1/48 Tamiya Ki-61 Tony

[ghodges]

After a tough vac build I needed a "palette cleansing" easy build so I turned to this very nice 1/48 Tamiya Ki-61 Tony. Another reason was to try tackling the green blotch camo using my new Iwata CM-B airbrush. I decided to build it strictly OOTB since it's such a nice kit to begin with.

The kit interior is more than adequate and I even used the kit's decal seat belts, though I did cut them out leaving them on the paper and gluing them to the seat.

After painting the tail blue and then painting and masking the wing leading edges yellow, I painted the rest of the model with Alclad Aluminum. I then masked off the areas for the white bands and painted the blotches using Tamiya lacquer IJA Dark Green. This took just under 2 hours, but happily I didn't feel the need to come back and touch up the aluminum! 

After painting the white bands I masked and painted the Hinamarus. The squadron markings are from the kit decal sheet and another aftermarket sheet and represent the color profile of a Tony I found in the old World War 2 Aircraft Fact Files book "Japanese Army Fighters part 1" published back in the late '70s. On to the rest of the pics!

I quite happy with the way this turned out and especially with the camo pattern. It will take some further adjustment to MY airbrushing methods (using less air pressure, more paint thinning, adding more retarder, refining my trigger pull, etc.) before I "master" this newer, finer airbrush; but then these are all things that should help me be a better painter in the future. In any case I feel like I at least now have a chance at success if I want to tackle some of the more complex Luftwaffe schemes out there, or even more Japanese blotch/squiggle camo.

Critiques, comments, and questions welcome as always!

Gil 

Edited June 19, 2025 by ghodges

[mustang1989]

Man.......the fact that absolutely no one has commented on this fabulouso build is just mind blowing.  The work that you put into the paint job alone on this build is award winning and then there's the detail that you brought to the table with the interior. I'm not a big fan of the decals for seat belts but it's still a well-built, painted up and weathered cockpit Gil. Superb work old friend. 

[ghodges]

Thanks for the very kind words! I'm not a fan of those decal seat belts either.... but it is one of the things that keeps it "legal" in the IPMS Out Of the Box competition.

 

Gil 

[VMF211]

Great job on this fun kit!! I don't mind the seat belt decals as much as the "camouflage decals"! Your paint job is superior to the decals and looks more realistic. And you are correct, this kit OOB is pretty darn good. Well done!

[mustang1989]

4 hours ago, ghodges said:

I'm not a fan of those decal seat belts either.... but it is one of the things that keeps it "legal" in the IPMS Out Of the Box competition.

Gil 

I didn't think about that but you're right Gil. Still.........good show man.