F4F-4 Wildcat B5N2 Kate Airfix Dogfight Double

[The Spadgent]

Absolutely wonderful paintwork. Just the right amount of everything that makes me happy on a model. 😇🙌 

your skills are growing for sure. This isn’t criticism or advice simply something I do differently. The panel line for me always comes after decals. Especially while using Flory or oil washes. That way you get hints of panel lines and bits of dirt on the insignia paint  too.  As I said it’s just something I do differently, there is no right or wrong in this hobby that’s why I love it.  She looks spot on though. Can’t wait to see her up on her pins. ❤️❤️❤️
 

Johnny

[VT Red Sox Fan]

@The Spadgent--Johnny great point above and thank you for the compliments.  I think I need to try the wash after decals for my Kate--I think it snuck by on the F4F-4 given the desire to re-create a relatively new subject.  The Midway B5N2 will be well worn, but not trashed.  Beyond the accuracy point, your outcomes are always fabulous with Flory's washes, so I have great examples 🙌  Question for you and the forum--where can I get Flory Wash here in the States, or is there a good substitute folks recommend.  Best, Erwin    

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Hope everyone's summer is going well--its been busy & rewarding over here.  Got a few minutes to catch everyone up on this build--very shortly I will add my Kate to this thread given that this is a Dogfight Double.  

 

First up is installing the undercarriage--I would highly recommend following instructions and install the gear before closing up the fuselage.  As Johnny @The Spadgent demonstrated in his build linked here, the gear are both complex and very maskable-- Airfix did a remarkable job replicating this portion of the aircraft. 

Neve the less, I moved forward inspired by some of the magnificent scratch builds provided by @giemme & @billn53 to get to base--a time consuming proposition.  Once complete, I added the brake lines based on @Dana Bell's and Detail & Scale's book. This was followed by Eduard's PE doors--very necessary given the thickness of Airfix's doors.  Once complete, I added the formation lights with Krystal Klear and Tamiya Clear paints.   Once done, it was time for the final odds and bits and then call it complete.  It is fascinating to compare the F4F-4 to other period aircraft in my collection from the same period and scale--both to see the rapid sprint of technology in the opening stages of the conflict between Imperial Japan and the U.S while seeing the positive influence of many who have belt my skills.  I look forward to thoughts and perspectives from all points of view--thanks for looking--best, Erwin 

 

 

 

Final bits attached an painted

Spending time on a radial in 1/72 is soo worth it

 

Eduard's PE is really apparent in the Wildcat's cockpit--I spent a lot of time with  @Dana Bell's book to get the color order correct.  

 

Landing gear and intercoolers

 

With the rest of the early Pacific War fleet

With P-40s

 

[giemme]

There you go, another little gem added to your collection    

 

I love the frontal shot, really shows very well the work you did on that radial engine  

Ciao

[The Spadgent]

7 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

 

I think these two are my favorite. ❤️ Wonderful detailed work. Bravo. So sorry for not answering about the flory. I get mine straight from the flory shop. I think there is a link where you can get it state side. 

[opus999]

Just catching up with this after being away from the forum for quite a while.  Of course I catch the very end..

 

Your color matching is spot on and the weathering is delightfully subtle.  It looks extremely realistic.  Oh, and good catch with the details with decal placement!

 

I have the FAA boxing of this kit and I've seen several times now how well it goes together, so I think I need to get the right paint and get it started!

[VT Red Sox Fan]

@giemme, @The Spadgent & @opus999 —thanks guys—really appreciate the compliments coming from this crew!  🙌  Will look into Flory for Yanks soon—my Kate will need to look well worn and maintained to replicate a Midway aircraft—Flory will be important—looking forward to the upcoming FAA Martlet build—best to all and thank you to everyone who checked this out this and provided a thumbs up—best, Erwin

Edited August 22, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Now starts the B5N2 portion of this build--as discussed earlier I will use the Airfix decals in combination with Dead Design stencils for the national markings to build an interpretation LT Tomonga's B5N2, BI-310 from the Hiryu.  I have made the decision to paint the national markings/grey walk ways/white aiming stripes (I think this is what the white lines on the nose/tail are) instead of using the decals given the amount of masking and weathering I intend for this aircraft--that said, I understand renowned Japanese aircraft historian Nick Millman @Nick Millman supported the development of these markings, so I trust Airfix's research for the remainder of the markings.  I am very grateful for the work of individuals like him in building our understanding of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy aviation establishments--it makes color selection easy but difficult.  The other upgrade for this build will be Eduard's PE set for the Kate.

