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It's the Green Kawanishi... ** FINISHED **


Foxbat

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Another quicky, just to make you think I'm doing stuff. Here she is on just the outriggers. Tamiya have very thoughtfully made the mounting holes in the wing asymmetric so you can't fit the floats on the wrong side. They must have heard of me in the design studio :) 

 

7QUXIBG.jpg

 

Andy

Faffing towards a finale

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Tamiya decals are horrible. Thick, not very sticky, immune to Decal Fix and about as bendy as etched brass (the leading edge yellow stripes are given as decals - I've laid floor tiles that were more flexible and easier to work with) :fraidnot:  Still, I shall Percy Vere, as the only other option is masking and painting, and I don't have the right colours, patience or dexterity for that.

 

On the plus side, all the photos I've found online suggest that despite the harsh operating environment these aircraft didn't get heavily weathered, something I'm grateful about as I have real trouble weathering decals to match a well used paint job. Wonder if most of them didn't survive long enough to get worn - a sobering thought :o

 

Andy

Contemplative.

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I finally got a decal to stick flat, first time. It reacted well to the Decal Fix,and settled down beautifully. Then I checked the marking diagram to place the stencil that goes next to it and discovered that it was the wrong size, and therefore in the wrong place. Which led to some creative use of the Anglo Saxon as it wouldn't move for love nor money. Out came the scalpel and I scraped it off, then had to repair the paintwork where I'd scraped through to plastic. I've painted the relevant lines in now, but they're freehand and a bit raggy, so more work fixing that. 

 

Am I having fun yet :D 

 

Andy

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I'm keen to see how you go with this, though I've only a 1/72 Hasegawa double boxing of one of these ( or something similar :unsure: ) & a A6m Rufe. They're a cool looking bird, its always nice to see what they're 'sposed to look like in the flesh plastic as it were.

Steve.

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23 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I'm keen to see how you go with this, though I've only a 1/72 Hasegawa double boxing of one of these ( or something similar :unsure: ) & a A6m Rufe. They're a cool looking bird, its always nice to see what they're 'sposed to look like in the flesh plastic as it were.

Steve.

Your wish is my wossname :) Here she is as I left her last night. The red 'No step' line round the flaps is freehand painted as the original decal put the  span wise line level with the aileron. I've coloured in the hinge lines for flap and aileron with a biro to try and give some impression of them as separate parts. The wing leading edge markings were a whole herd of swine to get bent to shape and stuck down. Used about half a jar of decal fix, and had to resort to hacking at the with a scalpel blade to get rid of the ripples where they refused point blank to lie flat and follow the contours of the wing. If anyone has an 'out of the tin' colour match so I can just paint the next ones I would be very grateful.

 CKefDdA.jpg

 

The mark on the engine cowl is a reflection of the flash. At least, I hope that's what it is, I can't see it on the model.

 

Andy

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It's progressing well, despite the recalcitrant decals. I also had some difficulties with the decals of a Tamiya Bf 109 and it didn't help that I gloss coated the model with Alclad's Gloss Coat before decaling, which made micro set and micro sol difficult to spread. At the time I thought it was because acrylic solutions don't spread well over a lacquer coat but I'm not sure this is the case. Anyway, I've gloss coated with Aqua Gloss before decaling since then and never had difficulties again spreading the decal solutions.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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6 hours ago, jrlx said:

It's progressing well, despite the recalcitrant decals. I also had some difficulties with the decals of a Tamiya Bf 109 and it didn't help that I gloss coated the model with Alclad's Gloss Coat before decaling, which made micro set and micro sol difficult to spread. At the time I thought it was because acrylic solutions don't spread well over a lacquer coat but I'm not sure this is the case. Anyway, I've gloss coated with Aqua Gloss before decaling since then and never had difficulties again spreading the decal solutions.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

I've gloss coated with Vallejo Game Colour gloss coat as it's what I had. Seems to go on OK over the Tamiya acrylic which isn't always the case - the alcohol versus water base of the two brands doesn't always play nicely together. I'll keep going though as despite my posts I am actually enjoying this immensely.

 

Andy

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Well, it was a struggle, but with a smile, a wink and a following wind I have decalled the main airframe and slapped a coat of mat varnish over the results. Need another coat to cover the gap, then it's the floats and finishing. Might have this done by Christmas - hope so. I have another build thread on here and another 'few' suitable kits in the stash (and the post. Why do group builds always increase the stash instead of making it smaller?)

 

This is Rex this morning. Handsome devil, even after my less than gentle ministrations :)

 

BsJnCne.jpg

 

Andy

Fixer-upper

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On 10/26/2017 at 5:29 PM, Foxbat said:

This is Rex this morning. Handsome devil

Hello Andy,

 

I've just checked in to see the progress on your Kawanishi, and it is coming along nicely. I also think the Rex is an attractive plane.

