AZ Models 1/48 Ki-48 Lily

[Harvs73]

Here are a few more interior shots both before, and after the paint job. The stuff I have scratchbuilt is in white whilst the kit bits are painted:

The painted and weathered interior prior to sealing it up, I just have to add the morse code unit for the observor in the rear cockpit:

The handle looking thing to the right rear of the pilots seat is the emergency wheel activation system I beleive.

Here is the original thread that I posted in the Modelling forum:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46023

Edited August 1, 2010 by Harvs73

[spitfire]

Looks pretty amazing to me, looks like you are doing a good job.

Cheers

Den

[Guest snipersmudge]

Wow nice pit very interesting, any chance of a box top pic?

[crookedmouth]

Oh! That looks good! I'll be watching this...

[Harvs73]

I have finally managed to get some more done, the model as it is currently(engine cowlings not stuck on yet):

All the scratchbuilding and the ease of the fueslage going together was just to lull me into a false sense of security. Here we have the two most painful parts of the build - the wheels and the engines.

The main undercarriage needs to be at an angle facing forward to match the original aircraft but the instructions don't even hint at this. To get the right angle you need to move the connection point back a bit and also pin the ends down as the joint is flimsy. I ended up replacing the legs on one side as they snapped during the build.

The next problem is that the main undercarriage has a form of cover that is supposed to slip between the legs and the cowling to cover the front of the undercarriage leg - it doesn't fit! I ended up having to trim the cover to appear as if it fits and runs up into the cowling. This is all due to the forward sweep of the main undercarriage making the gap too small in between the undercarriage leg and the front of the wheel well, if I left it straight up and down as per the instructions it would not have occured. The cover comes in two parts, the smaller is the one that goes on the side of the support, it also needs to be trimmed to fit the space. I pinned most of the main undercarriage parts with small pieces of wire as the contact area for glue is not very much. The small support for the undercarriage (part 54) goes down into the wheel gap on the main wing interior. The scissor links go onto the REAR of the undercarriage legs, unlike what the instructions show you.

The engines - as they are resin they need superglue and the pistons probably need to be pinned to the crank as well. Of course the engine does not fit into the cowling so you can either thin out the cowling or trim the tops off the cylinders. As the cylinders are not able to be seen when all closed up I chose to trim the tops off them so they fit. The exhaust is supposed to go around the base of the resin engine crank so that it fits correctly out the cowling(poor instructions). The wings have engraved lines to locate the cowlings but they don't fit there. All I have added to the engines is the ring around the base of the crank, this was made out of copper wire. The exhausts have also been drilled out. I have yet to complete painting the engine prior to sealing it into the cowling.

[Harvs73]

I have finally managed to get back into working on the 1/48 Ki-48. Here I have glued the nose glazing on and started to mask it up in preparation for painting. The only problem is that the nose canopy is a touch thinner than the fueslage. This could have been fixed by trimming the fueslage halves prior to glueing them together but I missed it, now I have to sand down the exterior and rescribed the panel lines to match. I am going to fill all the gaps around the canopies and then sand it so it merges into the fueslage.

These shots do show that the only real drawback for the kit on the outside is the nose angles as it is an obvious problem. All other errors to me are not really noticeable even with photos to reference against.

Edited July 3, 2010 by Harvs73

[Metallicus]

great looking bird

[Mentalguru]

Looking forward to seeing this one in paint!

[robw_uk]

thats one impressive cockpit.... and the rest is coming on nicely....

[Harvs73]

Finally managed to get down the first coat on the Lily using Humbrol 166 I think (it's in the garage and it's too cold to go out there now to find out). The paint has brought out all the blemishes and I have a fair amount of cleanup to do before putting another coat on. It also highlights that the trailing edges needed a great deal more thinning prior to glueing them together.