 

 I believe it is fair to say the IJN aircraft that faced the new F4F-4s at Midway were well maintained, superbly operated and well used.  As this is my first Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft since establishing myself on Britmodeler, I decided to reach out to the forum to learn as much as I could.  I created the link below and learned quite a lot!  In particular, I would like to thank @dov, @Blimpyboy, @Greenshirt, @serial modeler, @Marco1965, @Graham Boak, @Denford for their help--this team really got me interested in building Japanese aircraft--I wont lie, they have made this genre of frequently difficult aircraft to research fun!  I apologize that it took me this long to get started 

 

My research did not reveal a picture of BI-310 at Midway, but there is a lot of photographic evidence of early war IJN Kates, but detail photos are hard to come by.  For airframe detail work, I have decided to leverage colors applicable to early Nakijima build A6M2 Zeros--that said, I am reminded by @The Spadgent that once you think you have a detail figured out, info will appear sending you the other way, so you might as well enjoy the journey.  I will use the Sakae engine colors outlined by Millman in his Scale Aircraft Modeling No 9--the Mitsubishi Zero Type 0--along with reference photos below.  Here are a few of the reference photos I will use:

 

http://www.enginehistory.org/Piston/Japanese/Mawhinney/nasm_research_1.shtml

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sakae-21.jpg

 

https://japanese-aviation.forumotion.com/t19-43-coral-sea-battle-may-7-and-8-1942

 

https://japanese-aviation.forumotion.com/t17-45-midway-islands-battle-june-4-1942

 

https://japanese-aviation.forumotion.com/t40-22-pearl-harbor-raid-hiryu-s-high-level-bombers

 

https://japanese-aviation.forumotion.com/t23-39-rabaul-attack-january-20-to-23-1942

 

https://www.pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83555

 

https://imodeler.com/2019/04/japanese-a6m-zero-colors-part-1/

 

 

 

Armed with these photos, and research on Nakijima built Zeros, I turned to Britmodeler/internet to review some out standing builds--here are a few:

 

http://greenshirt-modeler.blogspot.com/2017/03/low-and-slow.html. @Greenshirt--thanks for sharing & amazing work

 

@Marco1965--thanks for sharing and amazing work!

 

Based on the builds, I decided to crew my Kate with Hasegawa's IJN aircrew--Airfix's are much too western--also the middle chap missing half his face is a detractor!  So, it is finally time to just build--I have been looking longlingly at some awesome builds- @giemme's F-4G and @billn53 A-10 come quickly too mind.   First up, is defining the overall colors based on the above research ( the Kate will be painted "factory" Nakajima Grey-Green with shipboard IJN D1

 

I have decided to use Mr Color 127 (Cockpit Color (Nakajima)) for the cockpit, Atoke will follow Tamiya's guide of X-13 Metallic Blue and X-25 Clear Green (over aluminum base)--based off of Color Coates interpretations I will use Mission Model's MMP-110 Grey Japanese Zero & MMP-112 D1 Deep Green--that said, I imagine all will play a roll to create a well used appearance.  I am already thinking about how to use the cammo stencils I purchased to do a green under coat similar to what @opus999 has used on his builds.  My hope is to create an overall feel like @Greenshirt's remarkable build of the same subject.

 

Following advice from many of the usual suspects, I pre-shaded the cockpit are black, then spray painted the areas in the wings/fuselage to be Atoke Tamiya silver and then put top coats--will be using Tamiya brown highlight and AK washes to build up wear:

 

 

The eagle eyed among you will note that there are a few ejector pin markings I missed--ugh.  That said, I do not think they will be very visible through the Kate's small cockpit openings--it seems to be a trend with Airfix that I have seem Johnny @The Spadgent discuss in his Airfix Bristol Blenheim build--which is a shame as I believe nearly everything else about this kit is spectacular. 

 

Thank you all for looking, to the team that helped me research--all comments and perspectives on how to improve/sustain what I am doing are appreciated and always willing to learn more about the B5N2--best, Erwin 

Edited September 5, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan
link

[opus999]

Nice start on the Kate so far!

[billn53]

Great job on the Wildcat, bit it’s the Kate that I’m really looking forward to. After I finished my Claude, I bought Airfix’s Kate thinking they would make a nice pair. 

[giemme]

Nice start on this one, Erwin  - keep up the good work 

 

Ciao 

[The Spadgent]

Oooh I’m loving the colours on the fuselage interior. That blue on the tail is great. The tones work really well too. You simply have to get another shot of that IP though as it looks amazing but when I zoomed in it was a bit blurry.

