STATIC CAPITAL
Chris Wauchop Scale Models and Photography
FineMolds 1/48 Nakajima Kikka (2019 refurbishment of 2007 build)
NAKAJIMA KIKKA (Orange Blossom)
The Kikka was intended for use in suicide missions so only received a name and not the letters and numbers usually designated to I.J.N. aircraft.
My original 2007 build. This was done mainly out of the box with a few alterations and additions. The main alteration was to open the kit’s one-piece canopy. To achieve this the kit part was carefully cut into three sections and the centre section was then used as a plug to form a new, thinner part by plunge moulding a heated piece of acetate over it. The original canopy frames did not mould clearly so new frames were cut from plastic strip and very carefully glued in place using super glue.
Some extra detail had been added to the undercarriage and bomb in the original build. These included brake lines on the main gear legs, the inner gear door closing brackets and a fusing prop on the bomb’s nose.
Refurbishment work began with the removal of the fuselage hinomarus and the addition of canopy rails to the top of the cockpit side walls.
Wing markings were so well fixed to the original paint that I could not remove them so after a light sanding they were left in place and then painted over.
As I didn’t have any appropriate decals to replace the tail codes these were also left in place and carefully brush painted around and over. The RATO pods (one of which can be seen in this and the previous shot) were later removed as I didn’t think that an operational aircraft would have carried them in this position. And as I did not have any information to tell me where else they might have been placed they were left off. In later shots you can see that I also added rivet detail to the lower engine cowls.
In the original build I did add a fair bit of extra detail to the cockpit interior including seat belts and various levers and handles using stretched spru and lead foil. Some of these additions can be seen in this shot of the finished model.
Original paint and markings.
Now with new paint and markings the plane looks as though, in reality, it had been very hastily painted and looks much rougher and, I think, more realistic than my original scheme.
GALLERY
Revell 1/144 Type XXI U-Boot
Kriegsmarine Type XXI U-Boot 2511
U-2511 was built at the Blohm und Voss shipyards Hamberg and launched on the 2nd of September 1944. She was commissioned on the 29th of September ’44 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee. After initial training U-2511 was transferred to Bergen, Norway from where, on the evening of the 30th of April ’45, she set sail for the Caribbean on her one and only patrol. On the 4th of May, with a British cruiser in his sights, Schneer received the end-of-the-war cease fire order. He claimed that he made a practice attack on the British ship before escaping undetected. On the 7th of January 1946, U-2511 was scuttled by the British off the northern coast of Ireland where she still lies, relatively intact, today.
I decided to add as much extra detail as I could in this small scale. This began by cutting out the main ballast vent holes and glueing a strip of styrene card behind them at about a 45 degree angle.
Next, the forward dive plane actuating cylinders were added. These were made using 2.5mm and 1.6mm Evergreen plastic rod.
These cylinders are quite visible if the model is displayed with the dive planes extended. Also in this shot can be seen the early detail added to the top of the deck bollards. Handles were added to the hollowed out tops later.
The kit’s solid moulded hand rails and ladder rungs were removed and replaced with 0.3mm brass and copper wire.
Access doors and nav lights were detailed using 0.25mm plastic card.
After these photos were taken the row of vent holes directly under the hand rail and the first three rows above the rear section of rail were filled according to my reference.
The crew access hatches were cut open and internal detail was added using plastic card.
Holes were opened up so periscopes, schnorkel and other detail could be fixed in more realistic positions.
The kit periscopes were replaced with scratch-built items. This is the night periscope made by shaping a piece of 1.6mm Evergreen plastic rod using the grinding stone attachment on my motor tool.
The attack periscope was made using the same 1.6mm rod and detailed with stretched spru and brass wire.
The kit D/F loop was replaced with a scratch-built item made using brass rod and copper wire.
The kit Hohentwiel radar antenna was detailed with 0.1mm brass rod.
The conning tower with most of the extra detail added. The schnorkel was extensively detailed using plastic card of various gauges and the night periscope housing tube, made out of 3.2mm plastic tube, was added. The kit antenna masts were replaced with items made using telescoping brass tube. After this shot was taken a shaped slot was cut to accommodate the scratch-built D/F loop.
In this shot the sharp edges of the gun turret surround’s rear outer corners can be seen. These were filed and sanded smooth to look more like my reference.
This, and the next shot show the boat’s main colours plus the beginning of the weathering.
