I had two of these in the stash, and, after building the Ki 43-I last year, I decided to tackle this one. There were several appealing schemes on the Bestfong decal sheet.

It went together pretty easily, but having to cut slots in the bottom for the oil cooler and the air intake was a bit tricky. The drop tanks - or, to be more precise, the braces for the drop tanks - are a little fiddly, so I left them off. I knew I was going to do a Thai subject, and I wasn't sure how frequently they used drop tanks. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The leading edges of the wings were painted Tamiya XF-4 Flat Yellow, then masked. The entire plane was painted with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum, thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. The result less grainy than how XF-16 usually sprays, but it did seep under the masking over the yellow. I had painted over the existing yellow with AMMO Gold Yellow RLM 04. I then masked the anti-glare panel and painted it XF-1 Flat Black, thinned with Quick Shine. I often have trouble with Flat Black not adhering that well, and I was hoping the Quick Shine would help. It did, but the black seeped under the masking. I'm thinking it was the masking tape I used - just generic beige tape. I touched the Flat Aluminum up by hand. I knew it wouldn't match that closely - Tamiya never does - but I also knew the green camouflage would cover it. I applied the green using an old bottle of Model Master Acryl Euro Green I - I believe the FS number is 34092. I just used a microbrush to apply it, to try to match the drawing on the decal sheet.

After applying a gloss coat of Quick Shine, I applied the decals - all four of them. I was unsure if Thai planes had insignia on the tops of the wings, as the decal sheet did not show any (and didn't include enough insignia to have them). I checked the Nichimo kit and the Hasegawa 1/32 kit, and they did not show insignia on the tops of the wings, so I didn't apply any.

I used the Eduard mask (EX193) for the canopy.

Page last updated March 28, 2026.