Year One: Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa ‘Oscar’

How could I forget! The final project of Year One of historical wargaming; this little bit of a hikō sentai that I did for Bag The Hun. Which, I might add, I still haven’t played. I would be interested in hearing how it is and whether it’s something that can be done in good time on a club night. Please harass me on my new twitter.

They’re really not the easiest things to photograph but you get the idea. They’re Blood Red Skies minis from Warlord Games (but I don’t know anyone who plays that) and very nice they are with good, deep, panel lines that show up well with a bit of a dark wash.

I’ve always loved the pictures of Japanese aircraft with the paintwork sloughed off after hard campaigning so I tried to simulate that with the good old hairspray chipping technique. If you’re not familiar you base coat in silver, spray with L’Oréal Elnett (other brands may work) and when dry paint on the top coat in acrylic. This can be gently worked away with a wet toothpick, sponge or stiff brush. All give a different effect, have a go.

I’ve done a whole panel here to look a bit like a rushed repair job.

The ‘Oscar’ as designated by the Americans was sometimes called the “Army Zero” and you can see why given its similarity to the IJN cousin. Apparently these used to blow up very easily if they could be caught due to no self-sealing fuel tanks. Ouch.

I’m working on a write up/AAR of quite possibly the best game of Chain of Command I have ever played. A couple of glasses of wine and a few premium European lagers apparently had more of an effect on my tactical nous than my novice opponent. Not giving away much when I say that yes, reader, I lost. See you next time.