A quick update just before the EURO match Germany vs. Spain later this evening …
It’s float time now. In the past few days I’ve put the floats for the Rufe together and this is how they look like now. The main float has got 90 small steel balls inside the front, so the Rufe hopefully won’t jump off the carriage later … Have used White Glue again.
Here all parts for the floats. The part numbers on sprue U somehow remember me of the names of german submarines in WW2, though the Imperial Navy already had boats named U7 and U10 operating in WW1 …
These parts will be painted seperately and join the build later. So I slowly come to the point now to throw the first paint on my builds. The Zero is in about the same stage now.
Some paint work was done this week. Primer White turned into IJN Medium Grey all over. Also added the yellow stripes at the leading edges and a red fuselage band on the Zero. The stripes are covered with 6 mm Tamiya Tape and the fuselage band with Parafilm. Don’t know what I would do without it …
I also compared it with an older Hasegawa A6M3 which I have painted with Tamiya XF-12 and both paints match quite well.
Right now I work at the props. Next step will be preparing both builds for the upper camo, a transparent, or “cloudy” IJN Black Green. Further I’ll start assembling the carriage for the Rufe. So stay tuned …
… both props are also done. Have used Silver Revell 90 and Redish Brown Revell 83. I don’t see much difference between them but they are on different sprues …
… and despite the warm temperates here in Southwest Germany (around 28°C inside, 34°C outside) fresh from the paint shop today … This is Vallejo 71322 IJN Black Green, thinned by 70% with Sidolin and sprayed with ~ 0,2/0,3 bar (the gauge does not show that low … ) with the 0,35 mm needle. This is my kind of “japanese mottling” The work took me about an hour and I’m quite happy with the result. It’s the first time that I tried this. First I made some test spraying on a white sheet of paper until it was okay for me. What do you think of it, guys?
Most of the paint work is done, so I demasked the Zero yesterday evening. At a first glance everything looks fine beside the usual little paint repairs …
… but I got really angry when I took the Parafilm off the fuselage band and noticed that Medium Grey crawled under the mask just about everywhere and destroyed the look of the red band. Don’t know how that happened because Parafilm is self adhesive, so this shouldn’t happen …
I knew that I have to repair it promptly before I get even more mad. I guess you know that kind of situation, too, don’t you? First Parafilm on both sides of the fuselage band …
… the rest of the Zero was covered with an old newspaper and the band was again sprayed with Vallejo 71003 Red. The whole operation took less than an hour …
The rest are just minor touch ups, like repairs on the paint of the wheel wells or the yellow stripes at the leading edges. Nothing serious. I think, most of the assembly should be done in the next days. The Rufe has to step back a bit now, but I hope to get also IJN Black Green on this coming weekend.
Another week has passed and I came a bit further with both builds. While the Rufe has got some more masking on the underside and waits for the 2nd camo paint …
Have noticed, that the prop might need a drop of White Glue in the end. The pin is a bit short …
The Rufe has got also the first part of the 2nd camo paint. Fuselage and wings are done. As mentioned before I have used the same mottling technique here as on the Zero, but the mix ratio of thinner and paint is 1:4, pressure on my compressor was about 0,5 bar. Funny how the look of the paint has changed. It’s the same IJN Black Green as on the Zero from the same bottle. What do you think of it, guys? I think, I came quite close to the painting instruction of Eduard. Started also painting Green on the floats but made a mistake with the big float because I misinterpreted the painting intructions. My fault … So I have to go over a part with Grey again …
The Zero is hopefully finished around next weekend, the Rufe will need a bit more time but my timeline before the next model show end of August looks good.
Hello Torsten! They look great! Wish I was cobbling along with my ‘Eduard Rufe A6M2-N Limited Edition, Dual Combo’ as was originally planned. Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of my big relocation from one Insane Asylum to a bigger one. Don’t know when I’ll get back at modeling, but in the meantime, I’ll be checking in to your fantastic works.
Thanks, Mike! I was also thinking about getting that dual combo but for a Rufe there are not many different markings available. And decades ago I built the simple Tamiya Rufe in Grey, so I need a green one now …
As I said before count the days until you move to Texas and look forward to the first day when you can fire up your airbrush again at your new home. That day will come!
Yesterday evening I demasked the Rufe. Only a few small paint corrections are to be made, like on the engine cowling where I found a small amount of spray fog from Grey. Should all be done in an hour or so. But I’m quite happy with the result of this different “japanese mottling” …
… futhermore I started with the decals on the Zero today. Found them very sticky to the surface. They easy leave the transfer paper but once on the model they stick very strong to the surface. But with several drops of water I could push them in the correct position. I also left them for a minute in warm water to loose most of the decal glue. Hope this helps …
A strenuous working week lays behind me and probably another not less strenuous in front of me. But I try to keep pace with my double build. Had finished the decal job on the Zero. Of course Eduard would not be Eduard without at least 1000 stencils. But I have used only the important ones which are really visible. This is how the Zero looked this morning. All decals are sealed now. And of course a part of the pitot tube broke off during handling … I’ll see what I can do here later.
