Battle of Midway Group Build, 3 June, 2017 - 7 June, 2018

John,

That is a very interesting project your working on and I am expecting to learn a thing or two on blending resin parts to plastic.  PJ, nice work on spucing up the cockpit of your Val.  

Scott

Hi PJ,

To help with the gizmonazation of your Val, I used this drawing for mine.

Thanks Scott.

Steve

Yes I'm using that diagram and a color picture of the pit as reference.  Aviation of Japan site has some good photos and info.

Another item needing work is the type 92 gun included in the kit. That will be fun to detail.

That UMM saw makes the impossible possible, doesn't it.

John, some very nice work there. I take it your useing a resin conversion set des9igned to produce an earlier version.

PJ, nice improvment on the pit with all those thingies you added, its look good.

Interesting looking saw there.Looks like it did a great job on the pit, could deffinetly do with one of those. Is UMM a brand name or the type of saw?

jeaton01

That UMM saw makes the impossible possible, doesn't it.

 

Yep, great tool to have. I also use it to remove clear parts from the tree attachment points leaving a smooth clean cut unlike when regular sprue cutters are used sometimes causing frailing into the clear parts like a canopy. I also use it to re scribe panel lines.

Hi Bish

Here is the link:

https://www.umm-usa.com/

John Vojtech owns and runs the outfit. Great customer service and great tools specially his scribing tool and the saw.

Cheers PJ. I realised i have seen the CMK ones on Hannants. Will deffinetly have to grab one of those.

Bish

 I take it your useing a resin conversion set des9igned to produce an earlier version.

 

Sorry I'm lagging behind; was out of town and away from the computer till Wednesday this week.

But it was a pleasure to get back and see the innovative work going on.

pj:  your enhancements are really making an improvement on the basic kit; nice work!

John:  I really like your work on the B-26; you have the skill of a surgeon; your efforts are looking good!

Thanks John, your doing some great work with it.

I'm looking ahead on my Val build and planning on the paint/weathering stage to come very soon.

As a newcomer to Japanese WWII aviation subjects I have a question regarding Japan's use of primer on their Naval aircraft. I posted this question on the Aircraft Thread and even shot an email to the Aviation of Japan site for some guidance. 

Would paint chipping , wear and tear expose not the metal finish but the orange/red primer used by the IJN on their planes? This is an entire different issue with the other Air Service as they discontinued the use of primer by late 43 contributing to the extensive paint peeling seen on their Army AF aircraft.

I found a color picture showing the red primer on a Val:

http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2009/04/aichi-d3a-val-interior-in-detail-colour.html

This would guide me to believe the primer would be visible on worn/chipped areas instead of the usual silver color (NMF) used by modelers. 

I don't get it. Fujimi did a great job with the delicate panel line details but the pit was like nothing was there, bare as a baby's behind! Then comes the IP which has fantastic molded details right down to each instrument face having numbers and graphs. Dry brushing brought out all that rich detail. A tiny drop of Testor's Clear Parts Cement was used for each the instrument glass. Double click on the image for an extre closeup.

Hey PJ, that IP looks great.  Bit of a headscratcher that they would put that much effort into the IP and not the rest of the pit.  I don't know the answer to your question.  In my research for the Zero, I found a lot of contradictory information.  If you do get a good answer, I am all ears.

D

That is very nice work on the IP, pj.  You brought out some amazing detail with it.

Thanks D and check. A little more work on my Val:

Got the office painted, detailed with a few wires here and there, pe seat belts and some weathering to show use. Too bad most of the details will be next to impossible to see once the fuselage is assembled and the clear parts are added.

Better look of the pit area showing the belts and wiring.

Back seater's radio and thingies.

Wings and fuselage going together and clamped with my DeWalt mini clamps. These clamps are worth every dollar.

Great job on that pit PJ, really made somthing out of that.

Ditto on the bar clamps. I have a couple of 4inch ones that come in very handy.

Hey PJ, looking good.  I have two of those exact clamps.  I will probably get at least one more.  They are very handy.  Your pit looks pretty good with your extras.

Nearing the end of my T-34 build, so hopefully I can get back the Zero soon.

Thanks D. Hey whatever you do do NOT get the mini clamps from Harbor Freight Tools.

Harbor Freight has some good things and others are junk like their mini clamps that are garbage. They look ok till you squeeze them to clamp something. They have no pressure and slip. I threw about 8 away. Even attempted to modify them so they would hold the grip.

Good to know, PJ.  I will stick with the DeWalt at Home Depot.  Harbor Freight really is hit or miss.  Some of their stuff is OK, some is total junk.

Irwin makes a clamp that's good too, pretty much the same design.

GMorrison

Irwin makes a clamp that's good too, pretty much the same design.

 

Yes it looks the same except for the name and color.

pj--great work on the Val's innards.  I do like the color scheme! 

The Akagi is now in the yards and construction is underway.

This is going easy and I am getting excited to start the pre-shading. This is a very unusual ship.  Everything seems to have been added as afterthoughts, yet a lot of inginuity.

A little previewing as to how it will look with the flightdeck and island added.  

Nice start Scott. If i remember right, Akagi was converted from a partial complete battleship and originally had some sort of multiple flight deck arrangment. That might explain why she looks thrown together.

Yes Bish, she, and with Kaga, was originally laid out as a battle cruiser, and like the Lexington and Saratoga, was coverted to an aircraft carrier due restrictions from the Washington Treaty.  The history of this ship was quite interesting with the idea of three flightdecks so that the plane could fly right out of the hangar.  Looking at the internals, with the flightdeck off, the ship looks like something out of Star Wars or Galatica.  

Sounds a bit of a strange idea having flightdecks stacked on top of each other. I recall somthing about the British RN having carriers with 2 decks.

The British were a major influence on Japan's ship design.  Afterall, much of Japan's pre-dreadnaught and post-dreadnaught navy was built in the UK.  Since Japan got what they perceived as a poor deal on the Washington treaty, they put a lot of focus on efficient carrier design, again much from what the RN was experimenting with.  

Nice work Scott.  I take my hat off to you ship guys.  Ship models intimidate me.

I recently finished several books regarding the Pacific campaign to try to refresh myself with all I had forgotten.  One of the points that came through loud and clear is that the IJN did not put the effort into damage control the USN did.  When the carriers got hit at Midway and caught fire, it was game over. 

I will be following this build with great interest.  The subject is great!