Mansyū KI-98 (Meng 1:72) - Paint & decals on

[Mike]

Following on from my review here, I thought I'd break scale and give this a go, especially because Annie at Meng Models had asked me so nicely I broke open the seal yesterday once I'd done the pics for the review, and began building the cockpit. It was pretty straight forward to put together, and I moved onto the wheel bays while it set up. Once the glue had cured, I base coated it with a slightly lightened British cockpit grey/green, and highlighted and shaded with dry-brushing and washes. I also painted the gear bays with some WEM Aotake, that mythical blue/green metallic colour used to protect the unpainted metal of Japanese war planes during WWII.

Detailing of the cockpit was simple, as Meng helpfully include some colour call-outs. A bit of Panzer grey as a black substitute, some dabs of white and red, and a bit of scuffing on the floor in sliver and grey, plus a bit of brown leather for the head rest and seat cushion, although the instructions tell you to paint it black - I thought a bit of colour would be nice. I made some seatbelts from thin strips of Tamiya tape, and detailed those with extra strips to simulate adjustment tabs and buckles, plus a tiny punched out circle for the harness detail.

Apologies for the little scraping debris that I've just spotted in the photo

The booms have since been closed up, as has the fuselage and the wings - they're just setting up for a while with clamps on to ensure they don't move. I had to add a small strip of styrene to the seam under the nose at the front, as it improved the fit of the nose-cone, which would have needed some serious sanding otherwise. Whether that's down to my clumsy building, or the kit design is unknown... I'm just making it up as I go along

[Vulcanicity]

Nice work so far boss! I confess I had to Google this one, what a wierd aeroplane! Like a sort of podgy, prop-powered Japanese Vampire...

[Mike]

Thanks I quite like it, and the drop in scale doesn't seem to be creating any issues either... it's weird to be building summit so small though

I didn't know until after the review that it shared a fuselage with the Shinden... silly me, eh?

[woody37]

Looking forwards to it Mike. Kinda look like a P38 that's had the fuselage flipped through 180 degrees !!!

[Chris Jephcott]

Now this is really interesting. It really appeals to me and I'm very much looking forward to seeing this one built.

[Mike]

Thanks for the encouragement guys

I've almost finished construction now, so will post up some pics in a short while.

[Mike]

Here she is:

Everything goes together really nicely, which leads me to think that the issue with the join under the nose must have been my own doing The only seam that needed more than a little fettle was the underside where the fuselage and wings meet at the rear. That was quite agricultural compared to the rest, but some CA used as filler soon sorted it, and the missing panel lines were reinstated with my scriber.

I'm just removing and cleaning the landing gear parts and the prop, which need little in the way of work, due to the method of moulding the sprue gates. Almost every part of this kit has had the sprue gates offset from the mould's centreline, so that the attachment point is on the seamline itself. That way you can remove the sprue gates with your knife and have very little in the way of clean-up, and no damage to any exposed surfaces. If only all model companies did that!

[Hypnobear]

Thats looking nice! Id like to get myself one of these kits but Ill have to wait to see what sort of price they will be - looks like it will be around £20

Definitely a great addition to any "Tokyo '46" collection though!

Edited June 29, 2012 by Hypnobear

[Mike]

Tokyo'46... I like that. Defence of Imperium?

I got the canopy installed after a dip in Klear. It's incredibly delicate though, and I managed to put a slight crack in the roof when I was polishing out any finger prints. It's quite well hidden, so no real issue The prop is together and slipped on for the photo. The two halves of the spinner don't fit together well, so some sanding will be required here.

Now for an admission. I forgot to put some nose weight in before I glued the nose on, but managed to pry off the nose cone quite neatly and rectified that yesterday. Some punched discs that were used to weight a lamp were squished into some Magic Sculp and placed in the front of the nose, with some more in the nose cone itself. It is now most definitely not a tail-sitter, as it would have been if I'd not taken the plunge and pulled off the nose

Anyway - here's a quick pic before I start spraying the first test coat of primer. I'll mask up the canopy first of course, although I'll let the GS-Hypo cement go off a little longer before I do

[Jose Pedro]

very interesting project!

Following with interest!

