Fine Molds Nine seat fighter "Tachinu Wind"

[shortCummins]

here we go again…


tail masked and primed


pre-shading


grey applied


unmasked and klear'd ready for some light weathering

as always any suggestions would be great fully received.

until then
rgds
John (shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Ultimate Light Dirt added…



Do you ever get the feeling you've made a bad mistake

I know it'll turn out alright its just that its looks such a mess

It was a toss-up between light and dark dirt. My reasoning for choosing light over dark was that she's a prototype so therefore woudn't have too much wear and tear or weathering, so I figured that filling the panel lines with a lighter colour would be more in keeping?
If it doesn't work I can always clean her up and use dark dirt instead

I'll clean her up tomorrow and show what she looks like then

until then any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received
rgds
John (shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

so I let the Light Dirt dry…



and this is the result…


well I really, really like the way the panel lines show on the Hinomaru, however the light dirt on the grey doesn't show as much as I want so…



I've removed most of the light dirt, I kept it on the Hinomaru, and used Ultimate Dark Dirt to try and make the panel lines and rivets pop

I'll let this dry, clean it up and show the results

until then any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received
rgds
John (shortCummins)

[heel]

Hey John I agree the wash looks great on the red. Following the roller coaster and you're doing a good job correcting the missteps. It's coming together nicely.

[shortCummins]

Hey John I agree the wash looks great on the red. Following the roller coaster and you're doing a good job correcting the missteps. It's coming together nicely.

thanks for the encouragement heel, most of the mistakes are self-inflicted but I've go to say I'm really enjoying this build

rgds
John (shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Ultimate Dark Dirt 'cleaned up'




close-up of the cockpit area


underside

close-up of the underside

if you've not tried any of the Ultimate weathering washes, what are you waiting for? go get some and see how they can transform your model

next will be a satin varnish, well semi-gloss anyway, and then nailing the engine, propeller and wheels and I'll be done

until then any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received
rgds
John (shortCummins)

[CJSomerset]

Sweeeeeeeeet.

[shortCummins]

final(ish) update…

on the final stretch now


undercarriage nailed on


windshield and gunsight(?) added



pitot tube and actuators in place


engine and engine cowling


propellor pushed in

now its just touching up the paintwork in a few places and then I'll shoot the reveal photos

any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received
until then
rgds
John (shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

so she's finished

you can see the reveal photos here...

http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 31&t=11782



This was my 2nd build since coming back to the hobby after far too long, 20+ years. To say that I've enjoyed building her is a massive understatement, FineMolds have made an incredible kit of a great aircraft and taken the brave/unusual marketing ploy of tying it in with an anime movie. Outside of Japan I'm not sure how well know either the film or the aircraft is, I'm a 'fan' of anime, love the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli so that fact that FineMolds have aligned their kit with this movie couldn't have been better as far as I'm concerned, limited market though?

Anyhow I've decided to take a leaf out of Martin's (UKguyInUSA) book and give an appraisal of the kit following his criteria
(Martin please except this as a tribute to your dedication to the hobby, I unreservedly acknowledge that this format was your idea and that I've used your criteria to mark the kit, what can I say, when your right your right! )

Quality of moulded product:
first class, I know its a 'new' kit, I believe the holds were made in 2014, but the level of detail is far better than anything that I've seen, even looking at some of the 1/32 kits shown on this forum I'd bet his kit could hold its own. 10/10

Quality of engineering/fits:
There were a couple of instances where the 'mating surfaces' were a little short of 'rock solid', namely where the seat fits the cockpit floor and the horizontal stabilisers fit to the fuselage, other than that absolutely no complaints. NO FILLER was used making this kit!
I would also like to mention the quality of the cockpit detail, it was outstanding, as good as some of the 1/32 kits shown on this forum. You build the cockpit as a 'cage' and fit that cage into the fuselage, the detail is really good!
The detail for the engine was also first class. 9/10

Assembly and painting instructions:
being a kit aimed solely at the Japanese market the instructions were really clear and easy to follow. The paint instructions were easy to follow, admittedly there was only one paint scheme but the 'call outs' throughout the instructions were easy to follow 10/10

Decals:
To be honest I only used their decals for the red stripes on the propellor and the instrument panel, both of which went down with no issue, however they went down on flat surfaces! The Hinomaru decals look really good, very thin and with little carrier film overlay, if I'd not bought the Montex maxi mask then I'm sure that they'd have ben little trouble. 10/10

Packaging:
All of the grey sprues were included in one plastic bag, the clear sprue and decals were in a separate bag included in this bag, this is the only major down point with the entire kit!
The box the kit was supplied in was really sturdy and had a close fitting lift off lid, the package survived postage from Japan to the UK without even a slight dent! The box artwork promoted the connection with the anime movie rather than the 'historic' aircraft but that is just a marketing ploy, having said that its a pleasant looking box. 8/10

Value for money:
No doubt its the best kit I've ever built, I'm sure that I'll build better, but 1/48 I'd be surprised, I'm sure I'll build worse at whatever scale! 10/10

Would I recommend this kit?/b]
in a heartbeat, I'm on a limited budget, i.e. I have to think twice about which kit to buy, and I'm seriously thinking of ordering the kit again, I enjoyed building it that much!

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

the film will be shown on 'Film 4' here in the UK on Easter Monday at 11:00

set your recorders now