Aichi M6A1 Seiran (folded for storage) Tamiya 1/48

[Tcoat]

As part of my rather ambitious project plan that began with the 1/350 I-400 submarine I have now received the 1/48 Seiran so can get into stage two.

My goal is to take the Tamiya kit which comes molded in flight configuration, chop it up to fold the wings and stabilizers, remove the sponsons from the floats and place it on the storage/catapult trolley in the down position. 

 

Like the upper drawing:

 

It will then be placed in scratch built deck/hanger section.

I plan to do a section that is similar to the bottom drawing only with the port side of the hanger cut open just behind the latch release wheel. There will be more of the hanger structure on the starborad side.

The aircraft will be partially out of the hanger and the port pontoon will be coming up out of it's stowage space below it. 

Sort of this area here:

 

I really couldn't start to plan out the trolley or sub until I received the kit and got proper reference points to measure from. 

 

 

[Tcoat]

Pretty much your standard new(ish) Tamiya aircraft kit with nice engraved lines and detail. No surprises to be had there.

 

I will have a nice landing dolly left over that I may be able to use for something. 

 

 

Not going to do much beyond OOB with the cockpit and rear. The opening is so small and the canopy will be mostly closed (I am going to open the front section) and blocked by the hanger that you will not see much of what is in there anyway. A high contrast paintjob on the few parts there are will suit the needs of this build nicely since for a change this area will not be the focus.

Not even going to worry about the injector pin marks since they will be virtually invisible once done. 

Ready for base coat.

 

Not going to be much of a viewing space once canopy on and mounted in place on dio base.

 

 

 

 

[dogsbody]

Would this be of any use? It's from the Monogram Close-Up booklet.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Tcoat]

15 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Would this be of any use? It's from the Monogram Close-Up booklet.

Chris

Yes. Thank you! I have the top part of the image but not the other ones. Fond a couple of decent drawings for the trolly but they were no good for dimensions. I can just scale this to 1/48 and have all the measurements I need.

[S. Uehlinger]

Very Cool Stuff!    The original I-400 that the US Navy took as a prize was sunk around 1948 - the reason was to deny it to the Soviets, who could have used it to refine their own Sub Designs.   Imagine if this vessel had survived - sent back to Japan and opened for Tourists!  I would've given my Eyeteeth to see it!

 

Scott, US Navy Destroyer Gunnery Officer

[Tcoat]

18 minutes ago, S. Uehlinger said:

Very Cool Stuff!    The original I-400 that the US Navy took as a prize was sunk around 1948 - the reason was to deny it to the Soviets, who could have used it to refine their own Sub Designs.   Imagine if this vessel had survived - sent back to Japan and opened for Tourists!  I would've given my Eyeteeth to see it!

 

Scott, US Navy Destroyer Gunnery Officer

Yep so as the Soviets' were already on their way to inspect them they torpedoed the I-400 and 401 off the coast of Hawaii in June 1946. 

They found the wrecks in 2013.

 

[Cuppa_joe]

Interesting this is, follow i must

[Tcoat]

Innards are all done and ready to button up.

 

Base coat with salt masking over aluminum paint on floor.

 

Detail painting. Although I had my wire spools in hand more than once I resisted the temptation of detailing beyond OOB. It just won't be seen.

 

 

Standard tinted floor acrylic for shadows and variation in tone. SHINY! 

 

 

 

Ready to go in. Testers Dullcoat. No more shiny!

 

 

Half in.

 

 

Just needs glue.

 

 

Now to start cutting up parts.

[dogsbody]

I wonder if these few aircraft were flown enough to be weathered very much?

 

 

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Monogram-Close-up/Aichi-M6A1-Seiran

 

 

 

Chris

[Tcoat]

26 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

I wonder if these few aircraft were flown enough to be weathered very much?

 

 

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Monogram-Close-up/Aichi-M6A1-Seiran

 

 

 

Chris

Agreed. A couple of things come into play for my plan on weathering.

The interior of the restored aircraft was left as found and just seal coated. The floor was pretty worn. That may have more to do with 60 years worth of people climbing in and out but the lack of primer and poor paint available when these aircraft eventually got built would mean it would wear easily. 

 

 

The weathering I did looks a bit stark in the pictures but is not so strong in real life. I did place more emphasis on things like the harnesses' just so that you will at least be able to tell they are there once the canopy is on. 

 

I will not be weathering the outside as strongly as something like a land based Zero  but there will be some chipping around areas such as the wing fold, catapult mount and lifting points. These areas would take a beating and the late war paint just wouldn't stand up long. 

