GazzaS

It is a gem of a kit. I just wish somebody had done a build blog before me.

I have been remiss in my duties...

Do you like sharp railing edges? I certainly do. But ZM didn't take this opportunity to ensure your flaps and ailerons were molded that way. They did on the rudder and elevators. In my limited experience, the only company that molds overlaps on the trailing edges of the main wings is ICM in their 1/48 lines. I haven't done any ICM in 1/32, yet. These are test shots after filing and sanding the flaps and ailerons. Obviously getting the taper right isn't easy if you want to preserve molded-in detail. And another interesting positive feature... The brake lines are glued to the wheel well covers instead of the LG legs. Happy modelling?

I don't think the E or F had such issues.

You are a bad, bad man.

I love the IJN ships, too. Do you know which one this is? It appears at 1:40 in this video. I'd like to build it someday.

Congrats om a beautiful job, Kevin!

Great paintwork!

Thank you, fellas.

Ern, I know I am making much of the faults. Maybe too much. Thankfully I've been able to wade through them. The finished result is most important, and I know this one will look better than a Revell or Trumpy... or even Hasegawa shape wise. I will buy another when the next production run comes out. I have been thought of a new way to fix the tail... and with experience, the other problems.

Peter... build this one first... Instead of your 109.

Goodmorning, Campers! Work continues. Surface work and final joins of some panels. There were a few sink marks. Since I hate waiting for Mr. surfacer and other hot putties to dry, I added gouges giving black CA something to hold on to. A spritz of activator, and then sanding. I will say that I do love some things about this kit. I have perfect dorsal and ventral seams. Something I can never do on my own. But since all of the cement holding the halves together is on the internal frames, there is no rounded glue joint requiring scribing. Below, you'll notice a segmented line of black CA between the oil cooler ring and forward edge of the cowling. The reason is because the profile of the cowling didn't mate up neatly with the oil cooler ring. The problem was that I needed to push the cowling out to mate neatly with the cooler ring. Fortunately, I have some filo files that are curved at the ends. I was able to insert them though a gap in the top of the oil cooler and apply pressure and a few drops of black CA. Perhaps if I put all of the engine plumbing in, this might not have been necessary. YMMV. I have also been sanding the textured surface of the model.

Nice start to the review, Carl.

Stretched sprue? Holy cow! I prefer monofilament, myself.

Looks great, Chris. Honestly... I hate doing the canopy. If it fits great... good. But once I have to start filling and sanding... I begin to worry how the clear part and joins will look. So often, sanding softens the detail and I just kills my mojo. I have wished forever that the clear parts extended far away from the actual canopy join.

My fit issue with the front end was something I must have done between the cockpit and firewall... which is only a couple pieces. The wing spar holding pieces and the slot for them in the fuselage define where the canopy will sit. I did have to chop the 131's to get the back part of the hood to fit. It just shits me that I cannot determine where I went wrong.

I wonder if that was a post-factory modification. Check your PM, Martin.

I've always been a bit suspicious of cheap blades in big numbers. I usually buy a local brand here in Australia.

F*** me, Martin! How do you find these pics?

Model looks great. I like that metal barrel. But surely a manicure is in order. 😁

Thanks for all of the support. The more I read at TOS written by Radu, the more I realize that the tail was an "effect" that came out clumsily. This is what they wanted you to see. But you can't do that with plastic. For the modeler to reproduce that effect, he would have to have the deft hands of a surgeon and a lot of luck. It could have been done with a 2-piece tailplane. But they went for the one-piece tailplane, making it impossible for us to trim those parts successfully.

I must have stuffed something up, somewhere.