Hasegawa J2M3 Raiden - In Between Build

[DocRob]

It took me some time to get on the productive side again. Two Projects are stalling at the Moment due to lack of Motivation or shortage of additional goods (not too easy to overcome on a remote Island ).

To get in gear again I deceided to pick a Hasegawa Raiden out of the shelf, because I always wanted to do a heavily worn Japanese Fighther straight out of the box. The only Addition are the Maketar-Masks, as I do not trust the decals to much.
The Kit is superb, the Level of Detail is pretty good, so it was an easy decision not to dive into the oblivion of Aftermarket-Sets.

Test Fitting:

 

Detail and fit are on the money

I decieded to go for an old School Approach for the Pilots workplace. Everything got primed, airbrushed with AK-Mitsubishi-interior-green. Details where painted by Hand, sealed with Future and then were following washes and a Little oil-color-Treatment. Some Pigments for the Floor and after a matte varnish, the Dials got a drop of Future for the shine.

 

No belts were included in the kit, so I decieded to use the kit-pilot-figure with scratched straps.

 

Another first for me, Drilling out the Position lights and use transparent Colors for the bulbs.

To be continued.....

Until now it was a pleasure-project and I hope you enjoyed the beginning

Cheers Rob

[JeroenPeters]

That's some in-between build!

 

Nice work on the nav lights.

[Padubon]

Nice cockpit. Can you show your technic for the painting of the dials? You've done a terrific job on it.  I really enjoy those 1/32 Hasegawa models, they are easy to build and are well detailed also. I was doing a similar build a few weeks ago, unfortunately I had to stop because I became sick, then I started some military field training. I hope to resume soon.

 

[DocRob]

@ Jeoen and Padubon, thanx Gentleman.

Hola Padubon, there is no special technic for painting the dials. I decieded to follow Daniel Zamarbides "FAQ"-Book.
After priming and base color I painted the background of the dials in a near black shade. I use thinned acrylics fom Lifecolor (Cockpit black, I never use real black on kits).
The scales where painted with a very fine brush and white acrylics and a lot of hit and miss  and a strong magnifiying glass.
The front blendings of the scales were painted in a light gray tone by brush. Silver seemed to bright and shiny for my liking.
Finally some tiny Details where highlighted with a light Grey Crayon.
Next a coat of Future Overall and after washes and oil Colors and Pigments for the other parts everything gets varnished in almos matte (Future 80%, Tamiya Flat base 20%)
The last step is a dab of Future on the dials to get a glass like shine

The Cockpit in the book looks much better than mine, but for me mine is ok enough, but I may not use my very good macro lens for future photos .
 

Cheers Rob

[coolboxx]

Great start loving the cockpit dealing. 

[tomv1987]

Nice work on that cockpit. I would like to hear more about your technique as well.

 

Regards,

Tom

[DocRob]

Thank you coolbox and Tom,

@ Tom: Is there a special question you have about my technique, a certain step in the painting process you want more detail about?
The dials of the Raiden cockpit are depicted very clear and risen enough for detail painting, that makes it easier. I used the decals as a coloring guide.
The most difficult part is to pick out the white dials. I did that before painting the light grey blendings, so a small dot of white in the wrong place can be corrected easily.
I used a very fine brush 5/0 which was a little stiff on the tip. I painted half dry with a flat angle to not reach the black background of the dials.
The last step is to dab a little bit of gloss varnish on the dials which enhances the contrast and gives a glasslike look.

Cheers Rob

 

[DocRob]

Hola Senhoras? e Senhores,

some little progress is made on my little Raiden project. The hull is closed and the wings are attached. I decieded against filling, because the fit was really good.

The pit. Yeah I know the steering coloumn is broken. I will refit that with the pilot figure.

 

Wheelstruts still need a little touchup. I used Bare Metal Foil for the first time. I'm not decieded about adding braking lines (OOB-build)

 

I wasted no time with the engine just some silver and a wash, because you need a fibre optic to see anything of that.

 

No modern art, theese are the exhausts. Sprayed in Alclad II 'Exhaust Manifold', dabbed in pigment fixer and then finished with rust, sand and smoke Pigments.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Some WIP-shots of the last progress. The cockpit is sealed and I brushed the anti glare panels on the fuselage and the cowling using AK-Interactive Q1 Anti-Glare-Blue-Black. The Japanese AK-Colors sprayed well and finely, but were not that opaque then e.g. Tamiya acrylics. From their behavior I would recommend to use a primer, which is not always necessary with other brands if the underground is clean and fat free.

The prop is primed, airbruhed in silver for later to apply dents and scratches, then sprayed yellow on the tips. The stripes wwhere masked of and next is the ominous Japanese late war Propeller brown. I will use Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown.

The flattened tires where stuck on the landing gear struts. The lighting is not the best, there are some pigments on the wheels to give them the used look. As always I used Tyre Black from the Lifecolor range, which is all but entire black. I'm still not deceided about braking lines.

