1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

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mustang1989
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by mustang1989 »

Interesting comparison with the rivet wheels. I've got one in my tool bin and have used it once on my Arado build and loved it. Looking forward to seeing it in use on this beast.
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jkim
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by jkim »

Stikpusher wrote:Just to throw another one in there for your consideration... according to J Planes, Humbrol HU-3, Brunswick Green is supposed to be a good match for Kawanishi Green. It’s a gloss color and comes in both their enamel and acrylic paint lines.
Thanks for that recommendation! It does look like an appropriate color. Nothing against Humbrol but I'm limiting my non-metallic paint choices to Tamiya, Mr Hobby and AK Real Colors. Not just for this build but for modeling in general. All three have extensive color ranges that should cover all of my needs and I'm comfortable with their properties and can get consistent results.
Floki wrote:The new rivet tools look very well made.
mustang1989 wrote:Interesting comparison with the rivet wheels. I've got one in my tool bin and have used it once on my Arado build and loved it. Looking forward to seeing it in use on this beast.
They seem to be well made and I do like the fact that each wheel is provided with its own mount so I don't have to keep "changing the tire" every time I want a different rivet spacing. They will be well used since I apply rivets to almost all of my models.
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Stikpusher
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by Stikpusher »

No worries John, I was just throwing it out there for you. I completely understand about preferred brands due to experience with them.
According to the IPMS Stockholm chart, Tamiya X-5 and Gunze H-6 are supposed to be equivalents of Humbrol Hu-3. If you want to have a look at those shades. AK has no matching color.
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jkim
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by jkim »

I appreciate the input Carlos! Man, I thought Luftwaffe colors were confusing. I guess they are but in a different way. But at least there are documented examples of the RLM colors available. I get confused when I read Nick Millman's articles about Japanese aircraft colors. Lots of code words and specifications that I don't understand. AK RC may not have an equivalent of Humbrol Brunswick Green but they do have what they call D1 and D2 variations of IJN Dark Green. A modeler over at LSP messaged me that to say that the Mr Hobby Kawanishi Dark Green is bogus and that Kawanishi used either D1 or D2. I have no way of verifying any of this but I've ordered the AK RC colors because I like how they spray and we'll compare it to the other colors that I already have.
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by jkim »

Since I've started on the engine work, I've decided to complete this stage before I jump back over to the cockpit. I've kept the components separate to make painting details easier. Since the restored Shiden Kai's have nice shiny engines that are primarily metallic, I've taken some liberty with my color choices. For example the crankcase and ignition ring have been painted in a Green Gray and the ignition wires in Brown.
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Once the engine components have been painted, I started gluing together the components.
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Here is a view of the engine banks from behind. You can see that they are hollow and not represented fully.
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Once the crankcase assembly is glued onto the engine cylinders, I can complete the wiring attachment.
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Each of the painted wires is bent and guided into place gently, trying not to put kinks into the wires or scratching off the paint. A few more wires are added to the top and bottom of the crankcase. This is not meant to be an accurate representation of the Homare engine but simply trying to create some plausible detail that will look good lurking behind the prop.
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Here is the engine temporarily mounted on the fuselage. I'll probably leave the engine detached until the very end so that I won't have to deal with masking off the exhaust tips.
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The view into the engine compartment with the engine cowling in place. Although much of the detail is lost, you still get a sense of busy complexity in there, which was the goal.
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A view of the exhaust tips without the engine cowling flaps in place.
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Some views of the complete engine from the lightbox. I played around with trying to apply some weathering to the engine, especially the crankcase, being the most prominent. Some of things I did besides the dark pastel wash were chipping with a sponge and splattering AK Engine Grime enamel using a stiff paint brush. I actually had to dial back some of that splatter by going over the crankcase in the base Grey/Green.
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The exhaust piping was sprayed using Alclad Steel and Exhaust Manifold and then dry-brushing the ends with a rust color. As a last touch, the hollow ends were lightly darkened with a thin mixture of Flat Black through the airbrush.
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The completed radial engine is not quite as hefty as the P&W R2800 from the Tamiya Corsair build but it is a nicely detailed powerplant that Hasegawa has provided.
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by Floki »

That's one beautiful engine, it's too bad that so much of it will be hidden. Wish I could help you with the color but Japanese colors are a complete enigma to me. Didn't Kenny do a bunch of research on Japanese colors or was it just tondo with the zero?
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Let your weapons slash and tear This is no place for fear
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Our shields will form a mighty wall
United we shall never fall
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by jkim »

Thanks Clint! I think the colors of the A6M Zero are a topic of their own!

It feels like a ghost town here in terms of aircraft builds. Oh well... one of those cyclical things I guess.

I've jumped over to the cockpit and worked on the instrument panel. The Brengun detail set comes with a photoetched faces for the panel that is placed over a clear acetate sheet that has printed details for the gauges. That means I have to shave off the raised details from the kit instrument panel, which are actually pretty nice.
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Here is what the instrument panel looks like with the PE faces in place. More detail but the trade-off is a loss in 3D relief.
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The clear acetate is sprayed white on the back to bring out the dial detail. I've added a couple of additional colors.
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The acetate panels are carefully cut out and attached to the painted PE faces using Future. It's hard to make out but I painted the instrument panel in a very dark grey and tried to highlight each individual instrument bezel in black.
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The panels are then glued to the instrument panel using white glue.
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The shiny acetate makes a good representation of the glass dials.
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Stikpusher
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by Stikpusher »

jkim wrote: It feels like a ghost town here in terms of aircraft builds. Oh well... one of those cyclical things I guess.
Very true... the car guys have taken over this place lately... :headslap: :tease:

Keep the fire lit John. I’ll get back on my aircraft build soon.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by jeaton01 »

That's some fine work on the engine, I like it. Japanese colors depend on the day, I think, I'm not going to lose sleep over exact shades. No use anyway as my color vision is less than stellar. I listen to all the arguments and come away thinking no two people see color the same, and I know from photography that the ambient light modifies the appearance of any pigment, as does the degree of flat or gloss.

I would bet that the relief on the plastic panel is exaggerated, the PE looks nice to me.

I finished up my M74 today and will get back to airplanes with some relief! Fruil tracks :scream: What was I thinking??!!
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http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html
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jkim
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Re: 1/32 Hasegawa N1K2-J Shiden Kai

Post by jkim »

Thanks guys! I usually don't check the other boards so I'm not aware of the parties that are occurring in the very next room! And I never did start on my Meng Tiger II! :whiteflag:

Just checking out the instrument panel posed with the gun sight since both are painted. Close-up photos are a good way to check my work. I'm noticing a couple of things. First, the red half of the one instrument looks odd to me. It's supposed to be white on red, not black on red but that's not possible with the black/clear acetate. Another are those yellow dots on the other instrument... it was a pain to pull-off but it looks a bit messy from this perspective. The instrument panel on the Shiden Kai was made out of wood and painted black. I've put some brown chipping around the edges of the instrument panel to show wear.
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I've also put a primer coat on most of the metal components. This blends in the composite elements visually to get a better sense of how things will look once they are painted. Note the additional wiring that I added on the sidewalls.
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I've given the major cockpit components a base coat of black. I like to do this on cockpit components to establish a subtle shadow and accentuate any raised features. The cockpit floor and seat will be chipped so I'll lay down a metallic coat and some MIG Scratches Effect fluid before the cockpit color is applied.
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