Yokosuka K5Y2 (Willow) IJN – 1/72 Valom

[Dazey]

Hi all,

 

My entry for the GB is the Yokosuka K5Y2 floatplane (nickname, “akotombo”; Allied reporting name, Willow). 

 

 

The K5Y2 (and the land-based version, K5Y1) were used by the IJN as an intermediate trainer from 1934–1945 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_K5).

 

I had originally planned to use the Arii K5Y2 kit, but the Valom one (land-based K5Y1) was on sale, and is a much better kit, so I went with the latter. It has the same plastic parts as the Valom K5Y2 floatplane, so I’ll just need to get the appropriate instructions (maybe from http://1999.co.jp/eng/ or similar). Here are some figure that I hope to use:

 

 

 

And the original Arii kit, should I need it:

 

 

I will attempt a water vignette and some IJN and IJA figures to model a scene like the following (I really don’t know what I’m getting myself in for):

 

 

 

Also, here is a Youtube link with some cool footage of the Willow:

 

 

This will be my first attempt at a water vignette, PE parts, and a short-run kit. What could possibly go wrong? Hey, wait, where are the locating pins??

 

This should be a fantastic GB, and already there looks to be some really interesting projects being slated!

 

Regards,

David

Edited August 29, 2017 by Dazey

[jrlx]

Hi David,

 

Welcome to the GB and thank you for sharing your plans and the interesting reference material! I wish you the best of luck for the project. You'll find out that the added detail provided by PE is well worth the effort and you won't go back from using added detail whenever possible in the future.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

[JOCKNEY]

Hi David

Great choice, I have the old LS version of this kit, can I pick your brains and ask what the orange colour is ? 

Mine is also moulded in the same very bright orange, presumably so you could choose not to paint it, if you so decided.

Good luck with the build

 cheers Pat

[Dazey]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the kind words. I believe the LS and Arii kits are the same. The Arii kit is VERY orange. There is an interesting blog on the “orange” colour of Japanese trainers, again from Nick Millman's Aviation of Japan site: 

http://www.aviationofjapan.com/search?q=trainer+orange

 

At the bottom of his blog, there is a link to a similar blog that may also be of interest:

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/ijnaf-trainer-color.html

 

I hope that information helps. I will probably go for more of a yellow-orange rather than a bright orange. Perhaps something like FS 22544 (http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=22544) by just adding some orange to yellow. I have a couple of pots of Lifecolor acrylic for this!

 

I look forward to seeing your LS kit being done.

 

Kind regards,

David

[Dazey]

Hello all,

 

Not much progress, but at least I have finally started on the Valom 1/72 Willow (I am so far behind, and I can’t believe there are already completions in the gallery!)

 

Fuselage interior primed:

 

 

 

But then I found the following showing the ribbing/stringers where the fabric cover is:

 

 

 

So, remove the kit detail, sand, and then carve some grooves for thin strips of styrene sheets to be glued in:

 

 

 

And glued the strips in:

 

 

 

Will add more framing to the cockpit interior soon.

 

Lead weights (hammered into shape) for the floats were secured with (too much) Tamiya putty:

 

 

 

and the halves glued together (will fill and sand soon):

 

 

PE fret primed and instr. panel painted (MM gloss gun metal – seems a good alternative to black):

 

 

 

Film for the instr. panel painted to pick out the dials etc. (although now the image is enlarged, I now see how untidy it is. Won’t matter in the long run):

 

 

I noticed there is only one set of foot controls on the PE fret (and too many harnesses, surely??), but that’s OK as I’ll have one pilot seated (the instructor). I just hope I don't trash the only one provided.

 

And finally, a call for advice. Can anyone tell me what the object with a fan/blade is on top of the upper wing (arrows on the image below)? Should it have some wires running out of it, I wonder?

 

 

 

Thanks for looking,

David

[jrlx]

Good start, David. Commendable effort to add detail to the interior. That's like something I'd do myself (but in my case, I'd take ages to finish...)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

[Dazey]

2 hours ago, jrlx said:

Good start, David. Commendable effort to add detail to the interior. That's like something I'd do myself (but in my case, I'd take ages to finish...)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

Hello Jaime,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm worried because I also take ages to finish models – this is only my 3rd or 4th of the year!

 

Regards,

David

[jrlx]

8 hours ago, Dazey said:

I'm worried because I also take ages to finish models – this is only my 3rd or 4th of the year!
 

Don't worry too much, David. If it serves as consolation, I've just finished one this year... And have about ten unfinished models in the production line, some of them begun in 2015...

 

Just enjoy the process and have fun

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[Dazey]

Hello all,

 

Some progress on the cockpit/interior. Instrument panel film and PE painted and attached to some styrene backing:

 

 

 

 

Some scratch-building of some controls and interior details:

 

 

Stretched sprue was used for the framing:

 

 

Styrene backing for the quadrants:

 

 

The controls, some of the PE parts and wiring was glued into place. It looks a bit rough, but after some paint it should be better:

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the Tamiya putty used to hold the lead weights in place in the floats melted and distorted the plastic. Sigh:

 

 

 

 

The only thing to do now is add some more Tamiya putty to the outside! Still a loooong way to go on this one.

 

Thanks for looking.
Regards,

David

[jrlx]

Great work detailing the inner walls of the cockpits!

 

It's a shame the distortion of the floats... I've read that the best to avoid this kind of thing is using milliput to hold the lead in place. CA (superglue) for example, reacts with lead and does the same, even if after a few years. Putty seems to be quicker...