I just gots to see it!!! 🤪

 

Brilliant work so far. 
 

Johnny

[VT Red Sox Fan]

@opus999 & @giemme--thank you for the comments--cant wait to use some of the pre-shading techniques from Opus & Johnny--Johnny @The Spadgent--I think you will like this cockpit update & @billn53, humbling you would consider using my build as a future source.  Again, I apologize for my glacial pace, but I am embracing the "flow" of the hobby

 

So given the paucity of interior equipment information about B5N2 Kate development/variants, I decided to go with Airfix's layout minimally un-modified as I do trust their research and relationship with @Nick Millman--the biggest back and forth for me was whether or not install the bottles in the rear of the crew compartment inbetween the gunner/radio operator and navigator--what are they?  After posing this question on the military aircraft modeling by era forum, I came to the inferred conclusion based on info from @Graham Boak & @Denford that these side fuselage bottles were likely not part of an O2 system and likely supported on board equipment--based off info on A6M2 bottles, I decided to go with the general consensus of those who have paint them metallic aluminum--I believe O2 for the crew would have been black based on info from period pictures of captured A6M interiors before  they were test flown by the allies. (Wings of The Rising Sun by Mark Chambers is a fabulous resource chocked full of period interior photos of Japanese aircraft undergoing exploitation)  I would be interested to know if there is more info out there on the systems color for IJN aircraft (were there standard colors for O2, fuel, etc). 

 

For what it is worth, one of the items I found interesting on this build is Airfix is usually very good at discussing their research on a subject, but I had difficulty on finding this info for both the Wildcat and the Kate--given the bench of talent on the forum, maybe there are some folks who could shed light on this--my build query questions are posted below.  I think it is worth nothing CMK and Hasegawa do not include these bottles--in the back of my head I am still wondering if these might be better placed on a late war Kate outfitted with a radar rather than early war aircraft, but I talked myself into pressing forward with installing the bottles since early war A6M2s used compressed air for operating their systems. 

 

 

 

Enough research &n on to building--1st up figures!  I purchased Hasegawa's 1/72 IJN aircrew set and it was a good move.  I painted the figures with Tamiya paints based on call outs from their spectacular 1/32 A6M2 kit.  Once complete, I used Tamiya panel wash--I have to say I found the difference in flight equipment stunning compared to western aircrew and I am glad I purchased this set--I also have great crew figures for another IJN build--those Tamiya Zeros are getting restless.  I also tried out the Red Box figures which seemed good, though more appropriate for a Betty and not as posable as Hasegawa's--that said, Red Box's figures are a major improvement over Airfix's generic western 1940s period aircrew figures.

 

Figures with Tamiya paints used

 

 

With black & brown Tamiya panel line 

 

With the figures complete, it was time to assemble the crew areas with the best info I had and the Eduard set--everything fit together with no issues. I decided to keep the overall Mr Color 127 (Cockpit Color (Nakajima) as I feel historical references indicate this is the most likely color (granted its an inference)-- I used Tamiya brown and black highlight to build depth and were touched high use areas with Tamiya's weathering pigments.   

 

  One other build note, if you use the Eduard PE set, then make sure you dry fit the radio with the fuselage--as molded, the radio will not fit with the kit base--I followed @Greenshirt's/ @Marco1965's builds & Eduard's instructions to offset this this radio tower closer (but not fully )to the centerline (I also looked at CMK's 1/48 cockpit instructions which seem to have this assembly more on the centerline as well--again not fully)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, given the tight tolerances, I will build my crew into the Kate, vice installing them later.

 

 

& finally, the best instrument panel shot I could get for Johnny @The Spadgent and the rest of the forum

 

 

Next up will be building up the fuselage. Overall, I am happy with the outcome, although I wish I had spotted some of the mold marks--that said, I doubt they will be noticable in situ, so I am going to press forward--the overall color scheme is going to be worth the effort!

 

Thank you to all have both built my knowledge of plastic modeling and greatly increased my knowledge of Imperial Japanese Naval Aviation--I am far from an expert and I look forward to learning more--please don't hesitate to let me know if you have thoughts on what is going right and on what I missed to help others and I on future Kate builds--it really is an fascinating aircraft the more you get into it--best, Erwin 

Edited September 15, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan
grammer

[dogsbody]

Did the Kate have any compressed air systems? Could those bottles be for that?

 

 

 

Chris

[billn53]

This is looking great! And, I love your aircrew!

