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Tamiya 1/48 Rufe


LSP_Kevin

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I'm beginning to suffer a little bit of burn-out with my Texan build, and rather than succumb to it, I thought I'd switch gears for a little while and begin a long-planned project. For a long time I've wanted to improve my finishing and weathering skills, and of course the only way to do that is to practice. I have a great many 1/48 kits in the stash, many of them older but still decent, so I've decided to work my way through them, focussing on the finishing and weathering without getting bogged down with construction. This means mostly OOB builds, with lots of experimentation with finishing and weathering techniques. The plan is to weather all of them to varying degrees, and many of them will be technically over-weathered for the sake of practice and experimentation.
 
So, first up we have Tamiya's ancient 1/48 A6M2-N "Rufe" kit:
 
CM8hIm.jpg
 
I've had this kit in the stash for the longest time, since way before the Hasegawa kit came out. It was already old when I bought it though; check this out:
 
jrE2YT.jpg
 
It's a bit indistinct in the photo unfortunately, so in case you can't read it, the copyright date on the second line says "1973". This kit is downright amazing for its age! Recessed panel lines, decent cockpit detail and a fairly good fit of parts. So, in the spirit of the venture, I've spent much of the past afternoon getting stuck in to it.
 
Central Float:
 
CTZQy1.jpg
 
I added a styrene disc to the rear of the hole in the pylon, as there was an unsightly seam there. This has spread the 'tunnel' out slightly, but should be pretty straightforward to deal with.
 
vEHOYR.jpg
 
Of course, I completely didn't see the bit in the instructions about adding weight inside the front of the float until about now...
 
Outrigger Floats and Cowling:
 
nfpx7n.jpg
 
Each of these components comes in left and right halves. I discovered that my ancient tin of Xtracolor Aotake had finally congealed beyond salvation, so for the front part of the inside cowling I spraying some Tamiya Clear Blue acrylic over AS-12. Turned out OK, though I thinned the Clear Blue too much and had some beading. You can barely see it anyway, so it doesn't matter. Something else to practice!
 
Beaching Dolly:
 
8lzymg.jpg
 
Thoughtfully the kit provides a beaching dolly to aid in displaying the model (not finished yet, obviously). It's a very simple affair, so again a chance to make the best of it through painting and weathering. Anybody know what colours it should be?
 
Engine:
 
DUQzxU.jpg
 
The engine is so simple in this kit that I was immediately tempted to break my OOB rule (which will only be adhered to loosely in any case), but I decided to paint it up anyway and see what it looks like. Pretty good I think! With some additional wiring it would really be quite impressive once in the cowling.
 
Cockpit:
 
Here's where I spent most of my efforts.
 
0SXfGO.jpg
 
I modified the seat by thinning the back slightly and drilling the lightening holes. I'll also be adding some PE seatbelts to it. The emphasis here was on improving my cockpit painting and weathering and practicing a few techniques. I think it looks OK, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I'll be using the kit's decal for the instrumental panel, which will probably look a bit naff, but hopefully not too bad. I'll post a photo of the completed assembly when it's done, before it goes into the fuselage.
 
Advice, pointers, criticism and feedback gratefully accepted! More soon.
 
Kev

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Guest Peterpools

Kev

What a great idea, for learning, practicing and preventing burnout.  Not dating myself but I remember when the Rufe first hit the shelves. Back in the day it was quite a kit.

Peter

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Thanks fellas. Dan - I don't want to over-complicate the project by attempting a water base for it too! I still have nightmares about when I did such a thing with Glencoe's 1/130 Martin M-130. I've got a few other float planes and flying boats in the stash, so I'll work up to it.

 

I still haven't decided on a scheme for this one yet, or if I'm even going to use the kit decals. Just haven't thought that far ahead. I figure though that painting most of the markings fits the profile for the project. I know they're mostly easy to make yourself for Japanese planes, but does anyone do a commercial mask set? Even one for just the canopy would be a bonus.

 

Speaking of schemes, when I first got this kit, I was really attracted to the all-white version featured on the box art, but of course we know now they were never white. Problem is I'm not sure what the current thinking is in terms of the actual colour. So I'll probably go with the standard green/grey one, which will probably give me more scope for weathering anyway. Sorry, just thinking out loud!

 

Kev

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Nice liitle kit, Kev. I started one for my (temporarily aborted), den fighter project, and I think it definitely looks the part. What little reference I have on the Rufe (basically the Kagero book), would seem to indicate super dark gray or black for the beaching dolly. And there were some overall light gray ones.

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Nice liitle kit, Kev. I started one for my (temporarily aborted), den fighter project, and I think it definitely looks the part. What little reference I have on the Rufe (basically the Kagero book), would seem to indicate super dark gray or black for the beaching dolly.

 

Thanks K2. After I posted that question, I noticed that the kit instructions recommend black. I really should read kit instructions more often...

 

Kev

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If you'd like scans of the schemes depicted in the Kagero book, please let me know. They're more or less 50/50 green over gray, or overall light gray. I probably have the included decals here somewhere too.

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If you'd like scans of the schemes depicted in the Kagero book, please let me know. They're more or less 50/50 green over gray, or overall light gray. I probably have the included decals here somewhere too.

 

Yeah, that'd be great! The kit decals look OK for their age, but they're a little thick, there's way too much carrier film, and the red of the hinomarus is too bright. It probably doesn't matter too much for this build though, but I don't want to find myself having done an excellent weathering job (assuming I do) that's ruined by crappy decals.

 

Kev

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Finding the decals may be a bit of a challenge, but I'm sure they're here somewhere. I used the references (and some decals if I remember correctly), for my 1:24 Rufe, but never even painted the 1:48 bird, so those decals are still floating about. Cartograf too, assuming I remember correctly.

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Montex makes masks for 1:48 A6M2-N #MONK48095

 

or

 

I have a complete set of Tamiya A6M2-N 1:48 decals.  I acquired from Tamiya in 2012 and are in new shape.  Will be happy to give you.

 

PM me.

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Thas

 

Montex makes masks for 1:48 A6M2-N #MONK48095

 

or

 

I have a complete set of Tamiya A6M2-N 1:48 decals.  I acquired from Tamiya in 2012 and are in new shape.  Will be happy to give you.

 

PM me.

 

Thanks Rick! PM sent. I've discovered that Montex made two mask sets for 1/48 Rufes, though notionally designed for the Hasegawa kit. My LOHS (Local Online Hobby Shop) has one of them in stock, and that's very tempting too. The only thing is, the biggest attraction for a set like this is the canopy masks, but they're not likely to fit my kit. :hmmm:

 

Kev

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Here's the fully assembled, painted, weathered and decalled cockpit, as promised:

 

ZTCbmN.jpg

 

5YakVo.jpg

 

The kit's instrument panel decal is OK, but that's all. Good enough for my purposes here. The seat belts come from an old True Details set of generic WW2 Japanese seat belts. They don't strike me as terribly accurate, but look effective enough.

 

I'm really enjoying this one so far!

 

Kev

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As a direct result of this thread, I found myself yesterday surfing the web for good prices on the 1:48 Tamiya Rufe, Rex and Seiran float plane kits. Thanks a bunch, Kev, that's just what I need right now. :(

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