Hey Gamera, I've finally got going here. I thought  I'd begin this adventure with a Kawanishi N1K1-J George by Otaki.  I've built a few Otaki's, and for the money they may be the nicest kits that used to be available.  They have nice, delicate detail.  Maybe a little sparse on detail, but generally nice kits for under $15 bucks.  I'll begin trudging away in the next few days.    Rick

Thats a great looking ship Potchip,nicely done Sir!

Kevin: Very cool! I love seeing different stuff like this. Interesting to me that the problems the Japanese had with the in-line engines with the Ki-61 and D4Y1 they went with an in-line here.

Really like the third decal scheme with the blots but the first with the neat red tail stands out too.

While finishing an F6F-3 Hellcat for the IPMS Ernest A. Love Chapter's display in the Prescott City Library, I started toying with the AZ Models 1/72 Kawasaki Ki-78 'Ken'.

There are 2 kits in the box, 27 pieces each, plus 2 canopies, and 2 sets of decals.  Low pressure molding so large sprue gates and ejection towers (see lower wing).  Anyway, lots of clean up, not to much flash, but LOTS of test fitting, filing,test fitting, sanding, test fitting. seam filling, test fitting - did I mention TEST FITTING??

Anyway, still a fun little kit, challenging - not a Tamigawa assembly kit.  This one does challenge my modeling skills.

The parts for one kit plus both decal sheets.  See what I mean by ejection towers on the lower wing?  And large sprue gates?  Did I mention this kit needs some test fitting??

Yes that is the whole canopy.  Hope my fingers aren't too fat to mask this thing!

Very sparse kit interior plain flat instrument panel, seat, and stick.   I did add a few little fiddly bits from fine wire and white glue, but you're not going to see much under than little canopy anyway.  Maybe more detailing on the second kit - now that I know what I'm in for.

A bit of .010 plastic card along the wing to fuselage seam.

All of the white along seams in filler.

Large fselage side radiators added, seams filled, needing sanding.  Oh yeah, I also drilled holes to add brass wire to the butt joints of the tail planes to the fuselage.  The radiators will need more filling.

That's it for now - more pictures shortly as soon as I get more seams cleaned up, and do some more test fitting.

Kevin

Another work of art Potchip. Real beauty.

Wow, Potchip she's a beauty!!!

Great job on the weathering and PE, and gotta love those figures!

Potchip

stunning work on those ships! love the guys on the front

Jason

Probably last ship for the year.

Kongo class battleship Hiei, a training ship for the IJN, and having hosted the emperor on multiple occasions, a symbol of IJN navy and one of the more luxurious fitted ships around.

Will finish as her 1940 config when the emperor of Japan coordinated a navy drill with full ensigns.

Note the resemblance to the tower of Yamato, this Hiei's super structure was built as an experimental config for the eventual Yamato class. 

Officers greeting the emperor.

TREYZX10R

Heres the lot of 'em ,going to build a special display for them stay tuned

TREY: What A nice collection that you have there...two thumbs up! 

You built more for this GB than I have all year!

Trey, your plane and pics are awesome. Fantastic work !

The realism is outstanding, if it wasn't for the fixed prop, I couldn't tell the difference from the real thing.

aliens during the night i say , try a sabotage to the group

bsyamato

effectively my motto is not for you Trey magnific hayabusa and picture too

(add the hayabusa on the wishbook )

Cliff the hayabusa image link on the wall is broken your pc win another battle

Hmmmm, odd it was showing up last night after I posted it but yes this morning it's gone. I reposted the photo and it's showing up now- cross your fingers it doesn't vanish again

TREYZX10R

Cliff I'm eagerly awaiting the Judy pics ! 1 pic is such a tease !

Heres a resize for the front page

and the better pics as promised

effectively my motto is not for you Trey magnific hayabusa and picture too

(add the hayabusa on the wishbook )

Cliff the hayabusa image link on the wall is broken your pc win another battle

Trey: Thanks! Hopefully will have the rest of the photos up this weekend. The nephews were up and shooting NERF arrows at each other this evening, was a little afraid to take Judy outside for photos!

