The scheme for this particular kit was to be an overall metal one. I had picked up some Floquil Old Silver to try on this kit, but first the yellow ID bands on the wing leading edge needed to be painted. The area was first painted gloss white using Model Master Enamels, then when dry, over painted with Aeromaster ID Yellow Acrylic. When all that was dry, it was masked off and the entire airframe was painted with Floquil Old Silver and left to dry. This paint really took an age to dry. It was tacky for well over two weeks after the initial coats were sprayed on.  Later the airframe had the panel lines outlined in dark grey and then the silver was misted on to almost cover the panel lines. A few sections were painted in aluminum to break up the solid color. The prop hub was painted red and the prop itself a medium green that is peculiar to Ki-84s. The yellow tips were painted yellow and the stripes were Scalemaster decal stripes. The anti-glare panel was painted blue-black, the tip of the tail red, and a stripe on the rudder was painted yellow. Naturally, I am leaving out a lot of the back and forth repainting that is normal for me as I always goof a bit on paint schemes the first time around.

It was then back to the modeling room for the attachment of more bits. This involved the main landing gear. First the oleos were covered in Bare Metal Foil and then the gear legs attached. Tamiya offers keying for the gear that assures positive contact and proper angle. The wheels were also installed at this time. Once that was done, the pitot tube was installed in the wing and it was time to plunk on the decals.

The kit decals provide four different markings options. The first is overall green with a blue underside from the 502^nd Temporary Interception Corps with white 'bandages' behind the Hinomarus and a gazelle on the cowling. Next is a bare metal aircraft from the 104^th Air Group in Manchuria. The third scheme is from the 58^th Special Attach group in green over blue-grey. Finally, another green over blue-grey aircraft of the 2^nd Squadron of the 11^th Air Fleet in the Philippines in 1944 .

I decided to use the kit decals and do the 104^th Air Group version. There are only the standard borderless Hinomarus and tail markings for this scheme, but I ran into problems. Since the kit is well over 20 years old, the decals had become a bit brittle and I had several of the wing Hinomarus break while applying them. Nothing major, as the Champ setting solution softened them up nicely, but a hassle that I would rather not have had.

Once the decals were put on, it was time to finish up the kit. This meant that the gear covers were installed and then the kit was treated to the pastels treatment. This didn't work too well on the metal finish as pastels need a rough surface to stick to. Next, the prop was glued in place, the spinner attached, and the canopy unmasked. Once all the leftover stickum was taken off the canopy, the radio antenna was made from clear stretched sprue. Interestingly, there are several different antenna arrangements for the Ki-84. Some are very complex and others simple. I had to take the instruction's work on which was which as these antenna are nearly invisible in photographs. This particular aircraft was blessed with a very simple 'mast to tail with one lead in' arrangement. Once that was done, the kit was complete.