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A6M2-N "Rufe" Takuma Flying Group *DONE*


Out2gtcha

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Haha, thanks guys!  I CANT WAIT!   The Jeep is being X-fered from Littleton CO, and should be here within a week or so.  I have been pining after an unlimited (AKA a 4 door) Rubicon Jeep for more than a year, and I think the SO was just tired of hearing about it, and is glad I finally have one, so I can shut up about it.   :lol:

 

 

Onto some A6M2-N progress!!!

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First up, was the rear cockpit section on the floor of the lower wings. Aires provides a thinner more realistic part for this, so I filled the center hole cut out for the display stand, and then applied the Aires part (later will get the O2 bottle):

 

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Next, I  fitted the "Quick and Easy" resin seat to the OOB seat mounts with some modifications of drilling out the lightening holes. Looks quite good in stitu I think, even un-painted. I still have yet to finish off the O2 bottles behind the bulkhead, with some lead wire for O2 lines:

 

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NOW it was time to dry fit all that resin!    Ehhhhk!   I wasnt looking forward to it with my experience + the known rep Aires has for ill fit to the donor kit. in this case, it compounded it a bit, by using my own method of gluing the side walls to the fuse BEFORE anything, as apposed to gluing them to to the rear bulkhead, and front IP as a unit, then installing that into the assembled fuselage.

I chose to do it this way because the resin side walls fit, but it was nearly impossible to keep in the correct position to have their upper sills align with the cockpit side walls of the fuselage. I THINK i will be able to add the IP, ammo bin and fuel tank after the fact.

 

All in all, the Aires pit set was IMHO TOTALLY worth it, as it fit without thinning, and ALL the resin parts fit in so far (albeit not without a fight however) together, and look absolutely SMASHING imho:

 

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MORE................................

 

 

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Lastly for yesterday, I wanted to tackle the connection of the SUPER heavy solid resin main float to the lower wing/fuselage.  I wanted to tackle this early, so I could get it SUPER DUPER strong, and make 200% sure it was NEVER going to break apart, as the float itself probably weighs more than the entire model would finished, by far without it.

 

I started by taking an 8th inch drill bit and inserting it into my twist drill. You can tell by the pic I have the drill bit set at quite a far depth of approx 2 inches and probably quite a bit more...............I didnt actually measure how far I drilled, as I just knew where I was in relation to the sides and bottom of the float so I didnt drill all the way though.

 

After aligning the main float mount, with the lower fuselage float mount (there is an OOB bump, and hole that helped to align it where it needed to go) I drilled straight through the lower wing, into and through the lower main float mount, and then continued on into the main float, for a depth of about 3/4":

 

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I actually had to make several passes, and extend the drill bit, to get as deep as I wanted to go for extra strength. As you can see from the above pics, I have also cut off the auxiliary fuel tank cover, as well as re-scribed the float itself, to return the crisp riveting after removing the fuel tank bump.

 

Next I cut myself an appropriate length of 1/8th inch hardened steel rod, and dry fit it in the fuselage/wing. This is not glued in, as I will eventually use some JB weld for the strongest bond I can get. You can also see just how deep the rod will go into the float.................plenty of length here to make sure the float to fuselage bond is as strong, if not stronger than any bond on the model, and you should easily be able to pick up the model by the fuselage and not necessarily by the float:

 

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The end result supports itself with 0 glue, and will be nearly bullet proof, once glued in place with JB Weld 2 part epoxy, and no one should be the wiser that the rod is even there:

 

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All for now gents, Im off to try out my Mr Surfacer 1500 Black!!!!   

 

 

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Guest Peterpools

Hi Brian

Holy Smokes, the front office looks spectacular and completely agree that all the extra work with fitting the Aires set into place was well worth the effort. Going to look brilliant when painted and weathered.

Aces on the steel rod for reinforcing the float attachment. Of course your secret is safe with us.

Keep 'em comoing

peter

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Thanks Peter!  The freakin float weighs a TON and is indeed bloody heavy................It might very well need ALL of that rod to remain stable, but the JB Weld is pretty bomb proof, so Im not that worried at this point.

 

Ive got the MS 1500 down and MAN that stuff is magic Mike, just like the Tam Fine white Im used to!!   Im trying something a bit different in the cockpit of the Rufe..................Im laying down the black primer, and then will coat the pit itself in the IJN cockpit green, and will put it on in very light coats, to achieve a look with the black primer showing through in parts as "shadow" in place of pre-shading. Im not sure how Ill incorporate chipping yet, but Ill work that out soon enough.

 

Pics soon!

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Guest Peterpools

Brian

Looking forward to to seeing how the front office  paint work turns out with the black primer, as it shouod add a lot of depth and shadows.

