Shoki II-otsu 2

6/Feb/2009

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Rivet lines

 The aluminum sheets were glued panel by panel. So the locations of panel lines were important. Some of the Kit's panel lines were incorrectly located. When they were left, they might not correspond to rivet lines. Some published drawings (included reference -1 and -3) incorrectly show the rivet lines of fuselage. One rivet line under the fuselage portside access hatch was additional and didn't exist. Please refer to my model when you engrave rivets on your model.



All rivet lines were determined from the photos of the actual A/C not from drawings.
Kit's panel lines were a little different. Pencil lines are correct.



The glues

 I tested some super glues. After all, the Black Super Glue worked best. This glue took about 5 minutes to stiffen and other super glues set too fast for this type of work.



I tested these glues.



Aluminum work

 Modeling sequence was important. As for painting, it was better way to paint certain areas first as it would be hard to paint them or hold. It's the same approach for aluminum work.



First of all, the panel near horizontal fin was glued. Next, the right side panel was attached followed by the lower narrow panel.
The panels were held in position with scotch tape until the glue hardened.

The annealed aluminum sheet can be formed very well even on the tight curves such as the wing root fillet.
It was glued on the fuselage.

The leading edge of tail fin was formed like this.
Excess glue presented no problem as it was sanded down after it set.

The surface was sanded with 320 grit sanding paper.
The surface was finished with 600 grit sanding paper.



Mobile modeling



The aluminum work is suitable for mobile modeling. Tools and materials could be stored in this small box and carried easily.



The cowling

 I was not satisfied with the finish of the cowling. So I removed aluminum panels and re-installed the new ones. While I was doing this repair work I corrected the outline of the cowling top.



The upper outline of supercharger air intake was corrected. The plastic sheet was glued and sanded.
The outline is bent at the point of the panel line.


The diameter of the cowling leading edge became shorter by about 0.5mm caused by the thickness of aluminum sheet. The leading edge should be enlarged before gluing the aluminum sheet.



The air intake was enlarged to upwards. Then the shape was improved. Some of the kit's panel lines were corrected.
I drilled out the gun openings, engraved cowl flaps and made the cut-out for the exhaust.



Panel lines and rivets

 Some additional panel lines were engraved on the aluminum. I used the same engraving needle as for prastic model. If I made a mistake, I couldn't repair it without replacing of the aluminum panel. So I had to work very carefully. The ammunition panel of the fuselage was 4.0~6.0mm located 5.0mm from backward panel line. Rivets were engraved with #0 (0.25mm) beading tool. Some rivets turned into dimples.



The starboard fuselage was done. After the surface was sanded, wash was applied using Tamiya Weathering Master.
Next was port fuselage. The large dimple appeared.

The panel was removed and the base was cleaned.
The new panel was 0.3mm aluminum sheet to reduce the influence to blend into the surrounding surface. The sheet was cut and pressed carefully.

The panel was glued and fixed with scotch tape.
The surface was leveled off with the metal file and rough sanding paper attached to a stick. This repair work took almost one hour. I was so tired.



The fuselage outline



The width near the cockpit was increased by 2mm and the fuselage outline became more accurate.
The transition from the cowling and fuselage was like this.

Please compare with the actual aircraft.
The wing was combined. The colors of the front half and rear half were different due to different polishing. The front half was sanded with lower-grit sandpaper.



Rivets on the cowling



Rivets and fasteners of cowling were finished.
Fasteners of access panels were made with #3 (0.4mm) beading tool.



The engine



Ha-109 engine was came from the kit.
Plug cables were made from 0.3mm soldering wire.



The windshield and canopy

 Windshield frames were a little thick. I sanded them down and removed the engraved lines. The side view of the canopy was corrected.

At first, I used the 0.1mm aluminum sheet, but it was too soft and hard to treat. So I decided to use the 0.2mm sheet.



The 0.3mm plastic sheet was glued on the lower edge.
The 0.3mm plastic sheet was glued on the canopy too.

The rear half of the upper line was sanded to be straight. The lower line was also corrected.
I checked the outline. Mmmm, OK!

Canopy frames consisted of 6 parts. First, the front frame was glued.
The portion of frames was painted black. And frames were glued with Black super glue.

The shape of the frame was traced with tape and knife.
The lower edge was to be adjusted afterwards.

The round corner was cut out like this.
After all the frames were glued they were sanded while the transparent areas were masked with tape.



Exact shape of the canopy

 My correction work of the canopy was not exactry perfect. Because the shape of clear glass portion was not corrected. But if it was so, I would have to remake the canopy with heat pressing.



The correction of the canopy and fuselage outline resulted in this gap since the work wasn't completely accurate.
The exact shape of the canopy should be narrower at the point of the arrow. But it needed heat pressing of the canopy. Would you accept that challenge?



The windshield

 The windshield was a little more difficult than the canopy.



To form the lower frame, this mold was made from styrene sheet.
The cross section of the front frame was adjusted with pliers.

The outline was checked. It was a little tall due to the thickness of the plastic sheet.
Frames were sanded. I took care of the edge on the front frames.

The plastic sheet of lower edge was sanded and removed.
Looks good!



The horizontal tail fin



The horizontal and vertical stabilizers leading edges were sanded sharp.
The panel was formed on another kit.

The surface of the fillet was sanded.



Details



The oval lines were engraved and the gun exhausts were opened.
Finally, the surface was polished with 600-grit sand-paper.



The wing



Aluminum sheets were glued from the leading edge.
Panels were glued one by one.

The upper surface was sanded with a metal file followed by 320-grit sand-paper attached to a stick.

I repeated the same on the lower sides. The front of the gear bay was difficult.
On the wing tips I simply glued upper and lower pieces of aluminum sheet together.















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