Great work so far John!
Hasegawa 1/48 Kawanishi N1K1-Ja Shiden
- Thread starter JKim
- Start date
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
fubar57
General
Coming along nicely John and I agree with Wayne. I've got photos of aircraft in the field that look like they just came from the paint shop and others that look like they were sand blasted for a month. I really like that method of creating the lights but haven't even come close to attempting it yet
SANCER
Senior Master Sergeant
It start looking that comes something great with your work John. 
I really like this way of working the lights; I happened to try for the first time with my Nakajima (Rufe) and is easier to do, what can be seen in photos.
(My dear Geo, it's time you try the next chance you get...
)
A hug to both
I really like this way of working the lights; I happened to try for the first time with my Nakajima (Rufe) and is easier to do, what can be seen in photos.
(My dear Geo, it's time you try the next chance you get...
)A hug to both
- Thread starter
- #24
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for the comments guys! I really tried to avoid having to create my own light out of clear sprue because I was afraid it would destroy the detail around the light opening. I pushed it off for about 3-4 days and desperately looked for the lost piece. When the search came up empty, I was forced to do it and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. And I was actually able to save most of that detail.
I was gone the entire weekend (Friday through Monday) on my annual offshore fishing trip so my build has been put on hold. I managed to spend a little more time on it during the week and have a few things to report.
Prior to adding the wings to the fuselage, I decided to glue on the underwing cannon gondolas.
I read one online build of this kit mentioning the poor fit of these gondolas but I experienced no such issue... fit was great!
A quick check to see how the gun barrels fit... looks good. I won't add the gun barrels until everything has been painted.
The kit pitot tube was replaced with brass tubing. The sliding brass tube sets from Albion are perfect for this type of work as they are sized to slide into one another. The hole in the wing was too big and not centered so it had to be filled and re-drilled. I took a picture of the new pitot tube in the repaired hole but it didn't upload for some reason. I'll get that pic up later.
There is a micro-sized scoop that attaches to the engine cowling. I hollowed out the opening and glued it into place so that I wouldn't lose the part.
Dry fitting the wings to the fuselage showed pretty good fit with some tiny gaps at the wing roots. In order to minimize the gap, I used some plastic sprue to spread the fuselage a tiny bit. Another picture that didn't upload. The wings were fused into place with Tamiya Extra Thin.
As you can see, fit is pretty good but the joints (especially on the bottom) will need to be cleaned up.
I'd like to deviate from the kit instructions and glue the engine, cowl and flaps together as a separate assembly. This would allow me to sandwich the exhaust pipes between the cowl and fuselage AFTER painting. But the engine piece is designed to mount THROUGH the cowl flap piece and attach primarily to the plug on the front of the fuselage. I'm not sure there is enough contact between the engine and flap piece to ensure a solid connection.
I was gone the entire weekend (Friday through Monday) on my annual offshore fishing trip so my build has been put on hold. I managed to spend a little more time on it during the week and have a few things to report.
Prior to adding the wings to the fuselage, I decided to glue on the underwing cannon gondolas.
I read one online build of this kit mentioning the poor fit of these gondolas but I experienced no such issue... fit was great!
A quick check to see how the gun barrels fit... looks good. I won't add the gun barrels until everything has been painted.
The kit pitot tube was replaced with brass tubing. The sliding brass tube sets from Albion are perfect for this type of work as they are sized to slide into one another. The hole in the wing was too big and not centered so it had to be filled and re-drilled. I took a picture of the new pitot tube in the repaired hole but it didn't upload for some reason. I'll get that pic up later.
There is a micro-sized scoop that attaches to the engine cowling. I hollowed out the opening and glued it into place so that I wouldn't lose the part.
Dry fitting the wings to the fuselage showed pretty good fit with some tiny gaps at the wing roots. In order to minimize the gap, I used some plastic sprue to spread the fuselage a tiny bit. Another picture that didn't upload. The wings were fused into place with Tamiya Extra Thin.
