Finished last week for the "Rising Sun Campaign", today I have the time to show you my new Mitsubishi Ki-46 III Shi Tei Kai Interceptor Fighter from Tamiya in 1/48 ....




.... shortly before China based B-29s initiated high-altitude daylight bombings over Japan, it became obvious to the Japanese Army leaders that an urgent development of an interceptor fighter with good perfomances at high altitude was necessary. In June 1943 the Army Aeronautical Research Institute studied the possibility of adopting the Ki-46, which was one of the few operational aicrafts in the IJA to have the required altitude perfomance, to this type of operation. In May 1944 the project was appoved and urgently carried out. To mount two 20 mm machine guns in the nose the front fuselage and canopy had to be modified. This armament was called the "Otsu" type. Further, in July 1944, the Army ordered to add a 37 mm dorsal cannon to fire forward and upward at an angle of 70°, which was adopted from the "Schräge Musik" of the German Luftwaffe. Aircraft with this addition were called "Otsu/Hei" and only 15 aircraft with this configuration were build. Although most of them were flown by reconnaissance aircraft pilots with few dogfight experiences, they had some success against the B-29, proving the outstanding basic capability of the Ki-46, which was used from the beginning to the end of the Pacific war. It's significance to the IJA can be judged by a total production of 1742 aircrafts of all versions ....





.... I was really happy to get this kit at an expo last year in Switzerland for only 20 CHF, which are about 16 Euros, really cheap money Somehow this kit is not easy to get over here in Germany, so I didn't think twice. The kit offers 3 nice decal options, one in the "Otsu" configuration and two as "Otsu/Hei" and I decied for the latter one, an aircraft of the 17. Dokuritsu Hikotai during homeland defense, probably in the last weeks of the war. It's not mentioned in the instructions ....




.... building this kit made more problems than expected. There was a lot of sanding to do and I'm not so happy with the fitting of the rear canopy. To make things worse the 37 mm cannon broke off while I was masking the underside. But I could save the missing part immediatly from the mouth of the big evil carpet monster. I have cut the mask on the canopies with Kip Tape as Eduard has this set not in their program. Though it was not difficult it took a lot of time and I needed 2 evenings for it. For the underside I used Tamiya XF-14 J.A. Grey and for the upperside Revell 381 Brown came close to the desired tone. Yellow is Revell 310 and White is Revell 301. The decals seemed to be a bit old already as they were brittle and cracked, especially the Hinomarus on the wings. But with a little extra care they look alright to me now ....





.... in the last picture you can see all my homeland defense fighters so far, Ki-46, Ki-44 and Ki-45, where we have the main aircraft producers of Japan during the war together. Mitsubishi, Nakajima and Kawasaki. But there are more to come. So I hope you have enjoyed walking around my latest finished model and say "domo arigato" for stopping by.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Phil, thanks for your nice feedback! Glad you like seeing my models I think, writing a bit about the original aircraft and then about the pros and cons of the kit and which paints I have used, makes a roll out interesting to read. So I will carry on this way. Hope you've also enjoyed looking at my other models in this thread.

Fred, I'm not sure about Fujimi. I have heared that they have something to do with Hasegawa, maybe their predecessor but I'm not sure. I have only one Fujimi G-6 somewhere deep down in my stash and it's a Swiss Air Force version. Great to hear, that you like my Italian Gustav But now I hardly can wait to get my fingers on the new Eduard G-6. But I won't kick my other Academy kits in the bin, as Steffen suggested, there are some real goodies between them, even a Toni!
Also thanks to you for your comment about my Hs 123 and the Beaufighter. Yes, I've sprayed the dark green camo free hand and used masking tape only where it was needed (fuselage underside, front of the nacelles and the side rudder).
Oh yes, Russell .... I hope to start the memorial build next week.

Torsten

PS: I am surprised to see that you wrote the word "Rüstsätze" correctly, as you don't have the letters "ä" and "ü" in your language.