 

Do you mind me asking what paints you are using?

 

I have a strange Aki resin kit of one of the two Rex prototypes, and am thinking of finishing it in orange and black (when I eventually get around to doing it).

 

Regards,

David 

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1 hour ago, Dazey said:

Hello Andy,

 

I've just checked in to see the progress on your Kawanishi, and it is coming along nicely. I also think the Rex is an attractive plane.

 

Do you mind me asking what paints you are using?

 

I have a strange Aki resin kit of one of the two Rex prototypes, and am thinking of finishing it in orange and black (when I eventually get around to doing it).

Hi David,

I'm using Tamiya XF-70 (IJN Dark Green 2) for the upper surfaces with a wash of Vallejo Game Ink 72090 (Black Green) to darken it and give some tonal variation. XF-70 is supposed to be a match for IJNAF Dark Green D2 but Nick Millman suggested in a thread I linked to above that it is a little light so I added the wash. The instructions say to use XF-11 (IJN Dark Green) which is the more usual Black Green but I'm using that on another couple of builds and wanted something a little different here.

 

The under surfaces are Tamiya XF-12 (IJN Grey) which changes colour depending on the ambient light from pale blue to grey to a washed out grey-green not too far from RAF Sky. I can see how wartime reports of Japanese colour schemes could get confusing.

 

The whole lot is covered with watered down Vallejo Game Colour gloss varnish before decalling, then smothered in a couple of well diluted coats of their matt varnish to finish. It might have been better to use satin instead as I'm sure I've read that the colour should have a slight sheen, but I'm attributing my finish to  the effects of weathering.

 

I'd love to find a good match for Japanese trainer orange as I have a couple of schemes in that colour on the decal sheet I got for my Rufe. They'd make a great change from grey or grey/green.

 

Andy

Edited by Foxbat
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Last one before I scoot for the weekend. Floats are just pressed in, not glued, and she's just sitting on the beaching trolley, but I can see the finishing line from here. Went for those markings so I can use the early exhausts which are much more aesthetically pleasing than the cut down later ones. On such subtleties do builds turn :)

 

Gw3PGXD.jpg

 

Andy

Getting there.

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8 hours ago, Foxbat said:

I'd love to find a good match for Japanese trainer orange as I have a couple of schemes in that colour on the decal sheet I got for my Rufe. They'd make a great change from grey or grey/green.

 

Andy

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for the information. I have got some of the the Tamiya paints, but have also started using some of the Vallejo Model Air paints. They now have sets of paints for IJN and IJA aircraft, so I'll mix and match (I take your point about wanting some variation between models).

 

As for the orange colour, there seems to be some debate. I've posted a quote below with some links on this, but I will by just mixing some yellow and orange until I'm satisfied.

On 9/7/2017 at 8:46 PM, Dazey said:

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

 

Regards,

David

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Thanks for those links David. Ordered some Revell melon yellow as it looks like the closest (only?) match off the shelf. My Rufe build will commence when it arrives, best put a sunglasses advisory tag on the thread :D 

 

Andy

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8 hours ago, Foxbat said:

Thanks for those links David. Ordered some Revell melon yellow as it looks like the closest (only?) match off the shelf. My Rufe build will commence when it arrives, best put a sunglasses advisory tag on the thread :D 

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy,

 

Fantastic! Looking forward to seeing your Rufe. 

 

Regards,

David

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  • 2 months later...

I haven't forgotten this, or the looming deadline. She's 99.5% finished now - just have to add the warning stripes to the prop, colour the wingtip lights and tidy the canopy glue off the paint. More pictures later.

 

tvwarjZ.jpg

Andy

Edited by Foxbat
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OK, calling this one done. More transfer woes mean I just painted the prop warning stripes. Added the nav lights to the wingtips, but they're pretty much invisible. I'll take some pics now I have daylight and update the gallery.

 

Oh, one more thing... (said in best Columbo style). Tamiya provide decal 14 which they say indicates the 6th Maintenance Unit. In three months of searching the instructions I've yet to find where to stick it. Poor decal 14 :weep:

 

Andy

Relieved.

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Hi Andy,

 

Beautiful Rex. Just one thing (now that you've probably removed the canopy glue), is the sliding portion on backwards?

 

Sorry if that seems crazy.

 

Regards,

David

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5 hours ago, Dazey said:

Hi Andy,

 

Beautiful Rex. Just one thing (now that you've probably removed the canopy glue), is the sliding portion on backwards?

 

Sorry if that seems crazy.

 

Regards,

David

Thank you. I've just been and checked and I think it is. The joys of late night rushing to get finished :( 

 

Andy

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