Francesco Borraccino wows with another 1/72 scale gem, this time a Shimbu-tai Ki-84 Hayate built from the Arma Hobby kit # 70053. Although the Special Attack Units kit released last year provides a 195 Shimbu-tai option Francesco elected to build another Hayate from the same unit, referencing a photo shown on the Arma Hobby website.
Francesco notes that whilst the Special Attack Units box lacks the photo-etched sheet on the other hand it offered excellently crafted 3D resin detail parts, such as seat with seatbelts, separate exhausts, and cockpit details (the 3D resin parts were only included with pre-ordered kits. Ed). He found that assembly flowed quickly as the kit is excellent. The only two points he advises to pay attention to are the separate fuselage parts for canopy open or closed options, and the rear part of the canopy itself which created a little difficulty in setting up.
Francesco made some small improvements such as opening of vents in the fuselage, drilling out the panel of the Ho-103 which he omitted, and adding hydraulic circuit piping for the landing gear, and gunsight glass (oddly not included on the transparent sprue), antenna wires and bomb fin stabilizer bars. Although often on Tokkotai unit planes the armament was removed to reduce weight Francesco retained the wing Ho-5s, since they are present in the other Arma Hobby photo of the Shimbu-tai leader's aircraft.
The entire model was first painted aluminium with the yellow leading edge IFF strips applied and masked off before the upper surfaces were finished in the # 7 olive brown colour, made with a mix of AK Real Colors RC 325 (RLM 81 v.3) and RC 330 (Olive brown # 7). Francesco applied the same olive brown colour to the cockpit interior with the pilot seat represented in unpainted natural metal, a nice touch.
For the lower surface Francesco simply added white to the same olive brown mix. He also applied the number '7' in gouache, to the lower part of the rudder. That was a personal speculation since in the original photo it is not possible to discern whether a number is present or not. As most special attack aircraft seemed to have them Francesco decided to add one too.
Examining the reference photo Francesco could see how the extensive paint peeling only seemed to affect the rear part of the fuselage, from the cockpit to the tail, in his opinion possibly suggesting a replacement of the entire tail section as the forward fuselage appeared unblemished. Peeling and chipping was represented by dabbing the paint with pieces of Tamiya tape and then finishing with toothpicks. Weathering was applied in his usual manner with oils, pigments and pastels.
With special thanks to Francesco for sharing these images and details with Aviation of Japan. A convincingly realised representation of a factory finished Hayate awaiting a grim sortie in the final defence of the Japanese homeland.
Image credit: All model photos © 2024 Francesco Barraccino; Box art © 2023 Arma Hobby
10 comments:
Another fantastic model by Francesco. I really like the chipping and scratches and the rich darker olive brown colour (I will have to reference this colour for future builds).
Woody
Another great build from Francesco, and another great AH kit seen as a wonderful result. Like Woody, I'll have to see about mixing this color myself. I admire his interpretation of the photographic record and his dedication to replicating that piece of history.
Warren
Simply Brilliant!!!... Such a well-crafted version of the beautiful Hayate made even better with the very realistic weathering effects
Many Thanks to Francesco and Nick
Another awesome job! Hats off! Like Warren and Woody said above I'll too try this mixing for the olive brown colour.
Sergio
Fantastic work Francesco! Your research and the valuable considerations regarding colour and chipping make your model a great template for other Hayate modellers - I saved your link for my future model. Thanks Nick for showing us!
This is an inspiring post, thanks so much Nick. Francesco, your model is inspiringly *faithful* to period photgraphy in small and convincing ways. Kudos.
Thank you all for your appreciation, it makes me very happy.
In my works I always try as much as possible to have the most realistic interpretation possible based on the available documentation, and in this Nick's help is invaluable, especially when it comes to colours.
Thank you for mentioning that Francesco. My own research output is frequently overlooked or extracted and appropriated but seldom acknowledged.
Great work, Francesco. Thanks for sharing it with us, Francesco & Nick.
Beautiful work! The colours look excellent and the finish is very convincing. Better than many 1/48 builds, I'd dare say!
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