The finished model with mooring ropes added. These ropes are made from fine solder wire. Also note the handles added to the hollow tops of the bollards.
The rounded corners behind the gun turrets can be seen here. Also visible is a flagpole made using Evergreen plastic rod with a stretched spru halyard rope.
GALLERY
FineMolds 1/48 KUGISHO (Yokosuka) D4Y4 Suisei ‘Judy’
KAMIKAZE
Kugisho D4Y4 Suisei of the 601st ‘Special Attack’ FG, Japan 1945
Some extra detail was added to the cockpit interior. This included seat belts from lead foil and various knobs, handles and placards from Evergreen plastic card and rod.
Most of the gear in the rear cockpit has been removed to reduce weight for its one-way mission. An empty radio box was added, instrument housings were drilled out and some loose wiring was added.
After the extra head armour with its support braces and rudder pedal toe straps were added, the interior was given a coat of Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green.
Some weathering was done with my red brown/black mix and a Prismacolor silver pencil.
Wiring was added to the cockpit sidewalls using fine wire. A perforated strip was glued to the side of the bomb bay opening after the doors had been removed. The kit’s closed engine cowl cooling fins were cut out and replaced with scratch-built opened ones. Some internal detail, which may be visible, was added. The back of this added detail can be seen here.
Painted and weathered.
Ignition harness and wiring were added to the very basic kit engine.
Detailed and painted. Luckily not much will be visible once it’s behind the big prop spinner.
Detail behind open cooling fins.
Cooling fins glued in place. Exhaust pipe ends have also been hollowed out.
Rivet detail was added to the exterior surfaces using the MDC 1/48th Rivet making tool.
Upper wing rivet detail.
Lower wing rivets. Also three large weight holes were drilled through the rear wheel well wall and small perforated strips were added to the front and rear of the round wheel housing.
Wheel wells and inner gear doors had extra detail added using fine brass and solder wire.
In this shot basic painting is complete and weathering has begun. Undersurface colour is Gunze Sangyo Mr Hobby H61 IJN Gray. Upper surfaces are a mix of Tamiya XF-11 J.N. Green with a dash of XF-12 J.N. Grey added to lighten it up a bit. Selected panel and rivet lines were then carefully sprayed with a very thin mix of straight XF-11 J.N. Green.
All the markings were masked and sprayed before the weathering was added. The main weathering is complete in this shot. The paint chipping was achieved with the use of a very sharp Prismacolor silver pencil. The windscreen and opened sliding section of the canopy were replaced using the vac-form offering from Squadron.
Undersurfaces painted and weathered. This shot was taken mainly to show the finished wheel well detail.
The kit 800kg bomb had extra detail added which included fin braces and a P/E fuse arming prop from the spares box. Not sure what the device strapped to the centre of the bomb is but I made it out of Evergreen plastic and Albion Alloys brass tube to look as close as I could to my reference. A detonation pin was also added to the tip of the nose.
Painted and lightly weathered. The red stripe is pure conjecture on my part.
Rocket motors were painted with a 50/50 mix of dark grey and red brown. The inner walls of the exhaust nozzles were thinned by hollowing them out with a motor tool.
Main undercarriage parts detailed, painted, decaled and weathered. Note that the main legs have been shortened by cutting a couple of mm’s from the oleo legs and closing the oleo scissors slightly. This was done to indicate the compression caused by the extra weight of the large bomb and rocket motors being carried. This alteration made it necessary to separate the lower wheel covers from the upper leg covers as in reality the wheel covers would slide up the outside of the leg covers. The kit gear covers were way too thick for this to look right, so the upper parts of the covers were sanded to a better scale thickness. It turned out to be easier to remake rather than to alter the lower wheel covers, so new parts were cut out of 0.25 mm plastic card. Detail was added to the outside of the new wheel covers using plastic strip and rod. Fine solder wire was also used to add brake lines to the undercarriage legs.
Bomb, rocket motors and undercarriage have been glued in place. Also note that the main gear tyres have been flat spotted.
Mounting step and handle were also added. Although they’re not seen in this shot, the plastic pitot tube was replaced with Albion Alloys sliding brass tube and the solid grey plastic tail navigation light was cut out and replaced by gradually building up layers of Testors clear parts cement.
GALLERY
Hasegawa 1/32 P-40E Warhawk (made as a Kittyhawk Mk.1a)
Kittyhawk Mk.1a of 3 Squadron, RAAF North Africa, middle of 1942 as flown by Flt Sgt Lloyd ‘Danny’ Boardman.
