The Zero is looking good. I envy you buildimg that kit.

Here are some updated photos of the A6M5C. The fit of the parts is excellent, virtually no seams that needed a lot of attention. I did do a little work on the spine and ventral fuselage area. At first, they didnt appear like they were going to be an issue, but after I shot the black primer on, they showed up. I used some Mr. Surfacer 1200 on them and sanded down and polished, then reprimed and they were gone. The wing roots also needed a little filler. I used Perfect Plastic Putty here and got everything buttoned up, primed with Stynylrez and coated with AK Extreme Metal Duraluminum. I will be coating a few areas with Ammo of Mig chipping fluid for wear and paint fade. I'll also be adding some ignition wiring to the engine.

I'm liking the progress on that ship, LA - look forward to more.

Freddie, nice trio of builds there, but I'm particulalrly interested in the Claude and it's Shoho markings - do you know if they still sported red tails during Corel Sea engagement?

regards,

Jack

Hey Freddie it's good to have you back with us. And really nice work there on the cockpits. I just put you down. 

LA: Nice looking work there too. I haven't built a ship in forever but you, Steve, and a couple of other guys keep tempting me to try one. 

Freddie, the Kate and Claude both look like they have great cockpit detail. Looks like they are coming along well.

On the hikawa Maru, I have masked off the top deck for the orange ventilation systems.

After the orange was painted, the winch motor and bollards etc were brush painted dark gray with Vallejo acrylics.

On the foredeck:

Windows etc were coloured in on the hull and sides of the different levels.

There are still portholes and doors to be added in a number of walls where there are none moulded in. I have drawn portholes (black dots) on some plain decal paper to add them in.

Here you can see the orange on the top deck; it is more vivid in real life.

Next up I will start assembly before adding finer details. Or maybe I try adding the PE railings before sticking on the details. Not sure, this is my first ship...

Hello Folks!!

I have three Japanese subjects I would like to jump in with.

1)  a Fine Molds A5M4, Model 96 (Claude)

2)  Hasegawa B5N2, Model 97, Carrier Attack Plane (Kate)

3)  Hasegawa A6M2b, Model 0, Carrier Fighter (Zeke)

The "Claude" and the "Kate", are both started, and the "Zeke" is about to get underway.  I was building all these for a Group Build over at another website, and I thought I'd share them here as well, if that's OK?

Starting off, here are a couple pictures of the B5N cockpit.  As you can see, it's a rather busy and involved place.  Good detail, which CAN be seen after the fuselage is closed up, and everything fit well too.

The next couple of pictures, are of the Fine Molds kit.  I have to say this first, that this is probably thir best released model kit, by far.  I've built a few of their kits, and this one really kicks a**!

Overall detail throught the model is excellent.  Inside and out, especially the surface detail on the wings is amazing.  I am very happy with the way the kit is going together.  The cockpit is done, and the fuselage is also closed up.  Painting will begin on the weekend, and I'e chosen a rather unknown scheme for my first "Claude", (Yes I bought a second kit I thought it was so good) That of A5M's that were aboard IJN SHOHO at Coral Sea...

Anyway, here are the cockpit pics, and then a coople closed up, and waiting for the spray booth.

Thanks for looking at my post, folks, and I'll be posting more picsm real soon.  Have a great night everyone!!

Regards,

Freddie from LI

Gee, guess I need to stop taking weekends off here!!! 

WM: Really nice work there, the camo looks great! 

LA: Nice work on the deck, looking forward to the finished result. 

TT: Welcome, I'll try to get you added to the roster at lunch. She shouldn't be too hard, the Zero was stripped down to the bare essentals to make it as agile as possible, it's not that complex a plane. And most of the Zero paint schemes were pretty simple, as compared esp with the Japanese Army's crazy wiggly line schemes. 

Edit: TT- just put you down. 

You can count me in...I just purchased a tamiya 1/48 A6M2 zero this build will give the confidence and motivation to start it...i have never built a zero so wish me luck

Wrinkled, you are a building machine!

Oscar looks great, and the paintwork on the Babs is super too. The results with the silhouette markings is great.

The Ke Nu is coming along well, looking forward to seeing it with the weathering done.

The Mt Fuji scheme on the F 15 is fantastic. I got to see it on a larger scale model at a show, very good.

The Hikawa maru is coming along at a slow rate. First I maked off the white bits for the deck colour - used Mr Hobby Hemp.

Masked off again and did some other colours. Started doing some painting of details as well.

Further work has been done putting some variation in the decks, starting to do handrails, windows and portholes...

I've been a building fool here lately. Finished (sans weathering anyways) is the new 1/35 Dragon Ke-Nu (Type 4 IJA Light Tank). It was a very delightful build with minimal parts and a great fit. The hull is the same as the Type 95 Ha-Go kit with a new turret and some updated hull parts.  That makes two of three build entries complete and the third, a Tamiya 1/72 A6M5, is in primer nearly ready for paint. :)

Enjoy D

Gamera

Wow, that's beautiful!!! Love those air show/ anniversary paint jobs!

