Official Nakajima Ki-49 'Helen' Painting Thread
Here is my first batch of Ki-49 Helens. They are all Shapeways models and the canopies were extremely difficult to get looking good. All camo patterns were painted freehand using an airbrush and my usual favorite Mr. Color paints. The national insignia decals are from Misc Mini's H8K Emily set. I masked and airbrushed all of the unit insignia on the tails, yellow wing edges and fuselage stripes. I used the Clipper method to prep them. Canopies and other glass were masked and brush painted with Vallejo metallic paint then tinted with Tamiya panel linter.
The first is sporting the Kumogota camo pattern. This plane was in the 7th Hiko Sentai in New Guinea. It is an early camo scheme that was predominantly used in China. However several examples were seen in New Guinea early in the campaign. This guy was weathered to make the faded sun bleached look then finally clear coated with Mr Color flat clear.
Next we have a later camo scheme that was referred to as the snake weave. This is another 7th Hiko Sentai aircraft as seen in New Guinea. I could not stand to weather the pretty camo scheme in this one. The base coat was a semigloss in real life, so I added a little gloss to the mix to give it a tiny bit of shine.
Another 7th Hiko Sentai aircraft, this time with the squiggle pattern camo. This one has the early unit identification on the tail. This was removed shortly after the start of the campaign because the Japanese realized it was too easy for the Allies to recognize. Same finishing as the one above.
Lastly is a 61st Hiko Sentai aircraft in the standard Nakajima green basic camo pattern. I gave this guy a starboard engine that needs some tuning up. I used the same weathering and clear coating method as the Kumogota above on tis guy.
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