Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) JA Medium Tank - Complete!

[wds]

This is the Type97 Japanese medium Tank in 1/35 th scale offered by Tamiya (kit #35075).
This kit has been around for a while( Late 70’s I think), and while it pales against more modern kits, it should still build up into a decent presentation (if I can do it justice). It’s all in the paint job!

It built up fairly fast. Four hours or so yesterday and a couple or three more today (sunday).

Thanks for taking a gander,

Bill

Opening photos. Larger scale photos are in the the “Sign-up“ thread.

Not quite ready for primer, but close!

 

[Kreighshoer]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

cool stuff bill! bring on 'em camo!

 

[SA Dave]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Wow Bill youre out of the blocks running

 

[jknaus]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank


James

 

[moon puppy]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

 

[MrT]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Fast building!!!

Terry B)

 

[wds]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Thanks guys, and Laura!

Some progress.
Krylon grey auto primer from Home Depo. I will paint the tools off the vehicle, so that I can get a hard edge camo under them.
The plan is to paint the yellow stripes first. I have some small (1/8” wide or so) auto-body striping tape that is stretchy and I hope will go around curves and lay down over the rivets and details. We will see. The yellow is enamel (which is a departure from Tamiya acrylics) as will be the tan, green, and brown. I want to try to selectively lighten the camo colors by dry-brushing, and I thought that the enamels would work better for that. Again, we will see.

I will let the yellow dry and cure for a week or so before I stripe tape and over paint the camo colors.

Thanks for looking,

Bill

v26

 

[MrT]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

I'm liking it so far!!

B)

 

[SA Dave]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

I'm liking it so far!!

B)

ME2

 

[wds]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Thanks Terry and Dave!

More progress.
The 1/8 wide tape worked Ok, but not great. It has some memory, and wants to lift and unstretch especially around tight curves. This would be fine if you applied the tape and immediately painted and removed the tape, but I had to leave in on over several days in order to apply the three camo colors with drying between coats. The solution was to lay down regular (wide) tape, and mark the centerline of the yellow stripe, remove the tape from the model, and then cut the stripe mask with a custom tool (2- #11 blades super glued to some stryrene stock), and reapply the mask.

Painted tan and various tape solutions applied.

Custom tool mentioned above.

Brown masked, painted, and masks removed.

Masked for green. This masking process took several hours. Whew!

Green sprayed.

All masks removed. I had more fun taking the masks off than I should have. It was like being a kid at Christmas.

I'm generally pleased with the results. Some touch ups are required, or maybe we just let “Heavy Weather” do its job. Questions and comments always welcome. Thanks for looking

Cheers,

Bill

v53

 

[Iron Mike]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Looking good, Bill!

 

[moon puppy]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Outstanding! Nice work Bill

 

[SA Dave]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Bloody awesome masking and Painting Bill

 

[wds]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Thanks Mike, Bob, and Dave.
It is something different for sure.
I think the next step is to paint out the tools and details with acrylics, apply decals, and then give it the Raw-Umber "Letterman" wash technique. I'm looking forward to seeing how the colors change. I chose to use enamels for the camo colors so I could dry-brush them with lightened versions of the three colors. We will see how it plays out.

Thanks for checking in,

Bill

 

[BigDog]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Very different, very nice, very well executed cammo paint scheme! :dude I'll be here watching closely to see the weathering of this cool vehicule! :coolio As the guys say,

Cheers and good luck, Bill! B)
Fernao

 

[wds]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Thanks Fernao!

Decals, some of the tools, wheels painted, and a “Future” clear coat to protect the enamel from the impending raw-umber + rectified turpinoid wash. Dirty, dirty, dirty.

These photos taken with a different camera. I think that they turned out better because I can select “incandescent” for the light source which renders the model in more accurate colors. I will stick with this set-up in the future. ( I'm glad I couldn't find the wife's camera which I have been using till now. (I'm glad I found my camera!))

Thanks again for looking,

Bill

v94

 

[SA Dave]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Fantastic!

 

[wds]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Woa! Dave. Save some of that applause for the end. I got a long way to go! :laugh:
No seriously, thanks!
I'll see if I can get it done in time.

Cheers,

Bill

 

[jknaus]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Very nice. Quite an interesting cam and very well done. Looking forward to your weathering.
James

 

[wds]

Re: Tamiya Type 97(ChiHa) Japanese Medium Tank

Thanks James.

I 'll try to hit it with the wash tomorrow.
Stay tuned.

Out for now,

Bill