Jump to content

Kawasaki EC-1, North Wing Model Craft, 1/72


Recommended Posts

Hello everyone,

 

Here's my latest completion. It's the 1/72 resin kit from North Wing Model Craft of the Kawasaki EC-1, which for those that don't know (and there are a lot of you), is a unique Japanese Air Self Defense Force electronic counter measures trainer. It is based on the Kawasaki C-1, and whilst it is not the world's prettiest aircraft, it is nevertheless very interesting.

 

Until recently, this was the only model available in this scale and it is exremely rare, very expensive and very difficult to make. But, sometimes you just have to go for it, especially as it was obtained by a friend in Japan, who then passed away and sadly did not see it's completion. So, in memory of Wing Co, here's what i let myself in for.

 

Bearing in mind that the masters for the resin casting are all hand-crafted, as the kit came out long before CAD design and 3D printing were common-place, the overall package is superb. Everything is contained in the smallish stout box, including decals and 1/72 scale plans.

 

However, and its a VERY BIG however, whilst all the parts fit in the allocated places, there are many gaps to fill and finesse. To give you an idea, i used two tubes of Tamiya filler, two bottles of Mr Surfacer and a bottle of thinners on this project. Literally every large component needs several cycles of gluing, filling, sanding, priming and re-scribing.

 

The only real dissappointment was the cockpit glazing section, which was cast in clear resin, but was very thick and opaque. I ended up plunge-moulding a new part using the kit item as a master. To my shock, this went absolutely perfectly, and meant that the details i then added to the interior of the cockpit could be clearly seen, with a good light source!

 

When i got to the painting stage, i found that  the primer and paint didn't stick to the resin in a lot of places, even though the model had been thoroughly cleaned. At times it was very depressing having to start again, but i was determined not to let it beat me. All of the walkways and white ECM blister stripes were sprayed and masked, as that was far easier to do than using decals.

 

Once the paint was on, assembly of the highly-detailed metal-reinforced resin undercarriage went well, as did applying the decals, even though they were thick and didn't really settle into the panel lines.

 

Weathering was carried out with Tamiya sets, Flory Models washes and pastel chalks. In real life, this aircraft is well-used and gets filthy even though it is well-cared for by it's ground crew.

 

I've included a few in progess photos, so that you can feel my pain!

 

Was it worth it? Too right. I'd recommend it to anyone, if you can get hold of one, but you need bucket loads of patience and perseverance. You also need a lot of space as it's big too.

 

Hope you like it

Andy

 

cid-3a7a6eba-c518-4772-9c61-e034be92714a

 

cid-222f6498-af0e-4fc5-89e1-a2bb2db8d278

 

cid-095bcf05-29d8-4041-a146-edf6e3ab24ee

 

cid-21547012-eb3b-438b-b21d-dbc36787ade2

 

cid-0e5e0b98-f9fe-4bcc-b0cf-f91b3a8a0a21

 

cid-5e6d31e1-9d4d-4fbd-ae1e-c30eef3b7ad0

 

EC-1-JASDF-1.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-8.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-5.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-6.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-7.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-9.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-3.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-2.jpg

 

EC-1-JASDF-4.jpg

  • Like 44
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done, Andy! I have gained a lot of experience with resin kits myself and I can definitely feel your pain! But I also know, how proud you must be being the maker of such an attractive model! Look at all the details, the white stripes (no pun intended), the escape hatch and the sewer. 

 

I like it very much!

 

Norbert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all.

 

You're right, Head in the Clouds, it must be awful to manoeuvre and land. I have seen the real thing, and you don't realise how big the nose is until you see it in plan view

 

Andy 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

こんばんは、アンディ。
綺麗な飛行機ですね。
こんな醜い子供を愛せるのは母親だけだ。

🙃

 

Tomatsu San

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Andy,

 

that must be the first one I've seen built and judging from your photos and description I can guess why. All the more I'm impressed by your finished kit, and it looks really distinctive with all the lumps and bumps sticking out. A great tribute to your friend! :goodjob:

 

Cheers

Markus

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy

So that's why you have been really quiet recently.I wondered what you were up to.Very nice model that.

Glyn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice build, I didn't realise there was a kit of C1  available. Big resin kits are always a bit of a challenge. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Mr T said:

Very nice build, I didn't realise there was a kit of C1  available. Big resin kits are always a bit of a challenge. 

 

NWMC also do a C-1 as well as this EC-1 version, if you can find them.

 

There is a new company called Wings Factory who are also palnning to release the C-1 (not sure about the EC-1), but their quality isn't as good as NWMC by a long way, if their T-400 is anything to go by. It look very basic indeed.

 

Check out the Rumour Monger section as One Man Models are also mentioned. Their kits are somewhere in between quality-wise.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It definitely falls neatly into the 'you learn something new every day' category. I had no idea an aircraft like that existed. 

 

Great job on it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent result, Andy. I know this was a true labour of love (maybe even a bit of love'n'hate?) but the end result was well worth it. As a bit of respite, is it true your next model will be one from the Airfix QuickBuild 'no glue, no paint, just build' range?! 🤣

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, spruecutter said:

Excellent result, Andy. I know this was a true labour of love (maybe even a bit of love'n'hate?) but the end result was well worth it. As a bit of respite, is it true your next model will be one from the Airfix QuickBuild 'no glue, no paint, just build' range?! 🤣

I wish

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...