José

[Mike]

Thanks Jose. I've got the primer on now, and there are (as expected) a few bits that need some clean up.

[dogsbody]

Good save on the nose weight. Looking real good so for.

Chris

[robw_uk]

thats a very interesting subject and looks a very neat kit. may have to look at this manufacturer in future

[Radleigh]

Quite smart that Mike I missed the review so pleased to see it (being) built.

[rotorheadtx]

A real beauty there Mike!! I'd been on the fence about getting one, but I'm all for it now!

Thanks for the detailed info and good photos, makes the decision a no-brainer!

[Mike]

Good to know it's helping out

The airframe has been polished now, and after an initial coat of Alclad polished aluminium, I opted to tone it down so oversprayed most of it with plain Aluminium. Once that's cured a while... half an hour or so, I'll start masking off the occasional panel with post-it notes and spot spray with a different shade or mixture, in an attempt to keep it subtle. Pics later... don't want to disturb it yet

[Mike]

N'kay... after much mucking about with different shades and mixes of the Alclad range (I have the lot!), here she is in naked aluminium... I've not bothered with any panel shading on the upper surfaces, as they're getting a coat of Nakajima Dark Green, so I've picked a few panels out on the sides and bottom, plus darkened the rear nacelle around the engine and am calling it "heat discolouration (mild)".

I see a lot of masking in my future

[Mike]

A quick masking session and I sprayed Alclad White Primer over the recognition bands, which I'll mask off before spraying the green. One's a bit squiffy, but can be repaired with the new masking before the green

That's probably all for today folk

[woody37]

Crikey, you've knocked that together quickly ! Love your paintowork

[Mike]

Thanks Neil - it's only wickle, and for the most part the fit is good. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the week

[Mike]

This afternoon's task has been masking, which was a bit fiddly due to the diminutive nature of the beast, and the many demarkations that needed masking. Nonetheless, I'd eventually finished - it took about half an hour at a guess, and then sprayed some Lifecolor RLM82 (UA054), as it was the closest match I have in stock, despite having a veritable cornucopia of paints from Xtracrylix, Lifecolor, Tamiya, Alclad, Gunze and WEM. Typical, eh? I think it matches quite well, and after the main coat was on, I sprayed a lightened shade over the top surfaces to give an idea of some reasonably mild sun bleaching. Once that was done, I tore off all the masking tape, and had a quick look to see if I'd missed anything. There are probably a few bits lurking round that I missed, but I'll have a quick look later.

Next step was to attach the green with the end of a cocktail stick, gently stabbing at the paint to dislodge small portions from the Alclad, keeping in mind the smaller scale and the areas that the crew would be using most. I reasoned that as the pilot entered the cockpit via a small door in the nose gear bay, so there wouldn't be much scuffing round the front of the wing leading edge, but there would be at the trailing edge and around the engine cowling panels as it was both a new plane and a new engine, so you could expect trouble. I also scuffed around the small access panels and elsewhere just to busy the area up, and when I was happy that I hadn't gone too far, I stopped.

To protect the rest of the paintwork and prepare the airframe for decaling I put a couple of coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss over the whole thing, and that's where we're up to so far today

I didn't see much point in including another shot of the underside, as it's ostensively the same as it was before I attacked it with masking tape. Adding those yellow leading edge stripes might be a bit tricky. That and decaling are next. Must spray some Alclad on the gear legs too, and some green on the gear bay doors... wherever they are currently

[Mike]

...and the decals are done. They went down quite nicely with a dab of Mr Mark Setter here and there. Very thin with minimal carrier film, although as a consequence the yellow tail flash is slightly transclucent where it overlaps the green. Just beware of that when you build yours though, and you won't struggle

Might leave it a while before sealing the decals, and get on with the fiddly bits

[Col.]

Nice work there so far Mike. Was thinking the design could have been credited to any one of many nations during the mid-40s to early 50s but the markings do give it a more distinct Japanese identity.

Put a set of British roundels, US star & bars, Soviet stars etc. and it take on a different air again and easily be seen as a product of those nations.

[robw_uk]

Delicious build Mike...

[dogsbody]

A real beauty.

Chris