DougN Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I decided to get cracking on this kit for (hopefully) a quick build. I've always liked the colorful schemes carried by some Claudes, and this one will give me a chance to add one to my display case! Since I have not seen another one built yet, I thought I would do another WIP The A5M4 kit differs from the previously released A5M2 kit in that the -M4 has resin and PE parts included (also provided is the correct -M4 windscreen). The resin parts make up the instrument panel and it's associated gun breechs, ammo chutes, bulkhead; the rear bulkhead and seat (which has PE mounts and bungee cord), as well as the equipment boxes that go on either sidewall. The rudder pedals are also resin, with some PE added. For the engine, there is a new resin main housing, 2 resin intakes and a PE wiring harness. Here are a couple shots of the main cockpit components and intial engine assembled and awaiting painting: By the way, there are some nice reference shots on this site (although of the -M2): A5M2 reference shots Unfortunately, they show that the kit parts while close, are not necessarily wholly accurate (but close enough for my purposes). More as things progress! Cheers, Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Hi Doug, Looks like you are of to great start. Look forward to more updates. Regards, Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big matt Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Looks like a pretty cool kit! Looking forward to more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Hi, Doug. I'm anxious to see this one built and get your opinions on it. I have the A5M2 kit and have been thinking a lot about it, lately. Looking forward to it! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Thanks for looking in guys! Kagemusha, I too have the Mushroom book on the A5M, but find it to be of little use for modeling purposes References seem to be almost non-existant for the A5M, but I guess the good part of that is that people won't be able to tell you that you're wrong Ok, on with the build! I painted the interior parts with Mitsubishi Interior Green and put all the components where the directions seemed to indicate: And then attached the side walls to their respective fuselage halves: I then assembled the floor and bulkheads: Test fitting showed that the resin parts where a bit too wide for the fuselage, so I trimmed the rear bulkhead so that the sides were flush with the floor, and trimmed about 1/8" off either side of the instrument panel bulkhead as it was hitting the stringers on the side panels. Fortunately, the trimming cannot be seen as the boxes on the sidewalls obscure the view Once done, the floor and bulkheads will be able to be inserted from the bottom after the fuselage is assembled (more pics later). I also glued the tailplanes together, and started working on the wings. I noticed that the uppersurface part had a strange blob on it (as does my -M2 kit in the same place) I am guessing from damage to the mold: This was cleaned up with a sanding stick. Special Hobby has molded the wingtip formation lights as part of the wing. This is fine if you want to paint them silver, and then cover that with some clear red (port) and clear blue (starboard). Special Hobby also provides some clear parts that you can use to replace the molded in lights (and on the -M4 kit, they also give you clear lights for the wings (4) and a clear part for the tailcone light). However, since the wintip lights had colored covers I decided to cut them out and just use some colored plastic handles from some toothbrushes (purchased previously for things like this) (more later). I also noted that the prop has some sink marks that will need filling, so I'll get started on that as well: More next week! Cheers, Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) The cockpit looks very neat, Doug! I need to remember about a toothbrush as possible source of material for navigation lights I like the subject quite a lot and I'll be following your build with keen interest. Edited September 2, 2011 by Tomek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) Looking great, Doug! I also have the Mushroom book and while it's great for pictures and some color profiles, I would agree that it kind of falls short on the finer details. From what I've seen, the older Maru Mechanic series had a good one on the Claude, but I've never had it in hand. May be worth picking up. My M2 also has the strange blobs on the wings (Correction! I just looked and it's only the right wing). Not really sure why those would be there. However, I remember talking with Dave Thompson when he was still alive, about his Claude kit, which was the master for the Craftworks release. I have that kit, as well as Dave's K trainer kit and one of his uber-rare A5M2b prototypes (the canopy version). He told me that, on the Craftworks kit, the fuel filler port on the wings is in the wrong location and that he had corrected this on his masters. I wonder if Special Hobby did something similar, as an afterthought, after the tools were completed? Thanks for posting, John Edited September 6, 2011 by mywifehatesmodels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgb1940 Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Hey Doug looking great. I like the way you poped out the interior. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Dear Doug, Beautiful paint job on the cockpit. Can not wait to see how you use the tooth brushes. Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOTR Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Ah, the one I was originally after, when I found the Nate for a bargain price. Will follow with interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big matt Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Cockpit looks sharp! I'm looking forward to seeing the nav lights take shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) Thanks guys, I just did a quick job on the cockpit as I intend this to be a quick build and I am trying not to get bogged down on anything . I changed a the color of a couple of parts based on Andy's (Kagemusha) info before I stuck the cockpit in the fuselage. Unfortunately (or fortunately) you cannot see much of it at all once closed up (photos later). I'm finishing up the landing lights. Here, I have cut a chunk off each toothbrush, drilled a hole to represent a light bulb inside, and painted the back sides silver. I then attached them to each wing tip using superglue: I then started sanding, and sanding, and then sanding some more, until I had this (after using the polishing sander): You can see the "bulb" inside the light cover (as well as some superglue around the outside and in a cut I made by mistake). I've still got to replace the obliterated panel lines, and then I'll mask these off when ready for paint. That's it for today, more again once I get some more photos ready! Cheers, Doug Edited September 7, 2011 by DougN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) I LOVE the nav lights, Doug. That's a great idea! John (who will be buying more toothbrushes!) Edited September 7, 2011 by mywifehatesmodels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 That's looking really good. The Claude is a good looking plane, I keep getting tempted to pick up this kit, maybe I'll have to at some point..... It's looking good. Hope to see you finish this one, the paint schemes are always really cool on these old Japanese planes. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 That's exactly how I do landing lights Doug! The only difference is, I tend to epoxy them in place rather than use CA. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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