Taking a short break from the usual German aeroplanes I started a build of a Japanese night fighter from a Tamiya 1/48 scale kit, its the Nakajima Type 11 Night Fighter.

The cockpit parts during painting and assembly...





More in-progress pics to follow.

Matrixone

You did a great job so far. The details realy do stand out. Its a shame the manufacturer didnt care to provide two different decals for the seatbelts.

Thanks Naseby!

I am not too worried by the look of the seatbelts, once the canopy is in place the seatbelts will look the part since the canopy will closed.

Matrixone

More in-progress pics...





Matrixone

Good job Les. I really like those Japanese birds! Maybe you will decide to branch out and build more of them, there are some interesting aircraft in the Japanese stable for sure. Russell

Thanks again Russell!

I do have a few kits of Japanese planes in my stash, next year I will build a couple more of them starting with my favorite the Dinah.

Matrixone

Hi Les,

I look forward to your next submission. Great work, as usual!

Dinah - a beautiful bird!

Ah......Fred....I think Les is building a night fighter like an Irving!! I know you will love me even more for correcting you! ha ha Russell

Great work so far Les, very nice. Thanks for sharing and if this kit is any indication of your Japanese aircraft expertise I really hope you keep the pics coming. Take care.
Jim.

Thanks guys!

Jim,
Japanese planes are not something I usually build so I have much to learn about them. I have the Japanese Aircraft Interior book from Monogram and it has been a big help so far in painting the cockpit...the Tamiya istructions for painting the cockpit parts are okay but I never have too much faith in the painting guides provided with most kits.

I should have some new in-progress pics in a day or two, I stopped work on this model and built and finished another Tamiya kit the last two weeks and have now returned to work on the Nakajima Type 11.


Matrixone

Cockpit looks great, looking forward to seeing paint on this one!

Doug

Thanks Doug!
After taking a short break from working on this model I have started painting it now.
The last of the cockpit parts have been added just before the canopy is glued into place.



Here you can see the start of painting on the camouflage colors...I will be fading the paint on the uppersurfaces by spraying on some lightened versions of the base color, more pics to follow soon.



Matrixone

Looking good there Les! Are the nacelles for the engines going to be blue? Interesting color scheme so far. Interested in seeing more of the build. I have to get off my duff, before school starts back at the university and start my Kawanishi "George". Motivation is sometimes hard when life gets in the way. Russell

Thanks Russell!
The engine cowls will be darker than what you see here so far. I have plans to lightly spray some flat black on the bottom and lower sides of the cowls while leaving the tops as they are, the goal is to have the paint on the cowls look slightly faded.
Earlier today I did more painting on the topsides of the airframe, I sprayed various shades of green paint in mottles and streaks over the base coat of Nakajima green and also sprayed some light tan in tight mottles on the wing roots, most of the painting I did today will be later covered over with a thin coat of of the base green color. The wing roots will have the paint faded the most and almost of the paint chipping will be done in that area.




After the decals and flat clear coat are put on I will spray some tinted thinner over the decals to blend them in with the paint fading I am doing on the uppersufaces.

Matrixone

I have toned down the paint fading effect by spraying on a coat of the original base green color...looks better now!



Next I will mask off and spray the yellow ID markings on the leading edge of the wings.

Matrixone

More in progress pics...

I sprayed on the yellow ID markings on the wings leading edges and started some paint chipping at the wing roots.







And here are two pics of the final bit of paint chipping this model will get.



Matrixone

Some of the last surface details have been put on before I spray the model with Future to prep it for adding the decals.





Matrixone

Really good job on the exhaust pipes Les. I see you even nicked them to look like they are worn! Good job. Russell

Thanks again Russell!

I just finished putting on all the decals, after they are dry I will attempt to add some weathering to the markings with the airbrush, this will make or break the model because if I screw up the model will be pretty much ruined.

Matrixone

Wow, that really came out well! I really like the way the weathered paint looks!

I may have to try this one of these days!

Doug

I hope, Les, that the decals perform for you! There is nothing worse that putting all that work into a model, constructing it, painting it, you are even weathering this one, then having the decals screw up!

I've been there done that. Good luck, your model is looking quite good. Russell

Thanks Doug, this is a terrific kit and you will really enjoy building it.

Russell,
What I meant was if I should make a mistake using my airbrush to add some weathering to the markings it might be difficult to correct and might ruin the whole model. I put on the decals this morning and even though they were the kits decals they went on just fine.

Matrixone

I did some weathering on the markings, some was done with the airbrush and some by hand painting.




The weathering of the markings look a bit overdone in the above pics but this morning I sprayed on a coat of flat clear and it evened things out nicely.

Matrixone

Great job on the markings as well. Many times you see a model with weathering and then pristine decals This one should really look great finished up!

Doug

Thanks Doug,

The weathering on the markings looked a bit crude in the last update, that was before I added another flat clear coat.

Below are two more recent pics that show the weathering effects I have done look a little more blended in and natural now.



I have started putting on all the smaller bits now and it won't be too long before this one if finished.

Matrixone