Instrument panel with kit decals. Each instrument dial on the kit decal was carefully cut out and applied separately. The clear reflector element and solid side panels of the N-3A gunsight were replaced with clear cell and plastic card.
Cockpit elements painted and ready to be assembled. The U.S. safety harness is from HGW and probably should be a Sutton Harness as used by the RAF. But this is what I was supplied with and I figure that these aircraft were probably delivered fitted with these belts.
Spinner, prop and undercarriage elements painted and weathered. Note all tyres have been flat spotted and brake lines have been added to the main undercarriage legs.
Undersurface Azure blue is my own mix and isn’t quite as intense as it appears in this photo. Weathering has begun here as well.
Gunze Sangyo H72 Dark Earth and H71 Middle Stone were used for the upper surface colours. Weathering has also begun along panel lines, wing roots and around the gun ports.
Lots of oil leaks and gun dust as per reference were added using the airbrush and my black/brown mix.
Weathering almost complete. More weathering will be done after decals have been applied.
The main photograph I used for reference shows this plane carrying a 250lb GP bomb fitted with a long detonation pin. Luckily I found that I had couple of 250lb GP bombs in my spares box which were left over from the Tamiya Spitfire I built a few years ago. With the addition of a few scratch-built details one of these would be perfect for the job.
250lb GP bomb painted and weathered. The long impact-detonation pins were fitted to these bombs so that they would explode slightly above ground level therefore causing a much wider spread of schrapnel. Very effective when used as an antipersonnel weapon.
The bomb mounting gear supplied with the kit was unsuitable for this sized bomb so a new rack with sway braces was scratch built using plastic strip, plastic rod and brass wire. Also seen in this shot are the actuator rods fitted to the inside of the undercarriage doors which were also made from fine brass wire.
Bomb fitted to the very dirty under belly of this well worn war bird.
This shot shows some of the after market items used on this build, which include resin exhaust stacks from quickboost, and P/E and turned brass ring and bead gunsight from AIR MASTER. The chipped paint on the wing root area was applied with a very sharp PRISMACOLOR silver pencil. Exhaust staining and oil streaking was added using the airbrush and a fine paint brush. A watery black wash was carefully painted along panel lines and then very carefully around the canopy framework.
GALLERY
Tamiya 1/48 Messerscmitt Bf 109 G6
ME Bf 109 G6/R6 ‘Black 1’ W.Nr. Unknown 8./JG 54 Pilot Unknown Lüneburg, Germany Spring 1944.
Starboard cockpit wall with some added detail to the oxygen supply mechanism.
Cockpit tub with straps added to the rudder pedals and scratch-built seat belts added to the seat.
Bottom of the engine with extra detail.
Extra plumbing and wiring was added to the engine sides and bottom using fine copper and solder wire.
Underwing gondola cannon barrels were replaced with brass tube.
Kit decals were used for the instrument panel.
Wing radiator innards.
The navigation lights are moulded as part of the solid grey wing tips, so with some good photographic reference I painted them to look transparent.
I was very happy with the result.
Chipping along the wing roots was done using a very sharp Prismacolor silver pencil. Also in this shot can be seen grab handles on the rear frame of the forward canopy, retaining wire holding the centre canopy section and the replacement D/F loop made using scrap P/E.
Very dirty belly of this well-used machine.
The top deck’s pretty messy too.
GALLERY
Special Hobby 1/32 Hawker Tempest Mk.V
Hawker Tempest Mk.V EJ762/JJ-F of 274 Squadron, piloted by Flt. Lt. D. C. Fairbanks, DFC and Two Bars with 12.5 victories, while flying out of Volkel in Holland, October 1944.
Cockpit parts with some wiring and other detail added prior to painting. Front and rear engine radiators are also included in this shot.
Port cockpit sidewall with a little extra detail and a lot of wiring added.
Painted and weathered.
Starboard cockpit sidewall painted with not so much added detail.
Instrument panel with kit decal dials which have been cut out and added individually.
Seat painted and weathered with the kit-supplied HGW harnesses. The armoured headrest is much too thick and was later replaced with a more accurate, thinner and taller scratch built item.
Cockpit elements complete and waiting for assembly.
Assembled and waiting to be installed.
Installed. To my surprise and relief, the fit was very good.
A little bit of extra plumbing was added to the wheel wells. There should be a lot more but I did not have enough reference of this feature to do an accurate job.
