1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

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jkim
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1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by jkim »

Hello modelers! I just wrapped up the Tempest build and also have a Fw190D-9 build in its beginning stages. But having worked on the D-9 kit so many times in the past, I have an itch to get my hands on some new plastic so I'm going to start something new.

This is the Hasegawa 1/32 Ki-61-1 Hei model kit. The Ki-61 was Japan's only operational fighter aircraft in WW2 to utilize a liquid-cooled inline engine. Many have compared it to the Bf109 since the engine utilized was a license-built Daimler Benz DB 601 but the Hien was an independent design by Kawasaki. The model kit is a typical modern Hasegawa large scale release... maybe not as much internal detail and frills compared to Zoukei Mura and Tamiya but nicely done nonetheless.
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I've got a relatively small amount of aftermarket stuff that I'm going to include with this build that I will get into more detail later.
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The kit is molded in typical Hasegawa fashion... very fine details in neutral grey plastic.
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The exterior features finely recessed panel lines and delicate rivets along the panel lines. Because of the latter, I am thinking of NOT adding any additional rivet detail on this build.
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This kit is comprised of five sprues of grey parts and one clear. In typical Hasegawa fashion, all of the grey trees are encased in a single bag so a careful check of scuffing and/or broken parts is recommended.
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Surprisingly, the simple rendition of the main tire has a flat spot and subtle bulge to portray a pneumatic tire under a weight load. It is very rare to see a weighted tire in a mainstream kit.
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The molding quality is excellent and again, breaking tradition from most other manufacturers, Hasegawa elects to offer a pilot figure.
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I can't paint figures for beans so this feature will not be utilized but I can't help but admire the nice molding of the pilot.
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Although I am a fan of most of Hasegawa's choices, I do not like how they represent the instrument panel. While impressively detailed, I don't think you can get a good result trying to paint the individual gauge markings. And the raised detail will only distort the supplied instrument panel decal. It would be much better, in my opinion, to provide smooth circular instrument bezels so that the decals can lay flat.
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It's a shame that Hasegawa does not appear to be producing any new 1/32 aircraft models. I rather like Hasegawa's approach of not offering unnecessary and unseen details that can get in the way of overall fit.
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The wing assembly is somewhat unique in that the wing bottoms are separated just like the wing tops, which means, from a practical perspective, more glue seams to deal with. Hasegawa took a similar approach with the Bf109 kits and I didn't have any significant fit issues with their Bf109 K-4.
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The wheel wells are molded integrally into the wing bottom parts and look a bit simplistic without any opportunity to add details like wiring. If this is how the real wheel wells look, that is a good thing!
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The clear parts include two sets of canopies, one to pose open and one to pose closed.
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I typically avoid using the decals from Hasegawa and Tamiya kits. From a color and resolution perspective, they look good but I've found decal material to be noticeably thicker than from other decal makers such as Eagle Editions and Cartograph. The hinomarus and major markings will be painted using custom cut masks. I also have a set of Ki-61 decals by Wolfpack (printed by Cartograf) that I can utilize for the data stencils.
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The kit-supplied cockpit looks to be fairly well populated with 20+ parts but I opted to include the Aires resin cockpit for this build since I felt the instrument panel, at a minimum, needed to be replaced.
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The Aires set comes with a fret of photoetched details including an instrument panel face that will utilize a printed sheet of acetate for the dial details. I think this method yields excellent results although I wish Aires would've included some separate instrument bezels to "stack" on the panel to give the panel more 3-D relief.
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I know that Aires often carries a negative reputation of their parts not fitting but I've had mostly positive experiences with Aires stuff. From a detail perspective, they are excellent, especially if you compare the wiring detail to resin sets from Eagle Editions or MDC.
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The other major aftermarket item that I'm adding is this resin nose by Wolf Pack. The Hasegawa kit represents the earliest variant of the Hien (Hei), with 12.7 Ho-103 cannons above the engine. The Tei variant upgraded those guns to 20mm Ho-5 cannon and required a lengthening of the nose. This resin upgrade offers the lengthened nose as well as some other bits that differentiated the Tei from the Hei.
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Next, I'll jump into Wolfpack set in more detail.
John aka JKim
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jkim
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by jkim »

