Type 1 SPG Ho-Ni I - 3 Feb 2019 - Completed

[JCON]

That's a big relief!!!

[BUCKY]

Great news on those pesky tracks!!

[Dukemaddog]

Wow, I leave for a few days and you just whip this one into shape! Beautifully done Robert! This is looking amazing already and I commend you on the excellent techniques you employed to answer the challenges.

[RLFoster]

Thanks, Guys!

Today has been a GREAT day of Christmas shopping, beer drinking, and watching the U.S. stock markets plummet like a falling meteor!

Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

[JEFF]

Sweet and speedy build, RL. Well done.

[Dukemaddog]

I hoped you tapped a brew for me Robert! Glad you had a great day.

Looking forward to seeing more.

[RLFoster]

Mark, I cracked a beer for you, every member of your family, every member of mine, and then some more!

Needles to say, yesterday morning was a bit of a struggle with me fighting the first real hangover I've had in probably three or four years.

However, once I finished the morning coffee, had some breakfast and lunch, and did a little exercise, I started to feel moderately normal. Early in the afternoon I felt good enough to do a little more work on the model...but only a little. I ended up getting a good coat of primer on all the components:



The primer went down very well (my normal Duplicolor automotive sandable primer) and dried quickly, but I didn't feel like doing anything else.

Today, after completing a bunch of morning chores, I put in another 90 minutes or so. First, I mixed up a custom base coat color and then I put down the color on all the components:



The color looks quite a bit lighter in the photo than it does up close. Late in WWII, the Japanese did away with painting there AFV's with either the bright yellow or the dark brown earth tone colors seen earlier in their 1939 campaigns and the early years of the war. They replaced those colors with a lighter, sandy brown color and this is the color I was trying to replicate...with moderate success. The Japanese continued to use both green and a burnt umber shade in their camo patterns and I will be using both of these colors on this build.

This will probably be all my progress today other than perhaps a quick, clear, seal coat later today. All comments are welcome.

Until next time...

[JCON]

Looks good to me Robert!!!

[RLFoster]

Thanks, Joe!

[JEFF]

I'll second that, Dude.

[RLFoster]

Thanks, Jeff!

[BUCKY]

Great progress, methinks!!

[Deleted]

Looks good!

[RLFoster]

Thanks again, Bucky and Ben!

I got completely side-tracked yesterday and didn't do anything on the model at all. Actually, it worked out quite well because I might shift my original thoughts on the build a bit.

Today, I started looking at all the finishing options provided in the kit, the online information about deployed locations, and the units to which Type 1 Ho-Ni's were assigned. Essentially, with these vehicles, there are only three places you can depict use - Burma, Luzon, or the Japan home islands. By the time these SPG's were ready for deployment, there were already superior guns nearly ready to go. The decision was made to only send the limited vehicles produced to the three safest theaters and use them primarily as mobile defensive weapons against the predicted allied offensives.

The home island options seem boring to me. Most vehicles were used at training schools or simply parked in anticipation of the eventual invasion. The Luzon options are more interesting, but also limited. The commander in the Philippines - having seen U.S. tank crews decimate every Japanese tank in the Pacific whenever they tried to attack with movement - directed that all the SPG's be buried hull down in revetments, covered with appropriate vegetation, and never moved unless specifically ordered. That left the Burma marking option with the 14th Tank Regiment. This option is the most unknown with only a couple bad photos available, but it also means there are more possibilities for finishing and weathering. Therefore, this will be the one I'm going to do.

With that decision out of the way, I spent some time doing a little bit of touch-up work on the base coat and started thinking about the exact shades of green and brown I want to use for the camo. As soon as I get off the computer, I'll probably go back and start lightly marking out the camo pattern with a pencil since I'll be hand painting the hard edged pattern.

Anyway, that's today's update. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Until next time...

[JCON]

Sounds like a good choice Robert!!!

[RLFoster]

I like it, Joe.

I'm leaning toward a severely beat up, worn out, survivor that managed to hold out all the way to one of the last battles in Burma.

[BUCKY]

Sounds like a great plan, to me!

[JEFF]

Always good to have a plan.

[RLFoster]

Thanks again for the comments, guys.

It took a little time to research and then plot out the camo pattern yesterday. Today I managed to get the camo down and I'm pretty happy with it. Here are three shots showing today's progress. After custom mixing the colors I wanted, first I put down the green, then I added the reddish brown, and then finally I airbrushed a little off-white to simulate some paint fading in the tropical sun:







So, now I'll let everything sit and dry for today, add a clear top coat to seal it before hitting the sack tonight, and then start looking at the detailing and weathering that I'm planning to do.

Until next time...

[BUCKY]

I like it, brother Robert!!