Mitsubishi L3M1 Nippon (derivative of G3M) Arii (ex LS) 1/72

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Trying to eliminate as much carrier as possible:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

23 hours ago, Bronzemeister said:

Somewhere in Los Angeles county there's this guy going around selling giant novelty pencils.  I'm sure of it!

You should see my wristwatch:

[Bronzemeister]

Where's Harold Lloyd when you need him?

 

Oh, wait, here he is!

[Brandy]

12 hours ago, Moa said:

Trying to eliminate as much carrier as possible:

You should know by now that the Japanese failed at this task!

 

Ian

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The small circular hatch missing in the kit and present in this plane -as explained above- is masked and painted. Not an easy thing, this one, since I had to make the masks from miscellaneous bits and then some cuts:

 

Inner side aotake color (the hatch will be displayed opened, but only matte black paint will be inside the fuselage). I still have to bend it:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

New actuators:

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The areas that were fabric-covered are given a coat of gloss white to help with hue variation:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A series of air scoops and a small window barely visible in photos (most likely for the restroom) are added:

[Courageous]

7 hours ago, Moa said:

the restroom

I new their was something missing from your builds...toilet and paper holder

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

9 hours ago, Courageous said:

I new their was something missing from your builds...toilet and paper holder

 

Stuart

I am having a bout of TBDS, Toilet-building Deprivation Syndrome. I had insufficient data to include one on this model, and my last three posted completed models did not have one.

My 1/72 test pilot is starting to talk about calling his union on this matter. Not my fault!

 

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

After masking the white areas, a gloss black base is airbrushed in preparation for the Alclad.

The coats of primer and paint did very little to ease those rivets. The high reflectivity of the aluminium paint will help a bit, but probably not enough.

This kit, if you plan to build it, needs surface sanding and panel lines re-traced. I did that, but perhaps not enough.

Still, the model lines are so nice and well-proportioned, that I put the accent on that.

Can't wait to paint and add the other bits:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The little forest of small ancillary parts is painted:

 

The ebil plan with the white and black bases worked perfectly, producing the hues of metal and fabric aluminium, visible in movie clips:

 

And then disaster stroke.
For many, many years, I have been a user and a staunch defender of Testors' Aztek airbrush.
I have owned perhaps four or more in the last 20 years. To me they were practical, easy to use, easy to clean, and would withstand the occasional drop to the floor with no consequences, something that other airbrushes will hardly ever do.
Unfortunately, because of their relatively cheapo materials (but not cheapo price) if you really use them, as I do, almost daily, in two years they are a total mess, completely worn down, and (among other things) paint starts to come big way inside the body, and from there EVERYWHERE on you,  your painting station AND your model.
So far, Testors honored their warranty, and when the time came, I would send the old airbrush, and get a refurbished or new one. This happened may be three times.
Last time, they sent me the one I am using now, and a note saying that the company that now owns Testors, Rust-Oleum, is discontinuing the product, and with it their support. 
How corporately great, as usual.
Not only that, but the one they sent last time just did this (see below), the same-old crap, paint in the body, and from it to your beloved model. Perhaps they did not replace the pin mechanism, or just kept the old one, in spite of me telling them in the note to customer service that precisely that was the issue.

Well, thanks, Testors and Rust-Oleum, for not repaying 20 years of loyalty.
To add insult to injury, they put in the return package a note telling me how to use it. Really? after 20 years and close to 500 models?
Migrating now to Iwata (which I got already) and then I will get a second, a Paasche, the first brand I ever used, long ago.
The Alclad of course ate trough the finish, so I will have to wait, sand, re-prime, re-coat in gloss black, and re-Alclad.
 Darn, extra-darn, and recontraremil-darnation.

 

 

 

[Roger Holden]

I have had a single Aztec airbrush for 20 years and so far it has performed flawlessly as have all the original nozzles (of course, I use it it far less than you....).  Soon after I bought it, I read an on-line article which said that the key to good performance was a scrupulous maintenance programme (NOT approved by the manufacturer !) and I have followed this religiously ever since.  After each use, I strip the nozzle down into its 4 individual parts and clean them with lacquer thinner, especially the bore of the

white plastic component which 'furs' up rapidly otherwise.  Every few months, I prise the main body halves apart and clean out all the accumulated crud in there with lacquer thinner.  Takes a fair bit of time, but I've never had to replace a single thing.  Testors would have you believe that a simple spray through of their cleaner is all that's required, which is a complete joke !  (Do that and strip the nozzle down afterwards and the internal surfaces are still liberally coated in paint....).  Only thing I dislike is the plastic body and I wish I had got a later version with the metal body.  It's not a device I would use for precision work, but for general paint coats it works well.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Roger Holden said:

