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Nakajima A6M2-N (Rufe) Type 2


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Back again and hopefully on time with this build! All my 1/32 kits are in storage for the next couple of months so I thought I would throw my hat in the ring with Hasegawa's 1/48 Nakajima A6M2-N Type 2 Rufe from their 'Yokosuka Flying Group' (Limited edition) boxing:

 

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I will be adding the SBS Model A6M2 cockpit which will need some minor modifications for the Rufe variant. I also have the Eduard masks and to top it off the scheme will be provided by Montex K48095 in the aircraft of Lt. Yamasaki of the 802 Kokutai (the bottom scheme):

 

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I have some references, including the MMP Zero book by Artur Juszczak (which has nothing on the Rufe per se) and a couple of others. One of which is the Osprey "Modelling the Mitsubishi A6M Zero" and lo and behold, chapter 3 has Brian Criner's Rufe build:

 

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Thanks for stopping by and see you again I hope.

 

Regards,

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Good choice. I think this is one of the best looking seaplanes from WW11. Joe. 

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Hi Kent,

 

Welcome to the GB! That's an interesting choice you've made. Looking forward to seeing it taking shape :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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  • 1 month later...

Welcome back,

 

There are some great builds here and I have been a bit remiss. I have “broken plastic” on the project, the fuselage halves are joined, the resin has all been cleaned and some installed. I hope to post some progress shortly.

 

Regards,

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  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome back and thanks for your patience,

 

As requested Jaime here are some photos!

 

Progress has been made but slowly. First off a change of cockpits. The SBS kit is sublime but not for the Rufe so I invested in the CMK set and upon its arrival set about fettling it together. I did manage to snap the wafer thin seat in the first day so I pulled out an Ultracast one with moulded on harness:

 

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Now you may notice in the centre of the cockpit floor there is nothing. I set about searching to see if there was anything peculiar about the Rufe concerning the floor, as without one the control column had nothing to sit on. With nothing coming to light, I plugged it with some styrene sheet and scratched the rudder control lower assembly. The instrument panel and forward firewall have also been set in place:

 

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I then joined the fuselage halves and inserted the cockpit rear firewall assembly into place. I plan to insert the completed cockpit in from underneath at an appropriate time. The fuselage gun cover was glued in place then all the seams worked. A daub of Mr Surfacer 500 is where I am at now to eliminate the seams. A test fit of the floor and forward firewall assembly into the fuselage shows promise:

 

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I then turned my attention to the landing trolley and main float assembly. The trolley was assembled now to use as a holding device for thefloat. Wheels will go on eventually. The main float needs 16g according to the instructions, so I slipped 20g of Uschi’s Three Green flexible lead into the front end. Mine had apparently dried in the bottle so it was a tad flaky but a bit of kneading saw it restored to a workable mixture. It was set in place and adhered to the inside of the port float and the starboard one which was then tightly clamped and cemented with Tamiya Extra Thin along the seams and allowed to set up for an extended period. The joint seam has been addressed with sanding sticks and some Mr Surfacer 500:

 

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The wing floats have had the same treatment but no weight:

 

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The wing lower section has been removed and dry fitted to the central float section. The join will need some fettling so I think I am going to attach the wing uppers to the completed fuselage after the cockpit is done, then the float to the lower section before gluing the wings together upper and lower. At least that is the plan for now. Next up some paint on the cockpit pieces and an overall primer coat to check the fuselage/float seams once finished with touch ups.

 

Regards,

 

 

 

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Finally got some colour on, Tamiya fine Grey primer 48 hours ago followed by Colourcoats Nakajima Interior Grey Green for the cockpit areas this morning. I had to remove the rear firewall from the fuselage as it was just too fiddly to fit the seat:

 

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The seams on the fuselage and float have come up nicely under a coat of primer. Just a small spots on the front of the float and on the gun cover insert:

 

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Many thanks for checking in.

 

Regards,

 

 

 

 

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Welcome back,

 

The work in the cockpit continues with addition of the Eduard PE some detail painting and scratch building some of the levers:

 

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Copper wire will be used as the seat bungee cord so painted MM Bone and allowed to dry. Larger gauge for some levers and bits of resin. The camera is brutally honest so I can see a few touch ups but once done it’s a gloss coat then a wash.

