Loic Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 Hi guys, Riggor, thanks for looking Manny, one of the 2 books I have dealing with J Aircraft cockpits is actually edited by Monogram and writen by Mikesh. It does have a red cover. The other one is edited by Monogram too (which explain why they show the same pics I guess). The pics mainly show the port side of the pit + it apparently is a "special" version of the Kate with special equipment that was captured in Saipan, quite late in the war. Also, it has been test fly by the US and as such, some instrument, etc... have been modified. So, it is a base but can I trust it 100%, I am not quite sure + it is incomplete. I also have a Maru edition but the only valuable info on the pit is basicly the front cover that once again only show the port side + a few items on the rudder and control stick. Have I miss something? So, it is not nothing at all, I agree but I would say that compared to the info you can find on the Zeke for exemple, it is quite poor. But that will do thanks to you Cheers, Loic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 wow, really nice work, love what you do i remeber doing a C huey out of an old revell D (when there was no kit of the C), there also the middle part of the fuselage is different i used the tailboom and the front fuselage part with the cockpit and shaped the middle out of two halves of balsawood. then i vacformed the middle part. i it never got finished, but i stil have it somewhere.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 10, 2008 Author Share Posted September 10, 2008 Hello there! I have not been able to make much progress during the last 2 or 3 days but still, here is an update on what has been done. I have basicly glues the 4th and last (external) layer of "skin" on the fuselage sides. Then, I did dismentled the skeleton pit and the fuse sides, "cleaned" (= "cut straight") the top and bottom of the fuse sides. The pic bellow basicly shows the 2 fuse sides as well as the 2 rearward parts (those from the Zeke) from inside and outside. It is not too spectacular which somehow is quite good news cause it means the assembly is "clean" enough... not perfect at least acceptable to me, just need little sand paper action... Next job will be to "clean" the inside (touches of putty here and there) and start to had the internal structural details (only the most basic ones). Then, I will work on the pit floor (based on the so called skeleton pieces) and I will finally work on the top and bottom pieces. When this is done, I will be able to start building the frontward area around the engine mount plus the engine and its cowl... but that is not for tomorrow I guess! Cheers, loic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rigor Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 look's good are you going to have this or i should say casted to sell? if you know what iam talking about or you going to be the only one with a 1/32 kate i can't wait to see how you do the wing root's on this,can't wait for more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 12, 2008 Author Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi Rigor, I feel so flattered you ask such a question! In my own mind, this is the kind of question one normaly ask to people like Radu, Jerry or Derek... just the idea that someone else could be interested in buying a model I would engineer is mind blowing to me! This said, I am not against the idea but my experience with casting is very limited to say the less and on top of that, I think engineering a model is quite different from building (even scratchbuilding) a model... I am not quite sure I can handle this task. I shall think about it... Cheers, Loic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaeone57 Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 I'm Lovin the Kate-Zeke-scratchin-stein thing goin on here Loic. I wish you the best on your build...and what a build she is. Peace to you and yours, Alfonso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Springer Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Well I think I'll pitch in with some pics of the cockpits of a Hasegawa 1/48 Kate I built back in 2003. Most of the additions and corrections I made were a result of photos in Mr. Mikesh's Japanese Aircraft Interiors 1940-1945 and the original Maru Mechanic #18. First, the pilot's instrument panel. It's from the Eduard PE set with some T-handles added per the Mikesh photos. I hope you find these useful. Cheers! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Springer Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Next, the front cockpit seating area. Note that the radio stack has been moved to the starboard side of the cockpit. Hasegawa incorrectly placed it on the centerline of the cockpit deck. However the photo of the flaps hydraulic piston actuator service access hatch in the upper right corner of page 19 of the original Maru Mechanic clearly shows the left front support leg of the radio rack sitting on the center line. Also moving the rack to the right places it in front of the radio operator's seat. The etched back of the seat was wrapped around the seat portion of the kit part. Note the lack of a deck between the rudder pedal foot boards. The emergency hydraulic hand pump is repeated in front of and behind the dark gray gear box of the main gear retraction mechanism so either the pilot or the observer could operate it. In the Mikesh photos of the Saipan Kate there is a tank and piping mounted behind the pilot's seat. This may be a tank for high octane gasoline used for take-offs with full war load like the ones found on the Val. The cutaway drawings in the MM don't show it as they are for the B5N1. