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

[Alex]

2 hours ago, Thunnus said:

 

 

Hi Alex!  I just roll the brass tube underneath the edge of an x-acto blade.  Back and forth a few times and the tube should separate fairly cleanly.  Make sure you cover the cut end as it may go flying as it separates!

Thanks!  I've got my tubing now so I will do some practice tonight...

[spyrosjzmichos]

That's some top notch work on the cockpit!

[dodgem37]

John, if memory serves me correct, there is a white 'bungee chord' that assists the pilot to change the seat elevation.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  I'll be getting back on the Shiden Kai soon as my G-14 build is wrapping up.

 

21 hours ago, dennismcc said:

And following on, what size tube did you use as it's a technique that I would like to use.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

I'm not sure exactly what size tubing that I used.  I have a couple sets of Albion Slide Fit brass tubing (0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9mm and 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0mm sets, for example).  The tubing I used for the engines weren't the smallest nor the largest sizes so somewhere in that 0.5 to 0.8mm range.  I usually select brass tubing that JUST allows my desired wiring to fit but in the case of the engines, there were small pins on the ignition ring and the engine cylinders that I wanted to take advantage of so I selected sizes that were a bit larger than I would've normally chosen.  The result was a solid connection for the wiring but a little overscale.

 

 

7 hours ago, dodgem37 said:

John, if memory serves me correct, there is a white 'bungee chord' that assists the pilot to change the seat elevation.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

Yes, that is correct, Mark.  There is a kit part that portrays a rubber tubing that forms a frame around the rear of the seat.  I've been leaving it off of the cockpit dry-fitting because there is no way of temporarily attaching it but I have it and it is ready to install once I get the HGW seatbelts installed.  I painted mine dark grey, not white, though.

[dennismcc]

On 7/21/2020 at 4:55 PM, Thunnus said:

I'm not sure exactly what size tubing that I used.  I have a couple sets of Albion Slide Fit brass tubing (0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9mm and 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0mm sets, for example).  The tubing I used for the engines weren't the smallest nor the largest sizes so somewhere in that 0.5 to 0.8mm range.  I usually select brass tubing that JUST allows my desired wiring to fit but in the case of the engines, there were small pins on the ignition ring and the engine cylinders that I wanted to take advantage of so I selected sizes that were a bit larger than I would've normally chosen.  The result was a solid connection for the wiring but a little overscale.

Thank you for that info John

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Edited July 24, 2020 by dennismcc
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[George]

Good Morning!  Nick Millman of the United Kingdom is one of the world's foremost specialists on Japanese aircraft including interior and exterior colors.  He conducts forensic analysis on paint chips and produced several guides on Japanese aircraft.  These guides can be purchased by going to his website "Aviation of Japan."  Also, I learned a few things from Mr. Millman that have been useful in finding accurate hobby paints for interior and exterior colors of military aircraft.   Looking at photographs of aircraft (interior and exterior) is subjective and not always accurate because you have to consider age of the photograph, the age of the color (because of weathering), and the lighting conditions.  So, the color of paint, especially hobby paint, appears differently under artificial light and sunlight especially if you looking at a new paint sample or weathered paint sample.   So, it becomes a matter of interpretation.  Additionally, the best way to look at paint is the eye level at midday with the sun at your back.  

 

 

 

[Thunnus]

11 hours ago, George said:

Good Morning!  Nick Millman of the United Kingdom is one of the world's foremost specialists on Japanese aircraft including interior and exterior colors.  He conducts forensic analysis on paint chips and produced several guides on Japanese aircraft.  These guides can be purchased by going to his website "Aviation of Japan."  Also, I learned a few things from Mr. Millman that have been useful in finding accurate hobby paints for interior and exterior colors of military aircraft.   Looking at photographs of aircraft (interior and exterior) is subjective and not always accurate because you have to consider age of the photograph, the age of the color (because of weathering), and the lighting conditions.  So, the color of paint, especially hobby paint, appears differently under artificial light and sunlight especially if you looking at a new paint sample or weathered paint sample.   So, it becomes a matter of interpretation.  Additionally, the best way to look at paint is the eye level at midday with the sun at your back.  

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for that information.  I've referenced the Aviation of Japan sites before and have looked at Mr. Millman's analysis of the Shiden (Kai) colors.  It's quite complicated and I came out with more questions than answers. I'm not a stickler for accuracy so the colors on this build are not meant to be definitive.

With the G-14 completed, I can jump back onto the Shiden Kai.  I decided to try and rivet the horizontal tail planes to test the new rivet tool.  Ideally, I think I would've preferred the 1.00mm spacing for this scale but 0.75mm is the largest spacing in this particular set.  I have another order in for the 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50mm tools but that'll probably take months to get here.  So let's try the 0.75mm rivets.

 

Using a set of scale drawings from one of my references, I've traced the rivet lines using a flexible ruler and a soft-leaded pencil.

 

Once the lines are drawn, I simply run the rivet tool over the lines at a constant pressure creating tiny, evenly-spaced holes to represent the rivets.

 

After the rivets are applied, I wipe off the pencil marks and then use fine sandpaper to get rid of the raised plastic around each hole. Depending on what kind of effect you are after, you can skip this step.

 

Here's a comparison to show the how the riveted tail plane compares to the unmodified one.  The effect is very fine and subtle.  Although it is a lot of work, I prefer this to pre-molded rivets.

 

It really takes some concentration to get the rivet lines straight when you run the riveter free-handed.  And as you can see, my technique is a little rusty.  I don't think rivet lines in real life are perfectly straight but obviously errant rivet lines on a model can be distracting.  I may fill some of the more wobbly lines with CA glue and straighten them out.

[markiii]

Looks good enough to me.

[MikeMaben]

Looking good John 

 

Hi George 

[dennismcc]

They look great, certainly looks a lot faster and more accurate than the old pin vice and fine drill approach.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dodgem37]

Good show.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Troy Molitor]

Looks great to me.

 

Troy 

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  I took the time to straighten out a few of the rivet lines on the tail planes.  Since I used black CA glue, the filled holes appear black.

 

The individual prop blades were glued onto the central prop hub.  The hub is sandwiched between the spinner and the backplate.  Everything separate so it will make painting easier.

 

Rivets were added to the spinner and backplate.

[scvrobeson]

Looks excellent, and I appreciate the attention to detail to go back over the rivet lines.

 

How do you scribe around the spinner? No way I could keep a rivet tool straight around that curve.

 

 

 

Matt 

[Thunnus]

2 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Looks excellent, and I appreciate the attention to detail to go back over the rivet lines.

 

How do you scribe around the spinner? No way I could keep a rivet tool straight around that curve.

 

 

 

Matt 

 

Thanks Matt!  I sketch a guide line around the spinner and then attack the rivets one quarter at a time.  After each quarter run, I reposition the rivet wheel into the previous holes and go from there for another quarter.

 

Next, I decided to rivet the engine cowling.  No way to wrap a ruler around that shape so I used the flexible white Tamiya tape to draw my guide lines.

 

The rivets produced by the Galaxy Tools rivet wheel are very fine.  Almost too fine.  I'm worried about the multiple paint layers eventually filling in the rivets before it is time for the pastel wash.

 

The effect right now is really nice.

 

With the spinner on, the engine detail gets covered almost completely.  The spinner attaches via polycap so it will be removable... some consolation.