Wingsy Kits A5M2b Claude Late version 1:48 Review Build

[billn53]

Excellent job on the stripe (and everything else).

 

As an aside, ClearProp did a great job with the decals for their 1/72 Claude. The fuselage stripes were designed so that, when applied, they appear as straight stripes -- i.e., the stripe decals incorporated curves to compensate for the compound shape of the fuselage:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike]

19 hours ago, billn53 said:

The fuselage stripes were designed so that, when applied, they appear as straight stripes -- i.e., the stripe decals incorporated curves to compensate for the compound shape of the fuselage:

Nice model Wingsy put the kinks in too, but the decal was just too brittle to go on in one piece It's not the end of the world though, and I'm out the other side now, so can push on with the rest of the decals, which is mostly a clutch of stencils.   Shouldn't take me long if I get some bench time

[Mike]

Finally finished off the decals, and the model is now next in the spray booth after the Vengeance for a topcoat of clear gloss before I move on to the weathering.

 

 

They're barely showing up, but I've also put clear red and clear blue on the wingtop lights, which were previously silver.  I think the booth lights have blown through the pigment.

[Sturmovik]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

I move on to the weathering.

It would ruin the shiny finish though, and I like how shiny it is.

[Mike]

27 minutes ago, Sturmovik said:

It would ruin the shiny finish though, and I like how shiny it is.

Don't worry - I don't plan on putting much on there.  Just a little bit to show that it's not fresh from the factory.  pre-war they looked after their aircraft cos there wasn't much to do other than train.

[Mike]

While I had the wash out for the Vengeance, I figured I might as well just get my hands dirty the once and do the wash on the Claude too.  After a test panel under the wing I lathered the model with wash, then rubbed it off with kitchen roll when dry.  A little slobber was used to moisten the towel for the final polish, and here's where she's at now.  I'll probably do another check before I seal it in with more varnish later, but it's looking OK at the moment.  I just realised I forgot to paint the drop tank, so I have to go through it all again to get that done next session

 

 

I'm not sure what the mark on the fuselage hinomara is, but as Gunze H3 red is a perfect match, it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with if it's not just a trick of the light

[Rob K.]

Love the tidy paintwork so far.

[Alan P]

You fair rattled your way through this 👍 the paintwork looks really crisp, very neat job mate! 

 

I'm going with the consensus on the MRP silver paint, seems to be an excellent option 👍

[georgeusa]

That sure is a pretty shiny aircraft you got there.  Way to go on the silver finish.  The weathering looks fine as it is.  Great job.

[Mike]

Not much visible going on, but that's partly down to the relatively subtle weathering I've been doing.  Before I glued on the motor and cowling, I got out the smoke weathering and put a few coats around the forward fuselage, under the wings where the exhausts pop out, and around the cockpit area, as looking at photos they just seemed to get dirty, rather than have the paint peel off or show scratches.  Granted the pics are old and sometimes grainy, but the silver ones seemed to stay pretty clean overall, so I wasn't about to weather the bejeezuz out of it.  I also glued on the wheels and their spats, and have begun preparation of the small parts that will finish it off.

 

 

 

You can't really see much of the weathering, but it's there and I'm happy with it.  It needs a bit of a gloss top-coat to harmonise the patina of the various sections, as the weathering it currently really shiny, while the silver is not as shiny.  I'll even them up as I paint up the wee bits, and I can imagine this one finished soon.

[Mike]

I got the last of the bits and pieces on this one the other day, although I've since knocked off the tail-wheel, which I'll have to peg and glue back on, so I'm going to put this in the cabinet and move on with the Vengeance, Zero and the V-1, which have been getting less love of late.  That said I've soldered together a new tail-wheel yoke for the Vengeance this avo, so things are progressing, just 2 steps back for every one step forward Here's a pic, and the rest are on the RFI thread (see below)

 

 

There's an RFI thread here if you'd like to see more.

[billn53]

Bravo!  Your Claude looks fab!

[georgeusa]

That there is one nice looking Claude.  Excellent job on the metal finish, nice and shiny, but still realistic looking.  Way to go!