I’ll try to make an IJA medium tank “Chi-To” this time. It had powerful firepower in the prototype tank of the Imperial Japanese Army. This box painting is fantastic. It is a picture that imagines the mainland’s decisive battle. There is a tank fight in a rice crop scenery of rice fields. Infantry soldiers set up the anti-tank cannon.
The structure of the chassis is similar to the medium tank Chi-Ha. However, the total length is much longer.
I remember doing work in this area several times in the past.
The main gun seems to be unusually strong on the Imperial Army tank.
The structure of the chassis is different from Chi-ha. The number of road wheels is seven. Since the shape of the track rink is also different, we cannot use the third-party connected track of Chi-Ha. I am looking for an optionally linked caterpillar, but unfortunately, the price is about three times as high as the kit; I will ignore it this time. If it is about the price of the Vision model, I can feel free to use it. Even a belt type should become a good appearance if I wind it up nicely.
(01-March-2018)
I am using Tamiya acrylic matte white. Recently it was cold, I wouldn’t say I liked painting using an airbrush with opening windows, so I painted it with a flat brush. There is not much concealment power, and brush unevenness is terrible. Even if it is cold, it is better to be patient with airbrush paint and finish early and clear. By the way, the inside of the hatch was not white but khaki. It is easy to be seen by the enemy if the backside of the hatch is white.
I expressed the slackness of the caterpillar while gluing with the instant adhesive. Although the belt type is easy, I was relieved when I finished winding up the caterpillar.
Since the muffler is all hidden by the photo-etched parts, it is painted red-brown, thinking it is hard to paint later. I painted the around of the muffler with khaki. There was nothing when I matched the photo-etched parts. The muffler cover will not interfere with the painting. I think that the color tone will be adjusted later.
The assembly is completed. It is a tank with almost no curved surface.
(03-March-2018)
Has this “Chi-To” kit recently been released? It has the same precision and ease of assembly as Tamiya. If it includes the partial connection injection caterpillar, there’s no complaining. I was surprised that the parts fit very well.
The tri-color camouflage is grass, land, and dry grass.
Imperial Japanese Army Tank late camouflage color set of Creos. It is a very well-thought-out color tone.
(06-March-2018)
I completed the Type 4 medium tank “Chi-To” mass production type. The actual vehicle was planned, but it was incomplete. It was unfinished, or just a few prototype tanks were completed. Chi-To was planned in April 1942. At first, it was planned to put 47 mm cannon at the beginning, changed to a 57 mm cannon, and eventually, it was decided to place a 75 mm cannon.
This 75mm cannon was copied from Sweden’s Bofors anti-aircraft gun. A high-performance anti-tank gun could penetrate armor thickness of 75 mm from a distance of 1,000 m.
It was in March 1945 that the prototype tank was completed because the development of guns was delayed considerably. The Imperial Japanese Army planned to mass-produce hundreds of “Chi-To.” Still, the war was already imminent, and planning was impossible with the exhausted national strength. There is the opinion that six tanks were completed by the war’s end.
When I read the overall explanation, I think there was considerable unevenness in the development speed of guns and vehicles. That is why it was too much to say it’s a fictional tank, but it did not affect the battlefield.
One of the design changes from the prototype to the mass production type was a large muffler with a high muffling ability was adopted.
It looks like a strong tank. Speaking of the 75mm gun, it is the same as the German Panther tank. It is understood that the tank development ability of Germany and the Soviets were relatively high when Japan could not acquire the high tank development ability even though Japan worked hard until the end of the war.
I wonder if you can feel the weight of the metal rather than the belt plastic material as I carefully did the weather on the caterpillar.
The plains around Tokyo are areas with much red soil called the Kanto loam layer. I tried to make it reddish weathering but stopped because the exaggeration was over. I was weathering with the consciousness that it was a tank used in the decisive mainland battle in Japan, but in the end, it has become a usual tone weathering unchanged.
The mesh of the muffler guard of the attached photo-etched parts is excellent.
I’m planning to put the tank soldiers later. The hatch is in an open state. It is possible to close it, only temporarily fixed by TOMBOW PIT MULTI 2. It can fix anything temporarily. If used before the glue is completely dry, you have glue that won’t come off. You can peel off whatever you stick to if used after the glue has dried.
It’s a great kit. It is the coolest of the Imperial Army tanks I have built so far. It’sMay I overpraise it?
Even though the Imperial Army tanks I made were considered medium, they were light tank levels during WWII in Europe. The Chi-To has enough strength to fight equally with Sherman tanks.
Six tank models were ordered on Lucky Model on February 14; packing was in progress today. I ordered them by postage shipping sale, but when will they arrive? I wonder if it will arrive in April? I wish there were no problems. After all, for overseas shipping service, shipping from Lucky Model on March 9th, shipping from Hong Kong on March 26th, after arriving at Kawasaki JAPAN on April 6th, the customs procedure, arrived home on April 7th.
(08-March-2018)
