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


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Thanks AW, I did some more work until I got the result that I wanted.  I ended up not using the kit decals, as I needed to do some masking on the hinomarus and it was easier to paint them.  I issued masking with frisket film, put them in place, painted Insignia Red, and then used the circles that I had cut from the frisket masking to mask off the hinomarus, and freehand added some blotches in Dark Green to make the gray halo more irregular.

 

1. Cutting the circular masking from frisket film, low tag. 

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2. Masking in place, notice that it is like 2mm smaller in diameter than the previously masked gray area.

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3. Hinomarus painted insignia red, the gray "halo" is too wide and regular (I needed the extra width to add the blotches later)

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4. After having masked the hinomarus, I retouched the halos adding freehand dark green blotches.

sVd8JP2.jpg

 

5. The hinomarus on the fuselage didn't need any retouches.

cdwkpgg.jpg

Marco

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On ‎8‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 2:37 AM, johnd said:

Quality modelling here.

 

Marco, what paint are using for the mottle, please?

 

John.

Sorry John, I skipped your question.  I am using Mr. Color C309 Green FS 34079, thinned with Xilene solvent.

 

Marco

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Marco,

 

Just re-discovered your WIP- it's looking very, very good. Great  job with the blotching and the masking and painting of the hinomarus, too! Can't wait to see the finished product. BTW the canopy rails really added a lot to the model.

Mike

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  • 3 weeks later...

This was a good day for my Kate!  I painted the propeller, using Alclad (Aluminum, I hadn´t used these things for a while!), great results.  Painted the whole propeller aluminum and then the back part in a mixture of Flat Black/Brown.  I used the red bands decals as painting them was too complicated.  

1. Black Alclad Lacquer

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2. Alclad Alumimun

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3. Dark brown on back surfaces

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4. Decals applied

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I proceeded to apply all the remaining decals to the Kate, I have to say that the decals provided by Airfix are excellent, but I mean excellent.  Very thin carrier, sticky, conform perfectly to the surface, I started using Decal Sol but I realized they are so thin, they don´t really need it.  Two things that could be improved: The color of the red fuel caps (I guess fuel tanks caps) is  too orange, and then the tail number is too small.  I had another Kate decal set from "Print Scale", I borrowed the number from that set, it has the proper size. BUT, is even more orange that Airfix´s!  According to references, everything should be RED, not orange-red.

 

5. All decals were applied, notice the orangish color of the fuel caps on the wings.MCRde6i.jpg

 

6. The flaps "no step" lines decals have a big carrier film which would be risky for silvering, I preferred to cut and apply the individual lines.

Ukjxoe2.jpg

 

7. Instructions show two big numbers "11" on the undersides of the Kate.  This is a mistake, EI-311 did not carry any number under the wings (the torpedo bombers did).

ympn3E8.jpg

 

8. Notice the different sizes (and colors) of the numbers provided by Airfix, and those provided on the Print Decal set.

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9. The number "borrowed" from the Print Scale decal set, much more appropriate.  It was cut where the rudder joins the tail, more realistic not having the carrier film on the rudder joint.

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10. As I have another Kate kit to assemble a torpedo bomber, I borrowed the second 500pd bomb necessary to accurately arm EI-311 during Pearl Harbor attack (an omission in the kit).  I´ll need to add some evident detail like the stiffeners that join the tails.  

yDVrQbf.jpg

 

Marco

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All right, the Kate looks much closer to the end now!  After the decals set, I applied a gloss coat to start appying shadows-weathering.  I used different shades of gray water color applied with a thin brush to the panel lines, subtle but evident (I don´t like the crayola-black effect), cleaned excess with a damp cloth until the desired effect was achieved.  Then used artist oils, mostly dark brown and light yellow to simulate some dirt on walkways, undersides behind engine, wing fold areas, and around cockpit.  Nothing really strong, as according to references, IJN airplanes were kept in excellent condition before Pearl Harbor.  After I was satisfied with this stage of weathering, I applied semi-gloss coat, and finally I added some more flat to the semi-gloss for the green areas.  According to references, the green blotches were "semi-gloss" but in the pictures, I don´t see any gloss at all.

 

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The undersides with the basic weathering, still more coming.  I was quite happy with the different control surfaces shade, reflecting the change in tone due to the fabric cover.

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Big relief!  After pulling out all the masking in the cockpit, no damage, no overspray was found!