I’ll leave the build now to dry over night and will add the last clear parts and remove the final masks tomorrow. So the next update should be the finished Zero T2 169. Stay tuned …
This road has taken me far too long this time but finally I can call the first part of this double build finished!
I added the last clear parts, even the tiny position light on the wings fit well. Removing the canopy masks was a work of patience because they sticked strong to the clear parts. Note, that this Zero has no antenna. It was the first time that I’ve tried this kind of mottling and I like it. It was easier than I thought. The whole build is quite complex but it gives not much hassle. It was fun to build this Zero, having in mind, that I still have a ton of Hasegawa Zeros of various versions waiting in my stash …
Mitsubishi A6M3 Type 32 “Zero” 204. Kokutai Rabaul, April 1943 Pilot: Ldg. Seaman Kenji Yanagiya
Kit: Eduard 1/48
used paints:
Vallejo 71001 White
Vallejo 71003 Red
Vallejo 71073 Metallic Black
Vallejo 71137 US Light Green (= new Interior Green)
Vallejo 71312 IJN Medium Grey
Vallejo 71322 IJN Black Green
Revell 09 Anthracite
Revell 83 Red Brown
Revell 90 Silver
Revell 302 Black
Revell 310 Lufthansa Yellow
Gunze H 63 Metallic Blue Green
Tamiya X-23 Clear Blue
Tamiya X-27 Clear Red
have I forgotten something …
Kenji Yanagiya would have been an average Zero pilot but one mission made him famous as he was the only war surviving escort pilot of the Yamamoto mission on 18. April 1943. He shot one P-38 down on this sortie. On the 8. June 1943 he was severly wounded in a fight over Guadalcanal. On his return to the base his right arm had to have amputated and he was send to Japan for further hospitalisation. By October 1944 he had recovered enough to become an instructor for new pilots but could never fly again. He is credited with at least 8 aerial victories. In April 1988 he met Rex Barber and other surviving P-38 veterans from the Yamamoto mission at the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg/Texas. He was surprised by the big welcome for him there (“That would never happen to me in Japan!”). He died in Tokyo in 2008, just weeks before turning 89 years old.
So now full concentration on the Rufe. Hope to have it also finished within the next 2 weeks …
The warm temperatures here (28°C inside, up to 35°C outside) don’t make painting easy at the moment but I came further with the Rufe. All paint corrections are done now and I sprayed Bodenglänzer all over the model yesterday …
Time for the decals now. Start with them tomorrow. I leave the pitot tube until very late in the build so I (hopefully) cannot break it again while handling …
After a great and hot day at the Unimog Museum and the German-Canadian Airforce Museum with the club yesterday, my Nakajima Rufe is in the final round. All decals are on and sealed now …
Today I will spray the final coating, so that the Rufe should be finished during next week. Need to add all position lights and the pitot tube in the end. Also the propeller will need a drop of white glue.
After a 2,5 hours drive I came home yesterday evening from my second to last model show this year in Andelfingen/Switzerland, a small village between Schaffhausen and Winterthur, if you’re familar with the swiss geography. I had a fantastic weekend with the swiss friends. It’s always like a little holiday. This is my table and as you can see, the Zero was also on board …
Though I call the Rufe finished now, I decided not to take the model to the show. There will be a next time.
Nakajima A6M2-N “Rufe” 802. Kokutai Shortland Islands, February 1943
Kit: Eduard Profipack 1/48
used paints:
Vallejo 71001 White
Vallejo 71073 Metallic Black
Vallejo 71137 US Light Green
Vallejo 71312 IJN Medium Grey
Vallejo 71322 IJN Black Green
Revell 09 Anthracite
Revell 74 Gun Grey (for the carriage)
Revell 83 Red Brown
Revell 90 Silver
Revell 302 Black
Revell 310 Lufthansa Yellow
Tamiya X-23 Clear Blue
Tamiya X-27 Clear Red
Final coating was again made with a 70/30 mix of Revell Clear Gloss and Clear Flat. Same problems here with removing the canopy masks as on the Zero. They were again a bit sticky. But I always win. I double checked if I have used the correct sliding part of the canopy because I want to show it in an open position later. Yes I have. But to me it looks as if I could also close the canopy with the same part … Finally I lost one of the tiny positions lights on the wings and had to rebuild it with a drop of Micro Kristal Klear. The propeller also got a drop of White Glue to stay in place. And the pitot tube didn’t break this time - well still not …
So, after more than 130 w.i.p. photos this double build comes finally to an end. It took me 4 months to finish both. Not my usual pace. I want to thank everyone of you for your support with comments and/or likes. It’s always much appreciated to know you at my side. But for now everything on the bench is put on hold for the final preparations for a few weeks of holidays in lovely Denmark. You know, “we are red, we are white …”
Good job with the Zero and the Rufe, they look great. Looks like you had a nice time in Switzerland, at the show. I don’t have a lot of time for comments but rest assured I watch all your posts, especially as we seem to have the same wishlist. Unfortunately, not a lot of time for me for building but when I will get to them I will have your builds as inspiration.
Have used White Glue again.
…
So I have to go over a part with Grey again …
Don’t know when I’ll get back at modeling, but in the meantime, I’ll be checking in to your fantastic works.
