Craftworks A5M4, In Honor of Dave

[Shawn M]

brilliant idea on the blueing agent!

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, gents.

 

brilliant idea on the blueing agent!

 

It was worth a try! I haven't priced the stuff recently, but I'm pretty sure it's well under ten dollars for enough to last a modeler a lifetime (you could reuse it for models) and can be found at most sporting goods stores and possibly even Wal Mart.

[scvrobeson]

I really like this build! I've got the Special Hobby one now waiting for me in the stash, but I really like your build. You're doing a great job with it. The Claude is a very good looking plane, and really represents an interesting era in plane design.

 

 

 

Matt

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks for the kind words, Matt!

 

I have the Special Hobby 2b, also. I'm not sure when I'll get to it, but have already dedicated it to be in the markings of the plane that Sakai scored with in China. I've always loved the Claude, too. It has such a "classic meets modern" vibe for me.

 

I'm glad you're enjoying the build. I know I sure am, too. For years, I've looked at these kits in the stash and kind of dreaded starting one. But, now that work is under way, I think I'm enjoying this build more than the last couple injection molded kits I did and I know that the results will be even more rewarding.

 

Last night I removed the landing gear spats from their casting blocks and have test fitted them. They fit like a glove and look great. Beyond that, I'm very anxious to get some paint on this bird, but I'm going to step back and slow down for a bit, first. In looking at some pics of the Russian captured Claude (probably the best close ups available), I see a couple more things that I can do to enhance things even more. There are a couple of panel/rivet lines that I don't have and I also see that the small panel at the left wing root is actually supposed to be a raised tread-plate. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to texture it yet, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. I'm also going to spend some more time working the lights. The wingtip lights that are molded into the wings will probably be filed out and replaced with built up CA, then polished. I'll probably do the same for the light at the tip of the tail. The other lights I'll probably make from clear styrene sprue. I need to work on the retractable grab handles/steps, as well.

 

I installed the rest of the tailplane/rudder, last night, as well. I decided to drill holes for the horizontal stabs and keyed them with brass rod for added strength. Sorry for not taking pics, but I'll probably do one more set of photos when everything is together, just before I paint. I'm also about to put the finishing touches on my P-36C build and get that officially "done", so my attention is going to be temporarily diverted.

 

Thanks again to everyone following along and for the continued support.

 

John

[MikeMaben]

Looking good John.

[scvrobeson]

That's great that you finally got down to building it. I've got a couple of kits in my stash like that, where I look at them every time I look at the stash, and keep thinking I'll get to them eventually.

 

I'm probably going to use the Montex Super Mask set for some alternative schemes for the Claude. I like the red and white banded tail section, and means less chance of me screwing up the ame-iro coating on top.

 

 

 

Please, keep up the great work. This is a fitting tribute to Dave, I'm sure he'd be happy with it.

 

 

 

Matt

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks again, guys.

 

For the last few days, I've been battling an abscessed tooth. However, I've been able to do a couple things, here and there, in between waves of pain. I got the rest of the rivets done and drilled out the spots for the steps and hand grabs on the port side. I still need to figure out exactly what I'm going to do for all the lights and get started on the windscreen. I think I know how I'm going to attack that, but am still not sure if I will only use an exterior frame, or if I can get an interior frame to fit, as well. I'll start with the exterior and go from there, I guess. This will be the first time I've built a windscreen/canopy frame from scratch, so it's new territory for me.

 

Thanks again for following along,

 

John

[mywifehatesmodels]

Okay, my face has stopped throbbing, temporarily, so I got a few little things done. First off, here's a pic of one of the wheel spats, having been riveted.

 

 

For the treadplate, I couldn't find anything in my spares boxes to really replicate it, so I took a chunk of putty and stuck it to the fender of my built 1/35 Stug III model. Then, I used the putty as a mold for some resin. We'll see how it turns out, as it's curing, right now.

 

 

Next, I turned my attention to the wingtip lights. I cut out the solid, molded in lenses and used CA glue and a chunk of clear sprue. From there, I sanded it down to the contour of the wing and then polished it up with the three stage nail polishing sticks that I like so well.

 

 

I will probably have to do something similar for the lights on top of the wings (two on each wing), but it's going to be more difficult to get them all the same size/shape.

 

John

[mywifehatesmodels]

Okay, I got the other wingtip light done:

 

 

Also, I've got the tail cone light done, but forgot to take a pic. Oops! I'll get one tomorrow. I also figured out how I'm going to do the rest of the lights, thanks to a post by Chukw on another forum. So, they should come out better than I had anticipated.

 

I also got my treadplate installed. I sanded it about as thin as I dared. However, looking at the pictures of the real thing, it actually stood up off the wing more than you would expect, so I think it looks good.

 

 

Last night, I started working on the windscreen framing. This has been a slow, tedious process and has involved lots of colorful language along the way. I guess I should be thankful that the resin former for the windscreen was included. I can't imagine having to do this without it. For now, I'm just getting the main parts together and trying to hit the shape as close as I can. Once everything is in place, I'll start contouring and filing things to be a closer match to the real thing. It's starting to look like a windscreen for a Claude, though!

