tempestjohnny

Very nice build Joe.  Not every build has to be a contest winner.  Make it look good to you that's all that matters

Thanks guys.  Actually only three of my builds have ever qualified for this, but I still strive for these standards whenever possible... 

Joe

Another beautiful model Joe!  Can't wait to see a Pappy Boyington Corsair!

Very nice build Joe.  Not every build has to be a contest winner.  Make it look good to you that's all that matters

Nathan T

Only thing I see is it looks like the front windscreen might not be pushed down to the fuselage all the way?? Did the canopy fit well?

Thanks Bvallot, yeah this is probably much better than Tamiya's circa 1973 Raiden.  I'm just speculating though.  Nathan, I didn't notice until you pointed it out.  I'll be darn, I do see a shadow under there...good eye.  Strange, I taped it down and glued it with Tenax, so its securely glued down.  It's kind of pointy there at the front and it's just the way it fits on this kit.  Perhaps bad design or maybe thats how its supposed to look?  Who knows.  The canopy seems to be the Achilles heel of this kit.    It's no contest winner anyways.

Joe

Whoa! Very nice Joe. I like the lighter wash over the black paint. You added some nice detail while still keeping the build quite simple. These obscure Jap IJAAF planes are really catching my interests. Much better than the always seen Zeros. Only thing I see is it looks like the front windscreen might not be pushed down to the fuselage all the way?? Did the canopy fit well?

Now damnit Joe!! Here's another one of those times when I realize how much I need to add "this" one to my PTO collection ASAP.  lol.

Fantastic Jack here.  I think I'll side with this one over the Tamiya.  You seem pretty convincing it's a no hassle build.  =]

Thanks guys. Gary, I'm going to do a small diorama around Pappy Boyington's Corsair, inspired by a picture I saw recently.  As for the A-5, well, I have to wait for the Luftwaffe bug to bite me again.  Right now I'm in Pacific mode.....lol. It wil probably be the Corsair then a new tooled Tamiya zero 3 or 5.

I got the Raiden decaled, dullcoated and ultimately finished over the last few nights.  To recap, it's in the markings of Raiden ace Saadaki Akamatsu of the 302 NAG.  He was reportedly not your typical IJN pilot.  He was apparently quite the boozer and brawler, but his behavior was tolerated because he was masterful in the sky, racking up 27 kills, to include a few B-29 "Dragons". He was reportedly quite savvy in the Raiden which was allegedly not especially liked by other pilots.   

The 18 year old Aeromaster decals went down fairly well.  I did have some issues with the Hinomarus being a tad thick, mainly because the white border and the red meatball were separate decals.  Technology of 1996 I suppose.  I had trouble getting a wash to stay in the panel lines, even with my normal tricks.  I had to use the white 5 from the kit decals to make Akamatsu's 3D-1195.  If you look closely you can tell the 5 is sort of "off" white.  I sealed the decals then added a Flory wash.  

Other than no open canopy option, I have nothing negative to say about the kit.  It has great detail and was a breeze to build.  See all this fantastc out of the box detail that will be obscured by a crumbly closed canopy.  Thats aside, I did add a set of PE belts, and ran some wires from the radio to add interest to the rear deck.   Note the bullet proof glass panel. 

Anyways, it was a painless build.   I added outboard cannon muzzles from Brass tube and fine wire for brake lines. I also fabricated a new pitot tube from brass tubing. 

Thanks for following the thread, comments welcome...

Joe

lawdog114

I'm not big of  "peeling" the paint on Japanese subjects.  Perhaps its subconscious, but I hate going back and destroying what I worked so hard to achieve...lol.  I usually reserve a bit of chipping to the cowl and the wing root, thats about it.

Joe 

It would be a shame to ruin such a beautiful paint job.  Looks like it's going to be up to your usual excellent standards.

BTW:  What is your next project coming up?  You going to do the A-5 or the Corsair?  OR both? 

Gary

As usual looks great!

Love the streaking on the wings, I keep trying it but it doesn't look as good as yours. 