Cheers Rob

 

[DocRob]

Some updates on the Raiden.
Sprayed the whole bird in Tamiya XF 16 Flat Aluminum as a base for chipping. I noticed, that in my case Flat Aluminum is pigmented finer than Tamiya Chrome Silver.
Until now I'm not decided about the chipping method. With hairspray I'm a little afraid about pulling the paint off in later masking stages, so maybe it will be the salt, scratch and/or liquid mask method. Any comments or opinions about the best way to achieve a nice chipping are welcome.

The prop is sprayed Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown, to the tips I lightened the color with a drop of sand color and to the root and backside I misted a little darker shade. After drying I removed the masks for the yellow stripes.

Chipping was next. I scratched the brown color away with a scalpel, added some pencil dots and stripes and some light gray crayon marks.

That is how the single blade looks before applying a gloss coat for the decals.

My prop had a hard life, sticks and stone....

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

No comments on the best chipping method? Then I have to rely on my own method thinking . I will try to do the base chipping with liquid mask dabbed onto the silver primed fuselage and wings with a fine stiff brush. I try to empasis the spars and seamlines to do so, as to achieve a stressed surface effect. I deceided against the hairspray method, because I'm afraid of peeling to much paint of when masking with tape for later stages of painting.

Raiden with goose skin:

 

First paint for the pilot:

Cheers Rob

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

21 hours ago, DocRob said:

No comments on the best chipping method? Then I have to rely on my own method thinking . I will try to do the base chipping with liquid mask dabbed onto the silver primed fuselage and wings with a fine stiff brush. I try to empasis the spars and seamlines to do so, as to achieve a stressed surface effect. I deceided against the hairspray method, because I'm afraid of peeling to much paint of when masking with tape for later stages of painting.

Raiden with goose skin:

First paint for the pilot:

Cheers Rob

 

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

I'm liking this beast. Something about that big radial 'donk' makes it look brutal. Makes the aircraft attached behind it look diminutive. Gunna keep an eye on this puppy!   Oz

[DocRob]

Yeah Ozzy, the Raiden does look mean. First there was the huge engine and it's cowling and then the rest of the bird was designed and attached . The result is a really hefty plane, but not without elegance in it's streamlined shape. I bet the pilots loved the spacious cockpits of theese radial engine fighters as they seem larger than some of their flats in Japan.

Cheers Rob

[Mikester]

Very nice work!

[DocRob]

Thank you mikester, I will continue with or without pictures 

[DocRob]

Buenos Dias Senhores,

my painting schedule got a little out of hand, because of fiestas on the island and this "#+*#"- Photobucket issue. My Photobucket is history and the fiestas are over, so back to something completely different - the workbench.

I started with my first multicolor preshading and I have to admit that the result looks a little weird. I don't like to be over subtle with preshading because the final paintjob includes many staight borders and clearly seperated colour fields like insignia or bands around the fuselage, so what is shining through gives the impression of irregular wear. 

It is hard to see on theese photos, but the multi color preshading created some volume for the following paintjob.

I used AK-Interactive's AK 2062: J3 SP (Amber Grey) which sprayed prettty well, finely, smooth and not too opaque (good for controlled preshading effect), without clogging and nearly without thinner. The tone is greenish, but as I'm no expert on IJN colors it is fine to me, but the only Raiden I have seen in Cino CA was painted in a light grey tone.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Hola Companeros,

After masking the lower side of the plane I started to paint the upper side with AK 2063: D1 "Deep Green Black". I decieded against preshading in the very last minute and applied very thin layers of thinned color, pure, mixed with "Amber Grey" and "Anti Glare Blue Black" for Volume effect (I always try to mix colors of the same brand when possible to reduce the risk of bad awakenings while spraying). The AK colors again showed their quality in not beeing to opaque and beeing perfect for fine layering. Brushing them thickly is not what they are made for, which suited me perfect.

Don't worry, the bumps are no failure of me or my airbrush, it's Liquid Mask, I applied before to achieve the first rough layer of chipping. So lets peel off that ugly stuff.
That got me a nice worn look with a "stressed" surface on imaginary spars. I like the effect as a good starting point for further chipping. But next I will paint the markings to blend them in perfectly.

Stay tuned if you like this build, next up is bright colors

Cheers Rob

 

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

Hi Doc, watching your beast with interest, good to see something different being built. I think I might buy a bottle of mr masking fluid or whatever it's called. Vallejo just doesn't cut it for me, it's too 'runny' for my liking. I've just purchased Hasegawa's   1/32 Mitsubishi A6M5c and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 F, and both of these things being paint chipped to the shithouse and back, I'm glad your showing this stuff in your build. Jap aircraft suffered in the tropics, as did the Aircraft in the Mediterranean/ African theatre. So if this product is as good as say 'their' primer, I will be a happy hound... PS .what's going to be your next build?? I've got the choice of the above mentioned, plus a ZM Ta152 , P47 Dottie Mae, plus a few nearly finished. I'm going to use HGW's super rivet set on the 109F just to see if it's worth buying a set for the zero. Anyhow, keep up the good work bloke, cheers Oz

[DocRob]

Hi Ozzy, thanks for your kind words. A nice collection of subjects you have to choose from for your next adventure. I will finish "Red Star 47" for the Resin-GB next or maybe a 109 Emil with a lot of Resin I started some month ago.

