pennausamike Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 The thread about whether or not to build a Revell George because of the rarity of the kit caught my eye because that same "what if something goes wrong?!" fear applies to modifications as well. I have seen the Smithsonian NASM Rex a bunch of times and have some great shots of it in storage and being moved around at the Garber Facility. I always liked the Rex and feel a little more kinship with the only surviving example by trying to replicate it in my favorite scale, 1/32nd. The picture in this post (if I do this correctly!) shows the whole Rex/ George family as available in 32nd scale. The Swallow (ex Tomy) Shiden Kai makes a beautiful finished model, but the cockpit is a complete wash and has to be scratchbuilt. The Revell kit of the high wing Shiden is far too nice to have the molds lost at sea. Who would believe... The Rex is being made from the Combat Vac. A lot of work in some ways but compared to a full on kit like the Me-410 I'm working on, no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennausamike Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 The Rex floatplane requires some surgery to the wings to get rid of the weapons sponsons. I also dropped the combat flaps because I feel they are unique to the Rex/ George series of planes and give the model a more "real and in use" look. I reinforced the float by gluing one half directly to a sheet of fairly heavy styrene, scribing around it, and then gluing the other half on the other side. I know it is ridiculous but I use plain old tube glue for the majority of my building because that's what I did as a kid. I built models from about 8 to 25 years old. I quit for a few years to tinker with full scale Pontiac Trans Ams. After a few years of marriage and the arrival of my first son, I got back into modeling as a realistic scaling back of my hobbies. I built pretty regularly from about 29 to now, at 44 years of age. Using the tube glue just feels like old times to me. I also use JB Weld which is a slow drying epoxy that REALLY holds. Oh...and occasionally...a little superglue. In this shot it is possible to see the re-shaped tail-end. I tried to match that wildly curving tail on the George as best as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennausamike Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 And finally ,to this point, the thing all stacked together on the pool table. I don't have the modeling skills to be a rivet counter, but based on a flawed reference and my mis-interpretation of a photo showing the gun tubes in the fuselage, I put the nose gun ports too low in the cowling. I'm perfectly content with a nice two-footer, but I'm bothered by the look of these gun ports. I've been stalled in this project by the amount of work it will take me to change that nasty thin-wall cowling; but I haven't talked myself into living with it, either. So, one of these days I'll bite the bullet and tear that cowling apart and do it again. Other than that, I'm glad I made the decision to build this plane, and I still look forward to it joining my other finished kits on the shelf. And when nobody's looking, I'll probably fly it around the basement a time or two! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermeio Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 hello, This is really a great project, but what is that overscale canopy in this last picture ? (just kidding about the supporting glass) I'm really glad to see that there's still someone that takes the plunge and goes for vacuforms in this era of resin consumers. This means that here at LSP we still keep MODELING! I think there's no other site where you could find Out of Box Modeling, Vacuform, Scratchbuilding, great detailing using tubes and not photoetched parts. We are really a great community, cultivating what modeling is all about, I think. er me BGB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony O Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Er me the Rex looks superb, I have an old Putnam book from 1968 which details IJN/IJA aircraft of the pacific and there are a couple of images of the floatplane, its a superb looking beast as is your model. Amazing to think that this aircraft was such a good performer that they built a land based derivative! that says something about the Nakajima design. Definitely a LSP article on this one please! the Hanriot stuff got me thinking too, very nice, and your workmanship is very thorough in testing for materials. all the best Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennausamike Posted May 13, 2004 Author Share Posted May 13, 2004 The Combat vac is not as bad as building a full kit because the float shape is less complex than, especially, the wings on a plane. Wings with engine nacelles are the biggest curse in terms of fitting up a vac, to my experience. Compared to that, the floats are easy. I noted that I took a piece of leftover heavy styrene and sandwiched it in the middle of the two float halves. I left a tab sticking out of the top and cut a slot in the fuselage. I made the tab-to-slot fit a fairly tight fit. I pushed the float into the slot and held everything in place with JB Weld epoxy. The Rex had fairings at all the float-to-fuselage and float pylons-to-wings connections. I molded the JB Weld at all those points to create the fairings and strengthen the joins. I cut the weapons sponsons off with a razor saw, glued a piece of plastic behind the wing, glued another piece in the "hole" and filled and sanded. It is also necessary to glue the landing gear doors shut and fill and sand, because of course the floatplane had no landing gear. The spinner was actually a big deal. The Combat spinner parts are not the right shape or even round when assermbled. I attached the Combat spinner to the Revell George prop backing plate. I then used a combination of JB Weld and automotive spot putty to build it up. I used a lathe to turn it, but I feel sure a hand drill could be set up to do the same job. After that, I just basically "stuck" the prop blades on the spinner using a spacing guide I made by tracing another three blade prop on a piece of paper. For the curved tail, the Combat kit supplies a plug for the pointed part. The curve is a combination of razorsaw work, styrene build up and more JB Weld and putty. I don't think the Scratchbuilders kit offers a huge advantage over the Combat vac, especially in light of what you would likely have to pay. I just sold two Scratchbuilders kits for about two hundred bucks apiece and my Scratchbuilders P-40B/C conversion just went for $81! That's more than I expected, given that the Trumpeter P-40B/C is out there for $50. So what would an OOP conversion for an OOP kit bring? I shudder to think! Hello Combat Vac. They are available thru Rosemont Hobbies on the web and there is a little ad in the back of Finescale Modeler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Hi Mike, I think this project has a lot of guts ! Especially that as a basis the rare George kit is being used. I wouldn't dream of cutting up my George to do a conversion. There is surely no lack of interest for this project by me ! Keep us updated on this one please. Greetings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.valdez Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Actually there is another example of the Rex at the Chester Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas. You can see a picture of it in Mikesh's book on Japanese Aircraft Cockpits. It's in pretty reasonable shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 Dug up from months past.... Mike how is the REX coming along these days? I am curious to see if you have finished her or done anymore work? Let us know!!! Cheers Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennausamike Posted August 23, 2005 Author Share Posted August 23, 2005 It's been forever, but I finally moved the gun slots on my Rex. Now I have a new stumbling block. I need to find a good source for Japanese interior colors here in the USA. I like to use thinner based enamels, if at all possible, tho' I guess I'm ready to try the water-based paints, if necessary. Any suggestions? Thanks, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Gunze Sangyo would work very well and they do enamels as well as acrylics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 I need to find a good source for Japanese interior colors here in the USA.I like to use thinner based enamels, if at all possible, tho' I guess I'm ready to try the water-based paints, if necessary. Any suggestions? Thanks, Mike Testors enamels are my preference. Acordind to my references for this one, the cockpit color should be: Kawanishi - Green similar to US Interior Green, but slightly darker shade For this color I use Testors "1164 OD Green" in the small bottle. The other interior areas could be Aotaki (Testors Model Master "Japanese Interior Metalic Blue") or bare aluminum (my choice for this is Floquil "Old Silver"). Thinned with laquer thinner, these paints dry quickly (usually within a few minutes) and are tough as nails. HTH, D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Glad to see the update on this one!! I have been in suspense for awhile.... thanks for updating us! This build is just great... I love it! I hope to one day have my own REX!! Please keep us informed! Cheers Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 (edited) Mike, how is the REX coming along... how has the Aqueous paint turned out? Let's see her soon!! Cheers Alan Edited January 15, 2017 by alaninaustria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennausamike Posted September 22, 2005 Author Share Posted September 22, 2005 Hi Alan. I am making a real hobby shop run next week. In the meanwhile, I've been a little distracted by this project...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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