Thanks for the info Joe. I guess I was missing the particular brand. I have two HL about equidistant, so i'll be checking them out.

Nathan, Thank you as well.

lawdog114

Thanks guys.  Geezer, its a silver "Prismacolor" color pencil.  The silver works great.  Just make sure you use it on a flat finish, either before your gloss coat or after your final dull coat (I do both).  It doesn't take well to the gloss....too slippery.  I got mine at Hobby Lobby in the art supply section if you have one of these nearby.  Any art supply store would carry these.  

Joe

I would also add- make sure you sharpen it real well, and the hard lead works better than the softer leaded pencils. 

Looking great Joe! Alclad Gloss added to cart.....check!

Thanks guys.  Geezer, its a silver "Prismacolor" color pencil.  The silver works great.  Just make sure you use it on a flat finish, either before your gloss coat or after your final dull coat (I do both).  It doesn't take well to the gloss....too slippery.  I got mine at Hobby Lobby in the art supply section if you have one of these nearby.  Any art supply store would carry these.  

Joe

WOW that looks just as fine as fine can get Joe.  

Joe, I enjoy watching your work progress. Always pick up some great tips, too. Beautiful a/c. Great job. Question, though....Where can I find the silver pencils? I am thinking regular color pencils would not work.

Wow great stuff Joe.  Glad I could help with the decal find.  John

Roger, Roger. =]

bvallot

 You might have just convinced me to try out that Alclad Clear Gloss too.

Thanks Nathan and Bvallot.  I'm not big of  "peeling" the paint on Japanese subjects.  Perhaps its subconscious, but I hate going back and destroying what I worked so hard to achieve...lol.  I usually reserve a bit of chipping to the cowl and the wing root, thats about it.   Bvallot, The Alclad Gloss Coat is the modeling world's equivalent to the Colonel's Original Recipe chicken........nothing quite like it when done right.  Go several light coats (on damp) at about 15 psi.  It will be rock hard in an hour.  Forget Future....... 

Joe  

"Zero" issues...=D I see what you did there!   Looking great as always.  You might have just convinced me to try out that Alclad Clear Gloss too.

Nice work Joe. Nothing boring about that. The decals will sure make it look nice. I wondered about the all green scheme on the Ki-100 I just finished. But I pre and post shaded the heck out of it, and did a NMF underside and painted on markings, and it all came together nicely in the end. I did alot of chipping too. I was following a decent pic of the real plane for the weathering inspiration.

I'm in for an update.  The Aeromaster decals arrived yesterday which inspired me to hit the bench last night.  I managed to get quite a bit of work done too.  Thanks again TempestJohnny for finding these.

After I used rolled blue tac to mask off the demarcation lines, I used XF-11 IJN Green cut with Tamiya laquer thinner.  This seemed to represent Mitsubishi Green fairly welI, which I believe is a bit more blue than the Nakajima Army Green.  I then added XF-57 Buff and added condensation streaks across the upper wings.  I intentionally went a tad overboard this time because I want these to be seen on such a dark, dare I say boring finish.  I added a shade more and sprayed all control surfaces to add even more visual contrast.  I added a touch of XF-1 Flat Black to my normal postshade so it could be seen on such a dark monotone color.  I then added some subtle chipping with a silver pencil.  Perhaps I need more.  Here's how it turned out.  I'm pleased so far. 

After a few hours of working on other stuff, such as masking the canopy, painting and assembling the landing gears, etc, I sprayed the frame with Alclad Gloss coat for decaling.  I can't say enough good things about this product.  The picture speaks for itself and it dries in no time at all. 

The kit came with two props, a normal one and a "high performance" one.  I went with the latter for no particular reason.  I sprayed the prop blades XF-3 Flat Yellow with a drop of XF-7 Flat Red then taped off the warning stripes.  The blades were then sprayed XF-68 NATO Brown which I thought resembled the prop color on Japanese subjects fairly well.  I don't know whether I'm going to paint the hub green, brown or leave it silver.  My research here is conflicting on 302 NAG planes.