Torsten,

Your Hs 123 is a beautiful clean model, as it the Beaufighter. Your pilot looks great! I love the red bordered USAAF insignia. So did Russell.

Did you free-hand the Beau's camouflage?

Is that the Fujimi kit from the 1970s? If so, while I haven't seen one in a long time, I recall it was pretty nice: engraved lines, options for Gustav or Karl, an enormous decal sheet (I still have parts of one.) and several Rüstsätze parts.

Your 109 is impressive. I appreciate the subject.

Torsten Hi I read through the last page of your builds tonight and enjoyed seeing your work. I like how you give a brief kit history and list the paints you used. Some superb builds now I will have to go back through the rest. Regards Phil.

Thank you, Stephen!

Awesome work Torsten. I'm always impressed by your clean neat paint work.
The Beaufighter looks fantastic in US markings.
Stephen

Joel, thanks for your comment. Yes, a US-Beaufighter is a rare sight. This decal sheet that I have is full of unusual versions - all non-RAF. At least I want to build 2 more of them. Good luck with your US-Spit!

Torsten

Torsten, another really pristine build for your ever growing aviation museum. One thing I wasn't expecting was seeing it in USAAf markings. Nice touch. I'm doing my Spit IXc in USAAF markings too.

Joel

My Aviation Museum has got a new member. Today I can show you my brandnew Bristol Beaufighter VIF from Tamiya in 1/48 ....




.... the Bristol Beaufighter was a very successfull aircraft used as a night fighter, long range escort fighter, fighter bomber or anti shipping strike fighter. The maiden flight of the prototype was on the 17. July 1939 and the first aircrafts were handed over to the RAF a year later. The Beaufighter VIF was also used by four squadrons of the USAAF in the MTO. When the production ended, over 5500 aircrafts were made plus another 364 built in Australia. And it was them with their high speed, low level attacks on Japanese merchant ships, who earned the nickname "Whispering Death" by the Japanese. After the war Beaufighters were still in use as target tugs and the last example was withdrawn from service in 1960. The aircraft was powered by 2 Bristol Hercules radial piston engines with up to 1770 hp each. The maximum speed was nearly 500 km/h at 400 meters and 400 km/h at 4600 meters. The armament consisted of four 20 mm cannons in the fuselage and six 7,7 mm machine guns in the wings. The aircraft was capable to carry a torpedo or two bombs or eight rocket projectiles ....




.... though I have used the famous Tamiya kit of the night fighter, there was a surprising lot of sanding to do, especially with the fuselage parts. But the rest went together well, giving me not much trouble ....





.... I have built a Beau of the 416. NFS, based in Italy in 1943. Sorry, but I don't have more informations about this aircraft. The decals were made by a company named ADS. Never heared of them before or after. The decals are quite old already as the sheet was still priced in Deutsche Mark But in warm water they went off the tranfer paper and on the model without any problem. Only the "KV 912" decal on the left side tore apart so that I had to paint the "1" and the"2" with brush. The paints I used come mainly from Vallejo. Medium Sea Grey is 71049 and Dark Green is 71016. For the front of the nacelles I used Copper 71068, also from Vallejo ....




.... I hope you have enjoyed walking around one of my favourite British aircraft. I really like the Beau, because she looks so pugnacious and could give a heavy punch with whatever weapon carried. There are still a few of these kits in my stash, so stay tuned for the next Beau. A special thanks goes out to Edgar for his detailed information about the colours used on these aircrafts

Happy modelling
Torsten

Thanks for all your comments, folks!
Yes Jessie, Italeri also had this kit in their catalogue some years ago but I didn't get it. Revell came out with the Hs 123 in 2006. Thanks for the Wikipedia link about the rank, so I guess this would be the correct side. During my army time I was a Obergefreiter for over 2 years, becoming a Hauptgefreiter in my last year, which is one rank higher than Obergefreiter. I was a volunteer, serving 4 years in a tank batallion, which sadly doesn't exist anymore ....

