1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai 343-45

[Thunnus]

Another detail I've added to the Shiden Kai.  The kit gives you boarding ladders for each side of the aircraft.  Like the Fw 190D-9, the boarding ladder is retractable.  The kit shows the ladder in the retracted position, laying flush with the bottom of the wing.  If you want to mount the boarding ladder, the kit requires you to open up the appropriate hole.  I am going to have the port ladder extended.  But instead of just drilling the hole, I thought it's more realistic to open the space that the ladder would occupy.

 

A piece of sheet styrene was used to block off the opening and a small hole was drilled into that to accept the ladder. I dry fit the fuselage to make sure the piece of styrene wasn't interfering with the fit.

 

Another small detail that hopefully adds to the overall model.

[Scale32]

Sure does John, great stuff.

 

Cheers Bevan 

[dodgem37]

Come the magic wand.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Thunnus]

Taking a closer look at two interior parts that I feel are important:  the throttle quadrant and the gunsight.  These have been snipped from the sprue and the mold seams carefully removed.  I've partially reamed out the optic element of the gunsight with the tip of a small drill bit so that I can put a drop of clear UV epoxy in it at the end.

 

The Brengun detail set has some upgrades for both of these components.  I can't promise that I'll be using all of these phototech pieces.  Sometimes they look better on paper than real life.

 

And sometimes the parts are just too small and fiddle to bother with (at least for me).  For example, I'm pretty dubious about folding those tiny holders for the gunsight glass film... seriously?

 

I've noticed that Brengun includes a great deal of exterior enhancements as well.  Notice the wheel hub details to the right of the gunsight section.  I've already painted the wheel hubs without realizing that there were these enhancements.  I'll have to take a closer look at the instruction sheet to take inventory of all of the possible improvements.

[Shiba]

Hi, John   You might have pic of type 98 gun sight already, but here is some more

https://search.yahoo.co.jp/image/search?rkf=2&ei=UTF-8&gdr=1&p=98式照準器

 

Regards,

Matsu.

[Thunnus]

10 hours ago, Shiba said:

Hi, John   You might have pic of type 98 gun sight already, but here is some more

https://search.yahoo.co.jp/image/search?rkf=2&ei=UTF-8&gdr=1&p=98式照準器

 

Regards,

Matsu.

 

 

Thank you Matsu! That is very helpful!

 

Does anyone have any information regarding the Shiden's drop tank?  I'm wondering if there are any details that can be added to it as it is very simple with just two circumferential panel lines and a circular depression on the top front to simulate the fill port.

[turbo]

Lovely work John, excellent detail as always! I like the look of those tools - I've so far refrained from investing in a Dremel as the RPMs are generally too high and I'm continually frustrated by trying to do detailed sanding with my clumsy fingers or other makeshift tools!

[Shiba]

12 hours ago, Thunnus said:

Does anyone have any information regarding the Shiden's drop tank?  I'm wondering if there are any details that can be added to it as it is very simple with just two circumferential panel lines and a circular depression on the top front to simulate the fill port.

 

Hopeflly help you about the shiden's drop tank,  it said shiden(紫電)'s drop tank, also I believe it's made of wood mostly,   2200mm x 450 dimensions　

Regards,

Matsu.

 

[Thunnus]

19 hours ago, turbo said:

Lovely work John, excellent detail as always! I like the look of those tools - I've so far refrained from investing in a Dremel as the RPMs are generally too high and I'm continually frustrated by trying to do detailed sanding with my clumsy fingers or other makeshift tools!

 

I'm really liking the David Union tools.  The D400 sander was the tool that initially caught my interest but I must say that the D300 has been the more utilized between the two.  It takes advantage of all the Dremel bits that I have but at speeds that are very very useful for work on plastic.

 

 

15 hours ago, Shiba said:

 

Hopeflly help you about the shiden's drop tank,  it said shiden(紫電)'s drop tank, also I believe it's made of wood mostly,   2200mm x 450 dimensions　

Regards,

Matsu.

 

 

Wow... that is VERY interesting.  Wooden but with raised rivets.

[Thunnus]

I apologize for jumping around not really getting into the meat of the build.  I'm still waiting for the cockpit paint and rivet tools to arrive so I've just been doing small jobs not requiring paint.

 

I've spent some time looking at the Brengun detail set and have specifically highlighted the non-cockpit items so that I don't overlook anything.  The spring end of the landing gear actuation arm has no attachment point... it's just floating in space.  You can also see how I've scrubbed the paint off the wheel hubs and added the PE bits to them.