Back to the masking, predominant subject of my days right now.
For the first stage of chipping on the Raiden beast I used Mr. Masking Sol Neo, which is pretty thick and easy to peel off. You have to be really carefull while applying because it tends to get a little blotchy. I used a very fine stiff brush and a sharpenend toothpick.
On my Corsair build I used Microscales Micro Mask, which I chose because it is thinner and more fluid, meaning it is easier to apply on fine detailed parts. This way it worked, but peelin off the stuff proved to be a nightmare, because it sticks like hell. I will not use that stuff again.

Speaking of Masks, the beast is clothed in Maketar precut masks.

And dressed to paint (I'm a coward with overspraying) 

Finally some color, white for the Rondels and priming for the following red and yellow. I always have my troubles with white, red and yellow. Theese colors tend to clog in my airbrush much more than others. For the white I used Tamiyas flat white, which was horrible in every degree of thinning. Then I switched to a Scale 75 white which was slightly easier to handle. For red and yellow I will use my 0,4 mm Airbrush, not the usual 0,2 mm nozzled one. 

Cheers Rob

[coolboxx]

 this of coming on really nicely. Getting close now. 

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

13 hours ago, DocRob said:

Hi Ozzy, thanks for your kind words. A nice collection of subjects you have to choose from for your next adventure. I will finish "Red Star 47" for the Resin-GB next or maybe a 109 Emil with a lot of Resin I started some month ago.

Back to the masking, predominant subject of my days right now.
For the first stage of chipping on the Raiden beast I used Mr. Masking Sol Neo, which is pretty thick and easy to peel off. You have to be really carefull while applying because it tends to get a little blotchy. I used a very fine stiff brush and a sharpenend toothpick.
On my Corsair build I used Microscales Micro Mask, which I chose because it is thinner and more fluid, meaning it is easier to apply on fine detailed parts. This way it worked, but peelin off the stuff proved to be a nightmare, because it sticks like hell. I will not use that stuff again.

Speaking of Masks, the beast is clothed in Maketar precut masks.

And dressed to paint (I'm a coward with overspraying) 

Finally some color, white for the Rondels and priming for the following red and yellow. I always have my troubles with white, red and yellow. Theese colors tend to clog in my airbrush much more than others. For the white I used Tamiyas flat white, which was horrible in every degree of thinning. Then I switched to a Scale 75 white which was slightly easier to handle. For red and yellow I will use my 0,4 mm Airbrush, not the usual 0,2 mm nozzled one. 

Cheers Rob

I always use tamiya enamel, never fails, easy to get the right consistency, only found one problem, the paint will turn to poop if you mix general purpose with enamel thinners, the paint goes really thick and generally turns out kaput, strait in the trash it goes. You've put me onto another good thing, these make tar masks, I want to try them as montex leaves a glue on the clear pieces that near impossible to remove and makes your canopies look fugly. Keep up the good work mate! Cheers. Oz

[DocRob]

Yeah Ozzie, these Maketar Masks are really nice to work with. It is Kabuki (similar to Tamiya Tape) paperesque material which dosen't stretch, which is good and the reason I chose these and not the vinyl type masks.
Yellow an red sprayed and covered well due to the white priming, no clogging issues here, phew.

Does it go more ugly than that? 

So it's about time for a Striptease, always an anxious and positively nervos moment of anticipation and YES, I'm satisfied with the result.
It is hard to see on theese photos, but I used different shades of red on the spars to enhance the volume effect.
Working with masks is always a lot more work than appliying decals, but I prefer it that way, because I have much more control in the process (specially on a not much stenciled plane like the Raiden). 

Next up is the assembly of the main components (the cowling is not crash bended ) and the painting of the Spinner, which I forgot .

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Some more pics. The cockpit is unmasked and recieved some details like visors and armored glass and handles.

Everything is ready now for intensifying and sharpen the chipping.

Cheers Rob 

[DocRob]

Hi Mates,

the next step is making a new kit looking like a worn warhorse, always a lot of fun.
I scratched, penciled, crayoned, rubbed on and off again and got this:

I'm not sure about the next steps. First will be a coat of Future to seel the done work and to apply the few decals.
My inital plan was to work on the fuselage with yellow oils to enhance the "stressed surface" effect. I will loose a little of the "bare metal" effect doing this. I will take a nap about that. Anny suggestions or ideas are very welcome.

Cheers Rob