Undercarriage parts and radiator flap painted, weathered and detailed. There are quite a few more parts for the main gear that are not included in this shot but can be seen in later shots of the completed model. These, along with any other dangly bits, will all be installed when the model has been completed.
Upper surface camouflage has begun. If you look closely you can just see the very light pencil line indicating the colour demarcation and the letter ‘G’ for green in the appropriate areas.
Basic painting complete. Next step is weathering.
With me weathering always starts on the undersurfaces. As seen previously, the undercarriage doors and radiator flap were painted and weathered separately.
Upper surface weathering comprises exhaust staining, panel line shading, paint chipping and very subtle shading along the edges of any hard edge painted lines.This includes fuselage band, invasion stripes and wing walk strips. Paint chipping was achieved using a silver Prismicolor pencil. Also keen eyes may notice that the kit nose and spinner have been replaced with the much more accurate Barracuda resin parts.
Weathering complete. Decals next.
GALLERY
Tamiya 1/35 Panther Ausf.D
Tank No.745, 7th Company, 52nd Panzer Battalion, 39th Panzer Regiment, Kursk, July 1943
First order of business was to add some detail to the rather sparse interior of the kit commander’s cupola and after hours of searching the net I could not find any clear reference for this feature. The closest I could find were some interior photos and illustrations of Bovington’s early Tiger 1 which has a similar dustbin type cupola. Using these pics as my reference I added the detail you see here using plastic card and rod. It’s not 100% accurate but it looks a lot better than nothing. Of course since completing the model I did find some good pics of the Panther D’s turret interior and surprisingly my effort is pretty close!
Lenses cut from clear acetate were glued to the inside of the periscope openings before the other interior detail was added.
Missing weld beads were added using lengths of Evergreen plastic rod and stretched sprue. Once glued in place these were drenched with Tamiya extra thin liquid cement to soften them up. They were then shaped using the point of a needle mounted in a pin vice. Existing weld beads were also beefed up using the same method.
The kit’s smoke grenade launcher brackets were replaced with finer items made from .020 thou plastic card. In this shot you can also see some of the existing weld beads which have been given some extra body.
Plumbing for the launchers was added using brass tube and fine wire.
Model Point 90mm Nb.k.wg smoke/grenade throwers (empty), item number 3551-1 were used to replace the kit parts.
Launcher wiring connected.
The turned brass MG 34 muzzle from Aber’s update set 35 L-184 was used in the absence of any kit offering for the turret mounted coaxial machine gun.
The same Aber update set as the MG 34 also includes a turned aluminium KwK 42 L/75 gun barrel and eight piece turned brass and P/E muzzle brake.
A new support bracket for the exhaust pipes was made using Evergreen plastic strip to replace the heavy looking kit part. The bracing rod in the open end of each pipe was added using stretched sprue.
The handle on the back of each headlight cover bracket was added using brass wire.
Extra detail was added to the jack and fire extinguisher using plastic card, plastic rod and brass wire.
Even though I didn’t use the metal gun barrel from Tamiya’s Detail-Up set, I did use the plastic parts for detailing the turret interior. These include the rear end of the coax MG 34, the binocular main gun sight and the breach for the main gun (above). As these parts may be glimpsed through open turret hatches, they received a quick paint job.
Kit external tool racks were used with the addition of some extra detail in the way of Aber’s workable P/E clamps and clasps.
Left side tool rack with extras.
The hull and turret with most extras added, these include the P/E Grille Set 12666 from Tamiya, most of the bits from the very fragile Gum Ka P/E set T-07 and lots of plastic and brass wire bits from me. The whole thing has been given a coat of red primer.
Most of the external stowage painted, weathered and ready to be attached.
Road wheels, drive sprockets and idler wheels have all been painted and weathered prior to installation.
With the finished running gear in place, the WWII Productions resin individual track link sets were cleaned up, assembled and painted before being very carefully installed. These tracks are workable but the click together joining system is inherently weak and during installation several breaks did occur. Very annoying and very time consuming to repair. I don’t think I will be using them again. Also in this shot you can see along the bottom edge of the upper hull that I have used plastic strip to beef up the attachment points for the P/E hangers and side skirts from Armorscale. These will replace the overly thick plastic kit parts.