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Springer Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Now for a view of the cockpit decking from above. The black oblong behind the front bulkhead is the main processing unit of the Type 1 Mk 3 radio direction finder, a copy of the Fairchild Radio Compass RC 4. The wiring from it is connected to the black dynamotor power unit on the left deck of the observer's cockpit. To the right (below) the centerline is a rectangular box with eight handles in two rows on top. This is the bomb release console. Different bomb loads can be released singularly or salvoed by selecting the various release handles. Beside the console are two narrow obong boxes that held Very-type signal flares and possibly navigation drift indicator floats. Directly aft (left) is the top shelf of the radio rack. Hasegawa molded the rack as a single cabinet which is incorrect. However the face of the Type 96 Mk 3 radio set is absolutely accurate. Another heavy black cable runs from the radio to it's dynamotor module in aluminum at the rear of the rear cockpit. The large dynamotor powers the transmitter; the small one the receiver. This is the same radio as used in the Betty. Finally, to the left (above) the dynamotor module is the box containing the aircraft's battery. More to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Springer Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Now the starboard side of the mid and rear cockpits with the seating installed. The observers seat was mounted on a vertical steel tube on the center line. It could be raised or lowered and could be offset to the port side to use the observation window. The offset gearing was such that the observer seat remained perpendicular to the centerline. I installed the Fine Molds bomb sight on the starboard side as I felt it was more suited to that position. I will allow that it could have been on the port side as well. In the observer's cockpit labeled 'RDF' is the RDF control box. To the right of the black tube is the radio rack. The IJN shock-mounted their radio gear with bungee cords looped over thimble-shaped pegs on the radio sides. The green boxes on the cockpit walls are lighting controls for each cockpit. Below the rearmost is the radio operator's telegraph key. Continuous Wave telegraphy was much more powerful and reliable than voice transmission. Next is the radio operator's folding seat with cloth straps for the seating area. It could be folded out of the way when the operator manned the rear Lewis gun. That's all for tonight. I'm going to drink a Duvel. Cheers! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Springer Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Here's a shot of the observer's instrument panel. In the center is the opening for the navigation compass. These compasses have a prismatic reflector on them so they can be read horizontally. On either side are secondary flight instrument clusters. Upper right is the round housing of the RDF loop antenna rotation control. To its right is the RDF control box. At the bottom of the panel the navigation chart table is mounted in the retracted position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Springer Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Last but not least is the port side of the cockpits. From the left upper are the drums for the Lewis gun. Below at the rear is the outlet tube for the trailing radio wire antenna. The round object below the ammo drums is the reel on which the trailing antenna is stored when it is retracted. The tan pouch probably contains tools for Lewis gun maintenance. To the right are the oxygen bottles for the crew. These were taken from a Hawkeye resin detail set for the Zero. The rack for these can be seen in the upper photo on page 199 of Japanese Aircraft Interiors 1940-1945. Beside the tanks is a flare pistol holster. The object beneath the window is the top mount for the horizontal bombing sight when it is in use. The brace is hinged. It is rotated into the horizontal and the black loop is clamped around the eye piece of the sight. I don't know what the gray cylinder on the far right is but it appears in the photos in the Interiors book so I included it. Loic, I hope you find these useful. Good luck on your project! Salut! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Hi all, Greg, thanks you so much, this is most unsefull and informative. It make me feel so nice being a part of this fellowship! Thanks again to all LSPers for your help. Back to busyness... the weather has been quite bad for the last few days which is bad in about every aspect but for modelling . I have so managed to make some progress on the lady despite a very busy week at work. First thing first, I have glued the new fuselage sides to the rear ward part and built the frame of the pit floor using my initial so called skeleton. Here is a pic of those parts against the 1/32 scale drawing. The match is quite good in fact. Note the pic was shot from right which shows the rounded shape of the fuse so it looks off the drawing but the real thing is spot on. Second pic shows the bottom of the pit with the framing. I use some tubing to glue the skin on the sides cause it it easy to set up: by moving horizontally, you can adjust the hight of the contact line so it matches the rounded shape of transversal ribs that are fitted every 20mm or so... is that clear to all cause I am lost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Humm, I thought I should illustrate this tubing thing as it might be of use to someone... The following drawing is a front section of the fuse... In dark blue is the floor upside down (horizontal) and the main rib (vertical) that goes along the plane to give the side section the appropriate shape. In grey is one of the ribs used to give the section the right shape but because those ribs are about 20mm away the one from the other, I needed someting to glue my skin on in between. I then did cut pieces of styren tubing (about 5mm OD) that I glued on the floor. by moving the tubing anlong the green arrows, I can set up the contact line that is represented by the red arrow. This is the line I will use to glue the first layer of skin. Hope it make more sence now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Looking at my initial pic of the tubings, I realised they look everything but properly aligned... but this is because there are many differences in hight between the front most and rear most area of the pit plus rib 4 from the left has a piece of styren sandwitched to adjust its hight... So, it looks wierd but what is the most important is that the contact lines are well controlled indeed (I used a ruller to help). Then, I moved tothe internal structure and ribs in the walls and floor and started to replicate those (not too obvious on the pic I am affraid....). Check first pic. Finally, I have made the preliminary work required to skin the bottom part of the fuselage. Same methods as per the fise sides, the putty is drying so I will only apply the last layer of styren in the next days. Check second pic. That's it for now, this is not the quickest build ever but I must admit I am have some level of fight with the skinning process so at least, it is progressing and that makes me happy so far Hope you like it; Cheers, loic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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