jfgesquire

SOOOOO, looking at the instructions - at what step do you put the wing machine gun fairings on the tops of the wings? The parts do seem to be there on Sprue B.

I'd like to see the P-40 update set. I think the Revell surface detail is not only better than the Hasegawa kit, but is near the best of any 1/32 kit. I have the Revell kit in the stash and would love to have that update set for it. I had an order all set to go to JR a few yeas ago for the P-40 set and some P-47 bits but then had a life event get in the way.

I'm not usually one for aftermarket parts either, but the included picture of the Cutting Edge seat shows how that seat is much wider at the top than the Dragon seat. Cutting Edge was a "division" of Meteor Productions. To read of their demise, I believe you can do a google search using "Meteor Productions" and "Klaus"

The best seat in an injected 109E kit, by far, is still the Matchbox seat! I made my own resin copy (next to the stock Hasegawa seat) that I made for my brother's Hasegawa 109E - milliput leather pad and a pretty intricate masking tape seat belt: I still have the silicone mold, as I only popped one seat out of it; I'm glad I still have it, now I can pop another one out for when I get this kit! This is a picture of the Cutting Edge seat, which was clearly an almost direct copy of the Matchbox seat:

I'm good as I have one of the early 21st Century boxings of the A6M2 which actually has the A6M3 cowling. I also purchased the A6M3 boxing because for $10 I wanted to use the interior on my Doyusha A6M2. That, and I needed the extra decals as my Doyusha decals got trashed in a flood. But now I'm thinking of actually building several Hamps since this is looking better than I expected. As you can see, this kit is the cream colored plastic and is as hard as a rock - nice for sanding and shaping as it is as hard as the epoxy putty. However, it is a pain in the rear as far as gluing is concerned. Even Tenax needs a heavy application to bite into the plastic. My A6M3 boxing is in the gray plastic and it glues beautifully. The M3 boxing also included a drop tank that the M2 boxing did not. The M2 boxing came with the pilot pre-painted. I have never personally seen a 21st Century "KIT" with the A6M2 cowing, but wouldn't that be REALLY wrong as the fuselage would be too short between the windscreen and the cowl? OOOH! I just found another modification that needs to be done - the Hamp had an outset fixed trim tab, whereas the trim tab on the A6M5 tail (which the kit has since it is based on the Tamiya M5) is an adjustable inset tab. Thanks for the support, guys. The starboard wing should go much faster as I have a lot of trial and error time in the port wing.

So, I finally decided which paint scheme: One website stated that the plane was put together from parts of several aircraft and was repainted in lacquer colors trying to match the original - using a dove gray for the fuselage and a dark blue for the cowl. I think I can do that - Aircraft Gray or Light Gull Gray and Insignia Blue So I compared readily available plans from the internet of the A6M5 wing with the A6M3 wing (accuracy be darned) and figured out where the last common panel line was and made the cuts; then using the pieces, added a cheap epoxy putty (which actually worked better than milliput) and sanded the aileron and wingtip to shape. The fit is very tight, the aileron is just there with friction. I made the parts in a way that I could make resin copies. I have two 21st Century kits - and I thought one in Japanese markings would make a nice companion. I'm not great at making resin parts - no pressure pot - but maybe some expert could cast the parts if there was enough of an interest. I was not going to put any scribed lines in the new wingtip, with the idea that if the next person does not make a perfect cut, the panel lines would not be straight. Thinking was that panel lines would best be engraved after the wingtip was attached. Other necessary mods and additions would then be as follows: - exhaust pipes exiting from lower cowl - cowl flaps repositioned - fill and re-scribe smaller flaps outline on lower wing - add headrest not provided in kit (copy of Tamiya kit part should be pretty easy to make) - fill small scribed fuel filler location in outer wing panel since model 32 did not have outer wing tanks (minor, but I know it shouldn't be there) - scratch some aileron actuators. What am I missing? Also, there is another pic of EB-201 on the net somewhere that shows that the antenna wire splits right after the mast and extends to a point on each horizontal stabilizer. Where does it attach? Thanks for stopping by. Constructive criticism welcome.

Those EE/Radu wheels are nice, but $12 plus shipping for just those 2 parts is out of my price range. What's interesting is that if it were a Trumpeter kit , the line would be: "But why didn't they just do it right in the first place. It costs as much to tool and make an incorrect part as it does to make the part correctly." Eduard certainly deserves the same crticism, so I will: Why didn't they just do it right in the first place. It costs as much to tool and make an incorrect part as it does to make the part correctly. I know it's a great kit, just don't expect to fit the cowl with the engine, the wheels and control surfaces need to be replaced, the fuselage has a bulge, the . . .