 

Wow, that's beautiful!!! Love those air show/ anniversary paint jobs!

Gosh, I'm cranking out my pesky long stagnated builds. This one is the LS 1/144 F-15J and only slightly newer than my recent Mania 1/72 Babs. The tool dates to 1977 and I finished her off with the Platz JASDF F-15J 50th Anniversary / Hyakuri Air Base 305th Squadron markings. If you have every built this kit you will recall it has NO cockpit whatsoever. Thankfully "Retrowings" makes a resin cockpit and with some cutting, hacking and carving I managed to squeeze in the cockpit detail. They also make a nice set of exhaust cans that replace the kit parts.

The kit is a bit long in the tooth and short of dropping $30+ for the far superior 1/144 Tomytec kit the LS kit satisfied my needs just fine. Panel lines are recessed but fat and shallow. I again resorted to the pencil but I really need to start using a straight edge. I promise this is my last overdue Japanese build for at least a week or two anyways.

Next up is 1/700 Yukikaze from Aoshima with the tool dating to 1971. This is my first ship build in a really long time and the kit is just terrible for fit and finish. She is in primer now and with a little luck, I can get the aftermarket railings on along with some paint on the kit sometime early next week.

さよなら

She looks fantastic! And you're more than welcome to post stuff here outside the GB. 

Nice Ki-15!  I have a Silhouette Cameo also and it is a great modeling tool.

What a cool subject, obviously an older kit, but a really nice build. The masking on the canopy would be totally beyond my eyesight & ability!

Would be great to see this AC done in a modern kit, in 48th or better yet 32nd scale! Thanks for posting - any more photos in the file?

Mike

Nice Hinomarus and panel line weathering . And with a pencil!

Thanks gents for the comments on the Oscar.   Not part of this GB, I did finish another Japanese subject tonight that has been languishing for nearly a year.   It is a very old 1/72 (circa 1974) Mania Army Type 97, Ki-15 Babs reconnaissance aircraft. The decals were questionable so I opted to try out the new Silhouette mask cutter and made some very nice Hinomaru masks. :)    Panel line detail was shallow so I tried using an HB pencil over a matt finish followed by a second matt coat.  Please forgive me for posting outside of my GB, but the subject does fit! 

Looks real nice, Wrinkledm.

Despite your problems she looks great! The Alclad NM finish looks perfect from the photo. I went ahead and posted you so grab your badge. I'm still working with the last one but you have a choice there now from the three excellent badges John worked up. 

Looking forward to the Zero and Ke-Nu. 

Oh yeah! I love the Oscar. It looks like a mix between the Zero and Frank, Two of my fav's

I'm calling my alternate model from last year completed. She is the Hasegawa 1/48 Ki-43 Hayabusa and it is a really fine kit despite my best efforts to screw it up. I honestly believe I spend more time fixing my own mistakes than actually building the kit. Right off the bat, I didn't join the tips to the main panels (prior) to joining the top and bottom wing sections. My problems just snowballed from that point on. The paint is Alclad II and the decals are from Max Models.  Previously, I have had good luck with Max Models but this time the were very brittle. Go figure!   On another positive note,  the Ke-Nu and Zero *my other builds, are progressing at a feverish pace.   So without further ado may I present my captured Ki-43 Hayabusa!   Enjoy...

LA: Looks good! Looking forward to seeing how you mask the deck, I've read about how to do it but haven't actually seen anyone do so. 

Dave, hope you keep those little buggers out. Looking forward to your builds.

Nothing much to report on the ship. Started with a bit of white paint on the white plastic - so not much to see really...

Next step is masking before the deck colour - could take some time.

Hey Dave sounds awesome!

Sorry about your home, hope you got all the little sobs and won't be suffering any more damage.

Outstanding. I finished 1 of 2 in the last GB and was sidetracked rebuilding 35' of termite infested walls of my home so I'd like to roll over my remaining build from GB V. Thankfully no kits were damaged by those pesky termites 

1. Ki-43 Oscar (Hasegawa 1/48) - nearly complete from GB V.

2. IJA Type 4 "Ke-nu" (Dragon 1/35) - just started

3. A6M5 Zero (Tamiya 1/72) - just started

Dave Wrinkle

John: They look fantastic to me. I'll throw them up before the end of today. Thanks again!!!

LA: Looks cool, I don't think we've had a merchant ship so far. Just put you down!

Very cool badges, John. Looking forward to earning one!

Mike

The three badges sized to 150 pixels high.

Hey Cliff,

Like to join up with Hasegawa's 1/700 Hikawa Maru. My first ship build so I thought it would be an ease in. However the more I look at it, the more I want to fiddle with.

I have bought some 1/700 PE railings, see if that ends in tears...

I will fit this in with the never ending MB 5 over in 1946.

For some reason I can't see John's pictures - can't see them in the FAA GB either, so I've got to dig a bit deeper there.

Piers