I have had a single Aztec airbrush for 20 years and so far it has performed flawlessly as have all the original nozzles (of course, I use it it far less than you....).  Soon after I bought it, I read an on-line article which said that the key to good performance was a scrupulous maintenance programme (NOT approved by the manufacturer !) and I have followed this religiously ever since.  After each use, I strip the nozzle down into its 4 individual parts and clean them with lacquer thinner, especially the bore of the

white plastic component which 'furs' up rapidly otherwise.  Every few months, I prise the main body halves apart and clean out all the accumulated crud in there with lacquer thinner.  Takes a fair bit of time, but I've never had to replace a single thing.  Testors would have you believe that a simple spray through of their cleaner is all that's required, which is a complete joke !  (Do that and strip the nozzle down afterwards and the internal surfaces are still liberally coated in paint....).  Only thing I dislike is the plastic body and I wish I had got a later version with the metal body.  It's not a device I would use for precision work, but for general paint coats it works well.

Many, many times here too, Roger:

 

 

 

 

There is a point, after long use, when the sliding metal pin just completely wears its casing/bushing, and the paint just flows back into the body.

No cleaning remedies that, hence the sending back to factory. Alas, no more.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Fellow modelers should be warned, since we are on the subject, that it's not really easy to mount everything back into place and snap the sides together, you may need a high number of arms, like @Martian Hale

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The surface is re-done, and the aluminium paint is applied:

 

[72modeler]

Very nice, Moa! Just enough difference in sheen and tone between the fabric and metal surfaces; it seems like many builders get 'way too much contrast between the two. I can't wait to see her with the markings applied. Been following this build since the beginning, but forgot to check in- there was such a crowd at the bar! Are you going to scratchbuild one of these for the loo?

Mike

 

https://www.alamy.com/aircraft-lavatory-is-a-small-room-on-an-aircraft-with-a-toilet-and-sink-very-dirty-with-smoke-detection-mechanism-image184359198.html

[Roger Holden]

21 hours ago, Moa said:

Many, many times here too, Roger:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow; never seen one like that. Looks like it's been dunked in acid. I guess plastic airbrushes have their limitations..

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

41 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Very nice, Moa! Just enough difference in sheen and tone between the fabric and metal surfaces; it seems like many builders get 'way too much contrast between the two. I can't wait to see her with the markings applied. Been following this build since the beginning, but forgot to check in- there was such a crowd at the bar! Are you going to scratchbuild one of these for the loo?

Mike

My usual take with old kits like this is to add detail and open doors abd hatches to make them more interesting.

Lack of reliable interior information on this specific plane prevented that approach.

 I limited the improvements on this one to replace small external chunky parts and adding a couple parts on the cockpit, plus details visible in photos but absent from the kit, like two Venturis in the nacelles, small air scoops, and the like.

No relief room this time. 

But if there was, it would be a clean one, no the pigstays you can enjoy nowadays many times in the current state of aviation.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Roger Holden said:

Wow; never seen one like that. Looks like it's been dunked in acid. I guess plastic airbrushes have their limitations..

That´s just layers upon layers of dried-up paint of various types (enamel, acrylics, lacquers) accumulated during a period when I wasn't much proactive on my airbrush cleaning.

The photo at the bottom of the series shows the cleaned-up airbrush after removing all that gunk.

Still, as you mention, after a while, the inner surface of the body shows some signs of degradation, and small plastic edges start to look worn down. Harsh solvents are used used during painting and cleaning.

Cheers

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Masks removed. The windows are filled with window-maker:

 

Vertical stabilizers are glued in position (they are sided, differentiated by the locking device), as well as wheels, cowls and the engines' exhausts and intakes:

[Courageous]

Scrubbing-up rather nicely.

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The decals proved to be very stubborn, and will take a very long time to become loose from the backing sheet. We are talking here 20/30 minutes, when the normal time is seconds. Once released, they behave well and can be re-positioned -with care- since the glue is a bit slimy.

The manufacturer failed to realize that there are also "J" identification letters on the stab, a common practice then. All models -that I have seen- missed them. Spares were used. The ones for the vertical stabilizers are present, though:

 

The small "Js" also go underneath the stab.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The decals set correctly and revealed the detail underneath, no complains there.

 

Carefully studying photos and especially the movies I found, it seems to me that the edges of the wing tanks and the fuel caps were painted. My guess is red for the fuel caps, a common choice, and yellow for the edges. Therefore I took the risk and added them from sliced and punched-out decals:

 

Ailerons, home-made hatch, nav lights, loop antenna, wire antenna mast and Pitot (under the nose) are added.

The position of the wing fuel tanks in the kit is a bit off, but I followed it, considering the alternative:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

More details. An important one is a metal flange at the base of the windshield (perhaps to deflect rain). Still to add: nose light and cover, wire antenna and insulators, props, aileron horns and rods, aileron counterweights, etc. etc.