BTW, I finally bought my glass trophy case and took your advice about making sure it is 20 inches deep. Same type as yours being a knock-down all glass trophy case, as shipping has always been ridiculous as I shopped for months on end. Only the solid wood back was destroyed in trasit and I had to refuse that one box. Seems a Hi Lo accidentally put a huge hole in it! I called the company and followed the procedure, so I wouod receive a new back. I need to call again tomorrow and see when the new wood back will be shipped and an estimate on arriving. Just might ask for the exact size and thickness, request a credit for the destroyed part and have it made locally. I'll post photos when I have it together. I didn't order the LED light kit but am thinking of buying one locally. Any suggestions?

Peter

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Brian

Looking forward to to seeing how the front office  paint work turns out with the black primer, as it shouod add a lot of depth and shadows.

BTW, I finally bought my glass trophy case and took your advice about making sure it is 20 inches deep. Same type as yours being a knock-down all glass trophy case, as shipping has always been ridiculous as I shopped for months on end. Only the solid wood back was destroyed in trasit and I had to refuse that one box. Seems a Hi Lo accidentally put a huge hole in it! I called the company and followed the procedure, so I wouod receive a new back. I need to call again tomorrow and see when the new wood back will be shipped and an estimate on arriving. Just might ask for the exact size and thickness, request a credit for the destroyed part and have it made locally. I'll post photos when I have it together. I didn't order the LED light kit but am thinking of buying one locally. Any suggestions?

Peter

 

 

I also ordered the light kit that they offered with the set.....................and IRONICALLY (I ordered two)  one of the backs to my cases ALSO had some pretty major damage to it..............BUT at the time the delivery guy dropped ALL the stuff for BOTH cases off at the same time, and all got stacked right on top of the damage to the back, so I didnt notice it till a few days after, when I had a chance to pull all that stuff off of the pile and find it..................

 

At that point the showcasesforless would not do a THING for me...................AAMAF, the lady I was dealing with just completely STOPPED returning my calls and e-mails. VERY frustrating to say the least, and (at the end of my dealings with them) was a horrible customer service experience.

 

Im REALLY glad you found the damage on yours (I assume) BEFORE the delivery driver left.......................I hope it all works out and you get the replacement back quickly.

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Black MS 1500 is down, and a thin layer of my custom IJN cockpit green is also down.   I put a layer of MM aluminum down on the areas I wanted chipped, then some liquid mask over that, then the IJN pit color. Just as Peter indicated, it did in fact create some VERY nice shading/shadowing on the pit sidewalls.

Ill let that dry, and see if I can pull up the liquid mask areas and get some chipping done.................if not, I may have to supplement with some after chipping with a soft brush..................then its on to detail painting.

 

After the pit areas have been painted, I will then mask that area off, and paint the rear fuselage and forward fuse areas.  As the Rufe was Nakajima built, and not Mitsubishi, and I have some documentation that shows the inner flap sections as natural metal, and not Aotaki, I am going with NM on the inner fuselage and engine bay.

 

Unless someone else has some photo evidence of Rufes using Aotaki, Ill be going with NM..........not 100% its correct for the inner fuse, but it seems more likely in a Nakajima built aircraft later in the war.

 

Someone please correct me if you have evidence to the contrary.

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OK, I Googled Aotaki to see what that's all about.

 

Certainly Japanese, an interesting diversion....

 

 

 

I personally spell it "aotake", and not "Aotaki" myself.     Its an odd color to be sure!   But Im not sure its accurate for the internals on my Nakajima built air-frame.   Although MUCH more interesting looking than NMF however.

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I personally spell it "aotake", and not "Aotaki" myself.     Its an odd color to be sure!   But Im not sure its accurate for the internals on my Nakajima built air-frame.   Although MUCH more interesting looking than NMF however.

 

Perhaps the spell checker changed it to Aotaki from aotake in your post #84?

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Perhaps the spell checker changed it to Aotaki from aotake in your post #84?

 

 

Im thinking your right!   Just now noticed that....................as that funky color seems to come up when searched for "Aotake". But when Googling "Aotaki" as Im sure your aware *OTHER* interesting things appear.   :rolleyes:

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First up I finished up I finished gluing the cockpit parts together in my own way to better accommodate correct positioning of the parts. The O2 hosing and piping was finished, nothing fancy, just some busy work, but still will look good inside the pit once painted and weathered. Also I have removed the gear retraction mechanism handles, and started filling and smoothing for primer:

 

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Next up was a layer of Mr Surfacer 1500, followed by a quick sanding, followed by some aluminum lacquer in spots, followed by some liquid mask........also in selected spots:

 

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MORE..............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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