Howdy!
I worked on some tiny parts today. First, the tail wheel.
The three parts in the middle are laminated on the cardboard. I thought it would look too thick if all laminated together and I sanded down the part "a" in the center to make it about 0.2 mm thinner.
Then I laminated the three parts in the middle and sanded the wheel to make it look like a tire, this time by hand. I colored the edges and the sanded area, then put everything together.
Now the tail wheel is attached to the tail of the airplane.
I did not build the tail wheel door (part #19) because the tail wheel of Ki-61-I Hei was not retractable any more. It was retractable in Ki-61-I Ko and Otsu, but not Hei.
Then I moved on to the tiny tube. What is this thing anyway?
I believe this is a fuel cooler which was used to prevent the fuel from boiling in summer. This device was removed from the airplane when it was not necessary in winter.
In this kit, the tube does not have any lids somehow and it just looks like a...tube. I believe the real thing had lids with meshed wire. I did not make the part myself this time because it is not absolutely necessary to finish the model.
The fuel cooler should be attached here.
Oh, I almost forgot about the rest of the landing gear doors.
And now everything is put together.
And that's it for today! Sorry, no drama this time:D
Thanks,
Shinji