**** DONE: GB-54 1:72 Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu ( Nick)- Pacific Theatre

[Bustedwing]

Username: Bustedwing
First name: Graham
Category: Advanced
Manufacturer: Hasegawa
Model Type 1:72 scale Kawasaki Ki-45
Add Ons: Some scratch built cockpit details.

Well I have to say I had to go shopping for this one and what caught me was the camouflage pattern. All my kits in my stash are Luftwaffe and I really don't know much about the Pacific Theatre or it's planes so this. will be a learning experience as well. Looks like a nice kit, fairly simple and lacking in cockpit detail but nice plastic and nice surface detail. Bonus, comes with a Toyota " starter truck" not sure if it's cool if I include the truck in the build but it does give me reason to side track. Best truck I ever owned was a Toyota. 16 years 450.000kms and ran like a top. Ok so it rusted, the frame broke on me twice and I had to weld the front half back onto the back half. It was ugly, I finally sold it because it was turning into a heat score from the body rust. Some kid bought it for the running gear so he could build an idiot Samurai. Ok I'm done. Toyota wise except I never should have sold it !

 

[fubar57]

Good one. Challenging camo

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice choice and nifty looking camo.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Snautzer01]

Would be a laugh if you bought a scale model of the pick-up turn that one as the engine starter as a personal salute to a car long gone.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good one Graham. Plenty of us in the same boat with regard to lack of knowledge of Japanese subjects. Feel free to include the truck in the build but leave it out of the finished pics for judging please.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice choice.

 

[Bustedwing]

Well here's a start on it. Adding a bit of business to the cockpit. I've spent a lot of time on the interweb checking out pictures of the interior and it looks like pretty much anything goes modeling wise. As well, the interior colour seems to range from very bright Zinc chromate to an almost earth brown. depending on whose model kit your looking at. I'm inclined to go with a slightly darker grey/green like adding a few drops of red to some RLM 02 ?? Also, trying to figure out how much, if in fact this plane used the metalic blue primer in wheel wells and aft of the cockpit. Any tips would be great ! Other wise I'm winging it !!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Great start Graham, some nice detail.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Good stuff. I think our Wayne is pretty good at advising on colours.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice work so far!

 

[Wayne Little]

Cockpit should be a Yellow/Green.....Olive Drab/ Khaki Colour, check out my 1/32 Ki-45 build in GB46 for plenty of details of cockpit.....

 

[Bustedwing]

Cockpit should be a Yellow/Green.....Olive Drab/ Khaki Colour, check out my 1/32 Ki-45 build in GB46 for plenty of details of cockpit.....

Oh I remember that build. Amazing kit and you did a fantastic job on it as well. I am definitely going to use it as reference. I think I was right on the interior colour being what it is. I did think the interior other than the cockpit was painted a metalic looking blue ? Thanks for the heads up !

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Bustedwing]

The final bits and pieces added to the cockpit. Now the biggie. Paint. I decided to use RLM79, it's the closest paint I have to "Khaki" for the cockpit area. As for the rest of the interior this is where I shaved off a few more valuable ( at this point ) brain cells. I was always under the impression they used a metalic blue/green primer. After a lot of searching on the interweb I'm not sure really what to go with. It's often said the primer was anything from zinc chromate to bamboo green to aotake to no primer to whatever happened to be on hand in the factory and this all could depend on the manufacturer ? I have some metalic blue that I might tint with a bit of yellow to give it a bit more greenish look. I did get ahead of myself and dragged out the old He 111 paint pig to play around with camouflage. Turned out not too bad. I think I will try painting the markings on. If the guage decal is any indication, the rest of the decals are going to be a major poo poo !!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Great internal detail and depending on the angle the camo colour looks pretty close to what it should be.

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad at all....

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Nicely done so far!