Hasegawa Mitsubishi Raiden

[dennismcc]

If you have read my recent build thread on the Ki.84 you will know the story of how I had a plan to build some Japanese subjects, if not then read on, if you did skip this bit.

Back in 2017 I decided to build some Hasegawa kits as they tend to be quality kits that fit well but do not have the complexity of open panels, detailed engines etc. My completed model collection contains only two Japanese subjects so I was going to build three Hasegawa kits of Japanese subjects.

The first one up was the Nakajima Ki84 Hayate, which I finally completed in January 2019 having been sidetracked by house extensions and redecorating.

Sticking to the 2017 programme next up was the Hasegawa 1/32 scale J2M Raiden I still know very little about Japanese aircraft so again I turned to Nick Millman’s Aviation of Japan Blog. And I certainly looked in the right place as Nick has a PDF called Mitsubishi J2M Raiden Colour Notes, from which I gleaned enough information to get on with the build.

The usual box art.

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And my one and only dedicated reference book, which was quite disappointing

As usual I cut all the cockpit components from their sprues leaving a “tail” to hold them with for painting.

 

Using Nick Millmans Mitsubishi J2M Raiden Colour Notes I started painting, as there is only one surviving airframe and that has been painted and repainted over the years Nick’s notes were very handy.

I airbrushed the cockpit components with Xtracolor FS34151 Interior Green, the fuselage cockpit areas were also airbrushed at the same time

 

 

More coming soon.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[Thunnus]

Nice!  I like the Raiden... it's like the original egg-plane!

[MikeMaben]

 

 

   

 

 

[dennismcc]

13 hours ago, Thunnus said:

Nice!  I like the Raiden... it's like the original egg-plane!

Rather stumpy looking but powerful at the same time

6 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

 

   

 

 

May need bigger popcorn bag for this one.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dennismcc]

As normal I m a little bit further along than my first post, I tend to save a bit up before the initial posting.

After starting on the cockpit I got distracted by the cannon inserts which I had read on another build were a bit tricky so I did that next and ended up assembling the wings, this was quite a robust bit of construction but it all went well though my first attempt with the cannon covers was a bit crooked.

Next back to the cockpit

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by dennismcc

[dennismcc]

I then painted the IP with Humbrol 85 (satin black) and spent some time adding the instrument dials using MDC Japanese instrument decals, this went very well and I was pleased with the result. The MDC dials fit the moulded Hasegawa IP dials very well and do not have excess carrier film that needs trimming, which is good as it would be a pain otherwise.

And the just about finished article.

However looking at a lot of other builds which I always do, I realised that I might have got this wrong, as a lot of them had green IP's, an email conversation with Nick Millman confirmed my worst fears that the control panel should have been green. So if you’re looking at the cockpit photos of the preserved Raiden then ignore the black IP.

There was nothing left to do but airbrush it with some Xtracolor FS34151, and start all over again. Once again I was very pleased with the result, and it will teach me to check more thoroughly next time.

The green IP.

More detail painting followed, the various control levers had their ends painted red, I really don’t know how accurate this is but it sure beats plain boring green ones.

The radio boxes on the sidewall, and a couple of other bits were painted with Humbrol 105 (FS14097) according to Nick’s colour guide. I did not think I had any H105  but being a “captain sensible” type person I had noted down on my paint spreadsheet that I had a tin and after a short search it was located in my “spare” Humbrol paint drawers.

The parcel shelf behind the pilots seat was painted with Revel 09 Anthracite and the radio that sits on it had a coat of Humbrol 105 to match the other radio gear I then  picked out the dials in black.

I could not remember what the paint was that I normally use for leather so I tried Humbrol 133 and it turned out to be the right one.

Then it was a case of picking out the details on the side walls and other components with small brushes and cocktail sticks. I do not know how accurate all his is but I followed a colour cockpit drawing that I found on the internet which to me looked quite plausible, this was taped to my desk during the painting so it was handy

Then I decided to sort out the seat belts, as is becoming my norm I again chose RB seat belts, they do test my eyesight but with the help of my magnifying lamp I can get by.

All ready to start, note the cockpit diagram taped to the bench just to keep me on track, I got this from the web so do not know how accurate it is.

Instructions, which even I could understand.

