Battle of the Coral Sea Group Build 4 May, 2017 - 8 May, 2018

That is one sharp looking aircraft, pj.  You're doing a great job with it!

Thanks check.

All righty then, Miss Kate has her makeup on. I put 5 drops of MM Dark Sea Gloss and 4 drops pf MM Flat Black enamel in my paint cup and about 12 drops of thinner for the black/blue nose. It looks black in the picture but to the human eye there is a hint of blue in there.

Kate then received about 3 hand brushed coats of Future 10 to 15 minutes apart in prep for decals and washes.

I brushed several coats of Superfilm liquid to make sure the decals would not fracture upon separation from the paper. It takes over 10 minutes for the water to release these decals from 1972!

The Ameiro color is very attractive. Notice the colorful Aotake shade in the gear wells.

My biggest concern were the tail letters and numbers fracturing. I made a photocopy just in case I had to cut out my own masks for them but the decals held together thanks to Superfilm. Not many decals on this one , just what you see here.

Next will be more Future to protect the decals, some washes and then clear flat acrylic followed by some filters and dot weathering for tonal changes.

Forgot about masking and painting the canopy that has a ton of small panels.

Excellent work, pj.  That is a fine-looking aircraft; very pleasing colors!

PJ, this color scheme looks like it will be a fun one for me to try.  I am planning a Kate and a Val someday.  

Thanks Check and scott!

Scott get the Hasegawa Kate if you can, much better detailed in the pit than the old Nichimo.

Yes the color is very interesting and pleasing o the eye. Quite different than the solid green and grey squeme.

Back to work on lady Kate. She got some Flory dark grime wash over Future and when dry was wiped off leaving traces of the wash in the recessed areas. A coat of MM flat clear acrylic was sprayed and when dry did a dot weathering job starting on the wings.

Using a wide brush with a tiny bit of thinner the oil paint is streaked and blended. Most is removed leaving subtle streaks and fading.

The effect is noticeable to the human eye more than the camera can capture. The rest of the plane will get the dot technique along with minor chipping here and there.

The vac formed canopy was a bit of a challenge to mask having VERY faint frame lines. I had to mask the horizontal sections and paint by hand the frames.

tape removed

and finally all the frames done, some were painted freehand.

More to come...

Nice job all around, pj.  And painting frames by hand!  

Thanks again check!

Looks like Kate has her legs on and some light wear on the wing walkways and the blue/black nose area.

Getting ready the torpedo mounting points.

The torpedo got some Alclad dark aluminum and had the fins thinned down using a sanding stick.

Nice work all around; especially good looking wheel wells!

The Akagi is complete.

Thanks check. Wow the Akagi is just awesome Scott!

Great work, Scott!  Great accomplishment, well-done!  Very lifelike and realistic!

Do you have a preference for the finished build photo?

Scott:  just noticed that Akagi is signed up in the Midway GB, not Coral Sea.

A quick Kate update....... Attached the Torpedo racks. I need to make a glass for the bottom window. Nichimo failed to include the glass in the kit.

Found the perfect material for the fish sling, a thin braided cotton/poly line found in my junk drawer. Colored it steel with Alclad paint. Wrapped it around at the top with a drop of thin ca which will go into the tiny hole in the fuselage and bingo!

Next will be thinning and painting the contra rotating props and then arming up Kate.

PJ, that looks very sharp! 

stikpusher

PJ, that looks very sharp! 

 

Thanks stik

That's a great looking torpedo, pj; nice metallic finish.  Pretty creative use of the fibre discovery.  You never know what you're going to find in the junk drawer!

Thanks check. Kate is slowly getting close to completion.

Check,

I just noticed this AM I put the Akagi in the wrong GB.  OPPS!

I was multi-tasking yesterday morning between working on my taxes and adding updates to GB's.  Hmm, better go recheck what I did on my taxes!

I'm adding it to the Midway GB.

Scott:  no audits, I hope!

I'll go over to Midway and take care of things.

Small update on Kate. Got her prop painted and striped.

Finally got that long telephone pole strapped to the bottom! I also made the small glass window using clear parts cement.

Another view

Added some wear on the heavy foot traffic areas

The greenhouse is next and she's about done.

More impressive work, pj.  Outstanding!

I really dig the torpedo setup.  

That is one super job on this classic kit. 

Ok, I’ve chosen this kit for my entry into this GB. Monogram’s Classic F4F (actually closest to a FM-1) that I will be enhancing and backdating into a F4F-3 using these Medallion Models sets. I will be marking it off USS Yorktown at Coral Sea.

Thanks guys. Stik your build will be interesting to follow.

Nice choice, stik.  I remember having it years ago.  I'll update the roster.

My Kate is finished. I did more research on this particular Kate and she had quite a career on the Shokaku. She took part in the second wave that attacked Kaneohe NAS on Dec. 7th, 1941. She also fought at the Battle of the Coral Sea and on Oct.26, 1942, she torpedoed the USS Hornet off Santa Cruz Island. Right after her torpedo run on the Hornet she was shot down by one of the CAP fighters ending her career.

Check you get to pick the picture for the completed page. Thanks for hosting and letting me part take.

Very impressive history on that particular aircraft. What did she do at Coral Sea? 

In any case you did a great job on the classic Nichimo kit. I’ll use your build here for pointers one day...

stikpusher

Very impressive history on that particular aircraft. What did she do at Coral Sea? 

In any case you did a great job on the classic Nichimo kit. I’ll use your build here for pointers one day...

 

Thanks. Not much information that I could find on this one, just bits and pieces. The paint schemes ranging from green mottle over nmf, mottle over grey and mottle over Ame-Iro. Who in the heck really knows is uncertain so I like these colors  so I went with them. The Shokaku was at the Coral Sea battle so I’m sure she flew against the US Navy there.

Yes and the Japanese Carrier Air Groups took heavy losses at Coral Sea. For this aircraft to have flown at Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, and Santa Cruz is downright remarkable. More than likely it also flew at Eastern Solomons as well.