Bought a Claude

[spaceshiprepairman]

Some time ago, I was on Ebay, scouting for something affordable and interesting, and came upon a listing for a 1/48 scale resin A5M Claude kit. As the photo looked interesting, and the price seemed right(low starting bid price), I took a chance, figuring that it might have ended up a bit expensive, but one never knows.

The seller listing it described it as having been manufactured by Thrick, and that there was no other information. So, I put in my bid, my being the first one, with 2 days left, and waited and watched. And had the winning bid, the only bid.

A few weeks later, a green cardboard box arrived. The box was in two pieces, was heavy corrugated cardboard, and the ends stapled with heavy staples, and no artwork, save a plain white label, the only English being the manufacturer, Thrick, the rest being Japanese.

Opening the box, I was greeted with artificial green excelsior, kind of like the grass for Easter baskets. Lifting that was a resin model of a Claude. A solid resin model, fuselage, wings, and tail all one solid piece, with the other other piece being what appeared to be left stab broken off, only it was a strange looking break as it was a smooth curve with a hook on the end, and a corresponding slot on the spot where the stab is attached to the fuse.

There is a cockpit, more a hole than anything else, with the sea with belts molded in at the bottom in the right place.

The cowl is separate, with engine molded in, both it and the rest of the model are green resin.

The instruction sheet is a single 7x7 piece of white paper with some diagrams, a small paint guide, and nothing but Japanese characters for instructions.

At first I was disappointed, which I should have kept in mind, caveat emptor, but, upon closer examination, I noticed a few things. First off, for a resin kit, the finish is wonderful, glass smooth, with the panel lines subdued, raised, but not ridiculously, and the lines are spot on when I started measuring and comparing with my copy of Maru Mechanic.

This is actually a very nice kit. I think it dates from the mid-80s to somewhere in the 90s. I can't find a thing out about it, Google search showing no Thricks of any kind.

I would like to detail a few things, the cockpit and the tail hook area. As far as the cockpit is concerned, I'm thinking of two routes, 1 being that I carefully saw the fuselage in half at the head rest and eat it all out with a dremel and manufacture the cockpit per the illustrations in the afore-mentioned Maru publication. Or, 2, I could very carefully hollow out the cockpit even more without splitting it, and build it similar to how a ship in a bottle might be constructed.

And then there is the tail hook, or lack thereofe. On the model, there is a corresponding bump where the hook pivot is, but nothing else. And so far, I have not been able to find any photos of the actual hook, as from what I can discern, the hook itself is more of a flattened casting than a round piece of formed rod.

I would like to post photos, but have been trying, and have been unsuccessful, as I really would like to share some of this with everyone here.

[Don McIntyre]

IIRC, from back in the mists of time, Thrick kits although quite rare (here in the US anyway) were very well thought of. So, it sounds like you got a good deal. The stabilizer is kind of a puzzler, though, I wonder why that's separate?

Edited February 18, 2015 by Don McIntyre

[spaceshiprepairman]

I agree that I did, and I haven't the faintest idea why, but it is too clean to be an actual break.

Is there any more information on Thrick? Such as who might've bought their molds when they folded, as well as other they did?

[spaceshiprepairman]

However, where could I look for hook details?

[treker_ed]

found this on the IPMS usa web site

http://web.ipmsusa3.org/quarterly/subjects-index

and this

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1298081946/?orderid=849401701&moveto=prevtopic

and

http://www.aviationofjapan.com/

found using Microsofts bing search engine instead of google - Thrick resin

not much help I appreciate, but a starting point.

Edited February 18, 2015 by treker_ed

[Ed Russell]

In this thread

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975416-mitsubishi-a5m4-nichimo-172/

there's post from Nick Millman recommending this book

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10228260

From the info on the site it looks like you need it

The FAOW volume is pretty good too..

It appears land-based A5M's had the hook removed, presumably temporariily.

[spaceshiprepairman]

Would that be the A5M2Ouy?

[Tom Hall]

That is a rather rare kit. Are you sure you want to build it? It is a type of "garage kit" and probably only a few hundred were made. I think it will be more valuable if you keep its parts happily in the box with the excelsior. A collector in Japan would probably like to buy it from you. Besides, there are easier kits of the A5M in 1/48.

[spaceshiprepairman]

Well, seeing as I've simply been taking it out and looking it over, trying to decide what to do, not building is an easy option, and yes, there are easier kits, which are more up to date, would be better.

How would I contact any collectors in Japan or elsewhere who might be interested?

[Ed Russell]

the other other piece being what appeared to be left stab broken off, only it was a strange looking break as it was a smooth curve with a hook on the end, and a corresponding slot on the spot where the stab is attached to the fuse.

Almost certainly the original casting was short-shot at that point. The manufacturer has neatly removed the short-shot area and substiuted a new piece for you.

Would that be the A5M2Ouy?

I would think that they just removed the hook temporarily rather than build non-hooked ones - you will need to do some research if you want a definitive answer.

[spaceshiprepairman]

I plan on it