 

Brengun supplies a PE attachment point.  A small but nice touch and Brengun has thoughtfully added an attachment pin to the part so connection is more positive.

 

Brengun also offers a replacement for the oil cooler exit flap.

 

I was especially proud of my efforts to match the curvature of the kit part... .sometimes this kind of thing gives me trouble.

 

The interior side of the flap has some nice detail.  But you really aren't going to see that detail unless you show the flap fully open.  And if you do that, you'd be given a view into where the oil cooler assembly is supposed to be.

 

But there is nothing to show. 

 

So... unless I want to add an oil cooler, it will be easier not to use the enhanced flap and just use the kit parts showing the flap closed.

 

This PE part is not an addition but just a convenient way to cover up some ejector pin marks.  Again, a thoughtful addition to the Brengun set.

 

I punched a piece of brass sheet to create some more detail on the drop tank.

 

I got a set of brass 20mm cannon barrels from a company called RB Models.  I don't think it is related to Radu's company, RB Productions.

 

And finally, another photo to show some of the additional staining I've put on the tires.

[Thunnus]

I'm impressed with this Brengun PE set.  Very well thought out and executed.  I tackled the gun sight attachment, which I thought might be difficult since it involves some of the smallest and most delicate of parts. The brass set adds the sighting bead and crosshairs.  The frame is super delicate and I'll need to be extra careful not to break it.

 

Here's what a full-size replica of the Type 98 gun sight looks like...

 

I test fit the windscreen and found that it butts up right against the crosshair so that means the armored glass won't fit.

 

So I decided to make a modification by shortening the delicate arm holding the crosshair.  I did this for two reasons.  One is to allow enough room for the armor glass between the gun sight and the windscreen.  Two is to strengthen that fragile filament that was holding the crosshair away from the gun sight.  I had already knocked on it a couple of times and was afraid that it was just a matter of time before it broke.  I carefully snipped off the crosshair and re-attached it on leftover filament.  I reinforced the join from the bottom with a bead of CA glue.

 

The gun sight is a little inaccurate now but it's stronger and I can fit the armor glass.

 

It took a few tries but I got the tiny frames for the reflector glass mounted on two pieces of clear acetate.  I used acetate that was a little thicker than what was supplied with the Brengun set.  The edges of one of the elements has been painted clear blue/green and the other element has been tinted.  Storing them in a small baggy to keep them safe!

[Thunnus]

I've decided to glue the tail to the fuselage first to get a good join.  It's much easier to take care of this joint as well as possible now and deal with any top and bottom seam issues after the fuselage halves go together.

 

I'm trying to ensure a level joint all around and avoid any steps between the tail and fuselage if possible.

 

Just a dry fit to make sure all four pieces go together reasonably well.  After this dries, I'll fill in the joint like I did the wing inserts.

 

Back to some detail work... picking things that don't require to be painted in cockpit green since I don't have that color yet.  The headrest is made of wood with a metal cap so I made a rough stab at simulating wood using oil paints.

 

My first attempt at one of the box shapes for the cockpit.  This one is made up of four parts but the folds are pretty simple.

 

Here's the box next to the molded box it is supposed to replace.  The bigger structure next to it forms the biggest and most complicated of the PE parts and I'm saving that for later.

 

Next I tackle the throttle quadrant. First the molded levers are removed.

 

There is a PE piece with slots cut into it that covers the curved face of the throttle quadrant.  Holding that PE part in place with my fingers, I shoot the throttle face with black paint.

 

This gives me a guide that I can use to cut grooves into the throttle face that will correspond to the slots on the PE part.

 

So now the throttle body has some appropriately deep slots for the levers and throttle.

 

The various PE levers are glued into place.  The throttle lever is an interesting pistol-grip shape and is made up of three parts.  You can't see it but I've built up the handles of the levers and throttle with UV epoxy to give them a more rounded cross-section.

 

The throttle quadrant is placed high on the port sidewall and will be fairly visible. So these enhancement are well worthwhile.

[dodgem37]

Good show, Bro'.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Kahunaminor]

I get used to marvelling at your Luftwaffe builds and you go all Oriental on me. Great stuff John, looking very nice so far.

 

Regards,

Kent

[LSP_Kevin]

Terrific work, John! Your stuff is just getting better and better.

 

Kev