Hi, Joe -
Super nice work to date, it’s gonna be another hit I’m sure. I’m not aware of the “acetone/ Squadron” deal, what’s the benefit, less shrinkage or something? Could you please describe the purpose? Thanks.
Patrick
Mike: Its Hasegawa’s late 90’s mold. I’m not aware of an earlier release. Perhaps your thinking of Tamiya who have circa 1970’s kits along with two new tooled A6M3 and 5 kits available. The later are beautiful…
Brandon: Thanks bro. Thats a bummer about the canopy. Those Squadon canpies are a pain in the a@@ to cut out, at least for me. You could try contacting Tamiya. They’re good about parts replacement…try 1-800- 826-4922. I had the same problem with their N1K1 a few years ago and they sent me a replacement free of charge. How about some WIP pics of that turkey?
Patrick: Its cheating…Invented by Bill Belicheat…nah, Patriot jokes aside it’s way of filling seams or gaps without the need for sanding. I put the putty (I use the green Squadron stuff) in the gap with a toothpick and then dip a Q-tip in fingernail polish remover(regular strength) to remove the excess. The acetone in the polish remover melts the putty and it wipes right off. No sanding and rescribing necessary. There is no shrinking because the putty is designed to be a filler. You can sand afterwards if needed (as I did on this project), but the gap will still be nicely filled. This trick might work with other putties as well. Thanks for the kind words.
Joe
Yes! Last night I realized you were building a Hasa thus catching my folly. For what ever reason, I could not post from my iPhone, but I was going to let you know I was thinking of Tamiya. But soon I plan on picking up one of the new tooled Tamiys Zeros. From what I have read, I will not be disappointed
Lawdog114, you saved me with that Tamiya help number! I was working on my F4F today and ruined a piece. I gave Tamiya USA a call with the number you provided me and in 7 minuted and 23 seconds I had a new part on the way. AMAZING customer service! Thanks for posting that
Joe,
Thanks for the tip with the finger nail polish remover. I will definitely give it a try once I buy some.
Steve
Mike: Indeed the new tooled zeros are awesome. I built their A6M5 last year and it was a blissful experience. See it here http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/160003.aspx Now if they would just give us a Model 21.
Mike: Your Welcome. Thats why they are at the top of their game. Now Hasegawa on the other hand…good luck.
Steve: Just make sure its regular strength acetone. Extra strength is too strong for this purpose.
Joe
I will be spraying XF-76 today. What did you lighten it up with for the streaking, fading, and fabric surfaces?
Looking great Joe. I have a couple of quick questions if you don’t mind.
When you do your IPs with decals, do you cut the individual dials out and place them?
Do you mask, do you de-tack (for lack of a better word) your tape first? Stick it to jeans or something a couple of times before using on the model. More often than not, I get a bit of paint lifing when I remove my mask and I use Tamiya acrylics and Tamiya tape.
Thx,
Allen
Again the beautiful work I’ve come to expect of you Joe- bravo!
Btw: As to the Squadron putty/acetone trick I used it for years but recently someone on this forum pointed out Perfect Plastic Putty which thins with water, so you can do the same trick without mucking up the paint that you’ve already laid down.
Nice build lawdog
Just a quick question on the panel lines.
In your previous post I noticed you sprayed on black over the panel lines and then covered them with the regular paint so that it shows a faint line…looks very nice.
I tried this too, but my hand is nowhere near steady enough to be straight. (no matter how li the line is - I go off course). I was thinking of just brush painting over the line and then spraying over with color. Have you tried that ever? Do you think it will give the same effect.
Mike: I lighten in with a couple drops of XF-2 Flat White
Allen: Thanka Allen. Reference the IP decal, I put the whole decal over the dials and then soak it in Microsol. Just monitor it as it melts to make sure the gauges stay in the dials. Once dry. I like to put a drop of 5 minute clear epoxy on each dial to simulate glass. I must caution that some work better than others.
Are you washing the plastic before paint? If your having issues with Tamiya lifting than it may be surface prep. I Always wipe my plastic down with Isoprophyl Alcohol to make sure all mold releasing agents, finger prints, or other oils are off of it. I’ve never had Tamiya tape lift Tamiya paint. There tape is generally fantastic.
Gamera: Thanks for the kind words. I will be buying some of that ASAP.
Stuart: Thanks. I use the airbrush for just about everything. The panel line application does not need to be perfect. It’s going to be covered anyways. Just make sure the lines is covered with the black. I’ve seen a technique where modelers paint the whole plane black then go back and filter in the base color panel by panel. That just seems like too much work for me though, especially since my air compressor is on its last legs. Try getting in relatively close with low pressure.
Joe
That is looking fantastic. Very realistic.
Beautiful paint work. I realize that the use of pre/post shading, weathering, and all that are very subjective, but you have a distinctive style that just looks “right” to my eye. Good stuff.
Lawdog114, I bought a bottle of the brown and black. Unfortunately I really do not like the stuff[:(] I have also read quite a few accounts of it peeling up with age. If you would like, send me a PM with an address that way I can send them to you. Free of charge.
Thanks folks. I do believe I’m finished. To recap, its the Hasegawa A6M2 Model 21 in the markings of Petty Officer 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi off the carrier Hiryu on the morning of December 7th 1941. The scene is depicted just before take off, as if Nishikaiachi had posed for a quick picture before jumping into the cockpit. At least that’s what I was going for…
Reference the kit itself, its nice but has wing root issues. My advice is to glue the upper wings to the wing roots first. I used the controversial XF-76 Grey Green to represent the “Ame-hiro” color of the early Zeros. These planes were fairly new so I kept weathering to a minimum. I even left a slight sheen on the plane to depict this. The plane received engine wiring and brake lines from fuse wire and the only aftermarket addition was an Ultracast seat. The decals are a mixture of the kit’s sheet and Berna. The pilot is one of the four choices that came with the Tamiya A6M5 I built last year. The “chunk” of Hiryu was taken from a illustration I found online. I painted cardboard stock to replicate this particular section. It’s a tad one dimensional but it was much cheaper than those aftermarket bases.
Notes regarding the pilot: Figure painting is not my strong point. As I said, it’s one of the pilot figures in the new tooled Tamiya Zero series. These are nicely detailed and I brush painted my example with Tamiya Paints using the side of the box as reference (glad I saved it). It was then washed with a brown Detailer wash. This may or may not be the same uniform the pilots wore at Pearl Harbor. I doubt they changed much. I had read that Japanese pilots carried ceremonial Samurai swords, so I chose to include this.
The said Illustration of the Hiryu deck. I opted to replicate the area with the green circle
The “snapshot”…
Reality…
The rest…
Thanks for following The D3A1 Val that George Welch shot down is coming soon too.
Joe
Joe,
You rocked another one. Sweet built, it looks great. I see your grey green better now, I changed the setting on my monitor and that is nearly the exact color I will paint mine when completed. Again, fantastic build.
BrandonK
Outstanding Joe. Another beauty. I would have been surprised if it were otherwise.
Good stuff. The base is a very nice addition, too.
Thanks guys…
Well I still have no bleeping idea if that’s the ‘right’ colour or not but as usual she looks terrific! If this isn’t the right shade then it ought to be!
And really nice work on the deck, great idea there and the figure despite your questions looks pretty darn good to me too.