Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" 1/72, Airfix, Pearl Harbor

[Marco1965]

I had been expecting this kit in 1/72 for so long (as I am expecting a new release Aichi "Val" and a P-36), Airfix's offering is as good as I would have expected of a new release.  It has been described several times already, so I'll just say that it is beautiful OOB, I like all the armament options and canopy positions that it offers.  But might improve with some PE (I got EDU73536, which has one pre-colored fret and another in natural metal).  Only disappointment is the absence of a second 500pd bomb, needed if you want to represent EI-311 with the external ordnance used during the Pearl Harbor attack of 2 x Type 98 500pd bombs. Curiously, the kit includes the second rack for a second bomb, the proper holes under the fuselage for it, but no bomb.  Arresting kook was broken.  Ok, anyway, I started assembling the kit couple days ago, PE makes work much slower, as tiny bits are provided small details.  

 

 

 

Cockpit is really well detailed, there is more detail there than information at hand to check for accuracy.  I used Forrest Green + White (80/20) for the interior, and weathered with water color wash and drybrush.  Perfect match for the precolored parts.  PE parts really improve the details in the cockpit, specially the seats, instrument panels, and others.

 

The Type 97 MG got some PE bits which make it look much better.  Will be in the stowed position anyway, but still will be able to see some detail.

 

The cockpit almost finished.   I only drilled open the structural holes on the floor.  I guess there was no extreme weathering at the start of the war, so I kept it quite light.

 

Have to be careful with the radio box, the PE part is significantly taller than the plastic part, and it is correctly indicated in the instructions to move it to the left so that it will fit under the fuselage halves.  

 

PE seat looks very nice with all those structural holes (The plastic one provided in the kit has the holes simulated, but you would need to drill them open).  Really crowded, will look good under the open canopy option.

 

The Sakae 11 as provided is very nice, two separate rows of cylinders, exhaust ring and exhaust decently molded.  I painted it steel and washed with Panel Line Accent Color (Tamiya).  PE Ignition ring was the only added extra.

 

 

 

   It surprises me how scarce references for this type of a/c are, it is a pitty (at least I can't find them).  And that is it, I thought that it would be a "long weekend project", but it is proving to take longer, enjoying it a lot though!

 

Marco

[Azgaron]

Very  nice work so far!

 

Håkan

 

[Courageous]

Excellent build progress and the crew quarters are looking the part.

 

Stuart

[109 fan]

Looks great, Marco. I really like the effect of the PE parts.

[Marco1965]

I realized in time that the Eduard PE instructions for the machinegun sights are wrong... The ring sight should be at the back of the barrel, the pin sight at the front.  Fixed them, painted the machinegun gun metal, and glued it in position with CA.  As I intend to show my B5N2 still on the carrier deck, with the crew about to board it, the machinegun should be in the stowed position.  Airfix provides the machinegun both in stowed and deployed positions, nice touch.  And that is it, cockpit ready.

 

 

Marco

[Stew Dapple]

That's looking really nice mate

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Marco1965]

Some more advances with the Kate.  I glued the fuselage halves together without any issues, and then the wing assembly to fuselage.  Some pressure was necessary to make them fit, and in the end I had to fill with putty small gaps between upper wing panels and fuselage.  Then this topic about the fuselage color around the cockpit and under the canopy started to bother me.  In most models that I have seen, that area is painted the same green as the cockpit, in some of them extending even behind the machinegun, as if everything below the closed cockpit was same cockpit color, in others the green color does not reach the gunner area.  Thing is, I have not been able to find a picture or a solid reference confirming this.  The only hint that I found, is a B&W picture of a captured Kate, where the fuselage around the pilot´s cockpit, inner windshield frame and panel under the windshield, match the cockpit color (at least in B&E).  But I think that I will use artistic license for the observer and gunners areas.

 

 

   Meanwhile, I continued with other areas, and was quite surprised to find that the parts provided for the dropped flaps look like this:

 

   What happened to the fabric-covered third flap?  I was about to start simulating the fabric on the rebel flap, when an inner voice told me "do some research... do some reseearch...", which I did, and surprise, that is the CORRECT FLAP!  The B5N2 flaps were ALL METAL, only the ailerons were fabric covered.  Newt step will be to sand them smooth to simulate the metal skin.