Damian, yes this was a tough battle but why do these kits forget, that I always win in the end?

Joel, I made a too long break from building over christmas. Before the festive days I started the Leopard and in the early January days I added the Hs 123. When I noticed, that the Henschel needed all my attention, I laid the Leo aside. Now I can carry on with that great car which I want to show at an expo in March. But the next aircraft is already in sight. There are a few interesting campaigns running this year where I signed in ....

Torsten

Torsten, Nicely done my friend. Not even 4 weeks into the new year, and you already have one in the books. Congrats on your 1st bi-plane, which officially makes you one up on me. Already looking forward to your next addition to what Damian termed the Rossmann Air Force.

Joel

Another very nice addition to the Rossmann Air Force, well done on battling through this tough build my friend!

Cheers, D

Ancient and primitive though it may be, it's proof that with a little TLC it can be turned into a model which looks as good as any Tamafujigawumpeter box-shaker. I also think that this kit was given a bit of an update by AMT, and subsequently reboxed by Italeri a few years ago.

Oh, by the way, in the Commonwealth the rank is also Private, depending on the Regiment. Here's the whole list.

No Luftwaffe aircraft built in 2013? Well, well .... I promise to do better this year and today, after quite a struggle, I can show you my first finished kit in 2014. It's the Henschel Hs 123 A-1 in 1/48 from Revell, who reboxed that prehistoric Esci-kit a few years ago ....




.... the Hs 123 was developed in 1935 in a private initiative by Henschel as a dive bomber, but the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) rejected it, also because of its american engine, a Wright Cyclone. In 1936 though, the RLM ordered several companies to develop a new dive bomber and, as we all know, the famous Junkers Ju 87 won this competition. The Hs 123 was not considered due to its obsolete construction. However the RLM showed interest in it as a ground attack aircraft and the Hs 123 was finally equipped with a BMW 132 A, 9 cylinder radial engine, developing 660 hp. Baptism of fire came for the "One Two Three" during the Spanish Civil War. After that war the surviving aircrafts were given to the Spanish Aviacion Nacional, which used them until the early 1950's. But most well known is this aircraft for its indefatigable actions during WW 2, especially at the Eastern Front. In the beginning of "Operation Barbarossa" these aircrafts flew missions all day to support the ground forces, earning the nickname "Obergefreiter", wich is equal to the US rank of a Private (what's the British rank?). A Obergefreiter/Private is the backbone of every army, so you get the meaning. Nearly every CAS aircraft wore the "Infanteriesturmabzeichen" (Infantry Attack Badge) on the fuselage to show their close bond with the guys on the ground. Even in 1943 the Wehrmacht asked for a production re-start, but that was impossible, as tools and production lines were already demolished. So the last of these battle horses were taken out of service in mid 1944. Only 250 machines were build between 1935 and 1938 ....




Revell offers 3 decal versions for this kit, 2 German WW 2 and a Spanish post war. Of course I went for the most colourful version from the Eastern Front and built an aircraft of the 4./SG 2, somewhere in the southern part of Russia in Spring 1943. The paints I used are all Revell Aquas. RLM 71 Dark Green is No. 39, RLM 65 Light Blue is No. 49, RLM 04 Yellow is No. 310, RLM 70 Black Green (for the propeller) is No. 40 and RLM 02 Grey Green (for the interior) is No. 45. But airbrushing this kit was the easier part, believe me ....




.... this kit is really ancient. I think Esci came out with it in the 1970's, not sure. It still has raised panel lines and cannot compare at all with todays "high end" kits. So there was a lot of fitting, filling and sanding to do. At first it seemed to me that I need filler for every part, nothing really fits. It took me several weeks to make this chunk of plastic look like an aircraft. But I never had the idea to give it up because I wanted to have this aircraft. During the build I had to make compromises to the fitting due to the age of the kit. So the inner struts are too short to fit to the upper wing, so I had to replace them with Evergreen profiles. They are also not in the perfect angle to each other. But finally I succeeded and I'm happy with the result. Another legendary aircraft for my collection. Surprisingly it's still the only Hs 123 kit in 1/48. How about it, Eduard .... ?





