Revell Kawasaki Ki-61
By Angelo Picardo
This is the rare old Revell kit. My wife got it for me off eBay. It was part built and painted. Some parts were missing.
When I got hold of it, I dunked it in clutch oil which stripped all the paint of it and softened up the glue but does not affect the plastic in any way.
Once stripped down and cleaned I rebuilt it, scratch building the cockpit and the few missing parts.
I had to vac form a new canopy. As there was no way the kit part could be set in the open position I sanded the inside surface to thin it out to make it fit in the open position, unfortunately it cracked when I tried to fit it. Moskit exhausts were used.
It was finished using Alclad and Tamiya acrylics sprayed through a paper mask.
To weather the model I first applied a coat of 'Clear' floor polish (Future) to protect the finish. Once dry I applied a wash of Raw Umber oil paint. When this was nearly dry, it was wiped away leaving it in the fine recessed detail. Gun stains and exhaust marks were applied using Tamiya XF-19 Smoke mixed with their matting agent.
The chipped paint effect on the propellers, leading edge and, anti glare panel was achieved by applying a liquid masking agent with a torn piece of 'Scotch Brite' pan cleaner.
© Angelo Picardo 2005
This article was published on Wednesday, July 20 2011; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016