Type 97 Chi Ha Japanese Tank
Yes, the commander has no arms... aAaaAAaHHHhHhH!!
I was browsing in an inconspicious little shop in Far East Plaza down Orchard Road. Hobby Focus is the first modelling shop I've came to notice after beeing involved in the hobby for six years. Mr. Francis, the sole shopkeeper, was rather chatty the first time I went in. We built ties and ever since then, I've been a regular at his shop. It's been a year now. I bought my very first airbrush from him this year; a Badger 150-M at a price of SGD$180. Similarly, I bought paints from his shop; it's always new and liquidy, unlike those sold in small batches in odd places like bookstores - they tend to be old and thus semi-solid and do not mix well. Some of these paint bottles could be already up in the shelves for months. I usually buy Tamiya goods because of their reliability and quality. Likewise in their paints. However each little 12ml bottles cost around $4. I bought my air compressor elsewhere. At centrepoint. Mr. Francis recommended me that "Biggest Modelling Shop in Singapore" place and i made sure the two ladies behind the counter knew he recommended it. I guess it paid off - I received a discount on my air compressor. But even so, i had to pay $400 for it. Not a cheap hobby really. But end results are worth it, let me tell you. Go on to modelling websites such as www.missing-lynx.com , www.track-link.net , www.ww2modelmaker.com and www.armorama.com just to name a few and see for yourself what this hobby has to offer!
Anyways, on to this small but rugged beauty. I was reading a book on the history of Singapore (Another one of my random crazes - Singapore's history) and stumbled upon this picture of a tank in old City Hall. And i stumbled hard. I just wanted to make that tank model and quickly read the caption of the picture. It only said,"A medium tank of the Japanese forces in City Hall, 1942".
"Duh..."
That day, I came down to Hobby Focus and showed Mr. Francis the picture. Immediately he looked up at me and smiled. With that grin he showed me to one of his ceiling-to-floor shelves (Actually all his walls were covered up by these shelves), jam-packed with model kits, and took down a Tamiya box. He handed it out to me with the box in both his hands and remarked,"It's a very beautiful tank. Tamiya does not make this model anymore. It's rare."
I was lucky.
But luck wasn't with me though to help with my very immature painting skills. I spilled paint all over the staircase landing (My parents didnt really liked this hobby so i had to do my stuff out at the staircase landing), my red-brown paint suddenly had a more to purple-pink shade to it and i realised i thinned my paint too much - i was painting with tainted thinner.
But patience and a month later, it resulted to this:
Ugly stuff.
I kept the model away and watched some Nickelodeon. 4 months later, I got back into the hobby. (After discovering that i could sell my models and make a profit.)
This time, i planned out my.. planning.. (??). No, i planned out the steps i was going to take.
A couple of days later I sat down in my workspace (My parents finally gave in to the hoby and dedicated the study room... okay, a part of the study room for my hobby) and got down to business.
I did a little bit of everything - drybrushing, washes, shading, little bits of rust and chipping. Wasn't easy for a kid-teenger-creature like me but i managed to pull it off.
Still, it's ugly. Tamiya had beautifully crafted (moulded) the model in thick sturdy plastic. My paintjob spoiled it all. Deja vu, i put the pitiful little thing into a shoe box and unto a shelf.
A month later, my best buddy, Donald, asked me to paint his Gundam model. Sure, why not? I needed some practice though and i thought of which model i wanted to sacrifice for practice.
I took out the box containing the Chi Ha.
Sitting down in shorts and a faded t-shirt, i sat behind my workspace and under the light of the yellow lamp, i studied the Chi Ha, like as if it was a dead, tortured kitten. An idea struck me, I struck the lamp while getting up. I took out my new brushes (costs quite a lot actually....zzz) and started modifying the model. Blam beem boom!!! Es ist hier!!
All done! Still not so perfect but..... after 6 blasted months for a model, I think it's best i just leave it alone and turned it into a token of my initial attempts with an airbrush and a 2 year break from the hobby.
I guess if i had more patience, i would've gotten it all pretty and so on.
As a side note, I went back to Hobby Focus to ask if they had anymore of this tank lying around somewhere ( Because i saw two of them in the store. I bought one of it). Mr. Francis sat back in his stool ( I wonder how he does that) and said,"Sorry, you were an hour late."
Gawd Daymn!!
That's all for today. I gotta go revise on my work. My O level examinations are coming in twelve days!
Till then, have a nice day!
