Kurogane Japanese 4×4 Light Vehicle Type 95 – Tamiya

Tamiya’s little Kurogane was originally packaged as part with an aircraft, but now comes in its own kit with the addition of a driver and the option of down canvas top

Tamiya’s little Kurogane was originally packaged as part with an aircraft but now comes in its own kit with the addition of a driver and the option of down canvas top. The kit itself is only has a limited number of parts and is a quick build. I’ve decided to add it bit more character to mine by opening up the left door. The door was cut out with a razor saw and #11 blade, some scrap plastic was cut to add details to the inside door now that it could be seen. Pedals were also added as the kit does not come with any. With the doors closed, you can’t really see into the foot wheel, so it doesn’t really that much if you decide to build it out of the box.

 .

 The top was attached and weathered with oil paint and light chipping

The canvas top comes as a 3 clear pieces assembly. These were masked with masking tape and liquid mask for painting, the side was a bit of a pain as the area that needed to be masked was a bit deep. The side supports were also noticeably over-scaled. At first, the 2 side seams looked like a big sanding job, but based on reference pictures, there were real seams in the same spot. So I just lightly sanded it down before painting.

I then gave everything a heavier oil wash to wear it down a bit, added some minor scratches with nato-black paint and added MIG pigments to the wheels. The clear windscreen was masked and lightly airbrushed with clear flat paint to create the dirty areas. Finally, I added the figure, but I changed the arm to hold the door instead of the Katana sword. The sword I hung on a scratched build strap made with masking tape. But the figure and car seemed so lonely, I built up a small base with a sign that says ‘Mt Suribachi – 169 Meters’ based on an old photo I found.