Jumping right into the Wolf Pack resin set, I'm going to start off to see how the exhausts fit. The resin nose is supposed to come with a a set of exhausts. I was missing the exhausts on mine and I contacted the seller and was able to get the exhausts shipped to me eventually. They are hollowed out on the ends to that tedious process can be avoided on this build.
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The exhausts were separated from their casting blocks. And then I noticed something... the parts were identical. They SHOULD be mirror images of each other since the openings into which they fit are also mirror images.
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Not the most positive way to start a build but... a fix shouldn't be too difficult. I built up the problem area with sheet styrene and CA glue.
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And then re-shaped with a sanding stick and sandpaper.
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I applied a coat of Mr Primer Surfacer on the rebuilt area and checked the fit. This is the repaired side.
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This is the "good" side.
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John aka JKim
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BlackSheep214
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by BlackSheep214 »

Nice subject! Following this one...
“Who controls the skies, controls the fate of this Earth”

Author unknown- 352nd Fighter Group, Blue-Nosed Bastards of Bodney

“Send one plane it’s a sortie; send two planes it’s a flight; send four planes it’s a test of airpower. - Richard Kohn
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Stikpusher
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by Stikpusher »

The Tony is an old favorite of mine. Can’t wait to see what you do with this one John!
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

FLSM
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jkim
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by jkim »

The Wolfpack resin set also comes with different covers for the wing guns. The Tei changed the Hei's wing-mounted MG151 20mm cannons to 12.7mm Ho-103 machine guns, which changed the size and shape of the blisters.
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The underside of the covers has detail, including a small raised tab. I'm assuming that this could be used with an option for an exposed gun compartment. Anyways, the raised tab interferes with the fit so it has to be filed off.
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Here is a comparison with the kit parts.
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And yes, wouldn't you know? The kit covers fit MUCH better than the resin ones, which may be afflicted with some shrinkage.
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I've got a few options here... (a) use the resin covers and shim/putty as required; (b) use the kit covers and no one but us will know the difference; (c) modify the kit covers by removing the larger bulges and putting the smaller ones.
John aka JKim
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scorpiomikey
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by scorpiomikey »

How hard would it be to combine the kit part and the resin part?
The back half of the resin part looks mostly ok. So trim the from part of the kit part and then replace the front part of the resin with the kit part so it fits nice then you have a minimum amount of shimming?
You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
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BlackSheep214
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by BlackSheep214 »

My thoughts exactly.
“Who controls the skies, controls the fate of this Earth”

Author unknown- 352nd Fighter Group, Blue-Nosed Bastards of Bodney

“Send one plane it’s a sortie; send two planes it’s a flight; send four planes it’s a test of airpower. - Richard Kohn
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keavdog
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by keavdog »

This should be fun. Are you doing the mottled green over natural metal?
Thanks,
John

Ain't no reason to hang my head, I could wake up in the mornin' dead.
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jkim
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by jkim »

Thanks guys! Great tips coming about the gun cover... I've put it aside for now. As for the scheme, I will not be doing a mottled green over natural metal finish. Kobayashi's 244th Sentai machines are very striking but I'm going for the dark olive/brown top over natural metal. Either a 55th Sentai Hien Tei...
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Or a 56th Sentai aircraft, if I can't pull off the tail markings above.
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I've jumped over to the Aires resin cockpit to check things out. The major pieces have been sawed from their casting bases.
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A comparison of the resin versus the kit plastic is not exactly fair since the plastic rendition has separate parts that have not been added.
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But what I find more striking than the differences are the similarities between the two. It's obvious that Aires has copied the major components of the Hasegawa cockpit in shape and fit. Even the backs of the resin sidewalls have the same locating pins as their plastic counterparts suggesting a drop-in fit, even though the instructions state that fuselage trimming is necessary.
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I taped the resin cockpit together. Fit is surprisingly good despite a lack of attachment pins.
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Here is the inside of the fuselage without any cutting or trimming. You can see the locating holes for the sidewalls.
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Surprise, surprise... even with the interference from the masking tape, the cockpit fits without any alterations to the fuselage. I was able to tape the fuselage sides together flush without any major pressure.
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Although it is very preliminary, I'm going to say that the Aires resin cockpit is a drop-in fit for the Hasegawa Ki-61 kit.
John aka JKim
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Re: 1//32 Hasegawa Ki-61-1 Tei Hien

Post by Floki »

This is going to be a great build. The Aries cockpit looks very detailed.
March as one, Don't look back
Odin's sons... Attack!
Unleash hell! Do not repent! Warfare grants us no lament
Let your weapons slash and tear This is no place for fear
Hold the lines! Move as one! In unity our victory's won
Our shields will form a mighty wall
United we shall never fall
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