SPA Modeler

Posted: **Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:30 pm**

I'm gonna let the sprue filler cure for a while. In the meantime, I've worked a little bit on some details. The tail wheel assembly forces you to trap the wheel between the two fork halves. Makes it more complicated to paint so I replaced the little pins that the wheel rests on with an axle made of brass tubing. Now I can paint the strut and the wheel separately.

The composite resin/metal legs by Synthetic Ordnance Works have been painted. The data stencils are from the Eagle Cal decal sheet. Unfortunately, no text just lines and dots but better than nothing.

Posted: **Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:08 pm**

Looks good, I was thinking of doing the same thing on my current build but didn't have anything small and strong enough for 1/48.

Posted: **Wed Apr 15, 2020 8:03 pm**

More detail work on the Ta152...

I'm not going to deal with the Eduard Origami metal flaps and will simplify this build somewhat by using the kit flaps. But first, I have to address the sink marks on the outside surface of the flaps.

The molded ribs on the fabric covered control surfaces have been sanded down.

I made wheel masks using an Olfa circle cutter.

A few views of the painted Barracuda tires mounted on the SOW landing gear. Hopefully, these pieces of resin convey the impression of metal and rubber.

Posted: **Wed Apr 15, 2020 8:38 pm**

Your paint mix and weathering for rubber is spot on, I've been trying to tweak mine to also have that hint of green. What's your mix?

Posted: **Wed Apr 15, 2020 11:03 pm**

Thanks Clint! No green in my mixture. Mine is black, brown and dark grey. Just eyeball it and it is different each time I mix it, which is ok.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:13 am**

Thank you John.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:28 am**

John, everything you are doing on this page is simply wonderful. I was taking notes on almost every post you made! I need to go back to look a third or fourth time at what happened when you mated the engine assembly. I didn’t really understand what happened. I know you don’t want to revisit that stress, but I was thinking that you pulled out a great save for the good of the entire kit. I remember during your 1:48 Ta 152 build you wrote about how there is a cascade effect if previous assemblies are not carried through to perfection. Given the extraordinary high quality of your work this must be a design issue with the kit. I know you will prevail. All the best.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:26 pm**

Thanks Bruce! I don't think it is a design issue per se. It's just a possibility that one will have some fit issue given the vagueness of plastic to plastic connections and the ambitiousness of the Z-M inclusion of interior parts. I think these things CAN be avoided with more careful work and a bit of luck but I guess I struck out on both counts. Still the errors are too significant and I would never refer to this kit as "junk" as someone over at LSP so eloquently described.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:54 pm**

There is definitely a balance struck between careful construction and the demands of the kit. You’re definitely the expert here in both building skill and kit familiarity! I am not a fan of judgments such as “junk,” from anyone; I think everyone should build a ZM kit to support a Mom and Pop company. Hideyuki Shigeta and his wife literally started selling model kits together in a small shop.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2020 5:19 pm**

Cracking progress John - I'm sure you'll get the best of those gaps!

SPA Modeler

1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7

Re: 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Ta152H-0 White 7