Si2 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 (edited) Enthused as I am with Japanese aircraft, I decided to blow the budget and buy two kits at once from Hannants. This is one of them. This is my helper checking the structural integrity of the boxes... I've made three Airfix kits and now it's time to venture to the far East for a Japanese kit of a Japanese plane. I liked the look of the George and it's deep fuselage. First things first, the cockpit! These are the bits that make it up. I cleaned them up and stuck them together. No issues, the Tamiya fit is exemplary. The instructions are clear and precise. The clear gun sight is a nice touch. It was stuck together and painted. In the usual Japanese cockpit green with alittle highlighting and pin wash. This kit had an instrument panel that had embossed dials on it. And a decal to fit over it. I thought this would lead to an issue, the decal floating on top of the embossed 'dots' when dry. I loaded the decal with decalset and left it in place overnight. The next day the decal has conformed exactly to the surface and the dials looked really great! I was very pleasantly surprised. Next up the belts needed to be added, Tamiya do provide a decal, but it's pretty flat and it looks like a decal. So I cut up some masking tape, added a buckle and painted it up. Stuck the two belts to the seat with superglue and we're done. Strips cut and buckle added. BUckle and loop is just made from some copper wire. Glued in place. The other side. I painted the interior of the fuse and stuffed the lot in there. Edited September 8, 2020 by Si2 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 Next up is fitting the wings. I found what I think is a small error here. The wings didn't quite sit right. They were propped up on two ribs that seemed to hold the front end open too much. I had to trim the ribs down a little. The fit was then great and the engine held the front end together while I stuck the lot. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Hi @Si2, You've made a great start - the cockpit is looking fantastic! I'll be watching this build with interest, as I've just had one of these kits arrive from Japan along with several other Tamiya 1/72 kits (they cost peanuts and if you buy half a dozen, the shipping cost isn't prohibitive either). I've never yet built a Tamiya kit, so I'm really looking forward to making a start on one! Looking forward to seeing your next instalment. All the best, Mark By the way, this is Daisy, my helper: http:// although she tends to chew boxes and bat stuff off my work table, so perhaps "helper" isn't quite the right term Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Well, I guess those kit boxes are safe to open, as they've both been cat-scanned. I started the Tamiya kit years ago but never finished it. One thing I do remember about it was trying to get the cowl flaps glued on. They're a bit fiddly. I just took a look in the box and at some time, one of the flaps came off the cowling while sitting in the box. That may have happened when my room was cleared out after the sewer backup 4 years ago. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 (edited) I popped those cowl flaps on last night, not had a chance to take any more photos yet. I'm building an Airfix 80's Val, an RS and a Tamiya kit and the contrast between them all is incredible. All fun to build though. Edited October 16, 2020 by Si2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 (edited) Stuck a few extra parts on last night. It will be priming time very soon. Just working out how much I can attach before painting. Edited October 16, 2020 by Si2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 Another one making rapid progress! I see you've cut out the wingtip lights - are there transparencies in the or do you make the yourself? Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 On 10/09/2020 at 12:33, 2996 Victor said: Another one making rapid progress! I see you've cut out the wingtip lights - are there transparencies in the or do you make the yourself? Cheers, Mark I'm going to blob some clear glue in there till it fills up and then carve/sand to shape. Hopefully it'll look ok 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 I'm following this with interest -- I did Hasegawa's N1K2 ages ago and I would love to get a hold of this kit. I love what you've done with the cockpit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 I'm back on the Tamiya. I am having all sorts of nightmares with my airbrush trying to paint this thing. I've ended up with a horrible coat of deep green on the top, loads of overspray and hours of cleaning airbrushes. I will persevere with a proper brush to tidy up the colour scheme. I didn't get any pics last night as I was too huffy about airbrush painting disasters and I left it to dry. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Sorry to hear that - hope you can get it sorted out successfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 It's just my lack of experience with an airbrush. I'm really only using it to blow the main colours on. Better tonight 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 So it's now green and grey. I sprayed both surfaces with no masking and now I'm tidying it up with a brush. I had a few blemishes that I sanded off and touched up. The green looks very lifeless, unrea;istic. I need to inject some variation in there and get it looking less flat. I will be fiddling with the paintbrushes this weekend and hopefully it will start to take on a bit of life. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si2 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 I've been messing about with my airbrush on this kit. I tried some shading. It took about two hours of work to get a nice even thin line.Experimenting with paint viscosity, thinning agents etc. In the end I got a good controllable thin line that I could follow panel lines etc and adjust on the fly. I was quite pleased. But then I got a giant blob of water come flying out of my brush while I was focussed right in on the lines. Scared the heck out of me! Now I need to work out how to prevent water build up in my pipe. I have a water trap on the comperessor, but I think because my pipe lies on the floor it's lower and this is possibly where the water gathers, then it comes flying out the end. I did a few light overcoats last night to tone the shading down as it is a bit over powering. I'm gaining confidence in the brush. I have a Christmas build planned with a friend where I need to do a good mottle scheme. I'm doing a Japanese marked ME109 and it has a light camo sprayed finish. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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