 

And OMG  thank you for the link! I have amassed many pictures but that has several I have never seen and give detail for the sub I didn't have.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Tcoat

[dogsbody]

Sorry I forgot to post that earlier. I blame my age and the self-induced brain damage of my younger years.

 

I now understand the floor weathering. Carry on!

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Tcoat]

7 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Sorry I forgot to post that earlier. I blame my age and the self-induced brain damage of my younger years.

 

I now understand the floor weathering. Carry on!

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Tcoat]

Wow those wings fit nice. Just click into place with no gaps.

 

Be a shame if....

 

Somebody came along and ...

 

 

CUT THEM OFF!

 

 

This has to go back past the wing fold mech.

 

 

 

 

That's better. Still needs some tweaking and not totally accurate but pictures of the wing actually folded do not exist. There are several pictures of it all stripped down for restoration but there are obviously parts missing from them so going more for the basic idea with the key key points.

 

 

Well it works. Still a bunch of parts to add to the wing and some more precise alignment to do but the basic hinge point works out. Will all look fine under some paint and weathering.

At least that is if everybody stays at least 3 feet back.

 

 

Couple of my reference pics.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Tcoat

[Tcoat]

I don't suppose anybody has seen a picture of the wings on these things actually folded hidden away in the recesses of the internet or a book? 

I am sort of second guessing the arrangement I used and don't want to proceed until I convince myself that it is close enough. 

[alt-92]

I think that last pic would contain most of what you'd need - considering once folded back, the rear wing root on the fuselage is covered up. 
I can imagine needing several conduit adapters and control rod/cabling attachments for the ailerons, flaps & such being part of the rear wing fold?

[Tcoat]

1 hour ago, alt-92 said:

I think that last pic would contain most of what you'd need - considering once folded back, the rear wing root on the fuselage is covered up. 
I can imagine needing several conduit adapters and control rod/cabling attachments for the ailerons, flaps & such being part of the rear wing fold?

That is what I am going for. Or at least a basic resemblance. My biggest concern is the actual fold mech. Since all the pictures show it disassembled there appears to be something missing. The hinge sections are evident but I have no idea what actually moves the wings. Since they were oil pressure operated there should be some sort of cylinders that moved it up and then back but none of the pictures include such things. 

What I probably need to do is just stop looking at the pictures and just leave my imaginary actuating arm as is. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Tcoat

[Tcoat]

OK so I gave up trying to find assembled pictures and just filled in the gaps with my imagination. 

Probably someplace around 30% (optimistically) accurate but looks the part and with paint should be busy enough to be convincing. At least there is little chance of some ex Seiran pilot showing up and telling me it is all wrong!

 

 

 

Added extensions to house the fold mech in the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. 

 

 

-

 

Canopy is one piece so I cut the front section off to open. Forgot to take picture but it is the section edged in green (rolled up tape to hold in place and seal gaps for painting). Masked what seemed like 2.6 million glass sections with bare metal foil.

 

 

 

Pretty much ready for paint.

 

 

But...

 

I ordered the Tamiya A6M5 Zero kit to get two of the standing pilot figures for the diorama.

 

 

Well it showed up today.

 

 

Which means I now have a Zero that just happens to have to be painted the same colours as the Seiran.

 

 

Since I may have as much as a three week wait for the tube and rod I ordered to build the Seiran's catapult/storage cradle and there is no sense in loading up the airbrush with the same colours twice then it is time for an

 

 

[Tcoat]

Pontoons all ready so it can go for paint.

 

For the diorama setup I plan one pontoon will be assembled and ready while the other will just be coming out of it's storage tube.

 

 

 

[Zigomar]

Pretty nice work here! Keep it up.

[Tcoat]

3 hours ago, Zigomar said:

Pretty nice work here! Keep it up.

Well I have a bit of a habit of starting dioramas with big plans and then the completed model just ends up on a shelf all alone because I was looking for a key component and then just forgot the project. This time around I think I have everything right from the start though.

[Tcoat]

OK Zero done back to Seiran.

Overall and wing fold base paints done.

 

[6R1227Y]

Damn, this topic was my sole reason for applying to this forum. Love your work @Tcoat. Did you Scratch build that folding mechanism? 

[Tcoat]

On 9/15/2022 at 1:01 PM, 6R1227Y said:

Damn, this topic was my sole reason for applying to this forum. Love your work @Tcoat. Did you Scratch build that folding mechanism? 

Yes. It is not 100% accurate to the few pictures I could find but it is close enough.

Unfortunately life got in the way of this hobby for a couple of years now and this build sits languishing on a shelf at about 90% complete.  I hope to finish this and a couple of other big projects up this winter.