 

 

 

Slowly, but surely, she's getting there.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

John

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, Maru.

 

A little more progress on the windscreen...

 

I've come to the conclusion that the windscreen provided in this kit is somewhat of a cross between the A5M4 and the A5M2. Not surprising, since the A5M probably had more variations in the windscreen area than any other plane known to man. So, I've tried to make a few modifications to bring this one closer to the A5M4 look, but I think I can only take it so far without doing a complete scratchbuild of the frame. I'm not sure if I'm capable of doing that and having it turn out any better than what I have, already. Also, even if I could, it may take weeks to get it right and I really don't want to spend that kind of time to do it. Here's where I'm at, for the moment:

 

 

I've also come to the conclusion that the kit's telescopic sight is a bit over-scale. I'm going to make a new one from metal tubing. Once that's done and I've got it's location plotted, I can get the windscreen finished up and decide on how I want to attach it. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to cut individual panes of "glass" and install them, as the vac parts don't really fit as tight as I would like, especially after some of the shape/dimensional mods that I've made. The struggle I'm having, is with the order in which I should do everything. The most solid way to mount the windscreen would be to do it before installing the glass, or painting it. Of course, this would make those operations difficult to impossible to accomplish, once it is installed. On the other hand, If I paint the interior side, install the glass, then the whole windscreen before painting all of the exterior, it could be difficult to properly mask everything off. Finally, if I put off installing the windscreen until after the rest of the exterior is painted, I have to deal with problems/flaws created while trying to install/paint it later. Decisions...decisions!

 

John

[Guest]

Looking good, my friend ! Love watching......Harv

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, Harv!

 

Working up the telescopic sight didn't take as long as I thought it would (although, I still need to add a couple of finishing touches). So, I decided to do a mock-up to help me figure out all my angles, etc. I think I'll lower the front of the sight just a hair but, other than that, it's looking pretty good, I think.

 

 

John

[DougN]

Looking good John! Here is a site with a few good reference photos I used when I built my Claude. Although the aircraft on this site is an A5M2, it should still be useful

 

Doug

[mywifehatesmodels]

Doug,

 

While I have seen most of those pics, there are a few that I had not and I thank you for posting the link. I've always found that photo of the windscreen particularly interesting, as it's yet another variation that I've not seen anywhere else. I don't know if all the variations were due to different manufacturers/subcontractors, or what, but it's interesting, to say the least.

 

I had planned on adding the scope's cover and lever system, as shown in the one photo and will certainly be doing so. I just painted the interior of the windscreen and have cut a couple of the window sections to fit. I think I'm going to paint the frame first, then install the glass. I also painted the underside of the airframe just a few minutes ago. I'll install the mostly painted windscreen after painting the topside and will then have to add a couple more strips of plastic where the two meet, then touch that up, as well. That was the most reasonable plan of action I could come up with, as all the other options had more potential problems with masking and paint overspray/bleeding. We'll see how it goes.

 

Thanks again,

 

John

[mywifehatesmodels]

Here's my progress for the day!

 

I made the rest of the lights by heating clear sprue and "smashing" it through a teardrop PE template. In this case, the 1/32 scribing template set by Alliance Model Works.

 

 

I painted the underside with Testors Metalizer. I used Stainless Steel, since I was out of aluminum and buffed it. When you apply the sealer, it dulls it quite a bit and you really can't tell the difference between the two colors. After that was dry, I applied the lower decals and gave them a coat of micro-sol. I used decals from the 21st Century A6M2 kit, as they were the size and color that I wanted. Unfortunately, when I sprayed the sealer coat, the decals fractured into a thousand pieces underneath it. After that all cured, I sanded them down the best I could and applied decals that came with this kit. They're a touch lighter in color, but I'll have to live with it. I think the problem was that I didn't let the micro-sol take full effect. I should have waited overnight before applying the sealer, but I got ahead of myself. The new decals are still a little rough, but a huge improvement over the "spiderweb" effect that was there before. I was worried about the rivets being too pronounced on the underside, also. They actually look pretty good and are not as prominent to the eye as the photos would indicate.

 

 

I've done most of the preliminary painting. I stopped short of the cockpit area so that I can get the windscreen in place, first. I also noticed runs from the Metalizer sealer that had dripped down on the nose area. I'll have to sand them off before completing the paint work. The paint I used was Floquil IJN Green. It seems to be darker than most other IJN Greens in my paint drawer and better captures the look of my reference photo, in my opinion. I also did a test fit of the cowl/exhausts again. I think I'm going to shorten my spacer just a little bit more, but it's really close to where I want it. I also added a shaft to the prop, so it will actually turn now (but I forgot to take pics).

 

 

Next, I'll get back to the windscreen. I've added the spindle for the sight's cap, also, but still need to do the handle and cap, itself. I'm almost on the home stretch.

 

Regards,

 

John