Hello fellow 48ers,

I recently purchased this kit on Ebay real cheap because of
many broken parts and outright missing parts.

Past research of the subject led to the understanding that
this kit was the only model in 1:48 scale of this Japanese
tank and further it has all kinds of issues.
Being a sucker for real old stuff that needs to be rescued,
I have set out to render it a more credible rendition of this
WWII tank.
I may not be able to correct dimensional issues but I will
have to live with that.
My goal is to render it visually a better and more credible
representation of the real tank.

Correction of poorly represented front fenders.
Restructuring of the upper hull and addition of detail
to turret.
Removal of toyish hinges on turret top.
Scratch brass barrel and reworked gun parts.
Scratch built right rear tensioner.

Hope you like it.......











Cheers,
Joe

Wow! Nice replacement parts. Looking really professional

Thanks Greg

cool project!
i wish tamiya would pop out some Japanese ww 2 armor ,they had some interesting designs .
never could figure out why they don't,they cover naval and air,but no 1/48 armor?
looking great good job.

Thanks Chris

Yes, Tamiya has but a few kits of Japanese armor and only
in 1:35. I beleive they did a post war motorized tank, way
back but that was more of toy. Seems that not much attention has been paid to these subjects. A few here and there by
Tamiya and Fine molds.
Would really be nice to see them shrink to 1:48 scale after
all, Japanese was a major player in WWII.
Go figure.....

In the meantime.....Aurora Chi Ha !

Cheers,
Joe

Excellent work on the hull.

The turret needs badly some reshaping however: Much less tall and with a roof bevel up front: It would not be as much work as what you already did on the hull I would think...:



Gaston

Thank all for the your comments.

Yes, the turret is need of work. Based on plans, it seems
very tall and short. It also looks like it needs to be
moved back a few mm's.
I will moved on this, once I am finished and satisfied with
hull corrections and detailing.
I also did notice that the small plate above the driver's
compartment must be slopped down a bit.

More photos soon....

Cheers,
Joe