Mitsubishi A5M4 "Claude" [1:32 Special Hobby] - RFI

[Alex]

I decided at the beginning of the year that I needed to do these group builds by pulling kits I already have off the shelf rather than giving in to the temptation to buy something new.  I've had this one for a while, so it's now getting built.

 

While the A6M Zero is by far the best-known Imperial Japanese Navy fighter, there were several others from the late 20's and through the 1930s.  The immediate predecessor of the Zero was the Mitsubishi A5M - the first all-metal monoplane fielded by the IJN and in many ways a design study that would later be evolved by Mitsubishi into the famous Zero.

 

 

This is a fairly simple kit in terms of parts - just four IM sprues in the usual soft gray SH plastic.

 

 

But it is also more multi-media than usual for Special Hobby - not only is there a small PE fret but they provide almost a complete resin cockpit and a resin replacement for the crankcase cover.

 

 

I'll scratchbuild a few additional details on this one but I don't plan to use any AM parts (not that there are many out there).  I may do one of the schemes that is suggested by the kit.  If so it would be this one, a carrier-based plane (on the Soryu).

 

But there are lots of other possibilities, including kokutais that were seconded to land bases in northern China in 1938-1940.  Some of those wore field-expedient camo paintjobs, and all wound up much more weathered than their shipborne counterparts:

 

We'll see - there's time to decide yet.

 

[Out2gtcha]

Great choice Alex!   I think i had this kit at one point, but dont remember what happened to it.......

 

Seems like a nice kit to be able to get through and finish. I love the Special Hobby color call-outs for the cowl:  D = "Cowling color" 

[Alex]

15 minutes ago, Out2gtcha said:

Great choice Alex!   I think i had this kit at one point, but dont remember what happened to it.......

 

Seems like a nice kit to be able to get through and finish. I love the Special Hobby color call-outs for the cowl:  D = "Cowling color" 

 

Special Hobby seems to assume that everyone lives in Gunze-world when it come to painting...  Fortunately I usually do.

[Alex]

This is one of those subjects where you have to 100% rely on period photography and drawings for references.  Unlike the Mustang, Spitfire, etc, where there are dozens or hundreds of original and restored aircraft around to look at, there are no surviving examples of the A5M anywhere to consult.  Unless you count this one.  Which is in rough shape and difficult to access...

[dennismcc]

Great he says pulling up his comfy chair, I'd only recently remembered that I had this kit so a nice build thread is very welcome.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Alex]

As those of you who are devotes of the Special Hobby product line know, the first thing you want to do after opening the box is figure out how much of a struggle the wing-to-fuselage fit is going to be.  So a quick dry-fit pf the five major pieces...

 

 

The outside contours of the wings match pretty well (not a given), but there's going to need to be some material removed from the inside surfaces to get the trailing edges to close up nicely.

 

And this is *classic* Special Hobby

 

More importantly, what happens when we try to put the wings and fuselage together?

 

This initially looks quite grim, but I think it can be addressed in a couple of ways.  In part, it's because the trailing edge of the wing section hasn't been trimmed/thinned to fit flush to the fuselage...

 

But much more significantly, the forward part of the lower wing section is much too narrow to fit the fuselage wing roots correctly.  Forcing it on causes it to flex into a subtle anhedral, which really opens up those gaps at the top of the wing root.

 

My plan is: 

1. First to get the fuselage completely built up, with cockpit inside, and glued *securely* together.  The fuselage halves have got some subtle warp to them, meaning that it will be a bit of a multi-step glue up, and I may actually try to relax the distortion a bit with hot water first.  But it looks like they will go together square if made to.

2. Carefully remove material from the bottom wing section until it fits the finished fuselage as perfectly as I can get it to, without having to force it anywhere.

3. Then see how the upper wing parts join in, and adjust more if needed at that point.  But I hope there won't be much needed.

[Panzerwomble]

You've got your work cut out for you there ....personally I'd see all that and be tempted put it on eBay 

[dennismcc]

Looks pretty normal for SH, patience, sanding, test fitting and modelling skills required.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Alex]

39 minutes ago, Panzerwomble said:

You've got your work cut out for you there ....personally I'd see all that and be tempted put it on eBay 

 

Ha!  Having been through a few of these, it's not too daunting (hopefully those aren't famous last words).  I kind of enjoy alternating between the perfect-fit Tamiya type kits and these ones that involve what Dennis calls "proper modeling".

[Panzerwomble]

13 minutes ago, Alex said:

 

Ha!  Having been through a few of these, it's not too daunting (hopefully those aren't famous last words).  I kind of enjoy alternating between the perfect-fit Tamiya type kits and these ones that involve what Dennis calls "proper modeling".

This is why I am an amateur LSP builder .....on a tank ...I'd look at those gaps and think "sod that ....a few layers of mud will see that right" 

[mgbooyv8]

Hi Alex,

 

Nice subject and nice kit, with the usual short-run traits.

Indeed, nothing some proper modelling can't handle.

It is in good hands!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[MikeMaben]

It won't be a problem Alex, all you need to do is hold your lips just right. 

 

Have fun 

[Alex]

So starting in per usual with the cockpit.  This is where most of the resin that comes with the kit goes.

 

Fortunately most of the small pieces that are replaced by the resin are still on the IM sprues, presumably from some simpler past version of the kit.  I say fortunately since one of my resin instrument boxes was a victim of an air bubble and didn't get filled.  But I've got the equivalent plastic part to use instead.

 

The first order of business was to look at the insert panels provided for the cockpit sidewalls.

 

These are extremely thick, and while they fit the inside contour of the fuselage halves pretty well, that thickness causes them to interfere with some of the details provided in the nice cast resin rear cockpit bulkhead.  So to make some more room I tossed them and just reproduced the bracing pattern directly on the inside of the fuselage sides.

 

I then spent the rest of the evening adding wiring and some other enhancements to the cockpit sidewall furniture, plus building a few additional widgets that were not provided with the kit.

 

I've been completely unable to find photographs online of the cockpit interior of this plane, save this one partial IP image:

 

And this one very small shot of what looks like a floor-mounted manual hydraulic pump similar to the one on the portside floor of the A6M

 

 

So I've mostly been working from these two paintings which I did find online (and which, for all I know, and what the guys at Special Hobby were working from too).

 

 

Special hobby has done a pretty good job of reproducing a lot of what's shown here in resin, and I will try to build the rest of it to whatever degree makes sense.  I need to keep in mind that this plane has a small cockpit opening and little of this detail will be visible in the finished product...

 

It's fun to be back in DIY / proper modeling / Special Hobby mode after the dauntingly precise world of the Tamiya Mustang.  A nice counterpoint.

[dennismcc]

I think that I found the same with the SH Bloch 152 kit, the plastic versions of the resin parts were on the sprues so in the end I used a mix of the two in the build.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

Great project, but I see plenty of filling and filing in your future.    One I'll be following for sure.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael