@johnsan. Nice looking powerplant. I hadn't heard of that paint before. Nice to see new products.

The PE belts? No metal on metal.. I am careful not to use tweezers with them. I bend only with toothpicks or a brush handle, being careful not to bend sideways too much.

HLJ? You guys may also want to check out sealmodel. I've had good luck with them.

Johnsan- Lovely engine work. Thats a very realistic metallic shine to it.

Tom- Nice cockpit. Perfect pe work too. I really like how the seat and belts turned out.

Thanks, Nathan. That PE stuff can be tedious! I generally like the zoom for the dash, but used almost the entire two sheets in this pit. Even the seat. I got one of those "bug" PE tools recently and it helps a lot. On to the fuselage today!

my JGSDF 96B from GB II took another 2nd in local contest. entered 12 and not one tracked vehicle.

Johnsan: That engine looks lovely!

Panzerpilot: Great work on the cockpit!

Panzerpilot: Looking at the Seal Model website now, pretty big inventory and looks like they've got the whole Gunze and Gaianotes paint lines. Thanks for the head's up, I'm going to have to give them a deeper examination when I get more time.

Wayne: Fantastic! Second place is pretty darn good, I once in a while get a third!

PP- wouldn't call it a new line. I've been using GN, Green Max, Model Kasten, and such for at least 6 years. They're all synthetic lacquers very similar to GSI/Creos Mr Color. Really good paints with fine pigments. They all need to be thinned greatly for best performance.

I hope you decide to try some and can get them. They are easily better than any US or European paints I've ever tried.

Thanks, I am thinking about it, I just prefer acrylics over lacquer paint. And I tend just to go with the Testor's Model Master line since the local hobby shop stocks it- easier to run out and pick up a bottle when I need it instead of mail-ordering something and waiting for it. Still the GN has some really interesting colours there, the metallic ones with the rust effects look pretty cool.

Cliff, if you prefer acrylics over lacquer-based paint, you might want to look into getting some Gunze acrylics. They are by far the best spraying acrylics I've seen yet.

Gamera - if you're into cars at all (I'm not), you should look at GN's pearlescent paint line.

WOW... Take a few days off and what an explosion of out standing work! Wayne... congrats on your award... My luck too, always second place.... some day maybe..., Panzer pilot and Johnson, Very nice work! Very realistic work from both!  Note to self... check posts daily ...Too much good work to miss!

Doug

Clemons: I've got about a dozen bottles of Gunze around. I really like the stuff too, sprays great and brushes pretty well too. The big issue is Gunze is another thing my local hobby shop doesn't stock. About the only thing they carry anymore is the Testor's Model Master line so I usually just grab that instead even though the Gunze and Tamiya do spray somewhat better.

Johnson: Interesting, they do look pretty cool. I'm not much into cars, I have big problems getting gloss paint to come out without massive orange peel.

Hey gang.  Just wanted to let everyone know I haven't given up on the GB.  Works been hectic, trying to spend time with the family, and I've been trying to watch some of the Olympics.  Just not enough time in the week.  I'm about 75% complete, so I hope finish soon.

I did start putting the Eduard mask on the canopy.  What a pain in the ass.  Anyways...

I've been following the forum and I've been quite impressed with the work I've seen.  Just amazing.  I look forward to getting this Dinah done soon.

Craig

Gee Craig- we've got about ten months to go yet so you're not really falling behind!!!

I haven't got much done either, I was hoping after finishing up the Corsair for Stikpusher's Latin American GB I'd have more time but so far I haven't really been modeling much at all.

The cockpit is all painted.

It builds into a cage the fuselage parts are glued around. The handle on the throttle quadrant is very clumsily molded. I wanted to see what it looked like before removing it in the off-chance it might look good. It didn't and was replaced with a bit of stretched sprue.

These photos are several days old. Since taking them, everything is together. All that remains to be added are the aileron actuators, tail wheel, and main wheels. Fit is astonishingly good. The plan now is to wash, air dry, and prime.

I'll post more photos soon.

Looking good Johnsan. I like that color.

I am getting the wings on. Made a little rig to hold the underside wing root on well overnight. Then, I'll do the upper side wing roots.

Looking good, PP. Is that a Tamiya paint stand I spy? Do you like it?

I've been progressing on my ugly little bird. What a nice little kit it is. The fit and detail is really outstanding.

Fit is really very good. The only seams needing Mr Surface 500 were the rudder, the rear underside wing joint, and the horizontal seam just aft of the engine attachment point.