As you can see, fit is pretty good but the joints (especially on the bottom) will need to be cleaned up.
I'd like to deviate from the kit instructions and glue the engine, cowl and flaps together as a separate assembly. This would allow me to sandwich the exhaust pipes between the cowl and fuselage AFTER painting. But the engine piece is designed to mount THROUGH the cowl flap piece and attach primarily to the plug on the front of the fuselage. I'm not sure there is enough contact between the engine and flap piece to ensure a solid connection.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Nice progress John.
Looks great so far John!
- Thread starter
- #28
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for the comments! Here are the pictures that didn't get posted last time. The new pitot tube in the repaired and re-drilled opening. Just a dry fit as the fiddly bits will get permanently attached after painting.
The sprue wideners in the fuselage before the wings got glued on...
Back to the present job at hand. After the wing/fuselage joints were lightly sanded to remove the excess glue marks, I used White Milliput to fill the small gaps. Since Milliput is water soluble, you can use it as a no-sanding-required filler by wiping off excess with a moist paper towel after application. This is great for filling in gaps at hard to reach perpendicular joints.
It is also great for filling in the hairline gaps that I found at the bottom joint.
The two-piece spinner assembly also required some Milliput.
Some components on the Shiden assembly line that are being worked on... the prop tips have been painted yellow. I'll use thin strips of Tamiya tape to mask off the yellow strips on the props before they are painted brown. The drop tank has been assembled and is almost ready for paint. The long landing gear legs have been cleaned up and I'm contemplating whether to add brake lines or not.
The sprue wideners in the fuselage before the wings got glued on...
Back to the present job at hand. After the wing/fuselage joints were lightly sanded to remove the excess glue marks, I used White Milliput to fill the small gaps. Since Milliput is water soluble, you can use it as a no-sanding-required filler by wiping off excess with a moist paper towel after application. This is great for filling in gaps at hard to reach perpendicular joints.
It is also great for filling in the hairline gaps that I found at the bottom joint.
The two-piece spinner assembly also required some Milliput.
Some components on the Shiden assembly line that are being worked on... the prop tips have been painted yellow. I'll use thin strips of Tamiya tape to mask off the yellow strips on the props before they are painted brown. The drop tank has been assembled and is almost ready for paint. The long landing gear legs have been cleaned up and I'm contemplating whether to add brake lines or not.
- Thread starter
- #30
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for the comment!
Here's a closer look at the seam work on the Shiden. The fuselage seam was filled with Mr Surfacer 1000 and rescribed. The wing root was simply given a bead of White Milliput with the excess wiped off with a wet paper towel, resulting in a nice clean joint.
The seam at the bottom needs a little more work.
The tail stabilizers are attached at this point. Fit is very good!
The Shiden is starting to look like an airplane.
Althought the fit was good, the tail stab joints are given the same Milliput treatment as the wing roots to make the joint uniform,
As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to keep the engine cowling assembly as a separate unit. Because the engine plug was designed to trap the cowl flaps against the fuselage, I had to find a way to create a bond between the cowl flap part and engine plug. I decided to use spacers made up of small squares of plastic sheet.
I can now paint the fuselage and the engine cowling as separate pieces without the exhaust pipes in the way.
The clear parts are given a dip in Future and masked off using the Eduard masks.
The drop tank has been assembled and pre-shaded.
I've decided to add brake lines to the main landing gear struts.
Here's a closer look at the seam work on the Shiden. The fuselage seam was filled with Mr Surfacer 1000 and rescribed. The wing root was simply given a bead of White Milliput with the excess wiped off with a wet paper towel, resulting in a nice clean joint.
The seam at the bottom needs a little more work.
The tail stabilizers are attached at this point. Fit is very good!
The Shiden is starting to look like an airplane.
Althought the fit was good, the tail stab joints are given the same Milliput treatment as the wing roots to make the joint uniform,
As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to keep the engine cowling assembly as a separate unit. Because the engine plug was designed to trap the cowl flaps against the fuselage, I had to find a way to create a bond between the cowl flap part and engine plug. I decided to use spacers made up of small squares of plastic sheet.