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Painting the sliding parts of the canopy was tricky, as I wanted to simulate the different framing layers, and of course, all the "outside-looking" frames should be gray, all the "inner-looking" cockpit green.  I first masked the interior frames that would be visible from the outside, then masked the exterior as normally done.  Then I painted first gray on the inside frames (so that it looks gray from the outside), then painted cockpit green on the outside and inner framing (so that it looks green from the inside) and finally painted gray from the outside.  I am quite happy with the results, after retouching some irregular areas the effect of various layers is pretty convincing!

mgPWTlr.jpg

 

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After retouching, much better!  Notice that I painted the panel below the windshield in cockpit green, but not the rest of the fuselage below the cockpit, I preferred to keep the IJN Gray Green (The result from a very interesting chat couple months ago).

uq0PIuB.jpg

 

Finally I painted the antiglare panel behind the cowl.  I masked the area, and painted it Flat Black, plain.  Notice that the lower frame of the windshield was black, too.    I have checked several pictures of the antiglare during the Pearl Harbor attack, and can see either mild or no weathering at all, color looks very dark, without scratches or irregularities.  Will do some mild paneling though for a better scale effect.

kWpkcrr.jpg

And that is how far I have come today, it definitely looks like a Kate now.  Currently fiddling with the bombs, the only thing pending painting.

 

Marco

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I glued the landing gear in place, and while it was drying, I worked on the two 250kg (550lb) bombs that EI-311 carried during the Pearl Harbor attack.  The box art has got the ordnace wrong, and the instructions don´t recommend a specific layout (and the kit does not provide the second bomb, but luckily they do provide the second bomb rack).  I only added the tail stiffenets, issued with metal sheet glued with CA.  I painted the green nose and blue areas were the nosecone and blue band would be located, masked and painted the bombs Light Gray (Hu Matt 64).  The tail stiffeners were painted same green color as the nose.

 

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The bomb racks were painted glossy black, they fit into the bombs notches  and the racks into the wing notches perfectly, no glue needed!  They simply stay there.  

rV8E9dS.jpg

 

I still need to glue the PE nose fuse, and paint the tail fuse, but I am quite enjoying the strange asymmetric layout as it is.  

7fpwVwU.jpg

 

Marco

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  • 3 weeks later...

I basically have finished the Kate, only some minor things pending, and started working on the base.

 

1. The airplane data was partially covered by the white ID band on the fuselage of the real aircraft.  I cut the middle part of the decal and used the sides only to simulate this.

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2. Issued the wire antena with thin monofilament thread (0.004).

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3. Started planning the base, I want to show it on a simulated carrier deck with the map of the Kaneohe target area in front of the airplane.

kkiOTXd.jpg

 

4. I simulated the carrier deck using plastic sheet, scribed and painted accordingly.

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5. The idea taking shape

eVCX4po.jpg

 

6. The wooden base was painted in gloss blue to simulate the ocean area on the map.  I don't pretend so simulate realistic water, I will be only an artistic representation of water on a map.

RA6XCfb.jpg

Marco

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Excellent progress and care for detail.

 

The only gripe I have is that the majority seem to ignore the results of late color research.

The color should be an amber grey not a pale green-grey, well just IMO.

 

Nevertheless I am totally enjoying watching this

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I have read so many discussions about the gray color (and the interior color, and the hinomaru color, and wheel well color...), that it was a big relief to find out that general consensus about  XF-76 was that it was “close enough”.  

 

Marco

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OK, these are the last pictures of "WIP"...  

 

1. The base concept almost finished.  I copied the Kaneohe area map from google maps, painted the whole thing with gloss black, then glued the carrier deck to the surface with 5 minute epoxy.

 

ntGnKrg.jpg

2. Final touches included re-fitting the landing gear extension indicators, remember I cut them off to make them thinner.  I simply sanded the same parts thinner, reshaped them according to references and glued them back in place.

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3. The wire antena finished, simulated the insulators with white glue painte black.

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4. I ended up adding in red (decals) the location of the Kaneohe NAS, the landing strip and the hydroplane ramp.  It really impresses me watching the videos of the bombing of that base during the attack.

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5. And this is the final result, will post more pictures in the finished models topic.

n2gTfVO.jpg

 

BUVbAxt.jpg

Marco

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  • 2 years later...

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