Finally a little engine test. Okay, ready for take off! I say "Vielen Dank" for looking and hope you've enjoyed walking around my first bi-plane.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

I see. I also build the occasional piece of 1/35 WW11 USA armor, but haven't built one in quite some time. There are posters over on Armorama that do post the occasional armor model while stating that another modeling area is their main interest. Never been any issues with that, that I can recall.
Joel

Torsten, your work is superb.

Joel, also thanks to you for your comment. Great to hear, that you like my aviation museum collection. I still have a lot of space, so it will still grow. I'm working already on 2 kits but that will need some time now. One model I can show here but the other one doesn't fit to all these old airplanes, as it is a Leopard 2A6 tank in 1/35. So I also might open a thread over at Armorama, not sure yet ....

Torsten

Torsten, Another very impressive OOB build. I've become a big fan of your assembly line museum models. Looking forward to your next roll out.
Joel

Thanks for your kind words, Jessie! As always I try my best. Though I must admit I'm a Tamigawa fan, this old Academy kit is the only easy available Bf 109 G-6 kit in 1/48. And I still have a few of that in my stash (you can never have enough of them at home). The Hasegawa G-6 is hard to get, also Fujimi. I would love to see a new quarterscale G-6 on the market, maybe from Hobbyboss or Airfix? Or what about a nice "scale down" of Revell's new 1/32 Gustav ....

Torsten

Who needs a miracle wunderkit? This one shows that you can do an excellent model from a basic kit with skill and patience

Just a week after the Buchon the 2. Club Med Campaign build left my workbench and now I can show you my new Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/Trop in 1/48 from Italeri, who reboxed that old Academy kit ....




.... development of the G-version began in late 1941 to meet requests by the Luftwaffe for further improvement of the aircraft. When development began, an engine that could fulfil some requirements was already available in form of the Daimler Benz DB 605. With more power this engine remained identical in size to its predecessor, the DB 601. Installation into the 109 airframe therefore proved to be relatively easy. The higher perfomance and greater engine torque however required structural changes in the airframe which increased the weight. The G-6 was fitted with a MG 151/20 (20 mm) firing through the engine block. The MG 17 mounted above the engine were replaced by MG 131 (13 mm). The belt-feed to the uprated armament made a redesign of the aerodynamic engine cover necessary, which gave the aircraft its characteristic bulges, hence its nickname "Beule". The G-6 was used extensively on all fronts from March 1943 until the end of the war. With a total of nearly 13.000 machines it was the most prolific of all Bf 109 variants ....




.... Italeri came out with this kit in 2011/2012 in their "Aviation Glory" series and named it "Italian Aces". The great decal sheet - made by Cartograph - offers 6 fantastic versions, 3 each from the Regia Aeronautica (RA) and the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR). I decided for the aircraft of the 150. Gruppo, flown from Sciacca in summer 1943 during the battle for Sicily. The pilot was Maggiore Antonio Vizzotto, who was the CO of that unit during that time. You can see his pennant on the fuselage. He was one of the first Italians to fly the Bf 109 due to his flight experience during the Spanish Civil War and later in North Africa. During the air battles over Sicily he was credited with the kill of two B-25 Mitchell and the destruction of a Spitfire. As you can see, he flew a "Kanonenboot" (gunboat) with two underwing MG 151/20 gondolas. A "Kanonenboot" was more than a match for an enemy bomber but on the other hand it was heavier and slower, so it was also an easy prey for allied fighters ....