 I should get to decaling soon.  This kit has been a dream so far.  Zero issues.....

Joe  

Very nice!! You sure know Jack! Can't wait for the topside color.

Yeah, I used 91% as well to cut mine.  I have to say adding a dash of red to the yellow is a great idea!  It makes the yellow look much better than just straight yellow.

Thanks Steve.  Pretty much immediately.  I cut my paint with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol so it dries almost on contact.  I generally don't have problems, so we'll see when I remove it.  I generally forego a primer coat on Hasegawa subjects because their panel lines tend to be shallow so I don't fill them with paint any more than I have to.   I hope this wasn't a mistake.  I don't recall any issues on my Ki-84.  

Joe  

Looking good Joe!  How long after painting the yellow did you mask over it?  Did you experience any paint peel from the mask?  I had this happen recently after spraying the yellow/red mix and masking 24 hours later with Tamiya tape.

Steve

In for a quick update.  This thing has been a breeze.  One of the best fitting Hasegawa kits yet.  Even the wing fuselage joint was perfect.  The following is one night of work over a 5 hour span (I'll take the bench time when I can get it).  A few nights ago,  I managed to glue the pit into the fuselage and sealed it up.  No issues...like a glove.

In the same session, I glued the wings together.  I did have to shave the top of the main gear bay corners from the inside so the upper wing(s) would fit better...no biggie.   I simulated the ouboard cannon muzzles with Albion Alloy brass tubing.  I think it makes for a big improvement.

I assembled the airframe.  No filler required and this kit was absent the Hasegawa wing root gaps.  I've heard this kit has wing root issues but I did not experience them.  I did have a small gap where the cowl piece attaches to the frame (see photo below), so I used a technique I read about recently.  The line is supposed to be there, but obviously not quite that wide.  1.  I held the pieces together then brushed Tenax on the gap (don't Squeeze...just hold steady).  I put my Tenax in an old Tamiya extra thin cement bottle because I love their applicator.  The Tenax will melt the plastic and close the gap.  The line should will still be there, .  2.  Once it dry, go back and use the back side of a #11 Exacto and gently scribe the line back in.  The plastic will be slightly soft here and this will be easy.  I tried it and it works great. 

The cowl gap is gone and a nice panel line is there now..

I preshaded the panel lines and sprayed the antiglare panel with my own mix of Mitsubishi cowl color. I mixed Flat Black XF-1 with a smidgen XF-8 Flat Blue. I then mixed up Flat Yellow XF-3 with a touch of Flat Red XF-7 and sprayed the wing ID strips and the tail ID band.  These were then taped off with Tamiya tape.

Once done, I sprayed the lower surface XF-12 Japanese Navy Grey.  It seems bit greenish to me, like British Duck Egg, but I wont sweat it.  Once weathered and such it will be fine.  I lightened it with XF-2 Flat White and added condensation streaks.  I then post shaded the areas around the gear bay, engine cowl and control surfaces.  I think this is about right. 

I stopped here for the night.   I bought an old Aeromaster sheet with 302 markings off E-bay (thanks again Johnny), so I'll continue work when they arrive.

Joe

Joe

Thanks Gamera.  Yeah, I guess it does look like a 190 that ate too much KFC and grew a fourth prop....lol.  

Thanks Johnny!  I snatched those up immediately.  Looks like I'll only need to find a white #5 decal to build Akamatsu's bird.

Thanks Nathan.  I have a turtorial thread in here somewhere on how I do my cockpits.   Its mainly drybrushing, postshading and a wash.   I was going to get the Squardon set, but I decided to just leave it as is.  I'm gonna knock this one out real quick then dive into that Hasegawa FW 190 A-5.  

Joe  

I was gonna say...Ebay is your friend for old Aeromaster decals, along with Ecrater. Ohh, and nice start Joe. For the Canopy, you could cut it apart, but you will need a vacuform sliding part.

Joe just found 48286 on ebay.  Look up empire defenders. $13 free ship