The completed model showing the Armorscale side skirts painted and hung. Also in this shot can be seen Tamiya’s P/E grille set and brass radio antenna from Adlers Nest. Securing the tow cables, spare track links and tow hooks are lots of P/E chains and pins from Gum Ka. The bucket hanging from the jack handle was found in the spares box while the straight-sided can next to it was scratch built from plastic card and wire. The exposed hinge teeth of the the spare track links were drilled and pins made from brass wire were selectively inserted.
I don’t normally add figures to my models but these guys looked much better than Tamiya’s usual offering so with a bit of extra detail added here they are. I’m not really happy with my effort but I suppose they do add an element of life and a sense of scale.
GALLERY
Bronco 1/35 Rheinmetall-Borsig ‘Rheintochter’ R-1
In 1942 the Luftwaffe asked Rheinmetall-Borsig to develop an anti-aircraft missile and the Rheintochter 1 was the result. It was a subsonic, two-stage, solid-fuelled, radio controlled rocket that was ground-launched from a rail attached to a converted 88mm Flak 41 gun mount. The four smaller fins at the tip of the nose were radio controlled and used to guide the missile towards its target. When close enough to the target its 150kg warhead was detonated by the Kranich acoustic proximity fuse which was housed in the control compartment in its nose.
All the stabilising and control fins on the Rheintochter were made of a highly compressed laminated wood called Lignofol. To reproduce the look of this material I was eager to use Ushi van der Rosten’s Wood Grain Decal. To achieve the look I was after I first gave the fins a coat of Gunze Sangyo H318 Radome and then applied some colour variation by carefully spraying Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow in controlled but random looking patterns. Next I masked and sprayed the bolted mounting brackets at the base of each fin silver.
The decal was then cut to fit the shape of the fin as closely as possible. Note also that great care was taken to make sure that the line of the woodgrain pattern on the decal followed the shape and angle of the fin. In reality the fins were made from two pieces of ply, with the shaped leading edge being a separate piece added to the main fin. I tried to achieve this look by applying the decal in two separate pieces that were cut from different areas of the decal sheet.
The four large first-stage stabiliser fins complete. The six smaller second stage fins received the same treatment but once the decal was completely dry they were given a very thin coat of clear orange. This gave them a noticeably darker appearance which corresponded pretty well with my reference.
The painted and decaled guide fins waiting to be attached to the rocket’s nose.
Rather than the large, flat wooden fin braces that were attached to the outer tips of the four rear stabiliser fins, I chose the option of the much more discrete angled metal ones that were bolted to the inner surfaces of the two outer fins. The flat P/E items supplied in the kit were discarded and replaced with more accurate ones made from Evergreen plastic strip and rod.
The holes for the six rocket exhausts were moulded closed so I drilled and cut them open for a more accurate result.
The exhaust nozzles were then very carefully glued in place with the aid of lots of liquid glue. Also in this shot you can see that I have hollowed out the end of the wiring conduit and added two or three lengths of wire and fed them through the exhaust opening as per my reference pics.
I decided not to use the kit supplied P/E bolt panels for the first stage fin mounts as the bolt heads seemed a bit too flat. So the P/E strips of bolt heads were replaced by drilling holes along each side of the plastic mounting brackets and glueing into each hole a short length of Evergreen .020 plastic rod. When the glue was well and truly dry the plastic bolt heads were filed to an even, but slightly more prominent length.
Once all the fin brackets were finished I noticed that the very heavy, bolted seam joint on the fin sleeve had been omitted by the manufacturer! I added this rather prominent detail using plastic strip, rod and Milliput.
Painting and weathering is almost complete. The dark red colour of the fuel cells and the first stage exhaust nozzles represents red primer because in reality these parts were made of sheet steel. This colour is a mix of Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red and XF-64 Red Brown. The rest of the missile was masked and sprayed various shades of silver and metallic grey from the wonderful range of Alclad II lacquers. Note also in this and the next shot the various screw holes, panel lines and other holes that have been added after careful study of reference photos. Some were added after painting was complete as new reference pics were discovered.
All shading and weathering was applied using the airbrush and a very thin mix of black/brown. The dark red areas ended up receiving a lot more shading than is seen here.
The plastic handles and shafts of the gun mount’s control wheels were replaced with brass wire and tube.
The Flak 41 gun mount construction complete. Note the brass pin protruding from the launch rail. This pin fits into a corresponding hole that has been drilled into the rocket and holds it securely in position.
A few minor alterations were made before painting was commenced.
Looking very bright in this shot before the dark red was made considerably darker.