The instructions for this kit are in the form of an extended magazine article with photos and drawings. The instructions are very complete and feature advice on little tweaks. One of these is to replace the solid nav light lens covers with plastic cut from the clear canopy sprue. This is a normal thing for me. I wonder as this is part of the instructions if this would qualify for OOB in an IPMS contest. I really don't have much interest in contests, but still I wonder..

Sacrificial bovine! I dunno how I haven't seen this before!

If it's alright, I'd like to join with Tamiya's 1/48 A6M2...gonna be starting it soon-ish

Great work guys, taking notes on the paint brands mentioned.

Johnsan, I hadn't realized till your last post that you were building a Claude - the Ka-14 designation threw me off.  So is the kit of the prototype, or can it be built into some of the later versions?

regards,

Jack

No, it's the prototype. The designation was that used when Mitsubishi entered this in the IJAAF trials that resulted in the Ki-27 Nate. Mitsubishi then submitted it to the IJNAF where with revisions it became the A5M Claude.

Production A5M didn't have the gull wing and the fuselage shape is a bit different. If you want to do a Claude, Fujimi makes 3 or 4 versions in 72nd. Nice kits. If you build in 48th, I don't know where to point you. I don't follow that scale other than to say that Fine Molds just released this subject as a normal kit. That is, it is not bundled with a magazine at an outlandish price.

Right on ... I just received in the mail Fujimi's 1/72 A5M4.  Indeed some very fine surface details, and really look forward to building this one.

Classic Airframes did make this version in 1/48, as well as a trainer model, but I choose the smaller scale due diminishing shelf space.

regards,

Jack

Be careful with the tailwheel on that Fujimi Claude. It's very small and very weak. I've built 4 over the years and ended up scratching a tail wheel on each one. Otherwise, it's a pretty trouble free build. My only complaint about these kits is the thick wing trailing edges.

Hey Johnsan and Panzerpilot, those look great guys! Keep the photos coming!

Josiah: You're welcome to join us. I didn't put any notices up in the other forums this time around since it seemed like everyone was finding their way here without any problems. I'll go ahead and put you down then.

Cliff

Thanks, Cliff. She's looking more and like an airplane!

Johnsan. Looking good there. It does look like a nice fit along the wing roots, etc. I do like the Tamiya stand. It's pretty versitile and better than the cardboard boxes I used before! You can use old pieces of sprue in the holes to hold up parts, etc. The clips are handy.

The left wing here needed a bit more "encouragement", but I have the fit done nicely after a bit of help from some sanding sticks, etc. I've noticed some issues with wing root fit on some Hassie kits. Probably the only glaring issue I've had (though my 109G-14 had no problem).. I would recommend just gluing the cockpit at the fuselage inside top for this kit, so as to not take away fuselage slack that can go towards the wing root.

I''ve built the Classic Airframe version of the Claude trainer in 1/48. Its definitely of the limited run variety, so some extra effort will be needed to get that kit together.  Just trying to fit the resin engine itself was a job in itself.

Wow, looks great Waikong! I've built a few of the Classic Airframes kits and I know what a bear they can be. Funny the Claude is one of the Japanese aircraft I've never modeled, guess I need to get around to doing one someday...

Panzerpilot: Hmmm, I might have to check into picking up a Tamiya stand too, looks a lot more sensible than some of the stuff I've tried propping up on boxes and paint bottles!

Great work everyone!

Waikong - sweet work on that Claude trainer.

Johnsan - thanks for the warning about the tail wheel.  

One other question I have is about the amber protective finish applied to carrier aircraft.  Was this done at the factory, or after the aircraft was allocated to a unit?  If the latter, would it change the colour of markings, particularly if they were white?

regards,

Jack

It's best to have a photo of the plane you wish to model. Not all had the amber coat. The photos I've seen seem to indicate the amber was actually a finish to the aluminum. There is an interesting thread over at j-aircraft.com in the archive section. Several threads actually. One thread has photos of artifacts.

Jack, I'd advise you too to read the article Johnsan mentioned. I've read a bunch of stuff on their site and it's good stuff with very meticulous research.

This is my cockpit so far, not quite as good as what you guys have been doing but I'm happy with it. Probably should have drilled out the lightening holes in the seat but the way it's engineered I'd have to modify the mount underneath since it would show though the holes. As small as the cockpit opening is I decided not to knock myself out here: