Tamiya

1/16 WWII Imperial Japanese Navy Fighter Pilot

Kit Number: 36312

Reviewed by  Rick Bellanger, IPMS# 35220

Tamiya's release of this 1/16th scale Japanese Naval Fighter Pilot comes as a welcome addition to my collection. It is a simple, easy to build plastic figure that allows the builder to assemble in to two different poses. I chose to build my figure with his arms crossed just for personal preference. The fit of kit was excellent and there was very little sanding to clean up the seam lines, just a little scraping with a blade and a Flex-I-File. No filler was required to complete the basic assembly. I began by painting the figure with a spray can of white primer paint (purchased at my local hardware store, $.99 a can). This showed me any flaws that I had to take care of and also gave me a base coat to start applying oil paints for the skin tones.

After the primed figure dried for a week, I painted all skin areas with Floquil Flesh Color for the base coat. Waiting another week for this color to dry I started painting the skin tones with Artist Oils following the Verlinden Method described in his book: "The Verlinden Way", Volume V, Chapter 10, page 37. Being a novice figure builder, this publication has led me to an easy and simple painting technique that works for me. I had to let the figure dry for another week before I could start painting the clothing. I used regular Model Masters paint to finish the basic colors; Chestnut Brown for the leather uniform and Sand for the life vest. I don't know if these are the correct colors but they look close enough for me. I used a wash of black to fill in the deep recessed areas and dried brushed the raised highlights with lighter tones of the base colors. The kit stickers (not decals) were applied and the entire figure was treated with a coat of Testors Dullcoat to take away any shine. I used a drop of Future for the clear lenses on the goggles.

My thanks go out to IPMS/USA and Tamiya for supplying me with this kit for review. Overall this is a typical Tamiya kit, shake the box and it falls together. It sports an interesting subject and an interesting relaxed pose. My only complaint is the face does not look very "Japanese" to me, as depicted on the box art. The figure looks great standing next to my Tamiya 1/32nd scale Zero.

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