 

Marco

[Azgaron]

Nice work and nice looking cockpit!

 

Håkan

 

[Marco1965]

Flaps fixed using Tamiya Gray putty, some sanding and finally Mr. Surfacer 1200.  Now they have the correct all metal covered appearance.

 

1. Putty applied to the flaps with simulated fabric cover.

 

After sanding

 

After Mr. Surfacer 1200

Marco

Edited July 2, 2018 by Marco1965

[Marco1965]

The pilot’s canopy sliding rail, very notorious in the Kate, is missing in the kit. I used stretched sprue (not 0.5mm styrene strip as written before) to simulate it, improves appearance a lot.

 

 

It still needs some sanding, but it looks much better than the featureless fuselage.

 

 

Marco

Edited July 3, 2018 by Marco1965
I started trying 0.5mm styrene strip but it was too big, had to use fine stretched sprue.

[Azgaron]

Nice work with the sliding rail!

 

Håkan

 

[Marco1965]

And some other minor corrections before starting to prepare for painting.  When choosing dropped flaps, there is an evident gap in the wing of the kit as shown in the Picture.  It shouldn’t be there, only a couple structural holes.  The gap was filled with grey putty, it will be sanded smooth and the two structural holes drilled open later.

 

 

 

Marco

 

[Marco1965]

Some more detailing before proceeding to paint the Kate.  I completed the sliding rails for the rear canopy.  The pictures of the Kate at the Pacific Aviation Museum show these rails in good detail, it was difficult to appreciate these in available pictures of WWII, in some of them they are barely noticeable, but in fact they are quite evident in good pictures.  

 

 

Additionally I finished the details of the wing area near the flaps, sanded smooth the putty filling and then drilled open the structural holes according to references. These are only noticeable if the flaps are assembled in the lowered position.

 

Marco

[ArmouredSprue]

Nice project.

I'll be following to see how it endds

Cheers

[Marco1965]

Working on the Landing gear, quite simple arrangement.  Although well represented, some detail can be added, like the small nuts on the rim plates, I simulated them by simply punching small holes in place.  I painted the tires with a mix of black-white (80-20), masked and then painted the rims in Non buffing aluminum.  The struts got the retraction scissors and brake lines from Eduard, painted NB Aluminum as well.  A wash will tone down the color a little bit.  A big plus from Eduard are the side wheel well doors, much more realistic than the thick plastic ones provided in the kit.

   I replaced the pitot tube provided in the kit with one issued with surgical needles, 2 calibers, looks much better (and never breaks!)

Marco

[Marco1965]

After priming with Mr. Surfacer 1200, I preshaded with black and then applied Tamiya's XF-76 IJN Gray-Green.  I will use a different shade for ailerons, elevators and rudder, as the fabric resulted in a different tone.  Flaps will have the same XF-76 color as they were metal.

 

Notice that I cut the extended landing gear markers before painting (the cut parts shown on the wing, a nice and accurate detail from Airfix, but too thick), and will replace them at the end with scratch PE parts.

Marco

[72modeler]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 7:32 AM, Marco1965 said:

What happened to the fabric-covered third flap?

We had some discussion on this very subject in an earlier topic,  along with some reference sources- you should be able to search for it in the WW2 section.

Mike

[Marco1965]

 

10 hours ago, 72modeler said:

We had some discussion on this very subject in an earlier topic,  along with some reference sources- you should be able to search for it in the WW2 section.

Mike

Thank you for the hint, Mike, and yes, I think that you are right.  I had gotten the metal covered version from "Pacificaviationmuseum.org" (quote "The B5N wings had a flush-riveted stressed metal skin with all-metal flaps and fabric-covered ailerons [Francillon 1969 61 1995 415]."  But checking pictures of the flaps, I found two clearly showing that they consisted of a metal structure, but evidently the cover, which should have been fabric, is missing (the metal would not have deteriorated in that way).  Like the one below, the metal frame is there, fabric is not anymore (The other one is of a Kate under the sea, same thing, flap metal structure is complete, cover not anymore).

