Golden Claude - carrier based fighter

Now that's an interesting build Jack, nice work.

It was clear lacquer that turned golden as it aged just like a Martin guitar.

Nicely done!

Jack - Very nicely done in such a scale, the whole model is just first rate. For a fixed gear open cockpit airplane, it sure had beautiful elliptical wings and horizontal stabs. Quite an elegant design for wings,

much like the Spitfire. Thanks for the enjoyable photos, a fine job you made of it.

Patrick  

What did you use to get the gold color, Jack?

That looks REAL nice Jack! Yes, from what I have read, it was the varnish over teh bare metal that gave the Claude's their amber hue.

Bish, mississippivol, Patrick, and Stik - thanks guys, appreciate the comments.

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Antoni - thanks for  that specific bit of info.  

Back in January, I had chatted  with Nick Millman (he runs the blog Aviation of Japan) for his views on the Claude's unique colour.  To quote '... an anodising film or clear varnish was  applied over the natural metal giving a reportedly "gold" effect'.  

No mention of aging being the key factor, though I can appreciate  it possibly being so.

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John, thanks for your question.

Basically the  overall colour started off with a steel finish, after which I sprayed on some clear orange.  It looked too overpowering, so I created an approx. 50/50 mix of aluminum with clear orange to tone it back.  Reason I switched over to aluminum was simple, ran out of steel.  This mix also included future, and I should mention some clear yellow was also used at the start, but by the end I had eliminated that from the formula.

regards,

Jack

Very great work Jack. I love the subtle weathering and fading of the black cowling. This kit looks like it was well detailed out of the box.

That's a beautiful model Jack!  The finish is superb, as others have mentioned. 

Do you know if there is a 1/48 model of this aircraft available? 

Thanks for the inspiration!  Gary

Yes, a limited run kit by Classic Airframes... I have one that I picked up on sale.

stikpusher

Yes, a limited run kit by Classic Airframes... I have one that I picked up on sale.

Uh oh, another Classic Airframes kit!  Yikes, I've bought 4 or 5 recently, having been on a "Golden Age" fighters kick.  Fiat Cr-32, Polikarpov I-15, Heinkel 51 and Arado 68.  I probably won't live to see them built, lol!  Oh well, chalk up another...Ebay, here I come!  Thanks for the info!

Gary

Nathan - thanks!  

The cowling was painted flat black, then applied some white and blue weathering powders to arrive at that characteristic shade.  A grey pencil crayon provided some final weathering.

The kit really has very nice and finely engraved panel lines.  The ribbing on the tail rudder and elevators were just individual raised lines, so I brushed in some highlights/shadows to give them some width.

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Tex - thanks kindly!

Stik is bang on with the Classic Airframes reply.  They also have the two seat trainer version, which seems to be more easier to find.  Fine Molds also produced a very early version in 1/48.

regards,

Jack

Thanks for the color rundown, Jack.

Great looking Claude! I like this golden finisz!

John, you're welcome, and Alek - thanks!

regards,

Jack