Finally finished these builds, these are the Yokosuka D4Y2 D4Y3 Suisei "Judy" IJN dive bombers of the 601st and 653rd Kokutai, circa October 1944, which are comparable to the USN Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, as these aircraft have internal bomb bays.
The kits are from Arii and LS, with the latter being the budget version. The kits, even with their age, were actually molded with recessed panel lines. With the Dash-2 having the "in-line" engine and the Dash-3 having the "radial" engine. But what I thought to be straightforward builds turned out to be quite tedious.
Gunze Mr Color acrylic paints were used, IJN Green (15), IJN Gray (35), Cockpit color (126), Propeller color (131), Tire Black (137), with the landing gear bays done with Silver (8) and a mix coat of Clear Green (138) and Clear Blue (50). Chipping was done Silver paint with a fine brush and weathering was done with Daler-Rowney Lamp Black oil paint diluted in lighter fluid. Mr Hobby weathering pastels were also used for exhaust stains and panel weathering. Mr Hobby Mr Super Clear (Flat) for final matte coating. A silver colored pencil was also used to simulate further chipping and scratches.
Decals were a mix from OOB and DIY, smoothed out with Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softener. Falcon clear-vax canopies were used as the OOB ones had very thick.framing and was quite inaccurate. Aerials were from 0.15mm fishing lines.
The cockpit was quite bare, so I added a few details here and there. The most difficult part of which was the external pipe sight, which was created from brass rods and pipes, which replaced the OOB parts and made to go through the windscreen. A 7.92mm rear gun was provided though.
I wanted to do these builds as these are the types of aircraft that did the most damage during the Battle of Leyte Gulf campaign for the Japanese naval forces, even sinking the USS Princeton, which carried the more visually striking VF-27 "Cat Mouth" Squadron, another subject of my PacWar builds, click link here.
More pix in this link...
The kits are from Arii and LS, with the latter being the budget version. The kits, even with their age, were actually molded with recessed panel lines. With the Dash-2 having the "in-line" engine and the Dash-3 having the "radial" engine. But what I thought to be straightforward builds turned out to be quite tedious.
Gunze Mr Color acrylic paints were used, IJN Green (15), IJN Gray (35), Cockpit color (126), Propeller color (131), Tire Black (137), with the landing gear bays done with Silver (8) and a mix coat of Clear Green (138) and Clear Blue (50). Chipping was done Silver paint with a fine brush and weathering was done with Daler-Rowney Lamp Black oil paint diluted in lighter fluid. Mr Hobby weathering pastels were also used for exhaust stains and panel weathering. Mr Hobby Mr Super Clear (Flat) for final matte coating. A silver colored pencil was also used to simulate further chipping and scratches.
Decals were a mix from OOB and DIY, smoothed out with Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softener. Falcon clear-vax canopies were used as the OOB ones had very thick.framing and was quite inaccurate. Aerials were from 0.15mm fishing lines.
The cockpit was quite bare, so I added a few details here and there. The most difficult part of which was the external pipe sight, which was created from brass rods and pipes, which replaced the OOB parts and made to go through the windscreen. A 7.92mm rear gun was provided though.
I wanted to do these builds as these are the types of aircraft that did the most damage during the Battle of Leyte Gulf campaign for the Japanese naval forces, even sinking the USS Princeton, which carried the more visually striking VF-27 "Cat Mouth" Squadron, another subject of my PacWar builds, click link here.
More pix in this link...
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