I can now paint the fuselage and the engine cowling as separate pieces without the exhaust pipes in the way.
The clear parts are given a dip in Future and masked off using the Eduard masks.
The drop tank has been assembled and pre-shaded.
I've decided to add brake lines to the main landing gear struts.
fubar57
General
Very nice. Those masks are ever so tidy. I've never used them before as I thought using a brush might flood the area to much and cause leakage
- Thread starter
- #32
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
I LOVE the Eduard masks! I'm always amazed at how well they fit and how forgiving that yellow tape material is. They stick really well to Future'd clear parts and I'm sure they'd hold against brushed paint application.
Great work so far John!
- Thread starter
- #35
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for watching! Picking up where I left off, I've finished painting and weathering the landing gear legs. The tail wheel still needs to be painted.
Here are the wheels. Can't see it in this poor lighting but I've given the rubber a ochre pigment stain.
Here is the prop assembly all painted up. Again, hard to see but I threw a few weathering techniques at the prop blades including salt weathering with a slight lighter shade of brown, some subtle streaking and light chipping with a colored pencil.
I replaced one of the fuel lines on the drop tank with wiring so that I could use it as a handle during painting. The drop tank was painted a light blue/green/grey shade. Initial weathering was done with an airbrush with various shades of brown/black.
The drop tank was chipped with colored pencils.
The fuel fill cap is simply a depression so I decided to gussy it up using a piece of punched brass sheet.
The drop tank is finished so I'll set it aside.
The rear deck was painted interior green and the gun sight was glued into place.
I've decided to secure the canopy closed. Most planes look best to my eye when all the hatches are buttoned up and the canopy shut. The clear parts were glued into place using white glue.
The Shiden is just about ready for painting. It's going to be natural metal below and a dark green on top. I may employ the hairspray technique to provide a chipping base along the wing roots.
Here are the wheels. Can't see it in this poor lighting but I've given the rubber a ochre pigment stain.
Here is the prop assembly all painted up. Again, hard to see but I threw a few weathering techniques at the prop blades including salt weathering with a slight lighter shade of brown, some subtle streaking and light chipping with a colored pencil.
I replaced one of the fuel lines on the drop tank with wiring so that I could use it as a handle during painting. The drop tank was painted a light blue/green/grey shade. Initial weathering was done with an airbrush with various shades of brown/black.
The drop tank was chipped with colored pencils.
The fuel fill cap is simply a depression so I decided to gussy it up using a piece of punched brass sheet.
The drop tank is finished so I'll set it aside.
The rear deck was painted interior green and the gun sight was glued into place.
I've decided to secure the canopy closed. Most planes look best to my eye when all the hatches are buttoned up and the canopy shut. The clear parts were glued into place using white glue.
The Shiden is just about ready for painting. It's going to be natural metal below and a dark green on top. I may employ the hairspray technique to provide a chipping base along the wing roots.
Looks great so far John!
Pretty damn good...
Crimea_River
Marshal
Great work John.
- Thread starter
- #40
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for the comments! Time to paint! First up is spraying the clear pieces interior green.
Then its time for the gloss black, which goes on the bottom of the airplane and also on the top portions on which I want to eventually show chip wear.
The engine cowling assembly is also given a coat of black.
The black is given a good inspection and any imperfections are smoothed down with micromesh. To ensure an even base for the Alclad metallic paints, I give the black areas a thin coat of Alclad Aqua gloss thinned with iso alcohol and a bit of Mr Leveling Thinner.
Then its time for the gloss black, which goes on the bottom of the airplane and also on the top portions on which I want to eventually show chip wear.
The engine cowling assembly is also given a coat of black.
The black is given a good inspection and any imperfections are smoothed down with micromesh. To ensure an even base for the Alclad metallic paints, I give the black areas a thin coat of Alclad Aqua gloss thinned with iso alcohol and a bit of Mr Leveling Thinner.
