This Tamiya kit
was mostly built out of the box, with the addition of the Eduard colour
etch seat belts and fuse wire for the wheel brake lines. The kit
went together like a dream, needing little or no filler; Tamiya really are
the cutting edge in model design. I chose the winter scheme of I-SG2
in 1945 because I wanted a challenge and really liked the over spray of
the white camouflage. I used Xtracrylics from Hannants for all of
the external colours. These give an excellent decal ready gloss
finish, and spray very well. I used their dedicated thinner to
ensure that the paints was adequately thinned for spraying with my Iwata
HP-C Plus air brush.
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The cockpit was
painted using Tamiya acrylics. The dials of the instruments were
drawn in with a sharpened white artists pencil before coating the dial
with Micro Crystal Clear to replicate the instrument lenses. Once
the cockpit was mated into the fuselage, it was masked off with
Tamiya tape and the rest of the airframe built up as per the instructions.
The canopy was masked with Tamiya tape and then sprayed firstly with the
same colour as the cockpit. Once that had dried the main colours
were then sprayed with the rest of the airframe. The underside was
sprayed first and once dry masked with Tamiya tape. The upper
surface colours went on next. To get the demarcation lines I used
rolls of 'Blue Tack' with tape covering the void. The winter
camouflage was sprayed on freehand at a low pressure and fine needle
setting.
The kit decals went
on like a dream, only needing a slight wetting with Micro Sol. Once all of
the decals were on the kit was matted down using Aeromaster Flat varnish.
An oil wash of black and burnt sienna was then put on, concentrating on the
panel lines and areas of high wear and tear. Mig Productions Black Smoke
was used for exhaust staining and the staining on the canons and MGs as
well as under the wings as staining from the rockets. The canopy was taped
in place so the correct length of fishing line could be attached for the antenna
wire. This then gave the correct length of slack when the canopy was in
the open position. And there you go, an enjoyable build and another kit in
the cabinet (or as my wife says "another model box empty!").
Si
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