 

Regards,

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Many thanks Jaime,

 

I did some more work on the cockpit and got the sub assemblies complete and gloss coated. Some of the PE pieces did not want to cooperate, so they were nixed and replacements made from brass wire:

 

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I noticed the rear fuselage section had a distinct join line about 3/4 of the way back and was not a panel seam. It would appear that when Hasegawa cut the original A6M2b mould to incorporate the larger tail section for the N series Rufe, they left a noticeable sink hole at the join line. Not insurmountable as some fine sandpaper followed by Mr Surfacer 500 should remedy the problem. I had to touch up a couple of other seams on the float and gun covers, so I figured whilst I was here:

 

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Next up pin wash, some highlights in the cockpit and a couple of instruments decals to be added followed by a flat coat.

 

Regards,

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Welcome back,

The cockpit assemblies have their AKI Neutral Grey wash and Ultra Flat varnish coat. You may be just be able to make out the compass in the centre console which is an Airscale item from the RAF instrument set, punched out and set in place. The rear bulkhead and seat has been attached to the floor/forward bulkhead assembly:

 

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The fuselage has been sanded back and wing uppers have been attached to the fuselage to minimise the potential problem of misfit. The black dots denote panel lines that have been filled with Perfect Plastic Putty as per instruction and the whole lot will be primed again to check:

 

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The main float has also been attended to and awaits a primer coat to check and it will then be mated to the lower wing assembly. When I am happy with the bond the cockpit will be inserted and the lower wings aligned and attached:

 

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The strange open ended rear that Hasegawa have come up with for the float attachment is a little perplexing. It may get some fairing in but I will have to check my scarce references.

 

Regards,

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Excellent result on the cockpit! Very well done!

 

The fuselage and upper wings assembly, as well as the float, look very good as well!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Thanks Jaime,

 

I have applied PPP to the port wing root to minimise a small step. Whilst that is setting up, I turned my attention to the engine and cowling. The exhausts for the A6M2 were two single exhausts situated under the forward cowl. Hasegawa provide two small replicas and a scribed placement. Once I had put them on, they just didn't look quite right so I drilled them out:

 

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A little tidy up around the joins because I was too eager and some primer and they will be ready to go. I have also completed construction of the engine. Once the cowling goes on, there isn't much to see so it will be OOB (well almost - just some simple wiring).

 

Regards for now.

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Another week has flown by but I do have some progress to report.The cockpit has been installed into the fuselage of the aircraft:

 

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The cockpit side coamings will need some work to match the cockpit interior as they are just too clean! With the cockpit installed, I began to work on the wing underside. I wanted to get the seam at ihefront under the cowling as minimal as possible so I started there. Once I was happy with the join, I started at each wing tip and moved inwards, firstly at the rear tapering edge and then the leading edge until all was secured. This left me with good bonds but a nasty little step on the leading edges, however these are easier to deal with in clean up:

 

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This also left a fair gap at the rear of the wing insert but I shall fill that with some plastic strip and reshape it:

 

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The engine has had some paint and awaits the wiring for the pre drilled holes. The engine cowling has been done in MM Flat Black as has the rear turtleneck and the canopy interiors. These were masked both inside and out with the vinyl Montex masks. These work well on the interior concave curves but tend to lift at the edges on the exterior convex ones, so Eduard masks will replace the exterior framing masks. All the interior masks were moved and the rear canopy was attached with a piece of Tamiya tape to mask the aerial rod opening:

 

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I then could not resist a mock up with the fuselage sitting atop the main float in its trolley and the wing floats attached:

 

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Not sure why the picture sizes are all over the shop. Obviously something I did in the taking/uploading of them. So there we are for the time being. A short break as I head into hospital for a little hernia surgery in the AM, then hopefully back at it later in the week.

 

Regards

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Welcome back,

 

Hernia surgery ticked off so back to the bench for a couple of hours. The gunsight has been attached as well as the front windscreen. The majority of the external Montex masks have been removed and replaced by Eduard ones. A small lip on the port rear canopy has been filled with PPP:

 

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Work on the LE and lower cowling seams has continued along with filling the gap in the underside:

 

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Regards,

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Great to know the surgery went well and you're back in business :)

 

Nice progress with necessary tidying up of small spots and areas. The engine looks really good!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Thanks Jaime,

 

It is good to be back at the bench. I’ve started wiring the engine using 0.2mm lead wire:

 

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7 more to go on the front side!

After a couple of hours work:

 

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Some colour to the wiring and then a gloss coat and wash.

 

Regards,

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