay store in the description.
After the marbling I started applying blend coats, untill i reached the finish I was satisfied with. With lighter version of the base coat I picked up some panels in high traffic areas as wel as some strenghtening plates to simulate wear. Having in mind that tose airplanes were new in the tome of the attack on Pearl Harbor I had to find a way to give the model a restrained yet interesting weathering.
I painted the control surfaces with the same ligter base colour. The cawling and the cockpit facing portions of each propeller blade I painted in black. To prepare for the decals I applied gloss varnish. I applied the decals without any major difficulties. To help the decals sink into the panel lines I used a scalpel blade, then I applied more decal softening solution. To start the weathering of the decals i used soft pencil along the panel lines. Then I applied hihgly diluted black paint to blend them with the rest of the paint. I decided to do a non metallic chippin and for the purpose I used even lighter version of the base colour. I used this chipping technique to outline some raised panels. The same procedure was done to the cawling and the decals. Next I applied light gray panel line wash in the control surface panel lines. I applied darker wash in several places with higher traffic and/or having tendencies to accumulate dirt. To add fuel stains I used oil paint and blended it with a little bit of white spirit.
Next I did some smoke and heat staining. If you are interested in a step by step tutorial click the pop up in your upper right corner. Now it was time to add the sub assemblies. This was a real pleasure as everything went together beautifully. Here I used rigging lines for the first time. And I have to say this is money well spent. The result and the ease of use is unbeleavable. I glued the canopy in opened position using PVA glue. After assembly the propeller fits snugly into the negine thanks to the poly cap inside. Do me a favour and watch more of my builds also don't forget to leave a comment Thanks for watching and untill next time, happy modeling..
