Got some more done this weekend, although it wasn't much.......

In this picture, the ailerons are at the top. Each one comprises 6 parts, four of which are photo-etch - three hinges, and an internal very-small-diameter rod for them to attach to, held captive by the aileron halves. Once the hinges were in place, I glued the two aileron halves together, performed a little sanding on the seams, and voila! I am absolutely LOVING this build! The wing shows the landing gear mechanisms (kinda) that let the gear operate. Very ingenious way for Tamiya to engineer them. They work very well, and look extremely realistic - no "toyish" look at all.

Got the wings glued together. The fit of this assembly was just simply fantastic! What you see here is with no sanding on the seams at all. I will sand the seams eventually, just to clean them up before painting, but if you zoom in a little, you'll notice no gaps at all. And that means no filler! The whole kit has been this way so far. Oustanding engineering on this design!

Hey, just HOW MANY Gary's do we have on this Group Build, anyways?? 

Gary Mason

Devil Dawg,

The Zero is looking good.  You must be happy about the seams!

I think we have enough Gary's for a Group Build someday... 

Gary

Gamera

Put me down for the Tamiya 1/48 KI-61: about time I tried natural metal. I'll be showing it in the 1944 GB also.

Eric

Eric: Just got you down. Good luck with that, NM is fun... 

DD Gary: Looks good! Keep the photos coming please!!! 

We're had multiple people with the same name before- I think we had three named Chris a few years ago. 

Looking good Gary. Yeah, I hate it too when I show up in a GB and there's 3 other guys with the same first name as me 

Latest on the Zero:  canopy masked and installed, and initial coat of IJN Green applied to topside:

AA: Looks good!!! I swear those pre-cut canopy masks are worth their weight in gold.... 

Armor_Aficionado>  Looks good so far!  Those masks make things so much easier!

My own progress on my Zero is slow.  I'm just now getting things removed from the sprues and testing fit.  So far, the fit is pretty good.  The fuselage has a definite angle and I will have to tape it together to make it line up, but nothing I haven't run into before.  I've glued the horizontal stabilizers on, and the cockpit is being assembled.  I'll have it together enough to start painting by the weekend (I hope).  The heat has been a hold-up.

That's all for now.

Gary (one of many)

GAF Gary: Looks good, nice to see everything test fitted. I know what you mean about the heat, it was insane Tue and yesterday. I was reading 95F/35C... 

Upper surfaces finished painting IJN Green, ready for gloss coat and then decals:

It's been 105 to 110 here some days lately, but there's not high humidity in the California Central Valley.  Only 95 today, and it cools off nice at night, into the 60's. 

I see much progress has been made by many, great job, guys! 

I'll consider my entry as complete, although I will still be improving on the weathering, especially the chipping, here and there  

So, here are pics of my completed entry:

So much that could be better, but oh well, will work on improving the next project.

This was fun, and I'm going to help myself to that gorgeous badge now 

Edwin, really like that inflight display, right down to bullet splashes on the water surface - fantastic! 

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

Edwin, really like that inflight display, right down to bullet splashes on the water surface - fantastic! 

 

regards,

Jack

 

Thanks Jack!

Friend of mine saw those splashes, and asked if they were due to bird droppings

AA: She's coming along nicely! 

Edwin: That looks awesome! Every bit of it, the Zero, pilot, base, composition, everything! I assume it's representing the end of the movie? Sorry, don't want to give away any spoiler to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. 

I'll get you up ASAP! 

Bird droppings hmmppphhhh!!!!!!!!! 

Edwin: Just posted you to the front page and I see you already got your badge. Thanks for joining us!

AA> Nice! Hope to see more progess pics soon.

Edwin> That's a great diorama, and a well done sea scape.  Congrats!

Gary

Thanks Gary. My first time with a seascape. It was fun doing it! 

Thanks Gamera. I intended it to be the final scene, however there is a plot twist in the movie which i will not reveal in case anyone wants to watch it. I just made do with the plane that Tamiya supplied in the box. 

Nicely in flight Zero Edwin 

slowly on the Claude: panel lines wash

Looks good Bsyamato!!! You do such an awesome job with the trainer orange! 

Well, the black undercoat is on for Mecha-G. Sorry about the background clutter, I really didn't feel like dragging him upstairs for a better background. I applied the metallic over the weekend, will get photos up soon. 

Looks mighty fine in black, Gamera! What is the finish color going to be?

Thanks, Bsyamato! Can’t wait to see your completed Claude. You build really fast!

Thanks! I went with Alcald II Airframe Aluminum but it seemed too dark. So I applied Chrome over it. It's a little too shiny compared with the movie though. I'm still looking at it and trying to figure out what I want to do. 

Major progress on the Zero today, engine and main landing gear mounted:

AA: That looks good, you're making great progress! 

Bysamato> The Claude is looking good in its orange!  Another great off the main track Japanese aircraft build.

AA>  The Zero looks almost done.  I like your acrylic support.  I need something like that.

Gamera>  Mecha-Godzilla is looking menacing in metallic black!  Good work!

As for me, I've been a bit "blahh" lately, so haven't gotten much done.  The fuselage is together, and the cockpit parts are painted and I've just finished putting the instrument decals on.  They need some Microsol to settle down.  Should have it together and installed this weekend, then I can start on the engine.  Photos then.

Gary

Gary: Hope you feel better soon. The heat and humidity has kept me from wanting to do anything, the tempature is supposed to drop over next week so hopefully I'll want to work on something. 

Zero is glosscoated and ready for decals: