discussion Mania models 1/72 mitsubishi ki 51 Sonia

[flyjoe180]

That’s coming on well Tony. Like the landing light conversion as well. The Japanese idea of clear bulbs in coloured acetate is far more logical than the British idea of coloured bulbs in clear acetate isn’t it. Far less spare bulb types needed in stores.

The RAF system was a clear bulb which was covered with the appropriate colour before installation inside the clear lens cover. So arguably even more efficient than having a pre-coloured bulb or lens.

Modern aircraft use a similar setup, but I'm not sure if the bulbs are pre-coloured or not.

 

[papa 695]

Coming along very nicely Tony

 

[yak face]

Landing lights now sanded , polished and masked and the airframe has been primed and given a coat of IJN grey . The yellow leading edges of the wings have been painted and the whole thing has had a quick coat of floor polish to protect the paint while being handled during the next stage . Now the hard bit - the green patches which are going to have to be hand painted . Theyre much too small and intricate to do with the airbrush and from the few pictures of this type of scheme online it looks as if they were brush painted anyway . For this I got a refillable brush pen which should be fine enough .

 

[stillp]

I've been wondering how you were going to paint the .camo
Pete

 

[Steven000]

I'm sure you'll manage those tiny patches Tony, looking forward to the next stage, goodluck

 

[yak face]

Right , paint pen filled with a thinned green and off we go! The nib takes a few minutes to soak through , its got a spring loaded valve but you work this by pressing it into a hole on the pen top which presses the collar down without pressing the tip of the nib so it doesnt get splayed .
I started on the tailplanes following the pattern on the instructions but then just carried on as random as possible . Its not as easy as it sounds because you naturally tend to form linear patterns as if writing .
Anyways its all done now , I’ll give it a coat of Klear once its had a while to dry then its on with the decals .

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

That has come out great Tony. Never heard of a paint pen until now.

 

[yak face]

Cheers steve , its just so much easier than constantly loading up a paintbrush , plus it doesnt dry out as quick on the tip . Ive had some different ones before with the intention of using them for the smoke ring camo on Italian stuff but the ones I got were too thick , these ones are much better , reasonable too , pack of five in the scale models shop £7.50 .

 

[John Race]

Can see why I stick to armour!

 

[Tim Marlow]

That has worked really well. Great job Tony.
How easy is it to clean afterwards? Pity it’s GSW world, I don’t use their products. Might look for an alternative though.

 

[Steven000]

Great result Tony!

 

[yak face]

That has worked really well. Great job Tony.
How easy is it to clean afterwards? Pity it’s GSW world, I don’t use their products. Might look for an alternative though.

Cheers Tim , not sure how easy it is to clean , havent done it yet ! I imagine it would be easy enough apart from the fibre nib/brush . If youre planning on using it for the same or similar colours it should be ok but if you wanted to do something different ( ie red then white) then maybe a new pen or a new nib ( these are available at SMS too )
Didnt know about the hoohaa surrounding GSW , just googled it , very naughty behavior - no wonder people are boycotting their stuff . In my defence I got these months back and not being on the figure painting scene had no idea - if I had I would have thought twice .

 

[Jim R]

Well Tony I've just had a read through as I had missed the start. I have learned a lot. I had never heard of Mania Models or that particular plane. As Pete said you certainly like the unusual.
Great start. Cockpit looks great. Well done with the masking. Wing lights are a worthwhile addition. The paint pen is something else I've not heard of. I will have to look into that. It has definitely helped you produce a superb camo pattern.

 

[stillp]

You've done that camo really well Tony.
Pete