GALLERY
Zoukei-mura 1/32 Dornier Do 335 A-0 ‘Pfeil’
Do 335 A-1, W.Nr. 240167 Oberpfaffenhofen April 1945. (speculative)
Even if it’s not the first step in the instructions, I usually like to start with the assembly of the engine or, in this case, the engines. This kit provides two very acceptable representations of the DB 603 A twelve-cylinder inverted-vee liquid cooled engine. Even though Zoukei-mura include the completely hidden internal cylinder detail they don’t provide much of the very visible external wiring. The internal cylinders were removed from the front engine before assembly and the resulting cavity was filled with as much lead shot as I could cram in there. Once assembled and painted gloss black with a wash of flat earth, I added the external wiring using fine solder and jewellers wire. Also a small disc was cut from some P/E mesh found in my spares drawer and glued over the supercharger intake.
Very busy under the front engine. This detail will be visible with the cowlings removed.
Rear engine ready for installation. Most of the lower wiring detail was not added because it was never going to be seen. There will be lots of plumbing though.
The ejection seat also received some extra details. These included a new parachute pack behind the headrest, new headrest and backrest padding, a beautiful set of HGW microtextile seat belts and, because I fixed the armrests in the upright position, some mounting detail was added under the armrest supports. The brass mounting clips for the shoulder harnesses were later painted black.
Side consoles with replacement throttle control levers made from Evergreen plastic strip.
Instrument panel in place with MDC instrument dial decals replacing those supplied in the kit. Instrument dial bezels have been painted individually.
Wiring was added to the back of each instrument. This feature will be visible when the model is complete.
Toe straps made from lead foil were added to the rudder pedals. A new oxygen hose was made to replace the short kit part by wrapping solder wire around a copper wire core.
New reflector elements were cut from clear plastic sheet to replace the thick kit offering and a power cable made from solder wire was also added.
Front engine, main armament, cockpit, oil and main fuel tanks and rear engine firewall all assembled and waiting for rear engine to be installed.
This shot shows wiring added to the starboard cockpit console. Never to be seen again! The guns’ ammo boxes were also packed full of lead shot.
The rear engine firewall with some extra plumbing and wiring.
All its innards in place. To my astonishment everything fitted pretty much perfectly!
Although not accurate, the radiator detail is still very nice.
The back of the radiator showing the cooling flap actuator mechanism.
After closer examination I determined that the radiator flaps were completely inaccurate and so replaced them with scratch-built items made from .005″ Evergreen plastic card.
The main elements are now all together. At this point I am going to ask why on earth Zoukei-mura have insisted on moulding the majority of the parts of this kit in a very brittle, frosted semi-transparent plastic. They have also inexplicably moulded the wing mounted landing light cover and navigation light covers out of the same textured plastic!! I was able to polish the larger landing light cover to an acceptable state of clarity but the smaller nav light covers were impossible.
The hardness of this translucent plastic also made the task of applying rivet detail all the more tedious. Fortunately I was after a subtle effect but still had to press very hard to get any result at all. Also, this brittle plastic almost caused a huge disaster when, after applying an oil wash to the silver painted interior of the starboard bomb bay, this large part actually cracked and broke in two! I was initially horrified and dumbstruck, but after closer examination I determined that the break was fairly clean and with aid of Tamiya extra thin cement and lots of super glue I was able to affect a very clean repair. Because of the liberal application of the CA glue to the fuselage interior the bomb bay doors would have to be glued shut.
A new D/F loop was fashioned using a flat strip of spare P/E which was then attached to the base of the original kit part.
Lower engine detail with radiator and exhausts attached.
Complete fuselage and wings primed and ready for some camouflage.
In this shot the undersurfaces have already been painted RLM 76 and the first of the upper surface greens (RLM 82) has been applied.
RLM 81 Brown Violet was next.
Decals have been applied in this shot. The fuselage cross was carefully masked and sprayed to avoid the multiple cuts that would be necessary for the decal to fit over the removable engine covers.
Undersurfaces have received moderate to heavy weathering.
After careful examination of photographic evidence I determined that the tyre tread pattern was usually worn pretty well completely smooth, so the kit tyres were sanded until there was only the vaguest hint of tread left.
The flat moulded plastic catch hooks and air lines on the wheel hubs were replaced with scratch-built items and the tyres have been flat-spotted.
The undercarriage legs are nicely moulded but some extra detail does need to be added. This will take the form of brake lines on the main legs and hydraulic lines on the nose wheel leg.
