Zoukei Mura 1/32 Ki 45Toryu (Nick)

[BarryW]

Both wing tops now on and I have started on the undercarriage. No filler at all needed with all I have to do is sand the wing joins when the cement has fully hardened.

 

[Edbert]

Nice Barry!

I was thinking on previous post..."this Nick is not as big as I thought".

Then you put the wings on...ayup!

 

[BarryW]

The complex multiparty undercarriage fits together well and just slits into place. When the cement hardens I will have a nice strong u/c.

 

[Rob]

It's looking good Barry. These ZM kits are fun to build.

 

[Potaka]

Amazing build! The detail and paintwork on this Zoukei-Mura 1/32 Ki-45 Toryu are truly impressive. I love how the weathering brings out the character of the aircraft. Thanks so much for sharing your work — it's very inspiring for fellow modelers like me!

 

[BarryW]

I have now glued the engines into place as well as the nacelles, wheels and brake lines. Fit absolutely perfect so far

 

[BarleyBop]

Looking great.
That green has 'authentic' written all over it, not that I'd know, but it sure looks that way!

 

[BarryW]

Looking great.
That green has 'authentic' written all over it, not that I'd know, but it sure looks that way!

Japanese WW2 colours are a minefield. MRP have a pretty well researched range of them in lacquers four different cockpit shades included, plus two Aotake shades. Working out the right colours for individual subjects though is not easy as among the information needed is which factory built the aircraft.

 

[BarryW]

I have started the process of fitting cowl panels.
The top panel that's part of the wing went on with little trouble. On one of them I had to do a little filling but it was nothing to worry about.

I will work through the other panelling slowly.

 

[Edbert]

Japanese WW2 colours are a minefield.

in my limited experience with IJA/IJN subject matters, this is an understatement!

The good news for modelers is, it sort of eliminates the "that is not the right shade of green" arguments.

 

[BOATMAN]

HI Barry some nice modelin goin on here an ive been enjoyin your build brilliant work
chrisb

 

[BarryW]

The engine cowl panels are fitted but need a spot of filler.

 

[Edbert]

Love it!

I do not want to read too much into your pics Barry, but I think your last two posts illustrate what I think (I've only built 2 kits from ZM so not enough data) is a major flaw with their designs.

In the earlier pic you have fitted the engines, and used rather beefy clamps to hold them in place. Only to find that when applying the cowls they do not mate up with other sheet-metal parts. On my only ZM radial build I had that problem. I surmises that my engine was not mounted exactly correctly, or that the braces the engine bolts to was not exactly right. But in those stages there's no way to know, until you try to fit the covers, which cannot be done via dry-fitting if you are holding 8-10 bits by hand.

Similar but different issue with my inline water-cooled build but this time it was the wing-roots and their covers that did not mate up exactly. Nothing that cannot be fixed as you said, but took a little of the shine off the kit for me. Not sure what I'd say they should do to fix it, maybe offer some blueprints with double-decimal measurements so the builder can be sure not to encounter problems later?

 

[BarryW]

Love it!

I do not want to read too much into your pics Barry, but I think your last two posts illustrate what I think (I've only built 2 kits from ZM so not enough data) is a major flaw with their designs.

In the earlier pic you have fitted the engines, and used rather beefy clamps to hold them in place. Only to find that when applying the cowls they do not mate up with other sheet-metal parts. On my only ZM radial build I had that problem. I surmises that my engine was not mounted exactly correctly, or that the braces the engine bolts to was not exactly right. But in those stages there's no way to know, until you try to fit the covers, which cannot be done via dry-fitting if you are holding 8-10 bits by hand.

Similar but different issue with my inline water-cooled build but this time it was the wing-roots and their covers that did not mate up exactly. Nothing that cannot be fixed as you said, but took a little of the shine off the kit for me. Not sure what I'd say they should do to fix it, maybe offer some blueprints with double-decimal measurements so the builder can be sure not to encounter problems later?

ZM have very tight tolerances and it takes very little to have something not quite in the right position to give this problem. It could be as little as the thickness of the paint.
I am pleased that I got this far without any kind of significant issue.

 

[BarryW]

Slow gong at the moment. Doing various 'odd jobs'. Some pictures of a few

Some more work to the u/c

The nose guns and landing light fixed into place.

I used AK metallic pens for the chrome.

I used a brass rod to replace the broken gin barrel.


It won't be long before I start the painting. It's going to be a challenge.

 

[BarleyBop]

Doing various 'odd jobs

'Tis the season, on and off the bench. Glad you found some time to post progress. Looking forward to your paint treatment!

 

[BOATMAN]

Slow gong at the moment. Doing various 'odd jobs'. Some pictures of a few

Some more work to the u/c View attachment 151458

The nose guns and landing light fixed into place. View attachment 151459

I used AK metallic pens for the chrome.

I used a brass rod to replace the broken gin barrel.
View attachment 151460

It won't be long before I start the painting. It's going to be a challenge.

HI Barry love your work on this plane an that gun barrel will look real very well done sir an ive been followin along on your build
chrisb

 

[Edbert]

Oh no, don't break the Gin barrel!!

Just giving you crap, I hate Gin anyway, love the work you're doing.

I suspect ZM's instructions tell you, what is the small gadget on the under-wing near the starboard engine nacelle? I'm working on a Ki-61 and it has one of those doomahickeys too.

 

[plastickjunkie]

For things like throttle levers there's a catch-22 though. The PE is too thin to have a "knob" on the end, I have seen it where the manufacturer wants a triple thick (double folded to sandwich the center) bit on the end but there's alignment issues and seams created by this method. Similar but different with the plastic ones, they nail the knob part, but the shaft of the lever is never thin enough, even in 1/32. What I do to get around these problems is use the PE for the lever and make by own knobs from evergreen.

View attachment 149226

Good call using Evergreen on the knob detailing. I would have done the same. For all round ones thick wood glue works great too.
You are doing a fantastic job with this great looking kit. I have the old Nichimo 1/48 kit in the stash that requires a TON of work.

 

[BarryW]

Oh no, don't break the Gin barrel!!

Just giving you crap, I hate Gin anyway, love the work you're doing.

I suspect ZM's instructions tell you, what is the small gadget on the under-wing near the starboard engine nacelle? I'm working on a Ki-61 and it has one of those doomahickeys too.

They describe it as a 'fuel cooler' Edbert.