Any pictures of the wheel wells? I'd love to see how Trumpeter did them. I only have the Revell kit. Also, wasn't there the early round windscreen with the Cutting Edge set? http://acc.kitreview.com/cec32156reviewbg_1.htm

Hans, Unfortunately, my build stalled. My brother had some paint problems on a 1/32 Hurricane and I gave him a hand with it. Then I ordered the 1/32 Czech Model Buffalo. Then something else got my attention and I never got back to the Hamp. I went beyond using the Doyusha wing as in my Hyperscale post and got some plans for a Hamp and scaled them to 1/32. Sound familiar? What caught my attention was that when you hacked off the wing tip, your method was almost identical - even cutting to the same panel lines. The only differences were that I'm using the 21st Century kit, and that I didn't do it as top half and bottom half, but modified the tip with the wing glued together. I dropped the ball at the rough milliput stage. Now I am glad my build stalled. I had no idea that the flap was smaller on the A6M3 in that it did not extend all the way to the aileron. As for patent law, even though my idea goes back to January, I think it fair that the credit go to the person who actually puts the completed product out first - which will probably be you . . . . . . and I am a lawyer. There is a local hobby store that has both the 1/32 Hasegawa Zero and the Tamiya Zero built in a display case. Not referring to the accuracy, the Hasegawa kit's surface detail looks more realistic, and next to the Tamiya kit the Tamiya's surface looks toy-like. You made a very good choice and I look forward to the completed build. (For more ideas for my build, of course!)

Hans, I've got a post over at Hyperscale dated January 14th which pre-dates your registration. I think you've got a licensing problem! http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/mess...is+what+I+meant

I see that Aeropoxy is selling their Yak-3 on Ebay "as-is" http://cgi.ebay.com/YAK-3-AEROPOXY-resin-k...1QQcmdZViewItem Was it ever for sale any place else?

Yes, it certainly can be. Kit #4715 is the Revell Germany boxing of the Hasegawa kit #ST14. Revell-Monogram USA also boxed it as kit number #5516. Any Hasegawa offspring can be used. http://cgi.ebay.com/Revell-1-32-Supermarin...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Revell-1-32-Scale-Brit...1QQcmdZViewItem http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/allies/g...pit1preview.htm http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/spitfirei...2reviewbg_1.htm I am using the Hasegawa Mk VI boxing to do my Warbirds Mk XVI because, to me anyway, it seemed easier to sand and rescribe as opposed to filling the "A" wing and rescribing. I do also have the Mk I/II boxing but that is going to be built as a Mk I. There is a subtle difference in the wheel wells, though, as the new wings have a slightly deeper and better detailed wheel well. At least that is how my memory goes. HTH

As far as I know, you will have to decant some paint from the can to use for detailing as there is no Tamiya bottle paint equivalent. Tamiya Sea Blue has a green tint to it and Navy Blue is too light - like a Royal Blue. You will need to experiment with decanted paint from the AS range as to which thinner works best - I have never done it. The color for the late war navy aircraft should be gloss, not semi-gloss or flat. The gloss paint would stay mostly glossy even on a well used aircraft. I think most aircraft would be war weary before the paint ever lost its gloss. http://www.warplane.org/images/TBM01_900.JPG

The AN number for Glossy Sea Blue is 623, Semi-Gloss Sea Blue is 606 and Non-Specular (Flat) Sea Blue is 607. The approximate FS number is 15042, but it is not perfect. FS 15042 IS the number for 50's navy jets. The Tamiya AS spray can series is excellent paint, a synthetic lacquer. It even looks good sprayed on very small scale stuff, it levels very well and doesn't look thick like it came out of a spray can. AS-8 is called "Navy Blue" by Tamiya. It should be the FS equivalent of 15042 but is still pretty close to AN 623 especially if you are going to weather it with panel shading or light dull coating to show fading. HTH

Erwin, So, how many of these Guillows kits do you have in the collection? What other ones do you plan on building? I can recommend the Dauntless. About 20 years ago I started work on the Guillows Dauntless and got most of the wing covered and half the fuselage covered in a method very similar to yours. I used thin sheets of spruce instead of balsa. Because spruce is a little stiffer, it can be formed around small radii without splitting and doesn't have gaps/grain as deep as balsa. For a paper cockpit, it's nicely printed and has alot of depth. The kit even comes with a nice vac crew. I really wanted a BIG Dauntless and was unaware that Matchbox had made one in 1/32 back then. If you keep building these kits, I am going to have to go in the attic and drag it out. In fact - keep your eye out for me to post some pics. If I get enough positive feedback, I just may finish it! I'm sure it needs alot of work after 20 years being stuffed in an attic. Thanks for the inspiration!