Nose wheel attached.
Starboard wheel temporarily in place.
Main undercarriage legs firmly glued to their doors with brake lines in place.
The boarding ladder release handle was scratch-built using Evergreen plastic rod and card. The knob on the end was made by building up layers of white glue. The colour is purely speculative.
The kits’ clear plastic pitot tube snapped in half before I could get it off the sprue so I replaced it with a much more accurate item made using Albion Alloys slide fit brass tube.
The windscreen seems to have been moulded too flat which meant it was slightly wider than the cockpit rail. To pinch it in a bit, small holes were drilled into the bottom of the windscreen frame with corresponding holes drilled into the top of the cockpit wall. This little exercise was a pain but it did the trick.
The location holes for the windscreen can be seen here. After closer examination of reference photos, I removed the knobs on the ends of the red canopy release and yellow canopy locking levers.
Front engine cowlings removed.
Front and rear engine cowls are all removable and when closed are held in place with small, strategically placed, blobs of Blu-Tack!
Rear DB 603, starboard.
Rear DB 603, port.
The markings and paint scheme are purely speculative on my part mainly because I wanted to do an example of a Do 335 A-1 but didn’t want to do one with any external bare metal panels because usually any bare metal panels were covered with manufacturer’s stencilling.
GALLERY
Tamiya 1/32 Mitsubishi A6M2b ZERO Model 21
Aircraft flown in the Pearl Harbour attack by Lt Saburo Shindo, Air superiority command, 2nd strike unit, aboard carrier Akagi, lead ship of Carrier Div. 1 Hawaii, December 8, 1941.
The first step in my order of construction (step 40 in the kit instructions) was the beautiful little Nakajima ‘Sakae’ Model 12 engine. Here I have added a wiring harness and some other plumbing using various gauges of copper wire.
Wired, plumbed and painted.
The engine fully painted, assembled and ready for installation. The firewall, with its oil and fuel tanks attached, is only dry-fitted to the engine mount at this point.
Cockpit elements complete. Lots of extra detail added here, including wiring, handles, pushrods and HGW’s brilliant micro textile seat belts. The main colour used for the cockpit interior is Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green with a good dash of Gunze Sangyo H58 Interior Green added to knock the brightness out of it.
The instrument panel was next.
Cockpit module complete and ready to be installed.
With the interior components installed, the main construction was completed and painting commenced. After the application of the main cammo colour of Gunze H61 IJN Grey was completely dry, the weathering process began. This was commenced by carefully running the very sharp point of a 6B graphite pencil along and around all panel lines and fastener screw heads. These rather dark lines were then muted down by very carefully over spraying them with a thin mix of IJN Grey with a dash of my black/brown mix added. Before this colour was completely dry the entire surface of the model was polished using a few drops of water and the second finest Micromesh cloth. This formed a slurry of the shading colour which was wiped away using a soft cloth leaving this slightly darker, subtle colour in the recessed surface detail. After this process was complete I decided to mask and spray all the national and tactical markings and the wings’ red ‘Don’t Step’ safety lines. Once this was complete I very carefully polished the entire model using the finest Micromesh cloth. This gives the model a beautifully even, glass-like sheen.
The sprayed red safety lines. Also in this shot can be seen that each rivet on the rear cockpit combing has been carefully dotted with a Prismacolor sliver pencil.
The shiny surface can be seen a bit better in this rather poor quality shot. The engine has also been fixed in place at this point.
Because the kit’s tail wheel is made to actually retract, Tamiya has left off its very prominent sealing boot which would interfere with its operation. I wanted to include this feature so some tiny attachment brackets were made from thin plastic strip and glued in place. The tail wheel was then permanently fixed in the fully extended position and the sealing boot was added by filling the gap around it with Milliput. Then, with the aid of some good reference photos, the putty was sculpted into the appropriate shape.
Tail wheel with boot finished and installed.
Folded and extended wing tips are provided and can be easily interchanged. These are the folded tips.
Two sizes of wheel chocks are supplied, these larger ones are to be placed in front of the wheels while there are smaller ones to be placed at the rear. I could’t find any photographic evidence of the smaller rear chocks being used so I only finished the larger front ones. I added some extra detail by cutting a simple wood grain texture into each panel with the tip of a scalpel; adding end cap plates from plastic strip, and replacing the rather thick white string supplied in the kit with a much finer, smooth cord.
GALLERY
STATIC CAPITAL 