And that brings us slap bang up to date, however I have had an aftermarket knee fitted which has distracted me a bit so things have been slower than even my normal glacial pace, but progress has not stopped completely. The painkillers tend to make me lose concentration and fall asleep so modelling is difficult, but things are improving.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Fvdm]

Nice build. I hope you recover quickly and no more painkillers are needed.

[dennismcc]

2 hours ago, Fvdm said:

Nice build. I hope you recover quickly and no more painkillers are needed.

Thank you for that, progress with the knee is coming along nicely and I hope in a few weeks to be back to near normality, and hopefully I can get some real bench time in soon.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dennismcc]

Well it’s been quite some time since I sat at the bench working on the Raiden, the new knee distracted me and the exercise regime took up a lot of time (still does) and then all the summer jobs came along and my modelling mojo left me. However the build up to Telford started me getting interested again, then Telford itself and the aftermath got me back in the saddle.

So I have been quietly working on the Raiden again, it was a bit difficult at first to pick up where I was up to and what I had planned to do but progress so far has been good.

The first thing to do was complete the RB products seat belts, this was a bit of a rough re introduction to the build as they are a bit fiddley, but eventually they were completed.

I don’t like just dabbing some CA on and plonking the seat belts on the seat so I drilled some holes in the seat and inserted some plastic rod to attach the belts to and away we went.

Then it was a simple matter of assembling the cockpit components that I had already painted, this went very well and everything fitted nicely.

More soon

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Troy Molitor]

I was just going to ask you about your reference book and i checked the title again to see your initial mention on your reference book above is quite disappointing.   The references for the Raiden seems to be seriously hard to come by.  I have a limited Hasegawa release of the Raiden J2M6 Type 31 with the canted fwd cowling in front of the fwd canopy and I can’t find any references whatsoever for this type of Raiden.  Frustrating.   

 

Love your efforts so far Dennis.  

 

Troy 

[dennismcc]

3 hours ago, Troy Molitor said:

I was just going to ask you about your reference book and i checked the title again to see your initial mention on your reference book above is quite disappointing.   The references for the Raiden seems to be seriously hard to come by.  I have a limited Hasegawa release of the Raiden J2M6 Type 31 with the canted fwd cowling in front of the fwd canopy and I can’t find any references whatsoever for this type of Raiden.  Frustrating.   

 

Love your efforts so far Dennis.  

 

Troy 

Hi Troy, Thank you for the kind words.

Annoyingly when I was planning my retirement I bought lots of books, paints and AM parts but the Raiden was rather neglected, I have the Aero Detail books on the Ki43, Ki 84 and N1K2-J plus the Model Art book on the IJN fighters plus lots of generic books but Raiden books are thin on the ground in my references. Luckily Nick Millman's aviation of Japan and Nick himself helped me out a lot in the prep work for the build.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[LSP_K2]

Always nice to see a J2M coming along. Even though I don't have the kit (yet), I do have some decent references, including the Z-M publication.

 

 

[Uncarina]

Dennis,

 

As I am on a bit of a Japanese aviation kick lately, I find your build inspiring. Great work so far.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[dennismcc]

13 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

Always nice to see a J2M coming along. Even though I don't have the kit (yet), I do have some decent references, including the Z-M publication.

 

 

Thank you, the ZM publication was something that did not occur to me until too late, looking at build threads on the kit it would be a great resource.

6 hours ago, Uncarina said:

Dennis,

 

As I am on a bit of a Japanese aviation kick lately, I find your build inspiring. Great work so far.

 

Cheers,  Tom

Thank you Tom it's much appreciated, I am now getting really back into modelling so much so that I have started the next one a Hasegawa N1K2-J.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dennismcc]

And on with the build, the fuselage halves are joined with the help of some very impressive bulkheads, a test fit showed that they lined up really well despite my initial concerns.

The cockpit tub was then assembled, some minor trimming was necessary to get a good fit.

A test fit showed that the cockpit tub was a good fit in the fuselage halves so I closed the fuselage up and used Tamiya tape to hold it together while it set. The fit was so good and I was so pleased that I forgot to take a photo of the tub in the fuselage half.

Then I sanded/polished the fuselage seams and test fitted the wings and fuselage, the fit was just about perfect.

I just needed a couple of clips to hold the aft wing to fuselage joint closed, the result made the model look a bit like a Brewster Buffalo.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Edited February 6, 2020 by dennismcc
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