Yes, the commander has no arms... aAaaAAaHHHhHhH!!
I was browsing in an inconspicious little shop in Far East Plaza down Orchard Road. Hobby Focus is the first modelling shop I've came to notice after beeing involved in the hobby for six years. Mr. Francis, the sole shopkeeper, was rather chatty the first time I went in. We built ties and ever since then, I've been a regular at his shop. It's been a year now. I bought my very first airbrush from him this year; a Badger 150-M at a price of SGD$180. Similarly, I bought paints from his shop; it's always new and liquidy, unlike those sold in small batches in odd places like bookstores - they tend to be old and thus semi-solid and do not mix well. Some of these paint bottles could be already up in the shelves for months. I usually buy Tamiya goods because of their reliability and quality. Likewise in their paints. However each little 12ml bottles cost around $4. I bought my air compressor elsewhere. At centrepoint. Mr. Francis recommended me that "Biggest Modelling Shop in Singapore" place and i made sure the two ladies behind the counter knew he recommended it. I guess it paid off - I received a discount on my air compressor. But even so, i had to pay $400 for it. Not a cheap hobby really. But end results are worth it, let me tell you. Go on to modelling websites such as www.missing-lynx.com , www.track-link.net , www.ww2modelmaker.com and www.armorama.com just to name a few and see for yourself what this hobby has to offer!
Anyways, on to this small but rugged beauty. I was reading a book on the history of Singapore (Another one of my random crazes - Singapore's history) and stumbled upon this picture of a tank in old City Hall. And i stumbled hard. I just wanted to make that tank model and quickly read the caption of the picture. It only said,"A medium tank of the Japanese forces in City Hall, 1942".
"Duh..."
That day, I came down to Hobby Focus and showed Mr. Francis the picture. Immediately he looked up at me and smiled. With that grin he showed me to one of his ceiling-to-floor shelves (Actually all his walls were covered up by these shelves), jam-packed with model kits, and took down a Tamiya box. He handed it out to me with the box in both his hands and remarked,"It's a very beautiful tank. Tamiya does not make this model anymore. It's rare."
I was lucky.
But luck wasn't with me though to help with my very immature painting skills. I spilled paint all over the staircase landing (My parents didnt really liked this hobby so i had to do my stuff out at the staircase landing), my red-brown paint suddenly had a more to purple-pink shade to it and i realised i thinned my paint too much - i was painting with tainted thinner.
But patience and a month later, it resulted to this:
Ugly stuff.
I kept the model away and watched some Nickelodeon. 4 months later, I got back into the hobby. (After discovering that i could sell my models and make a profit.)
This time, i planned out my.. planning.. (??). No, i planned out the steps i was going to take.
A couple of days later I sat down in my workspace (My parents finally gave in to the hoby and dedicated the study room... okay, a part of the study room for my hobby) and got down to business.
I did a little bit of everything - drybrushing, washes, shading, little bits of rust and chipping. Wasn't easy for a kid-teenger-creature like me but i managed to pull it off.
Still, it's ugly. Tamiya had beautifully crafted (moulded) the model in thick sturdy plastic. My paintjob spoiled it all. Deja vu, i put the pitiful little thing into a shoe box and unto a shelf.
A month later, my best buddy, Donald, asked me to paint his Gundam model. Sure, why not? I needed some practice though and i thought of which model i wanted to sacrifice for practice.
I took out the box containing the Chi Ha.
Sitting down in shorts and a faded t-shirt, i sat behind my workspace and under the light of the yellow lamp, i studied the Chi Ha, like as if it was a dead, tortured kitten. An idea struck me, I struck the lamp while getting up. I took out my new brushes (costs quite a lot actually....zzz) and started modifying the model. Blam beem boom!!! Es ist hier!!
All done! Still not so perfect but..... after 6 blasted months for a model, I think it's best i just leave it alone and turned it into a token of my initial attempts with an airbrush and a 2 year break from the hobby.
I guess if i had more patience, i would've gotten it all pretty and so on.
As a side note, I went back to Hobby Focus to ask if they had anymore of this tank lying around somewhere ( Because i saw two of them in the store. I bought one of it). Mr. Francis sat back in his stool ( I wonder how he does that) and said,"Sorry, you were an hour late."
Gawd Daymn!!
That's all for today. I gotta go revise on my work. My O level examinations are coming in twelve days!
Till then, have a nice day!
Posted by
Audi
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