Since the Judy came into service near the middle of the war most were being either shot down quickly or flying suicide missions so I just figure most didn't have time to get weathered.

SAR thank you Sir thats a great compliment ! Very much appreciated!

Cliff  many thanks for the high regards  .I do'nt see anything wrong at all with a pristine build of any subject. I mean they were all new at one point right? I really like the way your Judy looks ,sometimes its refreshing to see a 'clean' build and yours looks great !

some assembly required

trey, i have to tell ya - when i saw your second pic i felt a strong urge to duck behind the  armor plate in my f4u!! man you make some great stuff.

Gotta agree there! ACK she's coming right at us!

Seriously great job Trey, love how you kicked the weathering up a notch and it came out great. I think I'm weird that I like to do Japanese aircraft in pristine finishes

Photo posted to the roster- oddly no problems at all this time, hope things keep going so well.

trey, i have to tell ya - when i saw your second pic i felt a strong urge to duck behind the  armor plate in my f4u!! man you make some great stuff.

Cliff I'm eagerly awaiting the Judy pics ! 1 pic is such a tease !

Heres a resize for the front page

and the better pics as promised

Hey thanks guys, I really liked how the shading turned out. You'll probably be able to see the uneven panel lines on the canopy but not the film- though it's visible if you see the model in person. Maybe I'll strip the thing sometime in the future and redo it. Right now I want to get the Tamiya Zero done. Finished the wheel wells and flaps, painted the yellow leading edge ID stripes, and am ready to paint the underside now, photos when I get the painting done.

Hopefully will have more photos of Judy soon, I guess I should see about building a photo set-up, I've been taking them outside but of course you have to wait till the sunlight is good.

To me seems great Cliff really not the same problem of my tomcat .Probably need a macro to see the trouble.

Cliff it looks great ,well worth waiting for. I ca'nt wait for more pics!!! From what I can see from the one pic the colors and subtle tone changes really look scale .

Gamera

SAR & Jason: Sounds good guys!

 

BTW: The photos didn't turn out too well so I'm going to retake them. Anyway here is one of the better ones to prove that I actually did finish the Suisei:

G...that is one nice looking Judy!!!

That Judy looks great Cliff. You just don't see many of those.

SAR & Jason: Sounds good guys!

BTW: The photos didn't turn out too well so I'm going to retake them. Anyway here is one of the better ones to prove that I actually did finish the Suisei:

actually got some work done done the Myrt and I also started 2 zeros

will hopefully get some photos soon

Jason

well, just to show that im still plugging away heres some not so great inprogress pics of my george

the cockpit ones didnt turn out at all. right now im wating for the glue to dry so i can work on the seams. so far this is a great little kit.

Thanks Cliff and a big thanks again for hosting a great G/B learning a lot in this one! I 'm eagerly awaiting pics !!!

Trey: Oh yeah, that is one nice looking fleet of fighters! And the Hayabusa looks fantastic.

Bsyamato: Really great job there on the wheel wells, she's coming together nicely.

Well the film on the Judy isn't really a frosting like your Tomcat, hopefully won't even be visible in photos but if you look closely you can see it. I went ahead and took photos yesterday evening and will try to get them posted tonight. Other than the canopy and the sinkholes in the fusilage that I missed putting over before painting I think she turned out ok. As I said before I've got two more Suiseis in the stash, I can apply what I learned here to them. Did a little more work on the Zero too, so far she's coming along great (cross your fingers).

Thanks Red Baron, I did use the salt method for the large areas ,the smaller chips are done with a #11 blade layed flat and just using the side of the tip to remove the top layer of color.

That is going to be intense Bsyamato,really looking forward to seeing more! The sun is trying to peek out so hopefuly I'll get some better pics of the Busa today.