Miggy's 2025 shelf clearance: Tamiya 1/35 Type 97 Chi-Ha

[Mig Eater]

My model collection has been steadily growing over the years but because of my bad health (I suffer from ME/CFS) I have to constantly stop and restart work on a build as my health allows, I often then lose interest mid build and instead move on to something new. Because of this I have now reached a point were I have more unfinished models then finished ones! So my New Years resolution this year is to try and finish some of these forgotten models, with an aim to finish at least one each month. The models range from half built to fully built and painted but still needs weathering etc, most of them I've finished building tho and just need painting.

Here are half of the unfinished builds, there are 10 more but I couldn't fit them all on my workbench



First up is a Tamiya 1/35 Type 97 Chi-Ha that I built with some basic tools while I was away on holiday. After getting it home I applied some black primer and a white pre-shade but it then spent two years on the shelf of doom waiting for some more paint.



I'm using a Hataka Japanese army paint set to use on this model. I bought a bunch of Hataka pant sets a few years ago and thus far I've have had mixed experiences with them. The paint is sometimes to thin requiring lots of layers and other times it has been too thick, clogged up my airbrush. I'm happy to report that this set was ok tho and I could use it straight out of the bottle.


The base khaki colour was apply with an airbrush.


I'd normally mask the camo pattern and then use my airbrush, but I struggled a bit with the masking putty and I just ended up making a mess with it. So I decided to brush paint the rest of the camouflage instead, which took a lot longer but I'm happy with the results. 


I'm currently adding the decals and painting the remaining small details.

[Kerick]

I’d love to see that Sherman with the mine rollers painted up. That would look great and be quite an attention getter.

[Mig Eater]

I've built both early and late versions of the Sherman T1E3 Mine Roller, I also started on a third experimental T1E5 version but didn't get that far with the build. Hopefully I can get one or two of them finished this year. 

[raafif]

I often then lose interest mid build and instead move on to something new

Don't we all ?
I've finished off 20 old dead kits in the last year.

OOh, yes ! finish the Aunt Jemima please

[Mig Eater]

Wow 20 kits in one year I'm doubting if I'll be able to manage the 12 that I'm aiming for.

[Old Wombat]

Interesting group & the Chi-Ha is coming along nicely!

[Frank3k]

The Chi-Ha looks good - that camo doesn't look easy even if hand painted. The Sherman mine rollers look interesting.

[Mig Eater]

The Chi-Ha's camo wasn't that hard to hand paint, it just took a lot of time as it required multiple of layers of paint to get an opaque surface

Due to popular demand it looks like the mine roller might get bumped up the to-do

[Buzzbomb]

Some yummy projects in that lot

[Dr. YoKai]

Some yummy projects in that lot

Indeed! I have the UM T31 Demolition tank in my stash-neat to see on in 1/35. especially alongside a KV-7.

[Mig Eater]

Thanks

The T31 is a resin conversion from Bolddevision that was originally released by Cromwell models. I'm using it on an Academy M4A3E8 that comes with an M1 dozer blade, the chunky T31 turret stands out but it should be even more eye catching once the dozer is added.

The Kv-7 is the Trumpeter kit, the rest of their kv kits are pretty good but this Kv-7 is full of errors. I had to modify a lot of the parts including remaking the entire gun mount/shield to get it close to looking like the real thing I'll cover what I did in more detail when I get to that build.

I'm making good progress with the Chi-Ha, I'll post some new photos later today.

 

[Mig Eater]

Here is a an update on my progress with the Chi-Ha. I applied a brown filter to tone down the contrast between the different colours and a dark brown wash to highlight the many bolts. The bolts and smaller details were also painted a lighter colour to highlight them even more. Paint scratches were added with lighter colours too and rust spots added to the larger scratches. The kit doesn't come with any clear parts for the headlamp so I filled it with gloss varnish to try and make it look more like a glass lamp.

Now its time for some mud!

[Old Wombat]

 

[Mig Eater]

​Ok the Chi-Ha is finally finished
 
I used several different paints from Ammo's mud "splashes" range to add some weathering to the lower hull, running gear and a few areas of the upper hull. I also finished the tracks which were painted with a dark brown primer, a layer of NATO black paint was randomly mottled over the top and then a dark brown wash applied over the tracks. The same Ammo splashes paint was also used to a add some mud to the tracks and then lastly a graphite stick was used to polish the raised surfaces of the tracks.
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That's my shelf of doom build for January completed (just a few days over schedule ), I haven't decided what model to tackle next for February, but I have a quick aircraft build that I want to finish first so that will give me some time to think about it.
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[Old Wombat]

Nicely done!





My only nit-pick: It's a bit glossy, for my taste, but who's to say it hasn't just been caught in a monsoonal downpour?

[Mig Eater]

It's a bit glossy, for my taste, but who's to say it hasn't just been caught in a monsoonal downpour?

I'm out of matt varnish so I instead used a gloss varnish after I finished painting the base colours, I was hoping the subsequent washes and weathering would tone it down a bit but yeah its still a bit too glossy