[giemme]

Amazing job on the crew and interiors, Erwin  

 

5 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

although I wish I had spotted some of the mold marks

I hate when that happens, but it happens, you're not alone there...  

 

Ciao

[alt-92]

On 7/25/2021 at 8:22 PM, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Question for you and the forum--where can I get Flory Wash here in the States

Just in case this hasn't been answered elsewhere yet: 

https://www.highaltitudehobbies.com/flory-models-products-1  

 

Lovely work on the F-4 and those IJN crew btw. 

[Marco1965]

Amazing build!  I love to see aircraft with the crew inside, brings life to the model!

 

Marco

[opus999]

I'm getting pretty excited to see this one come together.  I haven't paid much attention to the Kate until recently and I'm getting quite interested in it.

 

Love those crew members -- they look fantastic.  I admire anyone that can paint a crew and paint 'em well.  I don't have the patience... I want to get on with the aircraft!!  I've only done two crew members -- John Glenn in his F-86 and Baron Von Richtofen in his Albatross.  

 

Very nice work sir!

[The Spadgent]

Beautiful detail in that ever so over crowded office. Lovely crew too. I went on the lookout for Tamiya brown accent line. It’s really Hard to find so I think I’ll stick with the flory. Great work.

 

Johnny.

[Convair]

On 19/08/2021 at 23:43, VT Red Sox Fan said:

 

Caution!! They can shoot each other! 😄

 

Very nice models. 

[VT Red Sox Fan]

@dogsbody “Did the Kate have any compressed air systems? Could those bottles be for that?”—I do not have a definitive answer to that question—based on my understanding of IJN/IJAAF fighters’ use of compressed air to operate systems, I believe it is reasonable to assume Nakajima’s B5N2 did as well—great question I wish I had the answer too—best, Erwin

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Hello everyone--its been a while, but we are back in the modeling sphere 🙌.   Back to the Kate, which is what I imagine most of you are interested in 😎.  As reported by many, the Airfix kit went together like a charm--absolutely no issues with seams and the like on my build.  I would point out that you place the fuselage halves around the cockpit centered in the wings vice sandwiching the cockpit and then attaching the wings.  Given this unique assembly, I would advise dry fitting to come up with your plan to glue it together.  In my case, I first cemented around the wing roots with Tamiya cement, then forward of the cockpit, rear fuselage and then tidied things up.  The tail stabilizers went on with no issues and required no filler.  Finally, I attached the front fuselage piece which has the firewall--this required a little sanding to blend, but no fillers of any kind.

 

 

I also decided to go with the retracted flaps--this decision was driven by poorly molded extended flaps and a judgement call on whether or not Kate's used cloth or metal covered flaps.  Airfix provides 2 sets of flaps, extended and retracted, however, on the extended flap option, Airfix omitted the fabric covering detail on one flap.  Whether or not these flaps were fabric colored also appears to be a bit of a controversy as discussed in @Marco1965's excellent build thread below.  I decided to go with the fabric covered flaps for my Kate based on evidence from wrecks, Osprey's book of B5N2/B6N units, Wings of the Rising Sun & Marco's excellent build.  Given this decision, I used Airfix's retracted flaps which as a bonus are fully detailed as cloth covered flaps--I am happy to report they fit perfectly.  

 

 

 

Finally, I started the the landing gear wells.  After looking at @giemme's & @The Spadgent's wonderful P-51Ds, I felt a bit like a slacker given the smooth nature of the Kate's wheel well.  After reading @Nick Millman's books on Nakajima built Zeros, along with reviewing Osprey's book on B5N & B6N units/Wings of the Rising Sun, I decided to go with aotake (Tamiya X-13 x3/X-25x1) in the wheel wells over a base of Tamiya aluminum lacquer.  I actually went back and forth quite a few times on this decision as both aotake and the underside color are used on excellent B5N2 builds.  I think the bottom line is this an area of judgement for the modeler at this time.

 

 

Next up will be painting--Johnny will be happy to see my 1st use of Flory Washes 🙌 thanks to the good people at High Altitude Hobbies and & @opus999 will be in for a treat with marbling on this relatively complex paint scheme.  Best to everyone!  Erwin        

   

 

 

 

[opus999]

Looking forward to it Erwin!  

[mark.au]

Somehow I missed this WIP until now, and I’m sorry I did because there’s a tonne of solid work within.  The Wildcat looks very nice indeed, and the Kate is headed in the same direction.

Edited December 19, 2021 by mark.au