 

   All right, and what do I do now with my dropped already "fixed" metal flaps, HA! I guess that this Kate will have retracted flaps! (I will represent it before takeoff, and according to the available references, flaps were most of the time completely retracted, and during takeoff, only like 10° drop was used, if at all).  Thanks agani, Mike!

 

Marco

[Stew Dapple]

Raised flaps would also be the best choice if you were intending to use the red outliine decal for the flap area as it does not fit with the lowered flap parts...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[72modeler]

Marco,

 

Don't be so quick to trash those flaps! See the link to B5N2 reference article below- the flaps were evidently metal-framed and metal covered. During my search for information in my previous posts on the  fabric/metal covered flap issue, I did find this article as well as scale drawings in my Maru Mechanic on the Kate that clearly showed the wing flaps were all metal. Because Airfix did not put any fabric representation on that one inboard flap section, the first thought was that that section was metal-covered to act as a step, but in reality, all of the flap sections were metal-covered. In addition, the old Mania/Hasegawa B5N kits show the flap sections as being metal-covered, and the kit was regarded as being a very accurate one. I hope this helps!

Mike

 

https://www.pacificaviationmuseum.org/pearl-harbor-blog/nakajima-b5n2/

[Marco1965]

Here we go again, I like this!  I read the pacific aviation museum.org description before, Mike, and I was convinced about the metal cover until I checked pictures like the ones below.  Pictures of derelict Kates show the flap metal frame, without any trace of metal cover.  I guess that, if the cover would have been metal, we would still see it attacked.  Fabric would have disintegrated, though.  I would appreciate your opinion about this.

 

 

Marco

 

[72modeler]

Marco,

 

I found this very interesting and informative article this morning and it might give you a more definitive answer to your flap question. See the b&w photo of the Kate captured at Jacquinot Bay and evaluated by the allies. Note the extended wing flap section without any trace of sagging, rib tapes, or other fabric texture. In the Francillon book Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, he states that the Kate's flaps were all-metal, not fabric covered. You might also consider contacting the museum/restoration staff and ask them to answer your question regarding the flaps, as they have the real article in their hands. I hope this gets you closer to your answer. You should also go to the J-aircraft website and read all of the very exhaustive discussion on the Kate that they have. I have posted the link for your use. Cheers!

Mike

 

http://warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/nakajima-kate-unveiled-pacific-aviation-museum-pearl-harbor.html

 

http://www.j-aircraft.com/faq/B5N.htm

[Marco1965]

Hi Mike, thank you for all the information.  I had noticed that in the pictures of the captured Kate, there is no noticeable sagging.  I noticed the same on other well known pictures, like the ones of Fuchida's AI-301 landing and taking off April 1942.  I will contact the museum at PH.  I really can't find nothing specific about the flaps at the j-aircraft Kate thread, will check it more thoroughly.  Meanwhile, flaps will be the last thing that I will attach to my Kate, evidently.

 

Marco

[Marco1965]

Well some more advances.  I will represent the Pearl Harbor option offered in the kit, it has a quite attractive blotched camo applied freely over its Grey-Green paint.  After painting the Kate in XF-76 IJN Grey Green, I used a slightly different shade for the control surfaces, mixing Light Ghost Gray and Armor Sand 3/1.  Quite similar but a little more grayish.  Finished painting the engine as well.

 

   In a couple reference pictures of EI-311 group flying formation over Pearl Harbor, there is a "halo" around the meatballs, the painter left a narrow band around the Japanese roundels in gray color, without Dark Green camo (on others the camo touches the roundels, but I liked this one better, and as there is no picture of EI-311 from above...).  I cut maskings marginally larger than the Japanese markings and stuck them in place with masking tape, separated from the surface around 2-3mm.  Notice that the Japanese roundel extends back to the aileron (the kit instructions don't show this correctly).

 

And started airbrushing the camo as best as I could imagine was on EI-311.  

 

 

I guess some retouches will be needed to make the circles around the roundels more irregular, but I am quite happy with the results so far.

 

Marco

[Andwil]

Looking good Marco.  I think your circles look fine just as they are, looking at the photo above the circular area around the hinomaru looks quite regular.

 

AW