Well this is as far as I got with my KI-44 in the “land of the rising sun campaign”. I have got most of the “body work” done and next it’s off to the paint shop. I did experiment with the hairspray method on the propeller. I thought the prop turned out pretty good and I think I will try it on the whole airframe. I will continue to post progress in a separate build log.

Here are the cockpit photos. I did not try to do too much to it, as the opining to the cockpit is small and you can’t see much anyway. I did use a true details seat.

url=http://gallery3.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/419302][/url]

Bill,
Sure looks like you're making steady progress, and you're just about ready for paint. The only thing that looks a little weird is the white around the instruments on the IP.
Joel

Joel, I used the kit decal for the instrument panel. I will have the canopy closed on this one. I don’t do a lot to the area that you can’t see much of.

I have finally got some paint on this thing. The first thing was to spray it with Tamiya primer. This reveals flaws in the body work. I had to spray and sand the wing roots three times before they looked OK.

. Then I shot it with Testers model master aluminum.

I used my airbrush and applied hair spray. I have been using my new Iwata Eclipse airbrush and I really like it.

. Next was to spray the underside with Tamiya Japanese Army grey acrylic. After that, I then masked off the undersides. Beside masking tape, I used “blue tack” to mask the fuselage. The profile depicting this aircraft shows a slightly wavy paint line.



After that I applied JA Army Green acrylic. The next step is to glue the cowling on, then paint the black anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit and the yellow ID stripes on the leading edge of the wings.

Looking good Bill, nice work on the details as well !

Bill,
Your camo paint scheme is looking quite good. Looking forward to seeing the paint scheme finish, as well as the decals applied.

And thank you for posting larger pictures rather then the thumbnails to your gallery.
Joel

Just caught this thread. Can you explain the whole "hairspray" thing, please? I am "mystified" [pun intended].

I am not much of an authority on the “hairspray method” as this is the first time I have every tried it. I experimented on the prop and spinner and it seemed to work good so I thought I would use it on the whole aircraft. Basically it is a method of simulating peeling and chipped paint. You paint the plane silver and then you put hair spray over it, and then spray a top coat over that. The color coat is usually acrylic. Hair spray is water soluble, so you take a moistened toothpick or stiff brush and start scratching the paint. The water gets under the top coat and the paint starts to flake off. It’s pretty simple and looks very realistic.

I am finally done painting this thing! The yellow on the leading edges was tedious and time consuming, but it came out alright. I have some smaller stuff to paint but the airframe is finished. There is still more to do, next I will start flaking some of the paint off!

I have included my Ki-44 in the “Hanger Queen” campaign. I will continue posting build updates on this blog.

Bill,
You might want to consider running a duel build blog. For those of us following your build, but not any others in the Hanger Queen campaign. It just becomes some what more difficult to follow your posts without having to wade through other builds. Even with using the subscribe feature, it only brings you to the current page.
Joel

OK I will do that, thanks.

The last time I posted about my Ki-44 (27-11-14) I had finished painting it. I have since then been scraping the paint off! This is the first time I have used hairspray as a weathering technique, and I am fairly pleased with the results. However picking the paint off with a toothpick is tedious and time consuming. I can see where using salt would be easier and faster. I am about ready to spray gloss coat on this thing and start putting on some decals.

This build is going at a glacial pace but I might finish it buy the end of the year. These cell phone photos are not the best but it shows the finished decals. I am now highlighting the panel lines with A K Interactive panel liner.

Bill,

Your Shoki is looking good!

Hi Bill,
Beautiful work so far! I have the Arii Ki-44 in 1/48 scale waiting to be built. I find your hairspray technique very interesting.

Gary

Thanks guys.

Bill,
Glad to see that the build is still alive and well. Your paint camo scheme and decals look well done.
Joel

I highlighted the panel lines with AK interactive panel liner. The AK products are easy to use but the underside seems overstated. The top side is not very noticeable but may look better once I spray clear flat over it. I have not tried highlighting this extensively before. What do you think is it over done?

Great paint job, Bill. Will try out this way of painting by my self.

Hi Bill,
It is definitely not overdone. Looks great!

Gary

not at all looks great. subtle weathering is the best way to go. where did you get the decals? I like the skull on the rudder, would like to get a set.

joe

Bernd, Gary and Joe, thank you. Joe, the decals are by Revi, set # 48005. Air craft depicted is from 29th Sentai, 2nd Chutai, Anchang AB, China, August 1944. This aircraft is depicted in profile in two books.