Type 97 Chi Ha tank.....Tamiya....1/35

[PaulTRose]

Old old kit......its dated 1975.....but its one ive never done so here we go lol

Paint scheme should be interesting......instructions are vague so ive had to do some research.....and its still not clear cut lol........so ive had to pick the closest i can find

Not sure how im going to do the slack track as they are rubber band type in the bix

[pjgtech]

Looks interesting little kit, good luck with it...

[papa 695]

Nice one Paul, not many parts so should be fairly easy, but loving the colour scheme.
I’ve just pulled up my chair.

[rtfoe]

Very popular kit for Japanese diorama scene and Tamiya 1975 is like 2000 in terms of fit and enough room for super detailing if you want to go that way.
I hope this explains it...sagging can be done by tying two wires about one to two links apart towards the return roller and twisting the wire till the track bends. Leave enough slack in between the rollers for the sag. Hide the wires with dirt. Needs a lot of patience.
Pulling up a chair to see how it works for you.

Cheers,
Wabble.

[PaulTRose]

Somehow i missed the boxart

Plan is to do a late war one with out the yellow squiggly stripes......i just hate painting yellow

[PaulTRose]

Been a lazy day....deliberatly lol

Nearly 8 hours of motorsport on the telly.....BTTC and the GB round of MOTO GP.....bliss!

So tween races i got some work donel

[papa 695]

Nice start

[PaulTRose]

Sorry for lack of an update.....not been much to show!

Been trying to work out what paint i need for this and its all a little vague lol

The instructions havnt been updated since the kit came out in the mid 70s.......no paint call out other than ' red brown' 'green' 'khaki'.......so ive been looking at other brands instructions for japanese tanks and doing some research......and thats when it becomes even more vague

It seems they were a bit like the germans.....a base coat that was light coloured then a green and brown that was applied in the field by whatever method they could......but the germans used RAL colours lol......but japanese stuff is a bit more confusing.......base coat was a light yellowy colour......cept when it was a greeny khaki hemp colour...........over the top it was a reddish brown.....cept when it was chocolate brown..........and a darkish green......cept when it was a luminous light green

So since i want to use what paint i have the closest i have is desert yellow/burnt red/olive green

the camo is supposed to be based on 'floating clouds' but since it was applied in field no two tanks were the same

watch this space lol

[pjgtech]

Lol, love a bit of camo colour lottery.... 8-)

[Richard48]

Nice one Paul.I remember being thrilled when i got the Self propelled gun one from Tamiya in about 1983/4.Back then i slapped Tamiya paint around not realising it was better in an airbrush but when ya 14 who cares.
Richard

[PaulTRose]

So ive brush painted it to try and get the 'floating clouds'

Im not too impressed with how its turned out but im going with it.....should tone down once a wash goes on

Next step is a bit of detail painting then a clear coat for the decals

[rtfoe]

The first pass of base camo colours always look discouraging but will be put right after a good wash, weathering with streaks and tinting.
It looks as it should be Paul.

Cheers,
Wabble

[PaulTRose]

Oils are dry so time to crack on.....its looks grubby but not the effect i was after.....but cant be bothered to rework it.....so its had a couple of coats of matt clear on top

Apologies for rushed pic but im looking forward to getting the wheels on this

[Jim R]

I rather like the paint job. Looks to have toned down nicely.

[Richard48]

Looks fine to me fella.Maybe bit of dust here and there and job done tickety boo.
Richard