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Ten-Day Tsurugi (Nakajima Ki-115)

Painting and markings

I followed Nigel Julian’s article here on this site Alclad Adventures for applying the metal finish to this aircraft. I assumed that since this was a single-use aircraft that weathering should be kept to a minimum (I might change my mind on that later).

I masked the canopy with the masks provided in the kit, then sprayed on a gloss black finish. Alclad was then sprayed on (REMEMBER lacquer vapor is very toxic) I was amazed how the paint indeed seems to go on invisible, then slowly appears on the project. It honestly took a bit of getting used to, and this indeed is my first attempt with a BMF.

After the paint was applied and allowed to cure for 24 hours I peeled off the masks and applied the engine masks to prepare for toning the metal slightly.

Toning was done with Tamiya smoke. This can produce some really cool effects. Iv seen Starfighters done using this method that would make your jaw drop! I toned the panels, and applied some light toning here and there on the airframe. I admit, I was very light handed with my toning and such as it was a first attempt. I thought that I can always go back and do more later…

The markings were applied using a nasty tempera craft paint that was the only thing available here in my tiny little town on a Sunday…..NASTY paint ..but it worked..sort of...

Tamiya tape was cut using a circle cutter to the size meatball that I needed…then the paint was sprayed. (this paint came from a tube like toothpaste and I thinned it using rubbing alcohol….mixing was done by using a small steel nut to mix in a jar by shaking..) After the makings were applied I pinwashed using black into the rivets and panels. I think next time I may use a gray shade, such as Paynes Grey oil colour.

Conclusion

Well I am satisfied with the results. This was mostly a practice model and testbed for learning new methods. Its not perfect in my eyes, not by a long shot…but the judges at the show saw fit to offer it Silver in competition, so I guess that’s not so bad. I’m most pleased with the fact that I learned so much from this model. It is a piece of history that is as interesting as it is horrifying in concept.