Ki-84 Hayate by Chris Wauchop (Hasegawa 1/48)

Ki-84 Type 4 Hayate (Gale)

by Chris Wauchop

Ki-84 Hayate (Gale)

images by Brett Green

Hasegawa's 1/48 scale Ki-84 Type 4 Hayate is available online from Squadron

Construction

Hasegawa's 1/48 scale Ki-84 Type 4 Hayate is a gorgeous kit.

The surface features are magnificent, detail is great and the fit is almost flawless. The only problem I had was keeping the landing legs properly aligned, as they are secured with Hasegawa's ubiquitous nylon washers. Consequently, the gear legs can easily be twisted. The cleanup and installation of the tiny navigation lights also proved to be tricky.

I made the following minor changes to the kit:

Added brake lines from fine solder
Scratchbuilt the small, retractable step on the lower port side of the fuselage from stretched sprue and plastic rod.
Installed aerial wire using invisible mending thread (nylon monofilament)
Added a wiring harness to the engine from lead solder. The engine crankcase was drilled out to ensure a secure location for each ignition wire.

The gun barrels and exhaust stacks were also drilled out using my Arlec Motor Tool. This inexpensive power tool is connected to a model railway transformer, permitting it to operate at low enough speeds not to melt the plastic used in most kits.

Painting and Markings

The model was painted using my Aztek A470 airbrush fitted with the "Fine" tan-coloured tip.

Lower surfaces were painted with a mix of 50% Tamiya XF-14 JA Grey and 5% Gunze H62 IJA Grey.

Upper surfaces were painted with a mix of 50% Tamiya XF-51 Khaki Drab and 50% Gunze H60 IJA Green.

The cockpit interior was painted Gunze H62 Metallic Blue Green with the seat in Tamiya XF-14 JA Grey and the seat cushion in Tamiya XF-57 Buff.

Wheel wells, the inside of the Fowler flaps and the gear doors were given a coat of Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver enamel.

The leading edge stripes, the narrow propeller stripes and tips were all masked using Tamiya masking tape and sprayed yellow.

Weathering was applied in my usual way, spraying a thin mix of Black and Red Brown along panel lines and in the occasional random streak, with a thin wash completing this post-shading. Damage to the wing root walkway was simulated using a silver artist's pencil.