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Dazey]

6 hours ago, jrlx said:

It's a shame the distortion of the floats... I've read that the best to avoid this kind of thing is using milliput to hold the lead in place. CA (superglue) for example, reacts with lead and does the same, even if after a few years. Putty seems to be quicker...

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

Thanks Jaime,

 

I had wondered whether there was some kind of reaction with the solvent of the putty and the lead. Oh well, we'll see...

 

Regards,

David

[Dazey]

Hello all,

 

Some progress on the Willow... attended to the distortions on the floats:

 

 

The kit's engine needed some dressing up:

 

 

... so, some fettling and drilling with a pin vice:

 

 

... and added some electrical wires for ignition leads and stretched sprue for push-rods:

 

 

I've also started pre-drilling for all the rigging on the Willow (I'm going to need to keep my wits about me for this):

 

 

My next problem will be the cockpit interior. I hope to have one figure seated, but the kit (like many/most) is engineered such that it's very difficult to squeeze a pilot in.

Thanks for looking.

 

Regards,

David

[amblypygid]

Some excellent improvement work, David. I'm looking forward to watching this progress!

[jrlx]

Good save on the floats, very well done!

 

The added detail of the engine is also a great improvement!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[Stew Dapple]

I'll be honest David, I thought those floats were goners... good save on those, and nice detailing work on the interior and engine

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Dazey]

On 10/28/2017 at 2:12 AM, amblypygid said:

Some excellent improvement work, David. I'm looking forward to watching this progress!

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully my progress will be OK...

 

On 10/28/2017 at 12:10 PM, Stew Dapple said:

I'll be honest David, I thought those floats were goners... good save on those, and nice detailing work on the interior and engine

 

On 10/28/2017 at 10:21 AM, jrlx said:

Good save on the floats, very well done!

 

The added detail of the engine is also a great improvement!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

Hi Jaime and Stew,

Thank you both also for the kind words. 

 

I still have the floats from the Arii Willow kit if it needed, but would like to save them in case I go for a 2nd floatplane version rather than the land-based option.

 

Regards,

David 

[JOCKNEY]

Hi David

 

The save on the floats is amazing, many a kit has been consigned to the shelf of doom with lesser problems 

 

cheers Pat

[Dazey]

On 10/31/2017 at 4:29 AM, JOCKNEY said:

Hi David

 

The save on the floats is amazing, many a kit has been consigned to the shelf of doom with lesser problems 

 

cheers Pat

Hi Pat (and others),

 

I think that the celebration was premature. The disease has returned/progressed:

 

It's a bit scary – I may have to bury this in a deep hole in the back yard. This is annoying, but it won't stop me. One contingency plan is to use the floats from the Arii kit, moulded in ORANGE:

 

 

But some little voice in my head is telling me to add something dense to the inside of the floats (won't be lead and Tamiya putty). They're a different style of float, but it seems from photos that different types were used on the Willow. I will also use the other float from the original kit to make some kind of mould so I can cast a new one with resin. Maybe I'll have to use clay or similar (no experience with doing this, but I'm sure it's not rocket science).

 

I've cleaned up the ailerons and prepared some styrene sheet cuttings for the aileron attachments:  

 

 

... and glued the ailerons in place:

 

 

Not much else has been happening with the Willow as I've been trying to finish an AZ Model F4F-3 kit before year's end (this year is the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea). Hopefully, I will make some headway with the figures soon.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Regards,

David

[JOCKNEY]

Hi David

 

Sorry to see you have had a reoccurrence of the float trouble. I use a bit of lead for weight issues, fishing shot, air gun pellets or a bit from roofing sheet. A dab of superglue seems to do the trick which I glue to one side leaving it to vent well for a couple of days before closing up.

 

Lots of people on here with no doubt better ideas but it works for me.

 

im intrigued with the shade of orange you will choose as my kit is also moulded in that amazing colour which makes me really tempted to try not to paint it.

 

Rose sends her regards by the way  

 

cheers Pat

[jrlx]

Also sorry to see the reocurrence of the floats problem. I only use milliput to keep lead weights in place, as I've read superglue and lead react and cause this kind of problems.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

[Dazey]

Hi all,

 

Not much progress (and only eight weeks left!).

 

Here are the replacement floats. Screws CAed in place). Will let them air for a while longer before gluing the halves together.

 

  

I’ve used a photoetched scriber to scallop-out the vents (only 21 on each side...):

 

 

To represent this:

 

 

 

That wasn’t enough, and I felt the need to scribe some panel lines and add riveting, but where on this fabric-covered biplane?? This will do;

Before:

 

After:

 

 

They might come up OK after some oil washes (that seems a looong way in the future).

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Regards,

David

[jrlx]

Small but important details! Well done!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[JOCKNEY]

Great work David

 

Love the idea of recycling the old screws as weights. I can't help but think the opening the vents, scribing and rivet working is just a shocking display of showing off that your eyesight is a damn sight better than the rest of us !  

 

cheers Pat

[John Masters]

Great work on this so far...and listen....if you can make that engine look so pretty, fix those floats and re-scribe all the vents....well, rigging will be a piece of cake!  

 

Another one to watch with a keen eye...

[Gav G]

On 11/9/2017 at 12:15 PM, Dazey said:

Hi Pat (and others),

 

I think that the celebration was premature. The disease has returned/progressed:

 

It's a bit scary – I may have to bury this in a deep hole in the back yard. This is annoying, but it won't stop me. One contingency plan is to use the floats from the Arii kit, moulded in ORANGE:

I think the reaction with the lead will continue.  You'll either need to bin the floats or disassemble them and remove the lead.