.... this kit is new with Italeri but it's an old acquaintance to us. Academy came out with this kit in 1994 and therefore it has some issues, just like the Buchon. I needed some filler to fill the gaps between fuselage and wings, also there was a lot of happy sanding to do. It may take some extra time but in the end this One-O-Nine also becomes a bella donna For RLM 74/75/76 I have used my old Agama paints again. What makes the paintscheme of this aircraft so interesting is the complete overspraying of the German markings with green on the fuselage, for which I've used FS 34092 also from Agama, and the "stripes-mottling" on the right fuselage front, where RLM 74 is sprayed over RLM 75. I haven't seen this before. Again all airbrushing is made freehand - except for the wings - with some minor corrections afterwards. The decals are very good and very thin. They need just a tiny little bit of softener. Because they are so thin of course a little mishap occured with the spinner spiral, which reverted and while I tried to repair it, it tore into several pieces So I had to start again and airbrushed it, first white, then covered it with Kip Tape and then came black over it. It sure is not perfect but for the first time I tried it, I'm quite satisfied. For masking the canopy I used again Eduard's EX 145. Needless to say that this kit is again built oob and not weathered ....




.... I say "Mille Grazie" for walking around with me and hope you enjoyed looking at the photos. This is my last finished model this year. I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy 2014! See you all happy and healthy next year!

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Joel, thanks for your comment. Yes, the Buchon is not so well known, but without the Buchon most of the remaining Bf 109 today wouldn't be able to fly at airshows, as the Buchon was used in Spain until 1967. Many spare parts are/were taken from Buchons to build up the 109 again, including famous "Red 7", a rebuild Bf 109 G-4 from EADS, a great sight at european airshows. I've seen that aircraft 4 times already.
An interesting fact is, that while the Buchon was still in service with the Ejército del Aire they already had the F-104 Starfighter. So there were 2 very different generations of aircrafts in the same air force at the same time.

Torsten

Torsten, Very nicely done. A really nice OOB build of a older kit of a relatively fringe type aircraft. I personally didn't know about the Merlin engine option.

Joel

Last weekend I finished my newest kit which I've built for the Club Med Campaign and today I have the time to show you my first Spanish aircraft, the Hispano HA-1112 "Buchon" from Academy in 1/48 ....




.... the HA-1112 airframe is the Spanish built version of the famous Bf 109 G type. With no German engines available after 1945, early postwar versions were powered by Hispano-Suiza engines. Later versions used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. All together there were 9 different versions of the aircraft using either of the 2 engines. The installation of the Merlin made the nose contours of the HA-1112 look quite different from those of the original Messerschmitt fighter, hence its nickname "Buchon". The aircraft was produced until 1961 and some of them became film stars playing the role of the Bf 109 in the 1969 movie "Battle of Britain" ....




.... Academy offers 2 decal versions for this kit. Of course I have chosen the original Spanish Air Force set from the 1950's. The unit is not mentioned ....





.... the kit is pretty old (I guess from the 1990's) and so there's a lot of fitting, filling and sanding to do to make it look nice in the end. It needs some time but in the end it's worth it. The majority of the parts are the same as for the Bf 109 G-6 kit but there is an extra sprue which contains all needed parts to build the Buchon, especially the fuselage halves, 4 blade propeller and spinner. In the end I had quite some parts left for my "109 spare box" ....




.... for the underside I have used RAF Mediterranean Blue No. 71111 from Vallejo and the upper side is painted with Silver No. 90 from Revell. The cockpit interior is painted with Granite Grey No. 69 also from Revell which comes close to RLM 66. The kit is build out of box and not weathered as usual. The decals are a bit problematic as some of them tend to be a little crumbly, especially the ones under the exhausts and on the side rudder. But with patience and some softener it worked. The canopy was covered with Eduard EX 145 and that's really helpfull with all these small windows ....



.... here you can see, that I managed to get the Merlin working I say "Muchas Gracias" for walking around the new member of my Plastic Air Force and hope you enjoyed looking at the photos.

Happy modelling!
Torsten